Farewell Great Macedon (unproduced TV story): Difference between revisions

{{title dab away}}

|adapted into    = Farewell, Great Macedon (audio story)

|companions      = [[Susan Foreman|Susan]], [[Ian Chesterton|Ian]], [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]]

|featuring      = [[Alexander the Great]]

|setting        = [[Babylon]]

|writer          = [[Moris Farhi]]

'''''Farewell Great Macedon''''' was an unproduced six-episode [[First Doctor]] serial by [[Moris Farhi]] which was commissioned by [[David Whitaker]] for the first season of ''Doctor Who'' in 1964.

The story featured the Doctor, [[Ian Chesterton|Ian]], [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]] and [[Susan Foreman|Susan]] encountering [[Alexander the Great]] in [[Babylon]]. Work stopped on the scripts when Farhi felt that the [[script editor|story editor]] was asking for too many changes that would have compromised the historical accuracy of the scripts. The script was later adapted for audio by [[Nigel Robinson]] and [[Farewell, Great Macedon (audio story)|then produced]] for [[Big Finish Productions]].

== Episode titles ==

# The Wrath of the Greatest Grecian of Them All! (Farhi also suggests an alternate title: O, Son! My Son!)

== Major characters ==

* [[Hephaestion|Hephaeston]]

* [[Calanus]]

* [[Cleitus]]

* [[Ptolemy Lagus|Ptolemy]]

* [[Roxane]]

* [[Seleucus]]

* [[Antipater (Farewell, Great Macedon)|Antipater]]

* [[Iollas]]

* [[Glaucias]]

== Story notes ==

* According to the article "So Near, So Farhi" in the ''Farewell Great Macedon'' omnibus, after the script was rejected for ''Doctor Who'' in 1964, Farhi submitted them to the BBC as a potential springboard to a series on Alexander the Great. This idea was rejected. In 1966, Farhi resubmitted the scripts to new ''Doctor Who'' script editor [[Donald Tosh]], but was once again turned down.

* Prior to being formally engaged for this story, Farhi also wrote a single-episode {{w|spec script}} for the series — over the well-documented protests of [[David Whitaker]] — entitled ''[[The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance (TV story)|The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance]]''. He was also commissioned by [[Graham Williams]] to write a [[Fourth Doctor]] teleplay, ''The Divided'', in 1977, but this unfilmed script no longer exists.

== Continuity ==

As there is a difference between the published script and the [[Big Finish Productions]] adaptation, this is a story, like every novelised ''Doctor Who'' or ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures|Sarah Jane]]'' story, in which the individual fan must decide whether to accept the print or the performed version of the story.

There is also the question of when this adventure occurred within Susan's personal timeline. Some fan chronologists have tried to assert that ''The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance'' should be placed after ''Macedon''.<ref>[http://drwhoguide.com/who.htm#1ST The ''Doctor Who'' Reference Guide's list of First Doctor stories], which puts ''Macedon'' ahead of ''Fragrance'' without explanation.</ref> However, as ''Fragrance'' was written before ''Macedon'' — and flatly rejected by Whitaker — neither script references the other in any way, leaving one free to choose any order. Moreover, neither script references any other ''Doctor Who'' script, so chronological placement can only logically occur between ''[[The Reign of Terror (TV story)|The Reign of Terror]]'' and ''[[Planet of Giants (TV story)|Planet of Giants]]'', because these are the only two stories featuring [[Susan Foreman|Susan]] which have no narrative connection.

The [[Big Finish Productions]] audio adaptation of ''[[The Masters of Luxor (audio story)|The Masters of Luxor]]'' establishes that ''The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance'' takes place before ''Farewell Great Macedon'', as it mentions the events of both, but is explicitly set immediately after ''Farewell Great Macedon''.

 

== Footnotes ==

 

 

 

[[Category:Unproduced Doctor Who TV stories]]