This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films is a former featured list. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page and why it was removed. If it has improved again to featured list standard, you may renominate the article to become a featured list. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Current status: Former featured list |
This article is rated List-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films is part of the Doctor Who serials and episodes series, a former featured topic candidate. Please view its sub-page to see why the nomination failed. Once the objections have been addressed you may resubmit the topic for featured topic status. |
This article is well-sourced, except for the one statement about why Fry didn't complete his script. This needs a source. 23skidoo 23:24, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
I remember hearing about this one, but we should have a source for it as well since it appears to be the only unsourced item left on the list. 23skidoo 12:33, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
Should this be under the Fourth Doctor? Percy Snoodle 11:31, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
I've been looking at the featured list criteria to get an idea of how this article should be improved. I think it falls down in two places: "comprehensiveness" and "not overwhelming table of contents". The BHOTT site lists a huge number of unmade serials that probably don't belong in this article because there's really nothing to say about them; so perhaps we should mark this page as an incomplete list. The TOC at the moment is huge - so perhaps we should consider a custom TOC restricted to the main headings. What do people think? Percy Snoodle 14:13, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
Can we find the one last reference that Cartmel's story was going to be an animal testing one? Percy Snoodle 13:43, 25 April 2007 (UTC)
Hi. Before the 1996 TV movie was given the go ahead there was some talk in DWM of a Doctor Who feature film called 'The Last of the Timelords'. I think this was going to be by someone called Lighthouse productions (?) Does anyone know anything more about this as it would be very interesting, especially in light of the storyline of the new series. Thanks. Rob. ps. sorry I don't know anything about how to use wikipedia properly, but I enjoy reading the articles. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.137.27.164 (talk) 14:34, 1 May 2007 (UTC).
Going by the CD liner notes for The Invasion (and I seem to recall this being picked up on another CD, but I don't have time to find it right now), I thought I remember reading that a final Yeti story, to make a trilogy, had been planned, and that's one reason Prof Travers and Anne were mentioned in The Invasion (which got stretched from 6 to 8 episodes). Can anyone else help? --JohnDBuell 14:24, 13 May 2007 (UTC)
The sentence in the Scratchman section about Tom Baker's attempts to secure funding for the film needs a source. I've marked it accordingly. 23skidoo 22:17, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
It's a commonly known fact that Shada is the only Doctor Who story to be abandoned after filming began. Unfortunately a major failing of Wikipedia is the fact that its "fact" requirements don't make this sort of thing easy to cite. if someone can prove me wrong, I'd love to see it. 23skidoo 03:03, 3 June 2007 (UTC)
I seem to recall reading somewhere that Yellow Fever was originally going to be Peri's farewell story. Anyone have a source that might support this? 23skidoo 17:31, 9 August 2007 (UTC)
Moo. What began as a fix for three citation bugs turned in a full-scale reference cleanup.
