Welcome back to the WIDWWA Magazine. Now, as you'll see on the next page, the format is slightly different this month and will continue to be going forward. I'm proud to say that WIDWWA can evolve and change based on fan criticism and we've done just that. Hopefully, this will make the whole experience a lot more manageable for everyone.
Now this month is the one many of you have been waiting for... it's finally time for WIDWWA's BBC Centenary Special, or more accurately... the Centenary Episode, as this isn't actually a special, but an extended episode of the main series! It's also called the Restoration, something many of you have been agonising about for a year-and-a-half now, and finally in this issue, you'll be put out of your misery. Will you be disappointed?
Maybe... maybe not? You're Doctor Who fans so it is to be expected after all. Before anyone asks, yes
there is one glaring plot hole in The Restoration. I am very aware of it and it was in fact totally intentional. Inspired by some of the work of Chris Chibnall in our universe, this episode adds it's own spout of TARDIS confusion... well things can't be perfect can they? Jane Espenson has to mess up somewhere!
We've also got a contribution once again from Jack Murray-Bell, who takes a
look at Doctor Who: Genesis, and a new fan-submitted contribution from Connor Parsonage talking about the Renwick Era. If you'd like to submit an article, please do so to widwwa1989@ gmail.com, and maybe it'll be in here this time next month!
So please enjoy this issue and don't forget to feedback using the WIDWWA Views form on widwwa.co.uk!
WIDWWA
Asyou might have seen on either the WIDWWA Discord or on the DDWF YouTube Channel, it's been announced that the format of the WIDWWA Magazine is changing slightly. This is due to both a number of people expressing the view that the WIDWWA Magazine/Podcast were just too long, to consume in one chunk, and because we memorably fell into issues with Issuu's 50-page limit, last month.
The solution we now have means the release of two different Magazines a month. The first is this Magazine, which comes at the end of the month, as usual, and features everything you'd normally expect, apart from the WIDWWA Rewind feature. That's because the WIDWWA Rewind will be released as it's own separate Magazine issue, two-to-three weeks later, in the middle of the following month. So expect to read Rewind to 1991 in a few weeks instead of today!
As far as the podcast goes, things are being split up a little further. The main episode of the podcast will stay mostly the same, except there will be no WIDWWA Rewind, as that'll be it's own separate podcast, a few weeks later,
Whilethe trailer for Doctor Who: The New Renegade Season 3 would've come out (in-universe) on 3 October, and the teaser "coming soon" trailer for the remainder of Doctor Who Season 56 would've aired following The Restoration on 23 October, you'll have to wait a little bit longer to see these trailers.
The trailers will be released, in the ususal WIDWWA style, containing text describing what is being shown on screen, in the days following the release of the Rewind to 1991 Magazine. This is so that enough time has passed for the fandom to process both issues of the Magazine, before looking ahead to the future.
So look forward to these two trailers later on in May!
like the Magazine, and additionally, all lengthy in-depth features will be taken out of the main podcast episode and released over the following few days as their own WIDWWA Podcast Bonus episodes. This will allow the Podcast to be a lot easier to listen to, avoiding runtimes of over 2-hours as we had last month.
As a result, to make it very clear what's in each issue of this magazine, a white banner has been added to the bottom of each issue to describe exactly what period of time it covers, in-universe.
WIDWWA
TheWIDWWA Wiki has a new Wiki Admin!
Well technically it's an old one, as former Wiki Admin, Robert Morrison has returned to that role. He now has the majority oversight over everything on the wiki. Any questions relating to it, please direct them toward him.
Previously, the role was undertaken in an acting capacity by Benjamin Windibank.
WIDWWA
With the conclusion of Adventures: Series 4. I have to say that while some episodes such as "Murder on the Dancefloor", "Victory of the Sontarans" and "The First Adventure". I have to say that I think it was a mistake to divide up Series 3 and 4 and I
am happy that it is being rectified with Series 5 airing all 20 episodes in one block.
I also wish to add on that, as a canon weirdo, I do not understand how the Doctor was able to be shrunken by the Master's tissue compressor and survive it. I know Adventures is a show mainly at kids and I can see the appeal of seeing a small Doctor running around messing with the Daleks and the Master. But I wished they made this happen
within a canonical reason. Also, compared to other finales of recent. "The Abomination" feels underwhelming compared to the likes of "The Godless Universe", "The Fall of Mondas", "Kämpa för Tiden" or even "Journey into the Unknown". I hope that Phil Ford and the writers room for Adventures can make a u-turn going forward and make Series 5 it's best as it can be.
Joseph widwwa.co.ukLast night, I had a fascinating dream that someone in the WIDWWA community had made a full AI-generated version of Blood and Iron. I was watching a computer-generated Sylvester McCoy, Julia Sawalha and John Banks performing in an AI production that looked and felt exactly like a real Doctor Who episode would have done in 1990. Whilst this may be a bit far-fetched for today’s technology (for now at least), it’s got me thinking about applications that AI could have in WIDWWA that would transform the face of the project. For example, it could be used to create episode stills and behind-the-scenes photos that just aren’t possible with the current Photoshop-style approach. I mean, Ben’s already using AI voice clones to have AI versions of himself, Matt, Sylvester McCoy and Richard Griffiths narrate the WIDWWA podcast, so why not take it a step further? I’d be interested to hear what Ben and
his team think of this. That's a very nice dream, however, there's still a tonne of work to go in order to get AI up to the quality that would be needed to achieve the things you are suggesting. Even the AI voice-overs are far from perfect, and would not be fit for use in a dramatic context.
Chelle widwwa.co.uk
I just wanted to express my admiration for Blood and Iron. I had never really considered this story actually being good but I really enjoyed it. Season 27 got off to a rocky start but the end was very good indeed. Well done, Andrew Cartmel!
John widwwa.co.uk
I've just seen your YouTube video about the new format for the Magazine and Podcast. I am a big fan of this approach and I thank you for listening to my criticisms last month. I look forward to
enjoying WIDWWA in a slightly more managable format going forward.
Thomas Email
I think that you should make the Seventeenth Doctor Imelda Staunton. It is a shame that you passed her up for the role in the past and I think that you should go and use her now. It would be a real shame not to.
Jack Email
Will you be doing an article on Doctor Who's relationship with the BBC to celebrate the BBC Centenary this month?
While I did consider this, Jack, I decided against it as much of this sort of thing, in the real world, has been covered far better than I can do it and in the WIDWWA Universe, that sort of info is still to come in WIDWWA Rewind! We do a lot of deep dives into BBC History, so look forward to that!
SVT have announced that Doctor Who's Swedish adaptation, Mysteriet Doktorn, will be returning in March 2023 for its third and final season. The series will star Moa Gammel, Hans Mosesson and Sofia Helin, running, once again, for a 10-episode season. Hans Rosenfeldt will also continue in post as Showrunner.
The decision to end the show came about because SVT decided that it's characters and storylines had run their course and that things have ended perfectly naturally with Season 3. They have also stated that the decision has nothing to do with Doctor Who now being easily accesible on streaming plaforms in Sweden, and is instead to do with the show ending on a high, complete with no need for further stories.
WIDWWA
Moore, the BBC's Chief Content Officer, has revealed the BBC's formative pland for the 60th Anniversary Celebrations. Codenamed "Doctor Who 60", the celebrations include a number of orig-
inal documentaries to celebrate the occasion and the television broadcast of all seven Doctor Who movies and a repeat of The Restoration.
The 60th Anniversary is still a year away, so many of these plans can change, over the next 12 months.
WIDWWA
Chan, Doctor Who's Executive Supervisor of Distribution, will be moving on from the franchise in the new year.
She has been offered a job that she couldn't refuse at NBCUniversal as their head of Global Advertising.
Prior to this, she had spent 15 years working at the BBC, becoming a heavy-weight in BBC Studios, before Mal Young hired her to help him "save Doctor Who" in Summer 2020.
Mal Young has shown dissapointment at Chan's decision to leave but has wished her well
in her new position at NBCUniversal.
A successor is likely to be announced before the new year, perhaps at ODWC?
WIDWWA
READ EVERY ISSUE OF THE WIDWWA MAGAZINE AND THE WIDWWA NEWSLETTER ON ISSUU
AVALIABLE tO ORDER iN pRiNt AT WiDWWA.CO.UK
WHAT IF DOCTOR WHO WASN'T AXED? tHE MAGAZINE - tHE pODCASt
ALL EpiSODES AVALiABLE tO LiStEN tO ON tHE DDWF yOUTUbE CHANNEL AS wELL AS wHEREVER yOU GEt yOUR pODCASTS
The Official Doctor Who Convention returns for its tenth edition on 25 November 2022. This year it travels to Sydney, for the second time, following the Sydney 2015 edition, however the convention finds itself at an all-new venue, this time, the
International Convention Centre! Like previous two years, the entire convention will be live-streamed on the Official Doctor Who YouTube Channel, starting at 9am in Sydney (1am in the UK/6pm in the US) and concluding at 8pm in Sydney (12pm in the UK/5am in
the US). Due to the timezones differences, obviously, many big announcements will take place in the middle of the night for British and American fans. However, the whole convention livestreams will be available on demand, afterward.
WIDWWA SATURDAY
1 OCT
Pitiless war machines committed to universal conquest, the Daleks have terrified and enthralled Doctor Who fans for generations. Collected together for the first time, Panini Comics proudly presents the first volume of Dalek stories taken from Doctor Who Magazine's 40 years of award-winning comic strip.
This book is the first in a two-part collection of Doctor Who Magazine Comic Strips, featuring the Daleks, from over the years. Inside it features the stories: The Return of the Daleks, Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer, Star Tigers, Doctor Who and the Dogs of Doom, Nemesis of the Daleks & Metamorphosis.
6 OCT
BBC Audio continue their monthly releases with Doctor Who and the Nightmare of Eden & The Code of Flesh, both read by Dan Starkey.
The difference, here, compared to previously releases is that The Code of Flesh is an original audiobook release, by BBC Audio, featuring the Fourteenth Doctor. It's set in 1890s Cardiff and was written by Andrew Lane. While not the first BBC Audio original release, this was the first release since early 2022. Doctor Who and the Nightmare of Eden was, by contrast, just an audio book reading of the Target novelisation by Terrance Dicks.
