What If? (feature)

What If? was a piece of fiction with a collection of accompanying images published in Doctor Who Magazine. It explicitly depicted a "what if?", almost unbound situation, showing what a potential world with a different Eighth Doctor was like.

It also showed the set up to the Eighth Doctor’s tenure by depicting the final days of the Seventh Doctor. This feature uses a blend of planned content for the future of Doctor Who and completely made up stuff to create a meta-fictional world. The title “what if” confirms the idea this is set in a world different to our own.

While some illustrations were completely in-universe the feature itself was completely meta-fictional. In the same vain as The Thief of Sherwood. The world this takes place is very similar to that of Deadline.

This feature is followed by a non-fiction piece called “27 Up”. Some illustrations of “What If?” are placed on those pages. Those illustrations are covered here, but the non fiction article is not.

Synopsis
Having survived Survival, Doctor Who’s fortunes took an upward turn in the early nineties. Here Dave Owen refreshes our memories of those great days…

Plot
The feature is proceeded by non meta-fictional illustration The Last of the Daleks.

Seventh Doctor
Dave Owen tells readers how close Doctor Who came close to cancellation and the show was lucky to continue airing until the 30th anniversary. The latest two season defined the series and without them the show may have been cancelled after Survival with viewers left wanting more as well as audiences being deprived of the crucial story The Last of the Daleks: Part One which the Eighth Doctor and Kate find themselves surrounded by Daleks.

Owen takes us back into the Seventh Doctor era of the nineties. Michael Checkland and John Birt are business minded BBC executives who are seen as what is wrong with British broadcasting in the nineties by corporation employees and rival broadcasters. Yet it was cost politics that persuaded Jonathan Powell to continue Doctor Who for one more year. Even though it was performing poorly to the likes of Coronation Street and cost lost to make, the series paid for itself with merchandise and overseas sales.

Season 27 captured the public’s imagination, but its roots can be found in the failures and successes of the previous two years. The production team realised the Doctor and young female companion was a winning formula, as well as the design of the sets in stories set in the past bringing out the best in the BBC and exploring the dark side of human nature is a safe option without being compared to blockbuster science-fiction films.

Ben Aaronovitch’s three part Earth Aid became the norm with more stories being action based space operas in the Douglas Adams mould. This story’s pre-title sequence got the series’ fourth decade off to a memorable start. Featuring space pirates, the theme of events being in motion before the Doctor got there (with the Doctor having built Stonehenge to send a message) and a data vampire. There were apparently too many themes to fit into three parts.

The insectoid Metatraxi, made by Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel for the unmade version of The Ultimate Adventure, made their debut and their military honour was mocked in a Monty Python way.

Image
Julia Sawalha as Kate Tollinger at her Hammersmith Park photocall.

Feature
Marc Platt, who penned Ghost Light, penned Ice Time which was like Remembrance of the Daleks as it has two factions of a classic race fighting. This time the Ice Warriors. They battled in sixties London. The story introduced bearded Tom Georgeson as young Sam Tollinger who became a familiar face in Doctor Who. Ice Time saw the departure of Sophie Aldred as Ace.

Ice Time continued directly into Crime of the Century and was the second story by Ben Aaronovitch. An aged Sam Collinger requests the help of the Seventh Doctor when he gets into trouble. This story had drug smuggling, sieges and near enough no science fiction. It was directed by Alan Wareing who made it look like the series Edge of Darkness. Crime of the Century was as significant as Spearhead from Space. It introduced new companion, daughter of Sam Collinger, Kate Collinger. She was a safecracker and lock picker. Her mansion house served as base for the Seventh Doctor where he met new contacts.

Since Survival, Doctor Who had become more realistic taking inspiration from The Bill, Casualty and London’s Burning. Sam Tollinger we’re very nineties characters and reflected real people with real problems. Kate was a little less realistic because of her experience in a Swiss school, rather than Prydonian. Due to her mix of posh and crime she was called the Emma Peel of the nineties by the press. This was thought to be a harmless cliché.

The final story Alixion was written by Robert Mukherjee. Despite it being basic, with numerous chases down corridors on the titular asteroid Alixion, it was considered the darkest story of the year. Bob Monkhouse played a villain, despite that not being his usual field, known as the Manager.

Script extract
The space cruiser IC-MEL navigates in space. The decks of the ship can be seen. Human bridge officers were busy navigating and communicating. The final shot is of the captain’s chair used by Ace in captain’s uniform. Ace asks Mr Mariko to take over as she leaves to her ready room. Mariko says he will. Ace leaves through an automatic door. In the briefing room she notices the Doctor’s TARDIS and the Seventh Doctor sat playing chess. He looks up as he is expecting her. Ace tells him it isn’t going to work out.

- from Earth Aid.