What kicked it all of of was the ibid template, which - as a "misplaced" ibid demonstrated - is really not a good idea: The ibid previously at ref #34 was ibid'ing Russell's Inside Story, instead of (what should have been) an ibid for Peel & Nation's The Official Doctor Who & the Daleks Book. -- Fullstop 01:59, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
This might be splitting hairs, but I wonder if the word "unproduced" might be better for the title? Unmade refers to something like an unmade bed i.e. unkempt, plus all the examples listed were in fact "made" to some degree, either as story treatments or even full scripts and novelizations. Would anyone have an objection to moving this article to the namespace "List of unproduced Doctor Who serials and films"? This isn't really a WP:BOLD situation, so I'm willing to wait and see if there's consensus on this, or opposing arguments. 23skidoo (talk) 18:52, 14 January 2008 (UTC)
I guess my only concern is, technically, Shada does not belong under the current title because not only was it in fact partially produced initially, it was later completed not once but twice - as the Tom Baker-hosted video, and later as the webcast. 23skidoo (talk) 16:03, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
I would say put the word Unproduced, because that word is more proper MordantFan (talk) 05:18, 28 July 2020 (UTC)
Are there any reliable sources that talk about this (ie, not tabloids such as The Daily Mirror) that don't reference the Daily Mirror's article. If not, it needs to be removed. \\Aeron\\talk 03:19, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
Is this just a weird way of someone saying it was to be a television movie, or did they mean "direct to video"? I suspect the former but don't know for sure. Binabik80 (talk) 20:55, 14 April 2008 (UTC)
As indicated in numerous places, the 1996 film was a pilot for a new series that Fox decided not to make. I think we should acknowledge this with an Eighth Doctor section. Does "Regeneration" or any other reference books indicate whether any potential storylines or scripts had been created for the aborted McGann series? 23skidoo (talk) 13:45, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
I'm not sure that Fry's slip deserves so much comment, and I don't think it works as a <ref> because it's not a reference. It's a bit of an odd case - it's us making a comment of our own (we don't have a ref. to say he's unclear) but only to say that we don't know what he meant to say. That's why I put in ((sic)) - all we really know is that that's what the reference says he said. Percy Snoodle (talk) 12:41, 6 May 2008 (UTC)
Does anyone have a copy of DWM 255? Apparently it had a feature on the proposed season 27+ stories: (according to this) Percy Snoodle (talk) 09:36, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
Following a request from a friend I invaded my attic yesterday and managed to dig up dusty copies of both "Hollows of Time" and "Pinacotheca". They appear to be complete first (and in this context also last) drafts.
"Hollows" is two eps only, and I thought I must be missing eps 3 and 4, but the W. says it's only a 2-ep story, so perhaps we're OK on that front, and thanks to the W. for that.
But the W. and other WWW sites refer to an alternative title for Pinacotheca as "The Last Adventure".
Does anyone have a citation for this? There is much I don't remember about my season at DW, but I certainly don't remember this story ever having that title.
Bidmead (talk) 06:41, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
Hi. I checked the book and here's what it says on Pg. 211: " "A submission was commissioned from Christopher H. Bidmead on 29 October 1985 under the working title The Last Adventure, although this would later be changed to Pinacotheca." I don't know if you have any contact with the authors David Howe, Mark Stammers or Stephen James Walker but they may be able to provide you with their source. As an aside, it's great to hear from you - I was just watching the Castrovalva and Logopolis DVDs the other day too! 23skidoo (talk) 15:40, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
OK, if there's a print citation I'll defer to that. We can blame the book if it's wrong... :-) It's entirely possible that the totally forgettable title of "The Last Adventure" was attached to the commission (because they had to call it something), and I just totally forgot about it. Bidmead (talk) 20:32, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
Why isn't "K-9 and Company" series not on this list? 70.51.8.158 (talk) 13:50, 19 September 2008 (UTC)
Because this is a list of unmade Doctor Who programs. The K-9 & Company pilot was made, it just wasn't picked up as a series. If you can find any proof that there were unfilmed scripts for the program, they will be the first I've heard of.Wyldstaar (talk) 22:18, 26 May 2009 (UTC)
A Mark Gatiss WWII script was commissioned for series four but not used "The Fires of Pompeii" replaced it in the series (see "The Writer's Tale" by R.T. Davies). There were other scripts that were commissioned and not made. I believe that "Fear Her" replaced another script in series two. Does anyone else have any information? 69.86.255.41 (talk) 01:38, 8 January 2009 (UTC)Taras
I just obtained my copy of this book. There's detail in here about additional First Doctor scripts commissioned but not made. I added Farhi's The Divided to that section and will add additional details on the others (they aren't by Farhi) if there's anything of note in the text. I added the book to the bibliography, but as this is a privately published book, it has no ISBN. 68.146.81.123 (talk) 03:17, 10 December 2009 (UTC)
This section of the article is highly flawed. It treats Dave Owen's What If? article in DWM 255 as gospel when the 27 Up article over the page makes clear distinctions between the fact and the fiction of What If? that have been completely missed here.