Tomb of the Cybermen proves to be one of the most faithfully adapted stories in Through Time And Space so far, as thanks to the two part length and the quality pacing of the source material, almost no cuts needed to be made. In fact, something was added; some archive footage from the Cold Front episode Invasion, to illustrate Cyber-Controller’s recap. The character of Toberman is kept, now revealed by his ‘employers’ to be human-Tyeran hybrid, but Pola sees it as no excuse for his treatment and almost erupts at them, before the Doktor calms the situation down and points out to her that this won’t help him, as they’re outnumbered – for now, best they can do is keep an eye on these people and make
sure they don’t put Cybermen technology to bad use. The elements related to Victoria, including Doctor’s famous talk about his family, are dropped due to being completely irrelevant for Pola; instead, she contemplates, on Toberman’s example, how hard it can be sometimes to help an individual. Of course, she ultimately fails to do so, as Toberman sacrifices himself, and comes back to present day in bitter mood.
Emma is then revealed to have spent the entire story helping to distribute the cure
on one of the planets hit by Dalek plague from last episode. Doktor goes back and forth between companions, picking up Pola whenever she’s available and spending the rest of time with Emma, but Pola is not aware of that.
WIDWWA
For the replacement Mnich story, Szafrański went outside the box and decided to adapt Cold Front episode, Timeless. And so, Doktor and Emma team up with Irena to try and neutralize Mnich, going from 1914 to the VIIth century to 70 C.E. Due to unavailability
of necessary resources, XVIIth century and the beginning of African slave trade is replaced with the court of Justinian II of Byzantium and the beginning of Slavic slave trade, but Mnich’s silly plan remains unchanged. Thanks to absence of Pola, there’s no need to bring up Pol-
ish perspective on these events and the story can focus on rumifications for larger history. In the end, Mnich is successfully captured and handed to Irena, while Doktor discusses their experiences with Emma, who seems rather unfazed by the fate of Pompeii; sure, it’s a trag-
edy, but it’s a natural disaster, they just happen sometimes… This is where Pola sees them.
Pola spent the episode observing the ordinary life in Warsaw, wondering how to recognize the person who needs her help – we got several short glimpses of that throughout the episode. Clearly something is bothering her and she waited for The Doktor to talk about it with her – only to find her with Emma, of all people. A pretty bad argument erupts, regarding who The Doktor is allowed to see, who treats who as a toy and Emma’s moral values. When Pola calls Emma “a brat with no compassion or humility”,
Doktor loses her temper and exclaims that that’s very interesting, because this is exactly what she thought Pola is when they first met. This does it; Pola turns back and walks away in tears, telling the Doktor to leave her alone.
As the night comes, she still walks through Warsaw, thinking about The Doktor’s last words, when something hits her head from the back. Cut
to black and the laugh – Rafał Rutkowski’s laugh, Mara’s laugh.
WIDWWA
Westart with cold open of someone making their way through Manussa, with some people trying to stop them, but tremble in fear right after. The figure forces the royal family to hand over The Great Crystal and is then revealed to be Pola, who laughs menacingly. Cut to credits.
Emma wakes up aboard the TARDIS in cold sweat. As later in console room the Doktor tries to get to the bottom of her bad mood, they get the call from Krystian, who informs them that Pola’s gone missing. She didn’t come back home after last episode and was last seen in… Jednostka’s HQ, which she stole the teleporter from after being let inside by trustful Sergeant Wichura. The TARDIS tracks Pola down,
bringing Doktor and Emma to a grim cosmic fortress, where Pola, or rather The Mara, is using the Great Crystal to forge a starfleet, capable of conquering the entire galaxy. The Mara laughs off the Doktor’s attempt to subdue her the same way they did in Cave of the Snakes and explains that as long as fear and hate will exist, they’ll be there to feed on them. When Pola was at her weakest, some silly brute tried to take advantage of that… and it was just the opportunity the Mara needed. They took over and saved Pola’s skin, now in return Pola helps them to terrorize the whole universe. The Doktor is helpless to stop it – last time he managed to do that because Pola trusted him, now she doesn’t. The TARDIS crew is forced to escape,
empty handed, and looking for help against The Mara, arrives at Deva Loca.
There, they find out that the only one who can really cast The Mara out of Pola is… Pola, with her own willpower. But her mind is now asleep, and someone needs to embark on telepathic journey to find it and wake it up. With the help of Kinda, Doktor finds Pola’s mind, but can’t reach it – The Mara prepared for that and used Pola’s feelings of betrayal to create a mental wall, locking out everyone that Pola can trust. This means that only Emma can enter, since Pola can’t trust her and thus The Mara doesn’t see her as a threat. After some convincing from the Doktor, including a brief retrospective on Pola’s
growth through the series, Emma agrees to help. Through the second act, we see Emma making her way through Land of Dreams and Nightmares with force and hiding – mostly with hiding, as she encounters several villains from past TT&S episodes and weird imagery. Eventually, she finds Pola inside a cage, but locked from the inside. Pola refuses to leave, thinking that Emma is just another one of her nightmares. This leads to the tough conversation between companions, as Emma wants to know what’s Pola’s issue with her, to which Pola projects out of her mind (which one can do in this realm) what she saw on Rosadyne – Emma scolding and belittling an Aarchnaught worker just trying to do their job. Emma doesn’t see the problem – he wasn’t willing to stand up for his own rights alongside them, clearly he needed a cold shower. Pola explodes – that’s her excuse for bullying?! This guy was probably just doing what he thought was best to protect his family, but it didn’t occur to Emma for a second that someone can see things differently than her and
saviour of the universe –who cares at what cost. How many lives will be broken, families torn apart by her hollow crusade? Pola almost lost her family, her cousin, but does Emma have any idea how it feels?
Surprising ly, Emma does. She projects her own nightmare; six year old her being re strained, while her mother and sister are
dragged away onto a spaceship. Her mother made her father look bad or something, and so the court banished her. They split the children like a property; Emma for the father, Gaja for the mother. Cause that was “fair”. Maybe Emma doesn’t have compassion, but she knows how it feels to be stripped of agency, treated as someone’s personal benefit. And she will not rest until no one in the universe has to know that feeling. Oh, and what happened to her family? Her mother soon after was reported dead; Gaja disappeared without a trace. Neither she nor her father managed to locate her, and their connections encompass the whole Human Empire. But Emma knows that Gaja’s alive somewhere; that’s why she wanted to go with The Doktor. She hopes to find her sister, something that is missing in her life.
While this mellows Pola up and makes her admit that perhaps she was too harsh on Emma, she still refuses to get out of the cage; she’s a monster, she just ruins everyone’s life: Antodus’s, Toberman’s, Doktor’s, and now she also brought The Mara back. The world’s better off without her. Emma states that The Doktor doesn’t believe that and gives Pola the letter from her, which projects the flashback of Pola pleading the Doktor for help in The Zygons – the moment he saw that there’s more to her than meets the eye, and she kept confirming that ever since. Pola is comforted by this and finally leaves the cage – in real world, this results in Pola’s body rejecting The Mara, who materializes separately in the form of Rafał Rutkowski. The two fight over The Great Crystal, with Pola calling for and getting telepathic help from all her friends,
which lets her get the upper hand. She summons a circle of mirrors, which banishes Mara back to the world of nightmares – where Kinda will once again keep her in check. Then she undoes the fortress and, with Doktor’s help, throws The Great Crystal into supernova, so it can never threaten anyone again.
After this experience, Doktor and Pola make their amends, and Pola gives Emma her blessing to travel with the Doktor – but not with her, she’s not there yet.
WIDWWADoctor Who provides opportunity to do anything, and Tomasz Szafrański wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t take advantage of that. Thus, in this little pet project of his, he tries his hand at noir crime thriller by adapting The Phantom Doctor. The episode’s in colour, but still provides plenty of play with tropes, as Doktor and Emma take the roles of detectives in post-war UK – in accordance with TVN’s guidelines to go beyond Poland. The story however has been
slimmed down to 45 minutes by cutting some subplots and unnecessary Zenla/ Chris content, as this time the Doktor has only one companion at his disposal. Aside from that, the story sticks rather close to its source material.
WIDWWA
DOCTOR WHO'S LONG ANTICIPATED BBC CENtENARY EpISODE HAS ARRIVED!
The Restoration was the seventh episode of Season 56, the second serial of the season, and acted as Doctor Who’s way of celebrating 100 Years of the BBC and was a 90-minute feature length episode. It was also Jane Espenson’s send-off for Doctor Who, as while she still had a year to go as Executive Supervisor of Television, this was the end of the road for her creative influence, having penned this story. The BBC wanted something big and
that’s what Jane Espenson gave them. She managed to team up three Doctors, a bunch of popular companions, and bring in the Cybermen and Time Lords. She knew that, on a TV budget, there was hardly anything bigger that could be done.
Production wise, most of the episode was shot in Canada at CBS Stages Canada, during the second block of The Daleks’ Master Plan. This allowed for much of the scenes to be shot on the AR Wall adding to the scope of the episode. It also
allowed director Rachel Talalay to utilise the Eleventh Doctor’s TARDIS set which stood at CBS Stages Canada. Due to the fact that the Fourteenth Doctor’s TARDIS had been drastically altered by the team at Doctor Who Weekly, for their set, having been fitted with LED screens etc, Talalay decided to recreate the Fourteenth Doctor’s TARDIS on the AR Wall, with the original console prop being shipped over and placed in the middle. Shooting on the Sixteenth Doctor’s set
happened at a later date at BBC Scotland.
Ruth Barret, who composed the score for the last few seasons of Doctor Who,
returned for this episode, after Bear McCreary composed The Daleks’ Master Plan. The title sequence remained the same as Season 55, with the exception
of Samantha Bond and Anthony Head’s names being added in after Ace Bhatti’s.
