Stories we would like to see...

[Shrek Baby]

In the hope that someone reading this knows someone who knows someone who knows someone on the writing staff for Doctor Who, I thought it would be a good idea to share our ideas for what we think would make great stories.

Please either give a general plot outline or share your thoughts on the viability of each others' ideas.

I'll start us off...

[Shrek Baby]

Some of my favourite episodes from other TV shows have been the "Bottle Shows" where (in an effort to save money) the story takes place in one location or on existing sets. This allows for great character development and imagination while keeping the budget down. "Disaster" from Next Gen, "Civil Defense" from DS9, The 4400 did one recently but the ep title escapes me.

Anyway - I would love to see something similar on Dr Who. In previous incarnations of the Doctor, we have been allowed to see other parts of the TARDIS. In the new series we have only seen the main control room and a wardrobe area with a spiral staircase. I want to see more of the new TARDIS.

My proposal is this - an alien visitor comes aboard the TARDIS who is telepathic. The Doctor is trying to get this alien home (preumably they fell through the space/time vortex running through Cardiff). Something the Doctor does causes part of the TARDIS to explode killing the alien. The life force of the alien transfers itself into the TARDIS and the TARDIS is essentially the soul of this alien. The TARDIS then creates booby traps all over the ship and the Doctor and his companion(s) need to overcome these and restore the TARDIS to its usual self. The alien consciousness will not allow the TARDIS to land or let its occupants escape and it would mean that we could see other parts of the TARDIS.

Possible endings for this episode would be for the Doctor to realise that in order to save the TARDIS he must destroy her; it could be that the doctor enters into a battle of wits with the alien consciousness/TARDIS and the alien decides to accept death and leave of his own accord; the doctor could absorb the alien consciousness into himself and then have a slightly new aspect to his personality...

Any thoughts?

[ray gower]

Suspect that building a proper TARDIS set to include a few rooms might well double the episode budget. Remember Doctor Who is still very much in the 'Budget' class of production (under £1million per episode) compare that to the likes of Star Trek Enterprise which was rumoured to be averaging $7million, (where they spent the money I have no idea). So we are treated to Cardiff and CGI is sparingly used. But, yes it could work.

Given the huge leaps in effects technology, I wonder if it might be worth revisiting some of the older stories like Web Planet now they have a hope of creating the effects that the story demands.

If they must go for really cheap, then a reworking of Mind Robbers or Edge of Destruction?
In the former props totaled a clockwork soldier and a tin man moonlighting from the BBC Players Theatre production of Wizard of Oz!
The later was set entirely in the control room, though the current occupants might struggle with this.

[Lenny]

A TARDIS set with extra rooms might not stretch the budget too much, or be impossible - remember the Girl in the Fireplace episode, or 42? Both of these would have needed extensive sets, surely, especially the former.

[PTeppic]

Theoretically, set based episodes should be cheaper than location ones. Small sets should be cheaper than large ones, obviously. Having no supporting artists is cheaper than using dozens (so no army of Ood, cybermen, or victims waiting to be terrorised).

[Dave]

I'm sure that (in the time-honoured way of TV and film) they could borrow sets from other TV programmes.

Originally Posted by Shrek Baby

Some of my favourite episodes from other TV shows have been the "Bottle Shows" where (in an effort to save money) the story takes place in one location or on existing sets.

You know that when I read this I immediately thought of 'Carnival of the Monsters'. A Jon Pertwee episode which I now have on DVD, and which I rate as one on the best. I know the ending now, of course, but when I first saw it on TV it was a mystery. All the the repetition of events was very strange. That was mostly filmed in one room and a corridor of a ship, yet it works perfectly. It is the special effects of the mini-Scope and the Drashigs that let it down.

I like time-paradoxes, so I'd much rather have that kind of story (the kind that give you brain ache) than Monster of the Week. It is always those paradox stories that have the longest threads here. I do think that a mix of different stories is good too. And something historical to play to the original premise of the series. The far far future stories are invariably naff anyway (people in silver suits running around silver corridors on a silver space ship.)

If I could come up with a plot good enough I wouldn't post it here, I'd be off selling it instead.

[jackokent]

Originally Posted by Dave

I'm sure that (in the time-honoured way of TV and film) they could borrow sets from other TV programmes.

I love this idea. What about the Tardis landing in the Queen Vic or the Woolpack. I bet Pat Butcher would be a lot scarier than the Daleks

[Dave]

I didn't actually mean soaps, but there is a lack of drama on TV today other than soaps. It could explain the weird sudden departure of several soap characters. And several ex-Doctor Who actors have become long standing East Enders characters.

There has been an interesting series on BBC Radio 4 called 'Lights, Camera, Landscape' about set locations. I've only heard two of them:

One was about Betchworth Quarry, near Reigate. Gareth Thomas (Blake in Blake's Seven) said there was one occasion when they heard noises at the other side of the quarry, and discovered Doctor Who was filming there at the same time as they were!