Script extract
In the Celestial Intervention Agency briefing room Ace awaits becoming a Time Lord. She tells the Seventh Doctor she sometimes quite likes him. The Doctor is amused by the “sometimes” remark, but admits it’s a start. He then tells her to keep up with her homework, referring to her as Dorothy, and to send him a letter from time to time.

Ace says the Doctor sounds like her mother which he finds offensive. He then asks Ace if she’s sure this is what she wants. Ace assures her professor it is and states she can take over from him when he retires. The Doctor then looks thoughtful, kisses Ace on the head and walks out the briefing room door as Ace turns to face the waiting Time Lords.

The Doctor appears out of nowhere at a canal towpath in the daytime. He is slowly approaching his parked TARDIS. He then looks at his watch concerned his is late for something.

- extract from Ice Time.

Eighth Doctor
Alixion was the final story to feature Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor. John Nathan-Turner and Andrew Cartmel departed the series to make adaptations of Derek Tanguye novels. John Nathan-Turner's final action as showrunner was to cast Richard Griffiths as the Eighth Doctor who he'd wanted for the role for a decade. The Head of Series and Serials confirmed that there would be no hiatus so Cartmel and Mukherjee added a regeneration to Alixion. The writing team created an idea that the Seventh Doctor would regenerate due to losing his mind while in a straight jacket and gagged. It proved moving. Andrew Cartmel hadn't found a successor to himself so Aaronovitch temporarily stood in as acting script editor. Nathan Turner wished his successor success. On 3 December 1990 past production manager Ian Fraser took over as the tenth and final producer. The series was a success and the BBC wanted the show to return to its Saturday slot, but wouldn't be able to do so until January 1992. There was no Doctor Who broadcast in 1992. So interest didn't fade in the gap year Fraser asked Aaronovitch to pen a Dalek serial introducing the new Doctor. Season 28 consisted of six stories and twenty episodes the show being granted more episodes due to the popularity of Season 27.

Fraser having worked under Nathan-Turner felt little need to modify the series. Musicians submitted versions of the theme tune using the Seventh Doctor titles as a visual cue. Fraser hired Mark Ayres to compose the theme and CAL to design the title sequence at fraction of the price. The Eighth Doctor and new logo were added to the titles.

Title sequence
The titles first used in 1987 now depict the Eighth Doctor. Also depicted in the title sequence is the new logo.

Feature
Ken Trew designed the Eighth Doctor’s costume. He was given a more off-the-peg look than other incarnations with a morning suit and red silk scarf. Griffiths and Sawalha were described as "the most sartorially elegant Doctor and companion ever". The first part of The Last of the Daleks aired at 7.35pm Saturday 4 January 1992. Since the regeneration there was a timejump for the Eighth Doctor and Kate. This Eighth Doctor would often drift off into a world of his own thoughts. He'd often hum a song and claim to have assisted in the composition. This serial was compared to James Bond film Goldeneye due to it being a soft reboot.

New writer Ed Young penned Night Thoughts which was a three part story compared to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. It was criticised by parents for usage of dream imagery and hallucinations especially when the Doctor and Kate See each other's corpses lying in the snow. Night Thoughts signposted what new Doctor Who was about showcasing explorations of morality rather than just science fiction.

Andrew Cartmel penned Animal which was set on present day Earth and marked the return of Sam Collinger. In this story Kate is convinced by old friends turned animal rights activists Jack and Shell to raid an animal testing laboratory. The episode had a "no animals were harmed in the making of this programme disclaimer which Owen deemed unnecessary. The sound effects in the laboratory were deemed too realistic for the early evening slot. The scene where the Eighth Doctor takes a psychedelic drug to communicate with the tested animals was removed due to fears it'd be too controversial.

Visual effects man Mike Tucker and co-writer Robert Perry wrote Illegal Alien set in wartime London of ration books and air raid warnings. Tucker wrote new design flying Cybermats in his story and then had to realise them on screen. Tracey Wilson did a Vera Lynn impression in the story to accompany the Keff McCulloch soundtrack.

Tony Etchells' story A School for Glory deliberately contrasted the setting of Illegal Alien. It was set during the World War I and Tony Robinson guest starred so the story was compared to Blackadder Goes Forth. The story also criticised upper-class officers and their treatment of working class soldiers. The first two parts were a pure historical whereas part three, set in the titular school, introduced an alien feeding off death. Fans praised the scene where the Eighth Doctor impersonated a British commanding officer while wearing a monocle.

When the final story of Season 28 aired Ian Fraser knew it could be the final Doctor Who story ever with more and more established series being outsourced to independent programme makers. Fraser asked Platt and Aaronovitch to write a story that could well be the series' last, but to leave it open ended too.

Marc Platt wrote Network set in a university. It featured Kate O'Mara as the Rani. The Time Lady posed as vice chancellor in the university. Angela Bruce, from Battlefield, returned as Winifred Bambera and Tom Georgeson returned as Sam Collinger. Having defeated an evil computer virus the Doctor vanished from screens on 16 May 1992.