WIDWWA
TheFourteenth Doctor wakes up, with a gasp, in the midst of snow. She breathes in and out and looks around confused. She checks her body and she’s that it’s normal, she’s just wearing her normal clothes… she pauses and checks her head… just her hair. She begins walking through the snow and in the distance she sees the TARDIS. Her TARDIS. She takes out her key and steps inside. She walks over to the console and begins to set a course, but then a flash of memory… her dying, her turning into a Cyberman. She stumbles as it comes back to her. She then looks at her reflection and is so confused. Decisively, she hits several control panels, in rapid succession, and takes a look at several readings on the monitors. She then says: “Something grave has happened to the universe…”
Andark stands on a platform overlooking the Citadel on Gallifrey. The whole planet still glows blue with ascension, but it’s full of both Time Lords and Vex, having been revived by the Restoration. Andark takes out a pair of high-tech binoculars and sees in the distance… a body. The body of the Eleventh Doctor.
The Eleventh Doctor wakes up, like the Fourteenth did, with a gasp. He looks around, sees Ascended Gallifrey and he’s entirely confused… He
checks his watch and says out loud that he seems to have travelled several centuries into the future rather than have regenerated. He gets up and begins walking toward the citadel, continuing to speak to himself, speculating that a freak time anomaly saved his life, at the last moment, and took him out of the Master’s reach. He then gets to the entrance of the Citadel, where Andark stands… The Doctor compliments Andark on lasting so long without regenerating, but Andark just blankly tells him that something has gone very wrong with the universe and both of them should be dead.
The Sixteenth Doctor stares into the central column in his TARDIS. He looks into it with a look of absolute rage. He stares and stares as flashbacks to Sara Kingdom’s death, and the Restoration taking place, are reflected in the column. He is then suddenly snapped out of it when the TARDIS phone rings. He looks confused and remarks that no-one has rung that phone in a long time. He then answers it to hear the voice of Sally Brennen, who says: “Doctor, where are you? What’s happened to the Master and the
The Doctor gulps before telling Sally that it’s a long story. Sally says something about him “not being the Doctor” before she is hung up on and the Doctor sets the TARDIS into flight.
The TARDIS lands in front of Sally and Pete, standing on 41st Century Earth, looking incredibly confused. The door of the TARDIS swings open and Sally takes a step back, saying “you’re not the Doctor”. Pete explains to her that he thinks the Doctor has regenerated but that he didn’t know “she” could become a “he”. The Doctor makes a joke about it to which Sally is, again, unimpressed. She says that he’s nothing like the Doctor and asks how he can be the same person when his personality isn’t even the same. The Doctor puts his hands on her shoulders, looks into her eyes, and tells her that he’s really the Doctor and she has to trust him. Sally looks at
him and then after a pause says “Okay”. They then enter the TARDIS and Pete comments that the Doctor has redecorated and that he doesn’t like it. The Doctor then changes the subject and gives the two of them a brief overview of the Restoration. Sally and Pete are both horrified and shocked as they begin to remember their deaths, they begin to remember living through it and then they remember the feeling of being restored. They’re both very adamant that it’s unnatural and it shouldn’t be. The Doctor then points to the scanner as it flickers to a protest on Earth… he tells them that they’re not the only ones who think that.
In the midst of the protest, which sees placards reading “No Zombies” and “The Dead Should Stay Dead” etc…, Lou Madison, dressed in 16th Century clothing, stumbles through the street. Some of the protestors hassle her, some even spit, as she tries to make her way to a backstreet for safety. She then comes to an abandoned house and enters. Inside the house are a group of about a dozen people, all dressed in different period Earth clothing. Lou tells them that it’s as bad as they thought and if they’re not careful, they are going to become dead once again, very soon. One of them asks if it’s even possible for them to die and Lou says that it very much is, as she’s just seen one of the restored stoned to death in the protest. They all look terrified and Lou tells them that it’s best that they get out of their clothes and into something more 41st Century, otherwise they’re not going to survive.
On Gallifrey, the Eleventh Doctor and Andark meet in the Lord President’s office. Andark briefs him on the overall situation and the events of Panopticon that led to Gallifrey becoming ascended. The Doctor asks who’s the primary authority on Gallifrey now. Andark explains that their ancestors opened diplomatic relations with the Vex, a few hundred years ago, but that they’re far away from and they hold no official power on the planet. Then Andark says that unless there are any protests from other resurrected Presidents, the Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey clearly states that the honour of Lord President falls back to him, the Doctor. The Doctor then looks at Andark and says that he has just one order to begin with… and that is to find Sandra Armstrong.
A figure stands in a crowded refugee camp on Bellons… she slowly pulls down the hood on the rags she’s wearing… It's Sandra Armstrong. She slowly walks through the camp before approaching a makeshift food stall. She asks for “whatever’s the cheapest '' and is handed a bowl of gruel. She begins to eat it, as she thinks about her death, and flashbacks to it… Then out of nowhere, a sonic boom, as a spaceship enters the atmosphere. A Cybership.
In orbit of Bellons there’s a fleet of Cyberships. In the mothership, the Cyber-Controller sits on a huge throne. He proclaims that the Cybermen will take advantage of the opportunity to rid the universe of pain and now that everyone has been restored, they will make sure they stay that way… forever!
The Fourteenth Doctor’s TARDIS lands on Earth. She steps
out into the middle of a protest with a device that she’s cobbled together. She looks at it as readings come in and continues moving around the street. One person hassles her and tells her that they don’t want “her kind” there but the Doctor uses humour to get him to back off before continuing with what she was doing.
Back in the abandoned house, Lou speaks to the others, now all dressed in 41st Century clothing. She tells them that she knows someone who can fix this, a man named the Doctor. She says that they just need to find him. They ask Lou if he’ll really be able to help and she says that she’d trust him with her life… and in fact, she did. One of them says that she died though and Lou awkwardly jokes that “everyone is allowed an off day”... people look confused before Lou adds “I’m from the year 2000, it’s our sense of humour”.
The Eleventh Doctor enters his TARDIS, wearing his Doctor Who: The New Renegade costume, having changed into it, between scenes. He punches in some coordinates and then dematerialises the TARDIS.
On Bellons, the Cybermen invade the planet and begin to convert hundreds of Bellonsions into Cybermen. They soon take hold of a large building and convert it into a Cyber Factory. Inside the refugee camp, Sandra hides from the Cybermen, as they convert everyone in sight. Sandra then turns around… to be faced with a Cybermen. The Cybermen tries to grab her to insert Cybermites into her skin, but Sandra dodges it’s hand and then tells the Cyberman to wait, and that he should scan her first. The Cyberman does so and says that
it detects Artron Energy and that she will be taken to the Cyber Controller. Sandra breathes a sigh of relief as the Cyberman grabs her and loads her onto a shuttle.
Inside the Sixteenth Doctor’s TARDIS, he continues to speak to Pete and Sally. The Doctor tells them that he thinks the key to solving everything is in the information they already have. He explains what he knows and recounts the events of Journey into the Unknown. Pete then tells him that if he saw himself on Gallifrey, then that’s the obvious place to go. The Doctor agrees but tells them that it’ll take a lot of courage for him to go back there. Sally puts her hand on his shoulder and tells him that they’re with him every step of the way.
The protest on Earth continues as the Fourteenth Doctor and, separately, Lou move through the crowd. However, it begins becoming violent as the protestors turn into rioters. Suddenly, the Doctor is grabbed by one of them and the rioters begin to attack her. However, Lou and the others interject and manage to grab the Doctor and bring her to safety. Once out of the way, the Doctor turns to thank her rescuers and sees Lou. She’s shocked and says “Lou Madison. Oh dear, sweet Lou”. Lou is confused but then it clicks with her. She says that only one person ever called her “Dear, sweet Lou” and then smiles and says “It’s you Doctor. Somehow it’s you”. They then hug and the Doctor and Lou share the information that they understand so far.
The Eleventh Doctor’s TARDIS lands in the orbit of Bellons. He turns on the scanner and sees the fleet of Cyberships around the planet. He mutters
“sorry Sandra, you’ll have to wait” and then materialises the TARDIS on the Cyber Mothership. He steps out into an empty corridor, before hiding, when a group of Cybermen march toward him… and then, to his surprise, he sees that they’re transporting a prisoner… Sandra Armstrong.
On Gallifrey, the Sixteenth Doctor’s TARDIS materialises. The Doctor, Sally and Pete step out to see Andark waiting for them. Andark remarks that it’s curious that the TARDIS shields weren’t raised, approaching Gallifrey. The Doctor thanks Andark for reminding him, saying that he hasn’t been there for a long time and forgot. Andark begins to tell the Doctor about what he knows but the Doctor stops him and explains that he knows everything… because he was the one who caused the Restoration. Andark tells the Doctor to be quiet, in case anyone hears, and suggests they take it to his office. The Doctor is confused and says that he doesn’t have one anymore… before Andark says “technically you still do” and we cut to the Lord President’s office.
Outside the office, Sally and Pete wait in the lobby, as they hear the muffled, but raised, voices of the Doctor and Andark speaking. Sally and Pete briefly speak about what they’ve gone through and their thoughts on this new Doctor. They also joke about Gallifrey being nothing like they expected the Doctor’s home planet to be.
Inside, the Doctor argues with Andark about his role in causing the Restoration. They both agree it has to be reversed but they don’t know how. Andark then tells the Doctor of the suffering it’s causing
and the parties that are taking advantage of the situation…
In the control room of the Cybership, the Cyber-Controller confronts Sandra. He asks for the whereabouts of the Doctor and she says that she’d happily tell them, if she knew, but she has absolutely no clue. She tells the Cyber-Controller that he abandoned her. She monologues about what happened to her in The Movie and The Confrontation of the Wicked, before standing tall and saying that she’ll now lived, as he always has, as a Bellonsion and “no tin robot is gonna tell me otherwise”, before she jumps and grabs onto a control hatch on the ceiling, swinging across the room and knocking the Cyber-Controller’s head, clean off, with her feet.
The Eleventh Doctor then enters the room at that moment, applauding and moves in to hug Sandra. Sandra pushes him away telling him that she meant every word that she said. The Doctor tries to explain that she “had” to die, and it was out of his hands, but Sandra can’t believe that he’s trying to justify killing her… twice. The Doctor tells her that they’ve all been restored, including him, and they’re all now alive, for good. Sandra tells the Doctor that he can hide behind “good luck” if he wants but it doesn’t change what he did. She tells him to go and that she can handle the Cybermen herself. The Doctor says no but Sandra insists and says that she doesn’t want him there.