For one thing, no-one was being considered to replace Sylvester McCoy. John Nathan-Turner stated in 27 Up that he considered Richard Griffiths for the part of an earlier Doctor but that Griffiths was unavailable. As for Julia Sawalha as the character we now know as Raine, not Kate, that was based on her being invited to audition for the part of Ace as per the words of her then boss Steven Moffat (!) over the page. Griffiths and Sawalha were NEVER approached or considered to replace McCoy and Aldred. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bostart (talk • contribs) 22:37, 23 March 2010 (UTC)
Not only that, but Cartmel actually left Doctor Who before Season 26 had even finished recording. He was offered, and took a job on Casualty. JNT also submitted his resignation. So, there would have been a new Producer, and a new Script Editor. Mccoy has confirmed this in interviews, as well as admitting that the new Production Team would almost certainly want their own Doctor and their own companion(s). Before the new Production Team was officially put together however, Cregeen had other ideas. And even on the Survival DVD extra, Endgame, Aaarnovitch and Cartmel state that what they had were some ideas, and some visual gags, not actual stories. The Atraxi had actually been featured in a stage play, and had failed enormously, prompting the play to be radically altered. In addition, the scenes they described are not only unfunny, but also would have been far beyond the budget for Doctor Who at the time(the so-called spoof of TNG being enormously expensive,as well as being anachronistic. TNG didn't debut on UK tv until 1990). That is of course assuming the new Production Team had any interest in those very rough ideas(not scripts). Aaranovitch was already notorious for not completing his scripts in time, Cartmel had a full-time job on another show, and Platt was already an in-house joke, and only got to submit Ghostlight because Cartmel was Script Editor at the time. Which he wouldn't have been for Season 27. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ohwrotcod (talk • contribs) 09:38, 14 September 2013 (UTC)
Hasselhoff quits Doctor Who film How come this isn't covered in the article? I remembered there was an article on it in SFX.--DrWho42 (talk) 01:45, 17 September 2010 (UTC)
There is absolutely no evidence to back up the claim that The Chase was to have been the subject of a third Subotsky movie. Amicus didn't make their third movie bid until the mid 1980s. Richard Bignell 25 September 2010 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.34.76.249 (talk) 18:20, 25 September 2010 (UTC)
The Alan Wakeman link (which is an internal wikipedia link) appears to be to the wrong subject. There's no mention on the Wakeman page of him being a writer in any capacity, never mind a tv script writer. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.166.6.232 (talk) 10:06, 8 September 2012 (UTC)
The Space Sargasso and Valley of Shadows summaries both cite Sullivan (2006g) using identical statements of when and why each story was rejected. This could indicate an error of boilerplated text: i.e., that one or both may be in error. Are there any sources that corroborate Sullivan independently? Memetics (talk) 11:14, 16 September 2013 (UTC)
On 28 December 1983, Martin sent into the production office a three-page document outlining three ideas. Saward sent a memo to Nathan-Turner saying that the outlines were too brief to give any indication as to who they would work and that he found them uninspiring. By Richard Bignell 26 November 2013
Although I understand that all work here must be properly sourced, the "Lost in the Dark Dimension" section contains so many references that it becomes extremely unpleasant to read. Would there perhaps be a way to reduce that number of references? Supertanno (talk) 14:14, 30 March 2014 (UTC)
Having just watched the extra feature on the new Inferno DVD about DW in the 90s, I was gobsmacked to hear about the independent series that was not only proposed in the early 90s but actually had a couple of episodes made (and then destroyed). Is there any other information about this? I see no mention of it here. Has Doctor Who Magazine talked about it at all?--Tuzapicabit (talk) 09:53, 24 April 2014 (UTC)
Take a look at http://www.endofthelane.co.uk/burton.html, which should help explain the situation! Richard Bignell 25 April 2014 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 20.133.0.13 (talk) 10:43, 25 April 2014 (UTC)
It's worth noting that a)that almost certainly won't pass as a reliable source for Wikipedia. b)There are reliable sources speaking of the Burton project. c)The article itself mentions the 'cancellation' of 1989, which is a fan myth. d)It was for a documentary on a 2Entertain DVD, which are themselves notorious for factual errors e)Just because one person couldn't track down certain details doesn't mean they don't exist. As noted there are reliable sources pointing to the Burton project. And since Bignell was coming to this with a preconceived idea, his 'findings' were predtermined.