The other was about Bourne Wood, in Surrey, used for Gladiator and Children of Men. I think there is another one Glen Nevis, Scotland.

Not that the old Doctor Who Quarry has been seen much in the new series.

[Ice fyre]

It made a guest appearance I think cant remmber the episode but I'm sure a comment was made!

As to stories, I would like to see some of the old enemies specifically the Ice warriors or sontarons coming back, something big, big space battles in the background while a small story is palyed out in the foreground. Something maybe set when the Ice warriors are in the galactic alliance (Monster of Peladon time for the old fans) but also something to appeal and show off these fantastic creations to a new generation.

Oh and please give the Daleks a rest!

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Ice fyre

Oh and please give the Daleks a rest!

I remember as a kid waiting patiently for the next Dalek episode. They only came around every two years or so. I never thought then that I would get sick of them!

[Harleyquin]

For me the most underused aspect is Time itself - one of the more interesting stories was when rose went back to the past to see her dad, or with the Sally sparrow episode where her friend was instantly ported back to the turn of the century - ignoring the rest of the plot its the aspect of the show thats rarely exploited - the tardis travels through time.

So My Basic plot line would revolve around a time chase.

Think Cardiff 2007 and a man disspears in an alley leaving just his clothes behind - 2107 the exact same corner a naked man shuffles accross the street and breaks into the cloths store.

Switch to the doctor who's just noticed a little blinking light on his console and looses his smile and leaps frantically on the TARDIS controls, as he bursts out of the TARDIS he sees the man staggering bent double in pain and then vanishes as the doctor gets close.

1807 Same location the man reappears in pain (think of the original apperance of kyle in the terminator here - wracked with pain - minus the glowing ball of energy)

The doctor then must chase down this flying duchman through several time periods. The device of always using the same location but modifying it for its time period is important - that people instantly recognise its the same place but theres a lot of changes - unlike other parts of the doctor series where he's traveled in time this little trick would really bring the time travel home to people as they can see how much a location can change... the traveler can go from roman times, where the city was nothing more than a field to the far future where its a megatropolis.

The story is about an experiment of the Timelords, the man was experimented on and basically left to fall through time. This can demonstrait the very cold nature of the timelords as they just didnt care about the man and left him be - forgotten like he just didnt matter - as it turns out we know who the architect of the experiment was and this is yet another part of his dark past we find he needs to attone for (they dont call him the "doctor" for nothing") showing again just what a very bad man the doctor was like without a human assistant.

The man himself hates time itself by this point - since each time he shifts through time he cannot take anything with him he lives like the lowest beggar. There should be a scean where the Doc's assistant talks to the man - him hating the doctor for what he's done, making the assistant see the doctor in a new and disturbing light, but the embittened traveler should be shown to explaon to the assistant that the doctor needs them and never leave them

Ultimately we get to the climax where the doctor cannot fix the mans time shifts, but what he can do is excellerate the time shifts so effectively the man just vanishes in time never to reappear, becoming part of the fabric of time itself - effectively ending the mans "life"...

We now humanise the Doctor as he's faced with the choice of leaving the poor soul to randomly fall through time always living like a wretch - but Living.... or ending his pain. The choice is then left up to the assitant to make - the traveler offers her the choice to make which in effect is offering us the choice - the show ending before the assistant actually makes the choice so we leave it making us wonder what we would choose.

[Shrek Baby]

I like this idea - I think it's got stacks of potential.

It got me thinking of a Voyager episode "Relativity" where Seven of Nine is recruited by the Captain of a time ship to hunt down a weapon which has been placed on Voyager by a time traveller. She encounters the crew at various points over the previous five years.

Then, there was the episode "Shattered" which involved the ship being fractured into different time periods - some from the past, some from the future. Janeway and Chakotay had to journey through the entire ship doing something to the internal systems in each time period. This kind of story could work very well in the Doctor Who universe.

[Harleyquin]

Heart of Time


The TARDIS in a pitch black universe, the last star in the galaxy thinking dimmer and dimmer, the Dr has the doors wide open sitting with his feet dangling over the edge of the familiar blue box, as the star fades to nothing the only light left in the infinite darkens is a tiny blue light flickering on the top of the TARDIS.


Switch to Rygor 4, privative jungle world, the Dr and assistant rushing through the undergrowth, the assistant laughing and joking with a privative male who is rerunning with them recounting how amazing it was for him to rescue them from the Frengar slave pens. Spears rush past the trio as they head for the protective blue box, the primitive turning and catching a spear headed for the assistant to throw it back with deadly accuracy... they reach the door and the Dr smile fades but doesn't look back, not looking back, the door swings open and the primitive is not with them, the assistant looks back in shock as they where just joking with the primitive just to see them kneeling down swaying slightly looking at a horde or rampaging Frengar Guards... the assistant screams at the doctor to save the man but he just bundles them into the TARDIS and shuts the door – explaining that the man was already dead from a poison dart and he was making a last sacrifice to enable them to escape for safety.