The Sixteenth Doctor and Andark continue to discuss matters and Andark mentions that his previous selves were
resurrected by the Restoration too and that one of his past versions was on Gallifrey, not long before he arrived. The Doctor wonders whether it’s worth rounding up the “restored” versions of his past selves and wonders how many there are. Andark explains that the Restoration has only affected the timestream before the year 4000, so any incarnation that regenerated after that date or in the Time Vortex, won’t have been restored. The Doctor says that there’s a good chance that nine of his previous selves have been restored and says that it’d be a good idea to get hold of them. Andark asks why he wants to do that. The Doctor looks toward Andark, almost on the verge of tears, and gulps.
The Doctor and Andark exit the Doctor’s office. Sally and Pete ask what’s happening and the Doctor tells them that they’re headed back to Earth.
The Eleventh Doctor walks back to the TARDIS and enters it. He looks solemn. He slowly makes his way to the console, before swinging his fist in the air and smashing the central column as he screams out in pain. He falls back to the floor, as the glass falls onto him and looks up to the ceiling. He then hears a voice… the voice of the Intendant, who says that the Restoration has only led to misery. The Doctor gets up from the floor and turns to see him, standing by the console, eating an apple. The Doctor asks who he is and the Intendant replies that he’s the man who tried (and failed) to stop the Restoration… and that was all because of the Doctor, before taking a bite.
The Sixteenth Doctor’s TARDIS lands on Earth at night. The streets are vibrant and bustling, full to the brim with people, everywhere. Sally makes a comment about there being so many people, the streets will never fall silent again. The Doctor says that one of his past selves is within a mile of where they are, right now, and they need to find them. The Sixteenth Doctor tells Sally and Pete to stay in the TARDIS as it’s safer for them there.
The Fourteenth Doctor sits alone in an abandoned building with Lou. They talk and reminisce about old times. The Doctor tries to tell her how sorry she was for what happened… but Lou says that she understands and says there was nothing she could’ve done. Lou goes onto say that it’s only been a day for her since it happened, whereas the Doctor has had years to think about it and blame herself. The Doctor and Lou hug before the Doctor is struck back onto the floor, by a giant invisible force. She screams out as a vision appears in her head… it’s the Sixteenth Doctor saying “I need your help. Find me.”. Lou asks what’s wrong and the Doctor says that they’ve got company.
The Intendant speaks to the Eleventh Doctor, in his TARDIS, taunting him about Sandra. The Doctor tells him to shut it and the Intendant just continually laughs. The Intendant says that he only exists because of the Restoration, but it’s the Restoration that is tearing the universe apart, as we speak. He says that he did his best to stop it but now he’s just happy to sit back and watch the chaos. The Doctor asks why he’s even there, but before the Intendant can answer, the
Doctor is knocked back by an invisible force and receives the same vision from the Sixteenth Doctor telling him “I need your help. Find me.”. The Intendant tells the Eleventh Doctor not to go, banging his fist firmly on the console. The Doctor replies “make me” before the Intendant violently flicks his eyes.
The Fourteenth Doctor puts on her coat and tells Lou that she’s got a date… with herself. Lou looks unimpressed but politely laughs, and then tells the Doctor to be careful, and that rioters are still targeting people dressed anachronistically.
Inside the Sixteenth Doctor’s TARDIS, Sally and Pete sit around looking bored. They reminisce about their time together and talk about how different the Doctor now is. After a moment of silence, Sally admits to Pete that she knows they’re going to die… again. Pete solemnly says the same and that he’s fairly sure the Doctor is going to have to reverse everything, and that’ll mean the both of them being dead, before they both hug.
The Sixteenth Doctor runs down a street at night, and then we cut to the Eleventh and Fourteenth Doctors doing the same on other streets, before they all intersect at a crossroads and run past each other. They all then slowly move backward toward the crossroad looking at each other shocked. They eventually culminate in a circle as the Sixteenth Doctor says “Well, I guess we should all help each other out, then”. The Eleventh Doctor, rudely, says that was what the mental barrage was for, so yes, they should. The Fourteenth Doctor explains that she’s here with Lou Madison and that “the restored” are all in incredible danger. The Eleventh
Doctor tells the other two that the Cybermen are taking advantage of everything and they’ve got Sandra Armstrong. The Sixteenth Doctor says that they need to act fast to reverse all of this or unimaginable suffering will continue.
Inside the Sixteenth Doctor’s TARDIS, Sally and Pete are startled when the doors open to reveal the Sixteenth, Fourteenth and Eleventh Doctors, entering the console room. Pete lights up when he sees the Fourteenth Doctor and runs straight over to her and hugs her. She smiles deeply as Pete tells her how much he’s missed her. The Fourteenth Doctor tells Pete that sadly, they’re going now to face the Cybermen once again but that she wants him and Sally to go and look after Lou, and the other restored peoples on Earth, as they’re all in danger. Pete and Sally agree and leave the TARDIS. The Sixteenth Doctor then asks the Fourteenth if she did that because she was protecting them and the Fourteenth nods saying that she’s sure Pete would do something “incredibly stupid”, likely out of revenge, if he saw the Cybermen again. Sandra continues to run through the Cybership, as a group of Cybermen chase after her. The TARDIS materialises in space, looking over at the ship, as the Sixteenth Doctor says that they’re unable to land on it, and that some sort of anti-materialisation defence has been initiated. Inside the Cybership, Sandra comes to a large control panel, which shows the TARDIS hovering outside. She’s visibly angry that the Doctor’s back. She then punches some buttons on the control panel and the Cybership enters the Time Vortex. The
Doctors look on through the TARDIS scanner, shocked at what just happened. They can’t understand why the Cybership has left Bellons. The Eleventh Doctor tells the Sixteenth to follow it and he says that he’s trying, as the TARDIS also enters the time vortex, chasing after the Cybership.
On Earth, Sally and Pete arrived at the abandoned house. They soon meet Lou and explain who they are. They then explain to her that they’re fairly confident the Doctor plans to reverse the Restoration and if they want to stop that… then they need to make a compelling case.
The TARDIS chases after the Cybership in the Vortex, as the Fourteenth Doctor says there’s only one way to get into that ship… and that’s to do it manually. The others look confused but the Fourteenth Doctor smiles and pulls the door open and jumps out. The Eleventh Doctor grabs her hand, just in time, and asks what’s gotten into her. The Fourteenth Doctor grabs onto the edge of the TARDIS exterior and then tries to explain that they’ve got to jump onto the hull of the ship and find an airlock, so they can enter the ship. The Eleventh Doctor tells her that they have to get a lot closer for that to actually look. The Sixteenth Doctor pilots the TARDIS further toward the Cybership, as the Fourteenth swings about, hanging on the ledge, laughing and yelling “If only Erin could see me now…”. The Eleventh Doctor coldly rolls his eyes in embarrassment and says that he must be going through a midlife crisis. Finally, the TARDIS gets close enough and the Fourteenth Doctor jumps. The Sixteenth says that he’s
extended the oxygen bubble, but it won’t hold for long, so she needs to get onboard. He asks the Eleventh to go down with her, to keep an eye on her, and he’s a little resistant but agrees… jumping off onto the ship too. The Fourteenth jokes that he’s now going through a midlife crisis but Eleven has no patience for the banter. They soon find an airlock and board the ship, meanwhile the Sixteenth Doctor closes the doors and keeps the TARDIS flying close to the Cybership.
On the Cybership, the Eleventh and Fourteenth Doctors look around. Meanwhile, Sandra continues to fiddle with the main control panel. She has eyes on the entire ship and can see where all the Cybermen are. She then sees the Doctors arriving and angrily diverts a group of Cybermen to intercept them. The two Doctors see the Cybermen approaching and quickly run away, but as they enter another corridor, they are cornered by the Cybermen and captured.
The Sixteenth Doctor notices a faint transmission in the TARDIS. He inquisitively raises an eyebrow as he investigates.
The Eleventh and Fourteenth Doctors are brought to the Cyberleader. The Fourteenth Doctor asks where Sandra Armstrong is and the Cyberleader says that he was about to ask her the same question. The Eleventh Doctor then points to a large machine behind them and says that it looks very interesting and asks what it is. The Cyberleader refuses to answer to which the Eleventh Doctor says that makes him all the more curious. He goes
onto say that it looks like a mutli-dimensional exotronic displacement engine to him and asks the Fourteenth Doctor if she agrees. She takes a look, completely ignoring the army of Cybermen surrounding them, and says that she believes it has the ability to entirely isolate a group of individuals and relocate them. The Eleventh Doctor looks toward the Cyberleader, smiling warmly, working it out and laughs, clapping his hands and saying that this machine is going to transport all of the restored directly into the Cyber Factories. The Cyberleader shouts out telling the others to grab him, to which the Doctor continues dancing around the machine saying that he’s absolutely right. The Fourteenth Doctor then leans on the machine and says that this machine could hold the key to reversing all the damage. The Cyberleader grabs hold of the Fourteenth, attempting to crush her, and says that the Restoration will last forever and everyone shall become like them.
Meanwhile, Sandra watches on in the control room. She mutters that the Doctor is planning to kill her again and bemoans that he even attempted to apologise.
The Sixteenth Doctor materialises the TARDIS inside the Eleventh Doctor’s TARDIS. He takes out a device and follows a faint signal, which gets stronger, as he walks deeper into the TARDIS. Eventually, he comes to a cupboard, where he finds the Eleventh Doctor inside, tied up with rope. He unties him and the Eleventh Doctor mutters out that the Intendant is impersonating him.
