Introduction to the Night (TV story)

Introduction to the Night was a story that aired in scenes throughout Doctor Who Night of 1999 and served as the main feature of the night with documentaries and sketches airing between scenes of this story.

It featured the return of Tom Baker as the Doctor, for the first time since Time Is Everything, albeit as a future incarnation rather than his usual version. His confirmation as a future incarnation of the Doctor was hinted at throughout and the story and was directly said at the end of the story when he stated he "was once Paul McGann".

This would prove fortuitous as 14 years later Tom Baker would again go on to play another future incarnation of the Doctor, in the 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor, known as the Curator. The concept of an actor who played a past Doctor returning to play a future Doctor was used again when David Tennant, who played the Tenth Doctor, returned to play the Fourteenth Doctor in The Power of the Doctor.

The story focused on the Doctor recalling his past adventures and reciting seemingly random anecdotes while living in a new design version of the TARDIS interior. This story was later mentioned in the 2003 feature TARDIS Cam, on the Doctor Who website, which gave more details on the planet and year this story was set. Firmly placing this story as part of the main continuity of Doctor Who despite its otherwise meta-fictional references.

Synopsis
The Doctor sits in his TARDIS and introduces an evening of pure entertainment to an unseen party whilst sharing anecdotes and details of his past. He hopes to be of some use to us all in his old age.

Scene 1
A dark empty room slowly pans around and in it we see a familiar man, but older. The man tells an unseen party that he's been expecting them and goes on to say it feels like such a long time since they last met. The man sits down in a brown chair and tells the other party that an awful lot of things have happened to him in the gap they've been apart. The man goes on to say he was thinking of Cleopatra - a wonderful woman - or he could of been thinking of Helen of Troy - who was a woman as well. All such a long time ago he adds when suddenly his own voice echoes back asking about the Doctor. The man says the Doctor must be getting on a bit - 700 years old - but he has two hearts though. The old man says he knew the Doctor very well and that so did the unseen party going on to add that their knowledge of the Doctor has brought them together. The old man then smiles and laughs as the scene pans out from his chair then down a long corridor slowly lighting up. When the panning out is complete we see the familiar blue police box - the Doctor's TARDIS - for the old man... was the Doctor. The TARDIS sat parked on Theemnite II in the year 59,888. It then dematerialises and flies into the vortex.

Narration
The Doctor wants to be allowed to introduce his good friend - the Doctor - who he says has lived such a long and varied life. Though goes onto admit he's not everyone's cup of tea and finding trouble is just one of his qualities. The Doctor goes on to elaborate that the Daleks are a whole different kettle of fish to himself.

Scene 2
The Doctor then appears and asks the unseen party where they think he should go first.

Narration
The Doctor goes on to say it's time to hide one's eyes when there's a carnival of monsters coming, then some pathetic aliens and one could maybe even build their own TARDIS.

Scene 3
The Doctor states it takes all sorts to make a universe and that some of his best friends were humans. He goes on to state that Daleks, Cybermen and Zygons are all dreadful before bowing his head in shame. The TARDIS is then flooded with Daleks as the Doctor admits that he couldn't live without them.

Narration
The Doctor mentions what a wonderful time he's having and mentions that some monsters really are more scary than other monsters. He then warns people to stay with him as time is marching on and the Daleks are coming.

Scene 4
Jumping up from behind his chair the Doctor laughs and apologises for scaring the third party and promises they'll like what he has to say. He says the first time the Doctor ever met the Daleks was quite interesting. Meanwhile deep in the Doctor's TARDIS a plant-like creature eats a Dalek.

Narration
The Doctor mentions that he could have put an end to those Daleks at the very beginning, but doesn't dwell on it as he doesn't want to live in the past.

Scene 5
As he stands by the TARDIS exit the Doctor says he really should get a watch. He then takes his hat of his hat stand and says it'll be time to go to his film. He then makes reference to how time flies when you're enjoying yourself. He then exits his TARDIS onto the planet Theemnite II and mentions that he hopes he's been of some use to the third party. He then walks off and chuckles.

Narration
The Doctor then states that in this film he's played by Paul McGann.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Tom Baker

Crew

 * Titles - voom
 * Camera - Stuart Bourne, Neil Wieteska
 * Sound - Karen Jones
 * Make-up - Beverley Toby, Andrea Dowdall
 * Costume - June Hudson
 * Consultant - Andrew Pixley
 * Original music - Orbital
 * Soloist - Seaming To
 * Dubbing mixer - Tony Greenwood
 * Editors - Ian Wilson, Mark Everson
 * Production assistant - Alma Pegg
 * Production manager - Simon Ashwood
 * Assistant producers - Christine Kenrick, Stephen McGinn
 * Writer/Producer/Director - Michael Wadding
 * Executive producer - Alan Brown

The Doctor

 * Referring to himself in the third person, the Doctor says that he is 700-years-old and has two hearts.
 * The Doctor says he has lived a long varied life and that finding trouble is one of his qualities.
 * The Doctor references being played by Paul McGann.

Individuals

 * The Doctor mentions Cleopatra and Helen of Troy.
 * The Doctor states that some of his best friends are human.

TARDIS

 * The Doctor's TARDIS has an extremely long corridor and a huge hall.
 * A Dalek is attacked by a plant in the TARDIS.
 * The Doctor's TARDIS has a hatstand.

Species

 * Daleks, Cybermen and Zygons are mentioned.
 * The Doctor mentions some pathetic aliens.

Planets

 * The TARDIS landed on Theemnite II.

Objects

 * The Doctor mentioned that he really should get a watch as time flies.

Food and beverages

 * The Doctor mentions a cup of tea and a kettle of fish.

Story notes

 * The story was aired throughout Doctor Who Night (1999).
 * June Hudson designed a new outfit for Tom Baker's new version of the Doctor loosely based on the Season 18 outfit she previously designed for Baker. Her final sketch of the costume was released on the official Doctor Who website.
 * A new TARDIS interior was designed for this story. It was presented as a large, basic room with ornamental chairs and a grand corridor leading to a hat stand. It similarly introduced a new exterior with a new design police box. The windows top three rectangular panels were black, and the right and left bottom ones were white except for the centre one which was black. This design would be repeated for The Doctor's Wife and numerous stories after.
 * This was one of many BBC on screen Doctor Who stories from the 1990s with Tom Baker as the Doctor. The others include the links of the 1992 version of Shada, Dimensions in Time, Time Is Everything and Destiny of the Doctors.
 * This story featured Tom Baker playing a future version of the Doctor which took the form of an aged version of his fourth incarnation. This had already happened in the linking narration of the 1992 VHS release of Shada, and would happen again in 2013 in The Day of the Doctor and later in 2020 in Stranded. Whether they are intended as the same version is unknown.
 * The Doctor makes reference to having had the opportunity to put and end to the Daleks at the very beginning, but doesn't dwell on it as he doesn't want to live in the past. This a reference to the other Tom Baker Doctor's, the Fourth Doctor, decision not to destroy the Daleks at their birth in Genesis of the Daleks.
 * It was produced by BBC Manchester.
 * The special had a feature in Radio Times and graced the cover of the week.
 * According to TARDIS Cam on the official Doctor Who website this story is set on Theemnite II, 59,888.