Episode Three

It doesn't take much to get me to try out new things. So, when your best mate says - 'Hey, fancy writing some Who?' it's hard, nay daft to say no.

Normally I'm wary of fan-fiction or any foray into the world of Stuff That Already Exists. I suppose that it all has to do with the fallout from the concept of Canon.

Canon, at least in a Doctor Who sense, is said to have begun with the advent of colour. Before colour it was a free for all on ideas (even with Colour the road to Canon was rocky - see the potential issues that arise when you look too closesly at The Daleks and Genesis of the Daleks by Terry Nation, but I digress), in black and white anything was possible. I suspect that canon was more of an eighties idea, when continuity became a big thing. The Star Trek films of the eighties are a continuation of the Original Series; Doctor Who in itself is all forty odd years of continuation - so surely having everything make sense internally is a good step?

I've always felt that expanding your own ideas too much into areas unexplored by certain franchises has been pointless. After all, it's unofficial, ergo it doesn't count. To that extent I've never been particularly interested in the idea of Extended Universes either, after all, the word Extended just implies unofficial.

The fact that I'm quite prepared to throw myself into this idea might then seem like hypocrisy. But, there comes a time though when you have to look at yourself in the mirror and gauge what kind of nerd you are, and to be honest, I'm not sure I like the version of me that gets itchy about Canon. To hell with it! What's an idea if you can't have fun with it?

To this end. Episode Three. Draft one is complete and is in the hands of my wonderful Executive Producer. Largely speaking, for me this started out as an exercise in commissioning. I wanted to be commissioned to write a story, i.e. given an idea and told to run with it, while not having any part to say in the writing of the overall arc. This is a healthy thing because it means my interest is, from the off, limited. I can't get obsessed over another writing project. Surely.

Having watched Season Three of NuWho and loved it, the latter half in particular, it got me thinking about what I like in Who, old and new. Recently I watched Genesis of the Daleks for the first time and was blown away. This, is what Doctor Who should be like all the time! Cried I. (Of course, I know it can't be like that all the time, but I do lament the fact that it's not like that more often).

To list, here are some of the things that blew me away:

a) Dealing with sensibly, and with layers, the origin of the Great Nemesis.
b) The way that it fleshed out an enemy without killing the mystery.
c) Davros. Pure and simple - a creation of brilliance.
d) All the supporting cast and their myriad of flaws and interests.
e) The Doctor being played like a puppet by the Timelords.

It's a fantastic story. Likewise, NuWho:

1) Dealing with the difference between Humans and Timelords.
2) Sensitive use of companions. From Rose to Captain jack to Mickey to Martha - all of whom represent a spectrum of relationships you can have with the Doctor and - crucially - all of them new.
3) The simplicity of it.
4) The fun.

So, what did I want from this project? Well, largely to explore the aspects that I've listed above. Not that I think they're missing from Who as it exists, but there were things that I wanted to play around with. The allure was of writing a script of the nineties, to explore an alternate train of reality, where Doctor Who didn't end with the film in '96, it got commissioned for a series in the American style. To be honest - I had Babylon 5 and nineties trek on my mind the entire time thinking, this is what it could have been like.

At some point it'll get put online, but only when One and Two are written in a good enough state to be seen. Hopefully, that'll be soon!

Episode Three

Jom has presented me with the first draught of Episode Three! I've read it, and it's brilliant. All that remains is to send him my comments and wait for the second draught.

Meanwhile, it seems likely that Episodes One and Two will need to be a single episode, since I can't get the story to work in a two-part format. I also need to contact Grace regarding her episodes.