The Intendant, posing as the Eleventh Doctor, continues to confront the Cybermen with the Fourteenth Doctor. He manages to grab hold of the mutli-dimensional exotronic displacement engine, while the Fourteenth Doctor distracts them, and he uses it to remove all Cybermen from the ship and move them into the vacuum of space. The Fourteenth Doctor mentions that such action was a bit harsh but Eleven tells her that she’s gone soft, before he says they need to find Sandra. However, at that moment, Sandra appears, of her own accord, and she says that she’s disgusted with the Doctor for wanting to kill all the restored. The Eleventh Doctor asks Sandra what she actually wants… Why is she still here? What does she want to achieve? Sandra just says that she wants a chance to live. Just a chance. The Eleventh Doctor says that she doesn’t deserve a chance. Both Fourteen and Sandra look at him confused… Sandra raises an eyebrow, backs away, and then tells the Doctor that she knew he was harsh, but not heartless. Fourteen also comments that this isn’t the Doctor. The Eleventh Doctor chuckles and says “got me” before morphing into the Intendant. Sally turns on a projector, in the abandoned house, as it projects a Powerpoint onto the wall. She then presents a presentation to the others about why they should be allowed to remain alive and possible solutions to the issue. Lou looks entirely confused before Pete mouths “she’s a school teacher” before Lou looks at him, nods, and says that she understands. After Sally finishes, Lou politely claps and says that those are all good points but wonders
whether this is the best way to get the Doctor to hear them.
The Sixteenth Doctor dematerialises his TARDIS out of the Eleventh Doctor’s, as the Eleventh Doctor takes control of his own TARDIS. They communicate via a video link on their scanners, as they discuss what to do. They decide, very quickly, to go and rescue the Fourteenth Doctor and Sandra from the Intendant.
The two TARDISes arrive on the Cybership, in front of the Fourteenth Doctor, Sandra and the Intendant. The two Doctors step out and are initially shocked by the lack of Cybermen before focusing their attention on the Intendant. The Sixteenth Doctor is furious with him, telling him that he thought he learnt his lesson and this matter was solved, but the Intendant spits in his face and says that was before the Doctor went and caused it! The Doctor says that according to him the Restoration was always inevitable. The Intendant points to the mutli-dimensional exotronic displacement engine and just says they need to use it to get rid of the restored… and it’s the thing he’s been searching eternity for to nullify the Restoration’s effects. However, before he even finishes his sentence, he vanishes. Sandra then says “oops” as she takes her hand of the machine and smiles. The Eleventh Doctor tells her that was very naughty but he’s glad she did it. He then turns to the others and asks if they can please work something out… maybe a compromise. He says that surely they can’t just go with the Intendant’s plan of committing mass genocide. The Sixteenth Doctor is pretty adamant that there isn’t any other way and the Fourteenth says
that she agrees with Eleven’s perspective but that they don’t have any other choice. Sandra speaks up telling the two of them that they’ve lost sight of who they are… They are the Doctor. They save people. She pleads “Save me”.
The Doctors say “Contact” and they appear together in a vision. They appear in the Panopticon, with all three dressed in Time Lord robes. They enter to see it full of Time Lords, conducting the business of government.
The Eleventh Doctor begins to ask the other two if they can justify killing every single one of them. The Sixteenth Doctor tells him of his experiences with the Intendant and how he saw the Restoration as a fate worse than death, and tried to destroy the entire universe to prevent it, but the Eleventh Doctor says that the Restoration is “life”. He says that, yes it has its problems, and yes it’s unnatural, and should never have happened, but in the here and now it’s life and that there are practicalities that need to be fundamentally sorted, but surely the lives of trillions outweighs mere practicalities. The Sixteenth and Fourteenth Doctors look around, at every single Time Lord, living and breathing. The Eleventh Doctor says, “It’s not merely a Restoration but a second chance for all…” A flash of Katarina dying appears, before similar shots of Adric, Katie, Henrick, Bernice, Lizzie, Chris, Gemma and Zenla dying appear, as the three Doctors cry… The Sixteenth Doctor then pauses before replying “Okay. Let’s do this your way…”
On Gallifrey, on top of a mountain, the Intendant crawls, hurt and weak. He sees the Citadel in the distance but doesn’t have the energy to make
it. The shouts out “The Restoration” over and over again in pain.
The three Doctors’ TARDISes arrive on Earth, in the abandoned house. They all step out and meet with Sally, Pete and Lou. Sally tells the Doctors that she has a presentation to show them but Pete interjects to say that it can wait. The Sixteenth Doctor introduces Sandra to the others and Sandra is overjoyed to meet Lou, telling her that she met the Doctor, just after she died, so the Doctor spoke about her a lot. They both laugh at the absurdity of the sentence before the Fourteenth says that they’ve got business to attend to. The Sixteenth says that he’s taken the mutli-dimensional exotronic displacement engine on board his TARDIS but it’s only to be used in case of no alternative. The Eleventh Doctor reiterates that it’s not to be used under any circumstance. Sixteen says it has to be a last resort. Eleven shouts back questioning why Sixteen asked for his help, to which Fourteen buts in saying “our help”, before Eleven says that it’s the same thing. Sixteen tries to calm them down and says that they’ve got some of the brightest minds in the universe in this room and a woman (pointing to Sally) who knows her way around a good mind map, so he’s sure they can come up with something.
In a montage, the group come up with a bunch of different ideas, and Sally arranges them into a colourful mind map. Sally then talks the group through the ideas. She explains that they have the option to leave things as they are and let overpopulation, prejudice and disease run rampant… or they have the option to use the combined force
of all 9 restored Doctors to relocate those affected most by the effects of the Restoration, whether original or restored, to entirely unoccupied planets… They all agree this is the best solution but they also say that it’s not perfect as many might not want to relocate… and they can’t force them to. Sandra agrees saying they can’t do anything by force. The Sixteenth Doctor almost shouts saying that they have no other choice.
The Fourteenth Doctor rips up the mindmap, to Sally’s horror, and says that yes they do. The others look confused. She begins by saying “the mutli-dimensional exotronic displacement engine” to which Eleven quickly snaps “No”, but she asks him to hear her out. She says that it’s not the best option but what they can do with the engine is relocate every single restored individual to another realm, a parallel universe, or even multiple parallel universes where they can live in peace… almost like… heaven. Sandra says that this is still involuntary and there is no opt out.
Fourteen says that it’s a quick solution and it’ll be far more effective than the other option.
The Eleventh Doctor looks at Sandra and says that he can’t lose her to a parallel universe, but Fourteen reminds him that both of them are restored to, so they’d be together. Sixteen says that the engine isn’t capable of creating dimensional planes, just moving matter to them.
Fourteen nods and says that they need that technology from Gallifrey. Eleven shouts at Sixteen asking if he’s really considering this. Sixteen says it’s the only real practical option
and no one will be harmed. The three TARDISes land on a mountainside on Gallifrey as the Doctors step out and Sixteen explains that Andark won’t like the plan. Fourteen says that getting this technology out of the Vaults of Rassilon is a one-in-a-million shot, to which Eleven winks at her and asks if she’d have it any other way. Sixteen smiles and says they better get a move on, as they head toward the Citadel.
The Intendant crawls into the Vaults of Rassilon, in extreme pain, to see Andark standing there at the door. Andark just laughs and says if the possible future of the Time Lord race has come to this, maybe it’s best that things went the way that they did. He then takes out a staser and stuns the Intendant. The Doctors then arrive at the Vault and moan as they see Andark. Andark asks the Sixteenth if he’s found a way to undo the Restoration and they tell him their plan. Andark says that he doesn’t like it, at all, but that he serves, and always has served, at the will of the Lord President, as he stands aside and allows them to enter. The Eleventh Doctor quips “so much for one-in-a-million shot then”, before the other two chuckle.
They enter and walk past a bunch of old props before coming to what they need. The Fourteenth Doctor takes out her mobile phone and rings Pete. She asks him if they’re ready. Pete, inside the Sixteenth Doctor’s TARDIS with the engine, says yes and then the Sixteenth Doctor activates the machine, and on the other end, Pete does the same and a huge
sonic boom is heard. Slowly, people, all over the universe, begin to fade away. Beautifully and slowly. This includes the Eleventh and Fourteenth Doctors. Additionally, footage of the First, Third, Fourth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth and Fifteenth Doctors fading away plays.
The Sixteenth Doctor stands alone. Just him alone. Alone in this universe. He walks out of the vault onto Gallifrey to see the whole planet empty.
In another universe, somewhere else, the Eleventh Doctor and Sandra fly out into the
stars, together in the TARDIS, smiling and laughing together. Sally and Pete sit alone 0n a park bench, smiling but sad. It soon becomes clear, why they're sad, as we see Annie, Sally's wife, alone in her kitchen, in the main universe, apart from her. A woman then arrives at the park bench to meet Sally and Pete, it's Val Fletcher - Pete's wife. Pete smiles and Sally brightens up seeing the two of them.
The Sixteenth Doctor sits in his TARDIS. Alone.
WIDWWAREAD EVERY ISSUE OF THE WIDWWA MAGAZINE AND THE WIDWWA NEWSLETTER ON ISSUU
AVALIABLE tO ORDER iN pRiNt AT WiDWWA.CO.UK
WHAT IF DOCTOR WHO WASN'T AXED? tHE MAGAZINE - tHE pODCASt
ALL EpiSODES AVALiABLE tO LiStEN tO ON tHE DDWF yOUTUbE CHANNEL AS wELL AS wHEREVER yOU GEt yOUR pODCASTS
from that time that really sticks out to you creatively?
MATT: I do remember thinking “Why haven’t we brought back Davros yet?”, I was really surprised he’d been off screen for so long by this point.
bEN: I think the idea was that, after Ben Aaronovitch left, they retired the character of Davros. He’d been in every Dalek story since Genesis, so there was definitely a feeling, after about 20 years non-stop, that
then they just sort of forgot to bring him back until 2010.
MATT: We brought back the Toymaker because… Gary Russell.
bEN: Yes because we had that three-parter that stretched over the Series Finale, Christmas Special and Series Opener.
MATT: It was a weird threeparter because it was moreso a two-parter, with a Christmas Special in the middle that did tie-in…
Feast of Steven.
MATT: True.
bEN: I wanted a big guest star… old woman… Julie Walters, who was playing Cushing-Universe Susan.
MATT: I think that all happened because of your fondness for those films, but it also made sense with a creative team of Gary Russell & Robert Shearman.
bEN: Well I was never fond of the Steven Moffat expla-
nation of those films being in-universe films in the actual Doctor Who universe, after Ian and Barbara apparently sold their story to a film studio, so I wanted a way to canonise those films but make it proper (sensible) canon.