At the bedside of an extremely old man, the Dr gently sitting on the bed, holding the old dears hand, swapping long ago stories of glory and adventures – the assistant in the background clearly upset, crying at seeing the man's candle run out. As the man passes the Dr only takes the smallest of moments then seems to perk up again confusing the assistant, again bundling them into the TARDIS


World War II and the assistant is giving a little girl a lolly pop while the Dr seems impatient to go, the assistant argues with the Dr about taking the little girl with them as she seems to have lost her family in the War but the Dr stubbornly refuses and points out an air raid designated area and explains the girl will find what she needs in there. The assistant reluctantly takes the little girl to the Wardens at the air shelter and hads her off to a confused looking guard. As the assistant reaches the TARDIS we see the Dr look up and his head descends clearly looking at something, the assistant looks around straight into the childs face just as a bomb destroys that entire area.


The assistant is calling the Dr an uncaring monster for these past three actions – time and again all she witnesses is Death with him there, asking how how he could be so cruel.


The Dr then looks at the assistant with infinite compassion ans says he'll show them.


Rygor 4 – the Dr hides behind a tree, as there's a crashing in the trees, he nimbly sticks his foot out and a creature like a small raptor falls over, the Dr Moves out of the way fast and we see a boy of thirteen or 14 making his kill that marks his passage to manhood. The assistant asks what's going on – and as we all guessed we find this boy is the same boy who as a man will help them escape years in the future, explaining that the man is always alive to the Dr – yes he knew he was going to Die at that point but all people Die and for him THAT death was a good death, nobles and all he could have hoped for.


We see a dashing young man in a Tux running through the grounds of a country estate with some documents in his hands, there's sirens and guards blazing – gun fire blazing but all the time two men run across the field to freedom laughing, one being the Dr himself – this being observed by the Dr and the assistant – the dr explains that this is where his friend always lives for him so how could he be upset at the so called death, when all he has to do to see his friend is pop back in time any time he chose?


On to the little girl – this time we don't have a time period shot there just in the TARDIS travelling, explaining that the threads of the Girls life would one day lead her to making a plague that would eradicate half of the universe, and it was a choice let one innocent die or trillion trillion others.


The assistant is torn still with emotion and now the Dr looks at them and explains he's going to give the assistant a gift – but only if they want it – he explains that once they have had this gift nothing will ever be the same again – that the assistant will change and never been the same again.


The assistant nods and the Dr flings open the doors of the TARDIS – blackness. Total and utter blackness.


The assistant looks confused, but the Dr just beacons them to sit next to him in the door way the assistant looks like they want to talk but the Dr simply puts a finger to his lips and points into the void a smile creeping on his face.


In the darkness a light starts to become evident becoming brighter and brighter until its all encompassing, and were greeted with a universe of stars, swirling colourful galaxies, and for an instant – just an instant the assistant could swear they see a smile in the stars.


As they turn to the Dr he is radiantly beaming a smile as says “Welcome to the beginning”

[Harleyquin]

Flying Duchman References:

Reads: The Time Travelers Wife - bitter sweet tale of a man lost in time - highly recomended

Movies: Manhunter (1984) Exquisite cinimatography where we see Detective and inmate at the same angle in a prison with the same light so we are given the illusion that the Detective is also a prisoner.

Heart of Time :
Book: Magician - Raymond E Feist... the Sceane having accidentally arrived at the beggining of the universe where they see god make it begin.The master mage howls with laughter - the young apprentice looks terribly confused as the master turns with a smile and says "Well wouldn't you want an audience for this??"

[Marauder77]

Originally Posted by Shrek Baby

In the hope that someone reading this knows someone who knows someone who knows someone on the writing staff for Doctor Who, I thought it would be a good idea to share our ideas for what we think would make great stories.

Just an idea I had a while back...

The Doctor and his companion discover that time has gone missing people who stop aging, or suddenly age overnight... and when they investigate, discover that they seem to be secretive timetravelers.

In they end they meet a peculiar fellow who seems strangely familiar, and seem to know them... perhaps hinting to stuff only they should know, or leaving clues for later adventures. In the end, the stranger whispers something to the doctor, who lights up, seem dumbstruck, and doesn't want to tell the companion what's the matter... and then the stranger leaves. As the Tardis starts up and disappear, we see the stranger watching from the shadows... and then mutters as he walks to a alley nearby, "Hmm, I had nearly forgot about [current companions name], one of the better, don't you say, but not the perfect companion, like you." K-9 replies: "affermativ master" - cue sound of second Tardis starting up...

Now that would have been a nice twist.