But really, all one needs is reliable sources(and endofthelane isn't a reliable source) mentioning the project. Louis F Barfe (talk) 05:01, 7 September 2014 (UTC)
Just a few comments on the above. B) If there are any "reliable" sources for Burton's story, then do please cite them. Other than Burton himself, no one else he's mentioned over the years backs up his story. C) The "cancellation" in 1989 isn't a myth and there's plenty of evidence to show that's precisely what the BBC were doing, even if they weren't saying so publicly at the time. And finally, I wasn't coming to it with any preconceived idea and indeed I state in the article that I'd love the story to be true. As a historical researcher, I've looked at all the available evidence impartially, have done several months worth of work of my own contacting people and looking at records, and have come to a personal conclusion. ~~Richard Bignell. 23 October 2014~~ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.185.157.3 (talk) 12:13, 23 October 2014 (UTC)
Ian Levine posted a message on Gallifrey Base, as well as on his Facebook page about the usual revisionist nonsense concerning the originally-planned Season 23. Here it is:
Doctor Who - THE ABORTED SEASON 23 - THE TRUE FACTS.
March 19, 2015 at 1:24am
SOMEONE NEEDS TO FINALLY SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT. HERE IS MY LETTER ABOUT IT TO GALLIFREY BASE.
I absolutely HAVE to wade in here and put the record straight. During this period, I was around JNT and Eric almost every day, and I knew absolutely everything to do with the production at that time, including who was writing what. The DVD documentary about the aborted season 23 is flawed in the extreme, and nobody ever talked to me, the one and only person who knew what all six stories were. Eric has a memory like a sieve, and remembers nothing of that period, but I have a photographic memory, which mercifully was not affected by my stroke, and it still pains me to read such inaccuracies. The six stories of season 23 were as follows...
THE NIGHTMARE FAIR
THE ULTIMATE EVIL
MISSION TO MAGNUS
YELLOW FEVER
THE HOLLOWS OF TIME
GALLIFREY
There is no doubt about the accuracy of this. Eric was writing Gallifrey. After the cancellation, JNT and Eric had a furious row because John wanted to carry on with the same scripts. Eric said that it needed a new fresh approach so he refused to complete Gallifrey. In a classic fit of pique, John commissioned Pip and Jane Baker to write it to Eric's storyline. After one week, Eric made such an almighty stink that the commission was withdrawn, but I believe the stigma of this action led to Eric's finally walking out a year later. Eric finds this period so painful he has forgotten half of what happened, but Bob Holmes had offered the guidance of a mentor to Eric to write a story about con men, deposed Presidents, and sleeper agents with a hint of The Manchurian Candidate thrown in. Eric discussed the entire plot with me prior to the cancellation, but it never made it past the original story ideas as it would have been the last of the six stories to go into production, but Julian Glover was considered as the machiavellian arch villain President. The Children Of January was a spare script and would only ever have made it to season 24, if ever used at all. Eric hated it. As for Yellow Fever, I had a photocopy of the original scene breakdown of all three episodes, given to me by Eric. Indeed at one point Eric was hired to write it for the Doctor WHO book range, and got paid an advance, which he later returned. The Rani was never to be in this story. Kate O'Mara was still doing Dynasty, and there was no mention of her in the story breakdown. This was a story about The Master, The Brigadier, UNIT, and Benton. The first half was set in London, with an Auton Prime Minister, the second half in Singapore. It would have been wonderful, especially with Graeme Harper directing.
I am really sick and tired of people spouting fantasy mistruths about this cancelled season. I always regretted its loss,down to being JNT's mouthpiece to Charles Catchpole of The Sun, and the dreaded Doctor In Distress, and I reconstructed three of the missing stories myself on audio, and did detailed visual recons on DVD of all six stories, with Nicola Bryant, Julian Glover, Milton Johns, Jon Levene, Waris Hussein, John Leeson, Nigel Plaskitt, Ian Fairbairn, and many many more. I am incredibly proud of them. Both Yellow Fever and Gallifrey were totally faithful to the original storylines.