MATT: So we went with the obvious choice… a Toymaker created alternate universe.
bEN: Which Peter Cushing himself had suggested in the 1960s. He said that his movies could’ve been an alternate version of events created by the Toymaker, so we’re stealing ideas from the best.
MATT: Isn’t this also how you’ve explained the alternate language versions?
bEN: Yes, the foreign adaptations are all in the “Toymaker’s Realm”.
MATT: Which allows things to all be canon, but also not really. On the subject, then, I also suggested to pull in the Nightmare Man from The Sarah Jane Adventures, which just worked… but I think our version was a lot closer to Zellin from Can You Hear Me?, which came several years after.
bEN: Well we were already using Joseph Lidster and we knew that he had an idea for a monster that thematically fit with the themes of that threeparter. So it was a no-brainer to combine the ideas.
MATT: Season 48 was the sorta fan-service,”round of applause” season as it slot into place as “the last season” of this team and the last one before an unprecedented broadcast break.
bEN: As far as I remember, the reason the whole Endgame-Genesis break thing and the Doctor dying happened was because I was really annoyed at the ending of The Time
of the Doctor. I thought that engineering a situation where the Doctor was on his last life, so you could specifically do THAT story, but then solve it with a little bit of fairy dust coming down from the sky, was such an absolute joke. I wanted something better. I could see that had a huge potential to be the entire arc that the 50th was structured around and I knew it could work really well.
MATT: I think, if we just go back to Season 48, one of the most significant things I contributed was the idea for the Gaians.
bEN: Who fast became a very popular villain. We did an epic three-hour story with them.
MATT: It was basically fan-service but with a plot that wasn’t fuelled by the fan service, which feels like something Rob Shearman would actually do. That’s what Jubilee is. The plot is very much not about the Daleks but about the effects of the pop culture interpretation of the Nazis and how that could apply to the Daleks.
bEN: Lets talk about… 48G.
MATT: Yes! I was thinking about this earlier. 48 Gary Russell. The Gary Russell Episode. It was the fan-service episode. Gary Russell loves fan-service to a ridiculous amount. So we gave him, in his last season, an episode written, directed and produced entirely by him, just consisting of nothing but fan service. I wanted it to be the most Gary Russell thing ever to exist. So I came up with the idea of doing a better version of The Name’s Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, except instead of it being a clip show, the cast went into the stories and interacted with them. Also it has an actual plot.
bEN: Well it was Doctor Who
meets the Holodeck, really.
MATT: Yeah.
bEN: So all this time, something else is going on… Panopticon.
MATT: Yes.
bEN: You were involved heavily during all of that, so perhaps you could talk us through how you dealt with that creatively.
MATT: It was certainly interesting. I feel moreso that Panopticon was where you thrived, because Panopticon was moreso having to come up with new things and I wasn’t as good at doing that.
bEN: Your strengths were very much finding ideas that existed, largely from the expanded media world, and then bringing them together to create something new.
MATT: Yeah!
bEN: Whereas I was off thinking in the heads of people and trying to work out what they would’ve done in different positions. Even now when I sit down to write WIDWWA and I look in the mirror and I go “Right I am Ronald D. Moore”, or “I am Jane Espenson” etc.
MATT: … Yeah I couldn’t do that. So with the ideas of certain characters and certain writers… those were more the stuff that I was good at, I think. There were also some ideas, such as the Vex, which was very much an idea that I came up with. I remember very clearly the name, itself, just coming to me.
bEN: I wanted a name where the plural and the singular was the same.
MATT: And I came up with Vex and it sounded good. So the idea for them was because I wanted to tie it in with one of my first ideas and we came up with them being Time Lords
from an alternate universe where the Vardan idea went well, and although that wasn’t revealed to much later, that was initially right there at their creation. It’s a very niche idea but it was very…
bEN: Paul Cornell and Marc Plat…
MATT: And Gary Russell too. But bringing in the Vardans not only made sense from a creative point of view but also from a lore point of view too. I also came up with the idea of the Council of Six…
bEN: I don’t think we had a Council of Six originally though. I think we had only the character of Ale and then, afterward, we created the council and retroactively made him a member.
MATT: I’m not sure. I don’t remember that.
bEN: Ale was created for Leftover: End of Days remember?
MATT: I know that we called him Ale because we thought it was funny… and the casting of Brian Blessed entirely came out of the character’s name. I can’t remember who played everyone but I definitely remember Abdul Salis, for the meme value because we couldn’t have a member of the council without “Kel from the Council”.
bEN: We did come very very close to calling him Kel but I decided that it was just too unrealistic so that’s why we went with Ostmuz instead.
MATT: Kel sounds more inline with a name like Ale though.
bEN: True but I think it would’ve just been us going too far.
MATT: I think I also came
up with the idea of Article Six. It was basically me trying to bring back the thing from The War Games of the complete timeline erasion.
bEN: Which is completely canon, as it did happen in The War Games, both in the WIDWWA timeline and the real timeline. We just remembered it existed, brought it into the modern day and gave it a name. So when, Matthew, last week, The Power of the Doctor aired, I was a tad confused when the Master claimed that forced regeneration was the Time Lord’s most severe punishment, considering that in The War Games, we see (what we’d call) Article Six, and then the Doctor’s forced regeneration punishment is shown to be a more lenient sentence, as an act of mercy, in comparison.
MATT: Yeah, the Time Lords have done a lot worse to people than forced regeneration. Imagine if Fassile only got one of those.
bEN: He wasn’t a Time Lord though, so they would’ve had to make him a Time Lord to give him that punishment…
MATT: Yeah, true. I guess Article Six was the only option for him then. In The Power of the Doctor, though, the Master does say to the Doctor, just beforehand, that she’s going to be erased and she’s going to get the Time Lord’s worst punishment… so it is really very strange that it isn’t some form of Article Six, given that it seems to set up for exactly that.
bEN: So when Fassile was Article Sixed, that was a pretty big moment, deciding to kill him off.
MATT: Yes, but it made sense to do that and it made sense to do it in that way to remind people of the sheer
evilness that the Time Lords are capable of.
bEN: I’m right in thinking that whole story came from you.
MATT: Yes it did. That came from me. Sorry Fassile stans. I also think I came up with the Francis regeneration too.
bEN: Well we knew that we’d have a female Doctor coming up, so we wanted to do an, in-universe, test-run, like they did with Missy.
MATT: Because you wanted to just kill Francis and it was my idea to say, hang-on, we can use this opportunity and keep Francis alive. I had the feeling Francis would’ve been a fan-favourite character, so it just made sense.
bEN: And it’s a good job too, because Frances went onto be one of the most important characters over the next few years. If they’d died in Panopticon Series 4, then I really have no idea how that would’ve changed things, but likely quite a bit.
MATT: It makes sense because if you’ve got a fan favourite character, you give them more stuff to do.
bEN: So, let’s move forward a little bit then… When we come to the end of Panopticon, where are you at?
MATT: I remember Leela was killed off at some point.
bEN: Yes, but that was
"BECAuSE yOu WANTED TO juST
kiLL FRANCiS AND iT WAS my iDEA TO SAy, HANG-ON, WE CAN uSE THiS OPPORTuNiTy AND kEEP FRANCiS ALiVE"
toward the beginning. I did just ask about the end…
MATT: We still had Karen Gillan.
bEN: But she was killed at the end of Series 6.
MATT: We had David Tennant, still there, though. Although he wasn’t always the top billed character, he was always the main character, really.
bEN: Yeah, Will was always the protagonist.
MATT: It makes sense why Connie was a thing.
bEN: Well it was the Rogue’s Masterplan.
MATT: And that made sense to do because the Rogue is a rogue. He’s not an out-and-out villain but he isn’t always a good guy.
bEN: Yeah well the story of the Eleventh Doctor’s era was that he was almost too good to be President. Everything kept falling apart because he was too nice, too good and too innocent. It was all a commentary, really, on the reason bad people end up in office, because they’re the ones who can survive it.
MATT: The system destroyed Eleven.
bEN: So, emotionally, from a creative point of view, where were you at by the end of Panopticon?
MATT: Honestly, very drained. It was the majority of what we were doing, for a long time. Genesis did happen after and I think I was the one who was really pushing the general aesthetic of Genesis. You had the general idea of doing as a Zagreus style casting…
bEN: Not as a Zagreus style story but the casting idea, yeah. It was the only way I thought it was possible to include everyone in 2013. I mean we could’ve done something more The Power of the Doctor-esque, especially in the opening where David Suchet appears, but I think it makes more sense story-wise to do it the way we did.
er than when we announced the name of Endgame, if you remember…
MATT: Yes, I think we announced Doctor Who: Endgame, then less than a week later…
bEN: I think it could’ve even been a couple of days later…
MATT: But very soon after, Marvel announced Avengers: Endgame… And our reaction was one of immense anger.
bEN: All the comments were talking about it when the video came out… BUT it did get a bunch more traffic, because people were searching for Endgame and found the video.
MATT: We kept just having one-word title and I’m lowkey annoyed that now you’re doing multi-word titles and I remember for Vengeance that I wanted “Doctor Who: The Ancient Lore” and you said no to keep in with the format.
bEN: Well, it’s a different series of films really. The first five are separate to the Joseph films. So onto Season 49… this is the last season where you were properly a co-writer on.
bEN: He’s completely amoral but he has the best intentions, always. The Master on the other hand is amoral but always with the worst intentions. The Rogue didn’t want the Doctor to die so he did some very messed up stuff to counter that.
MATT: Because he’s The Rogue and that makes sense to do. That’s why he was elected President… because he was a corrupt imperfect individual. The gooder-than-good Doctor was not a good President but the Rogue was.
MATT: It completely worked… recasting the entirety of Shoreditch.
bEN: Yes, Tom Baker played “Old Codger”, remember.