The fate of the series after Network was uncertain. The BBC's statements were vague, but it was obvious they didn't want to put effort into an in house production when so many of its series were made independently. Fans instead had the Virgin Publishing New Adventures books to look forward to. The range began in 1992 with Neil Penswick's unmade Season 28 story Hostage being expanded into a novel The Pit. This was followed by David A. McIntee's Avatar novel. The grim nature of the books showed the Virgin range was aimed at a more adult audience than the Target books.

Fans protested at the series' cancellation especially after the series' increased quality in the last few years. Fans should be grateful that the last regular story wasn't Survival and instead Network which allowed the Doctor's final words to be, said to Kate, "nothing lasts forever".

Magazine
The Eighth Doctor graces the cover of Doctor Who Magazine.

Schedule
A magazine preview ahead of broadcast of The Last of the Daleks listed the cast.
 * Cast:
 * Colin Jeavons - Deadwood
 * Marsha Fitzalan - Coffey
 * Margi Clarke - What If?
 * Richard Griffiths - The Doctor
 * Julia Sawalha - Kate
 * Patrick Robinson - The Chief
 * Roy Skelton - Dalek voice

The Other Eighth Doctor
An in character shot depicting Richard Griffiths as the Doctor.

Network
The VHS cover of Network starring Richard Griffiths as the Doctor and Kate O'Mara as the Rani.

New Companion Kate
An in character shot Julia Sawalha as Kate sitting her safecracking exam.

The Doctor

 * Eighth Doctor
 * Seventh Doctor

Companions

 * Kate Tollinger
 * Ace

Other individuals

 * Sam Tollinger
 * The Manager
 * Deadwood
 * Coffey
 * Stroud
 * The Chief
 * Jack
 * Shell
 * The Rani
 * Winifred Bambera

Species

 * The Daleks
 * Metatraxi
 * Ice Warriors
 * Cybermen
 * Cybermats

Meta-fictional

 * Dave Owen
 * Michael Checkland
 * John Birt
 * Jonathan Powell
 * Ben Aaronovitch
 * Douglas Adams
 * Andrew Cartmel
 * Julia Sawalha
 * Marc Platt
 * Tom Georgeson
 * Sophie Aldred
 * Alan Wareing
 * Robert Mukherjee
 * Bob Monkhouse
 * Sylvester McCoy
 * John Nathan-Turner
 * Derek Tanguye
 * Richard Griffiths
 * Ian Fraser
 * Mark Ayres
 * Ken Trew
 * Ed Young
 * Mike Tucker
 * Robert Perry
 * Tracey Wilson
 * Keff McCulloch
 * Tony Etchells
 * Tony Robinson
 * Kate O'Mara
 * Angela Bruce
 * Neil Penswick
 * David A. McIntee
 * Colin Jeavons
 * Marsha Fitzalan
 * Margi Clarke
 * Patrick Robinson
 * Roy Skelton

Seventh Doctor

 * The Seventh Doctor built Stonehenge to send a message.
 * The Seventh Doctor plays chess.
 * In his later years events were in motion before the Doctor got there.

Eighth Doctor

 * The Eighth Doctor wears red and pink neckwear.

Species

 * The Seventh Doctor encountered space pirates and a data vampire.
 * He also met the Metatraxi.
 * The Metatraxi has military honour.

Doctor Who

 * Doctor Who episodes include Survival, The Last of the Daleks, Earth Aid, Ghost Light, Ice Time, Remembrance of the Daleks, Crime of the Century, Spearhead from Space, Alixion, Night Thoughts, Animal, Illegal Alien, A School for Glory, Networkand Battlefield.
 * An unproduced Doctor Who story was Hostage.
 * Doctor Who had a Season 27 and a Season 28.
 * Doctor Who stage plays include The Ultimate Adventure.
 * Doctor Who novels include The Pit and Avatar.
 * Dave Owen states Doctor Who came close to cancellation in the nineties.
 * Doctor Who continued past its 30th anniversary.
 * Ben Aaronovitch wrote three part Earth Aid.
 * Marc Platt wrote Ghost Light and Ice Time.
 * Douglas Adams had written for the series.
 * The Metatraxi were made by Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel for the unmade version of The Ultimate Adventure.

Other

 * Michael Checkland and John Birt are BBC executives.
 * Jonathan Powell recommissioned Doctor Who.
 * Doctor Who didn't do as well in the ratings as Coronation Street.
 * The Metatraxi were very Monty Python.

Continuity

 * The Seventh Doctor plays chess. (TV: The Curse of Fenric)
 * Another Eighth Doctor also exists. (TV: Doctor Who)
 * The Seventh Doctor doesn't regenerate due to being shot and killed in surgery (TV: Doctor Who), but instead loses his mind and regenerates gagged in a straight jacket.