I can 100% assure you all, no matter what anyone says to the contrary, that Gallifrey WAS to be the sixth story of that aborted season. And Yellow Fever's tag "And How To Cure It", was a Bob Holmes joke and never seriously intended to be a part of the title. That imagined cover featuring The Rani is just plain WRONG on so so many levels.
He also makes some Comments below:
So there you go, the REAL originally-planned Season 23.
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to one external link on List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add ((cbignore))
after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add ((nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot))
to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ((Sourcecheck))
).
This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template ((source check))
(last update: 18 January 2022).
Cheers.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 10:50, 1 March 2016 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template ((source check))
(last update: 18 January 2022).
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 16:59, 19 May 2017 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 2 external links on List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template ((source check))
(last update: 18 January 2022).
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 23:57, 23 May 2017 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 2 external links on List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template ((source check))
(last update: 18 January 2022).
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 23:17, 6 October 2017 (UTC)
I think there is a lot more about Callan’s abandoned two-parter: The story would be the Doctor and Peri landing on a desert planet that is conquered from an unmerciful race called The Z’ros (Callan refereed as “human bees”- no more as considered as an alien). Peri complains that the planet they are on is no fun for her, and the Doctor tries to take Peri somewhere else, but the Z’ros army caught them and their leader would try to execute them. Luckily, “The Children of January”- renegade outcasts-the outcast leader tells the Z’ros leader to spare their lives. The Doctor then tells Peri to stay in the TARDIS. The Doctor is then having a discussion with outcast leader about why “The Children of January” themselves hate the Z’ros. The leader explains that the planet was getting dry with little water, the Z’ros plan on taking the as a mega empire and their leader plans on killing the outcast villagers. In the TARDIS, Peri is wondering where the Doctor is now. Unexpectedly, the TARDIS is attacked by a Z’ros laser cannon. The Doctor tries to negotiate with the Z’ros to stop destroying his ship, but the Z’ros leader forces the Doctor to surrender. He quickly fleas to the ship. The Doctor and Peri plan on exploding the Z’ros ship, and they did. After evacuating, The Doctor tells the Z’ros leader to make peace with “the Children of January”. The Doctor and Peri then continue their travels in time and space. WhoCrusader (talk) 15:02, 8 April 2020 (UTC)
The story was actually part of the Season 23 canon as considered for most research and fandom MordantFan (talk) 05:25, 28 July 2020 (UTC)
Here’s one: Michael Feeney Callan MordantFan (talk) 20:24, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
The notion that there was to be a third Cushing film based on The Chase is incorrect. Daleks vs Mechons was a fan-made film trailer for a fictional third film by Andrew Orton that has been up on YouTube since 2010. Doctor Who Magazine 461, as referenced in the Wiki section, makes no reference whatsoever to a third Cushing film. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.197.164.236 (talk) 14:07, 18 October 2020 (UTC)
There was no enquiry by Disney into the possibility of adapting Marco Polo into a feature film. This a misreading of a BBC memo relating to an enquiry from a children's publication that used to adapt Disney films (both animation and live action) into comic strip versions, published in full each issue. There was a brief query made as to whether Marco Polo could also be adapated for the publication, but this came to nothing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.197.164.236 (talk) 14:13, 18 October 2020 (UTC)
The indication that The Haunting's subject matter was vampires and that Terrance Dicks reused some of the material when he later wrote The Vampire Mutation has no basis in fact. Terrance Dicks freely admitted that he had absolutely no memory of submitting The Haunting back in 1974 or what it was about. The suggestion that had any connection with vampires is pure supposition. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.196.85.92 (talk) 16:07, 25 March 2021 (UTC)
If the references make sense to anyone, could they be clarified for the rest of us. Especially the Doctor Who Magazine sources, are they volumes or issues? User-duck (talk) 07:45, 30 January 2022 (UTC)