MATT: Perfect! But honestly, the whole idea of Doctor Who: Genesis made the most thematic sense to do. Having the general aesthetic of using elements from the First Doctor’s era to tie the whole thing back to the start, back to 1963, was something I thought was really important. I think I did also come up with the name Genesis too.
bEN: It went a bit smooth-
MATT: Yes, although I had a significant involvement in the early episodes of Season 50 and I think you were still keeping me in the loop into Season 51.
bEN: Let’s start with The Darnley Conspiracy…
MATT: I wrote that entirely. You then rewrote most of it, because you didn’t like it.
bEN: Now, now, the story and plot was entirely you. The quality of the actual text was just poor, so I rewrote that aspect of it. The plot was exactly the same as your version.
MATT: I knew I wanted it to be a pure historical. It had to be really. As much as I love The Time Meddler, it killed pure historicals and I hate it for that.
"HE’S COmPLETELy AmORAL BuT HE HAS THE BEST iNTENTiONS, ALWAyS. THE mASTER ON THE OTHER HAND iS AmORAL BuT ALWAyS WiTH THE WORST iNTENTiONS."
However, in Season 49, there were a lot of decisions that I tried to make that just didn’t really work out well and as a result, you weren’t taking them on board, because you didn’t think they were very good. It made a very good season, as a result, but it was really demoralising to have ideas constantly rejected. What you had in mind for the season was very alien to what I had in mind. But I do think what you were doing was the right approach for a Ronald D. Moore-led season.
bEN: I think with Season 50, you saw a lot of the overall planning for it but you weren’t contributing a lot to the writing at all. Adjoa Andoh’s casting was the final thing that you were really properly involved in. I think I suggested it but it was a joint decision.
MATT: Yes, I remember. I wasn’t actively wanting to contribute ideas and work on the planning during this time, so, without any actual conversation taking place, you just stepped in and did more work, while I didn’t really do anything. There wasn’t a time when I left WIDWWA, I just sort of faded out of working on it. The one thing I did take an interest in was the casting of a new Doctor, though. I think you have to put this all into context, so we do need to speak about The Elysium.
bEN: Originally, we were going to do a spinoff, and if people are aware of the in-universe story of the Elysium’s
inception, then the real-out-ofuniverse story is very similar. We had two ideas… Gaia and the 1257 - which as the Elysium. Essentially they were both the same show, with the same characters, except one was set on Gaian Earth and the other was set on the planet the Time Lord fleet eventually settled on. But the idea was that they were pretty much the same show, so we could already begin developing it, while we were undecided on the setting. The reason we were undecided on the setting was because you wanted Gaia and I didn’t.
MATT: Yeah… and it was about deciding what was the most realistic.
bEN: And I thought that it was more likely for Ronald D. Moore and Jane Espenson to have chosen the 1257 idea.
MATT: I think I was just sick of Panopticon and that world. It was a chapter that I wanted closed and thinking back on it, I genuinely think that the Gaians were popular enough to have a show and the execs would’ve chosen Gaia. The Elysium was very much it’s own unconnected thing and Gaia would’ve tied far more into the main show… so I think they would’ve gone for Gaia. I stand by that.
bEN: The whole idea of The Elysium was that they wanted to launch a whole new show, with a whole new world, that was very loosely connected to Doctor Who… that basically wasn’t a Doctor Who spinoff, but just a new sci-fi fantasy show for CBS, in order to rival the success of Game of Thrones. The Elysium fit
the bill and Gaia didn’t. The Elysium was far more realistic from the perspective of the Paramount Deal, well, the CBS co-production at the time, whereas Gaia made a lot more sense if it were in the real-universe and was just the BBC. It was also produced with Netflix remember. They wanted a standalone show, but had ties into Doctor Who to get a pre-existing fanbase onboard.
MATT: I remember, before the decision was made, that we developed a lot of those initial Elysium Season 1 ideas set on Gaia, so I assumed Gaia was going to win. I guess the character of Calem might’ve been my final legacy then, as she was entirely created by me.
bEN: Yes. I remember. Although, Calem was going to be an alien on Gaia but that was changed to work with the Elysium’s concept.
MATT: So, anyway, I was unhappy with it and I refused to work on The Elysium. I just didn’t want to do it. I had no enthusiasm to do something that was a continuation of Panopticon. I was happy that story was over and working on those 7 seasons was already too much for me. I was burnt out.
bEN: I wasn’t used to working on my own, so with your permission, I asked Tadeusz Cisłak to come on board and co-write it with me, and that went very well.
MATT: I remember wanting it to fail. I will admit that. After a while, I did stop following it. I remember some people really hating it and I remember being happy that was the case.
"I THiNk I WAS juST SiCk OF PANOPTiCON AND THAT WORLD. IT WAS A CHAPTER THAT I WANTED CLOSED"
bEN: I think there were three big mistakes we made with The Elysium. The first was the way it was originally released which were very long full plots. Secondly, was the fact that we didn’t put a lot of fan service in. This was because it was far more realistic but it didn’t work with our audience. In-universe, the point of the show wasn’t to be separate because it was geared to a non-Doctor Who fan audience, but out-of-universe and we were making it for WIDWWA fans… so there was a huge audience problem for what we were delivering content wise. WIDWWA fans wanted Doctor Who, in-universe the audience was far more diverse. Finally, when we did release it in videos, the first season was very much a quick rush-job to whittle the season down, and wasn’t the most cohesive viewing, because it wasn’t intended to be experienced that way.
MATT: It felt like the Elysium was very much overtaking your creative headspace and the direction of what you felt like Ronald D. Moore would’ve done were both somewhat jarring to me. It was necessarily jarring in the sense as unrealistic but jarring in the sense that it made be disillusioned with working on the series. Like I get
your logic in making those decisions, you explained it to me at the time, and I understood, but I was just fed up with it. I guess I had just had enough.
bEN: So, what are your overall reflections on your time at WIDWWA?
MATT: I feel like WIDWWA was definitely something I had a passion for… and then I just didn’t. When I was finishing up with WIDWWA was around the time that you left the Whoniversals too.
bEN: It was unconnected… but within days of you deciding not to work on the Elysium, I left the Whoniversals, and I do think us not socialising in the same circles, to the same extent as before, did have a big effect. You’re right.
MATT: That did produce a bit of a wedge, yeah. I guess some things, creatively, I just fall in and out of love with. It just always happens with me. I have good ideas and then I get fed up of them and I don’t always follow through. Maybe I just can’t always commit longterm. I think it was more about me than about WIDWWA, really, but things in WIDWWA didn’t help me through that. I think as creatives, and you’ll
feel like this too sometimes, you just fall in and love with ideas, and some ideas you just can’t force yourself to be passionate about something.
bEN: I think, just personality wise, I’m a lot more of a “sticker” than you. Unless I’m properly being made miserable, even sometimes when I am properly miserable, to be fair, I tend to stick at things, for better or for worse. That just comes down to my personality. I really do throw myself into things and WIDWWA would not still be going now if that wasn’t the case.
MATT: The thing is… I wouldn’t want to leave something incomplete, but I do have a history of doing that, a lot. It’s not out of any fault of my own but it’s because things aren’t necessarily creatively rewarding… and I need things to creatively reward me. I sometimes feel cursed with this kind of thing. Often I just decide not to finish projects for that reason.
bEN: So that’s our journey. WIDWWA continued on and continues on to this day.
MATT: Not me with, of course.
bEN: But we’re still friends.
MATT: Not as close as we used to be but we do talk regularly and right now we are literally in the same room just having a chat and this evening we are going out socialising together.
bEN: Anyway, it’s been very nice meeting you and speaking to you… and it’s been great being in conversation with each other!
Thank you to Matt Moir for giving his time to speak to me. The interview took place on 28 October 2022 in London.
WIDWWA
"WiTHiN DAyS OF yOu DECiDiNG NOT TO WORk ON THE ELySium, I LEFT THE WHONiVERSALS, AND I DO THiNk uS NOT SOCiALiSiNG iN THE SAmE CiRCLES, DiD HAVE A BiG EFFECT."
" I THiNk iT WAS mORE ABOuT mE THAN ABOuT WIDWWA, REALLy, BuT THiNGS iN WIDWWA DiDN’T HELP mE THROuGH THAT. I THiNk AS CREATiVES, SOmETimES yOu juST FALL iN AND LOVE WiTH iDEAS"
It’s no secret that, apart from Doctor Who, one of my most passionate interests is the Eurovision Song Contest. If you’re a member of the WIDWWA Discord Server, you’ll be well aware that the “off-topic” ESC channel is, by far, the most active on the server. If you’ve been following the DDWF YouTube channel for a long time, you’ll perhaps remember my “Boom Banga-Bang” video, featuring Lulu’s 1969 winning ESC entry, and shots of Daleks blowing up, to celebrate the beginning of Eurovision 2018. That contest was in Lisbon, Portugal, this contest, however, is in Liverpool, United Kingdom and is
being produced by the BBC, as host broadcaster, following the United Kingdom’s 2nd place finish in 2022… and it is just a couple of weeks away. So to celebrate those milestones, let’s take a look back at Doctor Who’s relationship with the Eurovision Song Contest in the WIDWWA Universe and look ahead to May 2023, to see if Doctor Who perhaps gets in on the action!
*
First of all, let’s run through the basics. Doctor Who aired on the same evenings as the Eurovision Song Contest 1964-1975, earlier in the evening, as part of the BBC’s Saturday Night line-up but it wouldn’t be until 1996 that Doctor Who aired on the same evening as the Eurovision Song Contest again. For Oslo 1996, it was Revenge of the Master, Part Four that aired prior to the contest beginning but interestingly, when the next clash happened,
the BBC captialised on both programmes airing the same night. It was 1998 and the BBC, themselves, were hosting the contest in Birmingham. Doctor Who was airing the conclusion to Season 34, The Web of Time, Part Four, the same night. The BBC used the opportunity to bill the evening as a “British Institution Night”, incorporating scenes of Michael French meeting Terry Wogan in the trailers leading up to the event. The series then again aired earlier in the evenings of the broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest 2000, 2001 and 2003, but no tie-in promotional material was produced. It wasn’t until 2010 that the franchise ran into the contest again, when Panopticon’s Maybe It’s Imaginary aired on the same evening as Oslo 2010. In fact, the BBC cottoned onto the fact that the theme for that contest was “Share the Moment” and that the subject matter of the Panopticon episode was fairly similar, so trailers advertising the episode used the ESC branding, almost parodying it as “Share the Moment on Gallifrey”, to tie into the contest airing afterward. Useful Occupations and Deceptions
aired earlier in the evening of Baku 2012 and Ascension aired earlier in the evening of Malmö 2013, but neither received any special treatment.
Despite all this, probably the most significant moment in the relationship between Doctor Who and the Eurovision Song Contest came in 2014 with the broadcast of the Season 49 episode, The Food of Love. The episode was produced in collaboration with the European Broadcasting Union, who run the Eurovision Song Contest, and saw the Fourteenth Doctor and Erin having an adventure at the Intergalactic Song Contest in 3256, which is consistently referred to as an evolution of the Eurovision Song Contest. The episode is a love letter to the contest, featured a whole bunch of references to it, included a cameo from British commentator, Graham Norton, and featured Erin singing the UK’s 1967 winner, Puppet on a String, during the climax. The episode was so successful that the EBU invited Samantha Bond and Montserrat Lombard to appear, in character, as the Doctor and Erin, live-on-stage at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, to appear in a
short sketch about a possible Zygon invasion.
When it came to Doctor Who’s expansion into foreign adaptation, the Dutch producers of Dokter Wie decided to adapt The Food of Love as Ruimte Songfestival, giving their own unique Dutch take on the adventure. It was broadly the same but with much of the ESC references geared toward Dutch Eurovision Culture. Upon the Netherlands winning Eurovision 2019, only 6 months after broadcast, there were plans, made by NPO, for the Dokter, played by Wendy van Dijk, to appear in some form at Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam, but these were abandoned following Eurovision 2020’s cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the sketch wasn’t seen as a priority when the contest took place in Rotterdam, the following year.
That brings us to 2023 and with the contest in the UK, for the first time since 1998, where Doctor Who did get (slightly) involved, will Doctor Who get involved again? Well, you’ll have to wait until we actually get to May 2023 for full details, but I can reveal that, yes, Doctor Who does get into the Eurovision Spirit, alongside a roster of many other BBC properties, in more than just one manner. You’ll have to stay tuned to find out more, but until then I suggest you tune into BBC One on the 9th, 11th and 13th May for the 67th Eurovision Song Contest!
WIDWWAIt would be very easy for me to point out the most obvious elements that are favoured from the Renwick era, but there are those moments not really talked about and moments that I myself favour more than others.
Season 35 is (of course) full of brilliant stories like Blink and Damaged Goods, but one of my favourite stories in Season 35 is ‘The Robots of Time’, this story is an unseen gem in a few cases as the Doctor and Sammy as it shows the Kingdom of Azorath falling to machines, this story shows the danger of something happening like that in the future and Michael French is absolutely brilliant and Laurie Holden plays Sammy perfectly.
In my opinion French under Renwick is like Tennant under Davies in our timeline, it works perfectly and French proves himself as The Doctor under
Renwick, whilst Garwood’s last two series with French are good, he hasn’t really nailed the part of the Doctor yet but with Renwick he does that.
Season 35 overall is on-point and has in my opinion Nine’s best story ‘Damaged Goods’ but Season 36 is a series of a few missed opportunities, ‘Never Mind the Rogue’ is one of those stories it acts as a good story to introduce the Rogue but the story in itself is a bit like Heaven Sent and Hell Bent, it sounds good on paper but it dosen’t work well as a TV story maybe because it’s written by Nicholas Meyer, this is his first Who story and it shows it here in this story. ‘Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust’ is a story thats brilliant but could be better, Katie’s back from the dead and introduces the Mitahi but the story feels like there’s a lot missing and it’s not necessarily
the same problem with Never Mind the Rogue but it’s just the way it’s made it onto screen.
Season 37 introduces two of my favourite characters ever in WIDWWA in ‘The Puppet Master’, casting Gillian Kearney as Lou Madison and introducing Murray Melvin as the Master is one of those ‘Genius Moments’ from Renwick, Lou is a once in an era companion and in my opinion Nine’s best, Janet and Sammy are ok but I always felt there was something missing with both of them, Janet is an interesting concept and so is Sammy but I always felt there could’ve been something more done with the both of them.
Renwick casting Melvin as the Master is again genius, I love how dark and mysterious he is and i see what Melvin is trying to do as he said at ODWC 2021 he tried to be the opposite of French’s Doctor and that’s
what I love about Melvin’s Master.
As such we see more brilliant aspects in French’s final stories as the Doctor such as Fallout and the Chimes of Midnight, however Season 38 signals the end of an era as Holden, Kearney, Virtue and Moffat all leave as Richard E. Grant is introduced and story which shows he can be a brilliant Doctor is ‘Metamorphosis’, now it may sound obvious but that story shows both how good Russell T Davies is as a writer and Richard E. Grant is as an actor and as the Doctor.
Season 39 is a season that freshen things up with a fan-favourite companion which is also one of those ‘genius moments’ and introduces RTD as script editor, a story which I love in this season is ‘MoneyPuzzle’ it’s an underrated gem and is my favourite Tenth Doctor WIDWWA story as it shows both the effects of hyperinflation and shows what happens when you blurt out information about in the future in the past.
Unfortunately this season shows that Renwick’s era is coming to end (The Name’s Shakespeare, William Shakespeare) and that the writing’s on the wall for Renwick’s era and I think at this point Renwick realises that’s the case even if he hasn’t left because of that.
Season 40 therefore feels like an attempt to be ‘Out There’ as a season and a celebration of Doctor Who. That season has two stories in particular which are two final television moments of brilliance from Renwick as showrunner ‘Horrors of War’ and ‘Spare Parts’, Robert Shearman and Marc Platt craft two stories that are simply impossible to dislike
as we see a regeneration for the Sixth Doctor (finally) and the genesis of the Cybermen (again, finally).
But of course the movie is possibly one of Renwick’s best moments, the movie itself is a good concept but it’s not really one of my favoured stories like it used to, mainly because someone, either Renwick or someone, thought it would be ok to kill the Brigadier in the way they did and just how much the story has to fit it in over 2 hour 15 minute runtime, not gonna lie it feels more of
a TV story and then of course we’ve got ‘Until the World Ends’ which is ok but could be done better and his 2023 special.
Overall the Renwick era is a mixed bag in some people’s eyes but for me it’s when Doctor Who was on-point in the WIDWWA universe, the only two other eras like this are Seasons 41-43 and Seasons 47-48. Renwick’s era is a hidden gem and a secret masterpiece which I absolutely love.
WIDWWA
Hello and welcome to the next instalment of my Doctor Who movie reviews. This time, we'll be taking a look at the 50th anniversary movie: Doctor Who: Genesis
Let's start with the opening credits: I love the use of the cloister bell on the first half of the credits, and although it's simplistic, I do like the fade-ins for the Genesis logo with the green background and the particals floating about.
As far as the plot is concerned, it gets off to a great start with a nice cameo from Thirteen, seeing Fourteen being born, as well as the flashbacks and scenes with Caitrin Ryan and Omega, but after the Doctor arrives in 1963, the movie's plot goes really downhill. The plot ends up being quite dull, as Fourteen wanders around London trying to get a sample of the First Doctor's DNA, all the while, the Master just watches the Doctor and misses every opportunity to just kill her, and the climax is mostly a shot-shot remake of episode 1 of An Unearthly Child. I did like the final fight between the Doctor and the Master.
My next big problem with the plot is that it just doesn’t feel like a proper anniversary movie. The concept of the Doctor having to go back in time is amazing for an anniversary movie, as we could have seen the Doctor needing to go back through her timestream and help her previous incarnations
in a past off screen adventure, while the Master tries to secretly interfere, but all we get is stuff relating to An Unearthly Child with previous actors not even playing their characters. Also, there weren’t that many returning characters.
And that leads me to my next big criticism: this film's production was very ageist when it came to returning actors. So, the reason that this isn't a multi-Doctor story is that they felt the actors looked too old, which is indeed true, but Robert Shearman or somebody could have at least come up with a weird timey-wimey reason for why the Doctors and companions look older. The Five Doctors and The Lords of Time did it. And as for why Two, Three and Eight aren't there, they could've said something like, somebody's erased them or something like that. The same can also be said for the companions.
David Bradley was done dirty as the First Doctor. Instead of allowing him to do his own interpretation of the First Doctor, the production team decided to basically replace him with a sometimes uncanny CGI Hartnell with a completely different voice. I'm one of the few who will happily defend Richard Hurndall as the First Doctor in The Five Doctors: he felt like the First Doctor while still bringing his own take on the character. I'll be very surprised if Bradley agrees to come back for the 60th.
So, the Master's ultimate goal is to prevent the First Doctor from leaving the junkyard with Susan, Ian and Barbara in order to ruin the Doctor's life. Okay, outside of this being the most petty motive the Master has ever had, his methods to prevent this completely fall apart before he even gets the chance to cause proper damage, especially after the Doctor conveniently has enough time to run all the way back to Coal Hill School so that she can defuse the bomb.
Thankfully, there are some bright spots to this movie: Patrick Stewart is great as Omega; I like Caitrin Ryan; the actors they chose for Ian, Barbara and Susan do a great job and I really like the flashbacks. Also, I liked Anthony Hopkins as Cerell, the old hermit, who the Third Doctor spoke of in The Time Monster. I also liked Jason Issacs as the Master.
Martin Campbell does an amazing job as director once again, and Murray Gold's score is brilliant as ever; I especially liked the modern remix of the Doctor Who theme.
Overall: this for me is where the movie franchise started going downhill with a mostly dull story and a poor attempt at celebrating 50 years of Who. Join me next time when I look at what I once called the Batman & Robin of the DW movie franchise: Until the World Ends WIDWWA
READ EVERY ISSUE OF THE WIDWWA MAGAZINE AND THE WIDWWA NEWSLETTER ON ISSUU
AVALIABLE tO ORDER iN pRiNt AT WiDWWA.CO.UK
WHAT IF DOCTOR WHO WASN'T AXED? tHE MAGAZINE - tHE pODCASt
ALL EpiSODES AVALiABLE tO LiStEN tO ON tHE DDWF yOUTUbE CHANNEL AS wELL AS wHEREVER yOU GEt yOUR pODCASTS
