"Dr. Who" (memo)

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"Dr. Who" was the title given two memos that detail the original 1963 pitch for Doctor Who, then titled Dr. Who. It was preceded by a Science Fiction memo before a title was coined.

All these memos follow from two Science Fiction reports by the BBC in 1962.

Science Fiction: Characters and Setup[]

Before the "Dr. Who" memos, C. E. Webber sent a memo to Donald Wilson on 29 March 1963. It was a prompt for a new science fiction show, tentatively named "The Troubleshooters", with two goals:

It must attract and hold the audience.
It must be adaptable to any [science fiction] story, so that we do not have to reject stories because they fail to fit into our setup.^[1]

It was the genesis of Doctor Who, with character archetypes that would evolve into the first main cast:

The handsome young man hero
The handsome welldressed heroine aged about 30
The maturer man, 35 - 40, with some "character" twist
A handwritten note from Sydney Newman reads, "Need a kid to get into trouble, make mistakes"

The rest of the proposal outlines the three main characters as scientists in a scientific firm in the near future, tackling problems no other organisation is equipped to handle. It also described the need for a headquarters with "a small lab fitted with way-out equipment". The prompt also suggested the idea of a permanent villain such as a "venal politician" or an "industrialist".

While the early seasons of Doctor Who would take a different path, Jon Pertwee era of the show took a similar approach to this proposal (perhaps coincidentally) with UNIT as the near-future organisation and the Master as the recurring villain.

"Dr. Who" General Notes on Background and Approach[]

The first memo with the show's title was written on an unknown date between 29 March and 16 May 1963. It was written by C. E. Webber with handwritten notes from Sydney Newman.

This document defined many ideas that would evolve into the Doctor Who seen on screens:

A schoolgirl named Bridget or "Biddy", 15, getting involved in Dr. Who's adventures in time and space.
A female teacher, 24, named Miss Lola McGovern and a male teacher named Cliff, 27-8.
The early outline of "Dr. Who", an old man lost in time and space with memory loss who is suspicious and capable of sudden malignancy.
Dr. Who's machine can travel in time and space. It is faulty and obsolete, (TV: The Claws of Axos, The Deadly Assassin, et al.) thus unreliable. It is capable of turning invisible (TV: The Invasion, Day of the Moon) to avoid it being a "common object in street such as a night-watchman's shelter" that functions a magic door.
Dr. Who has a mystery about him that should always be maintained. He is believed to be a criminal fleeing from his own time. Dr. Who stole his machine. (TV: The War Games et al.)
A mysterious enemy from the Doctor's own time pursues him through time and space. (Akin to The Monk and The Master.)
Authorities from Dr. Who's time are less concerned with him stealing the machine than with him "monkeying with time". The show may visit his home time at some point. (TV: The War Games)
The first story, with the first episode "Nothing at the End of the Lane", will feature the protagonists being miniaturised. (TV: Planet of Giants)
The third story will feature a great calamity such as the destruction of the Earth. (TV: The Ark, The End of the World)
The suggestion that Merlin could have been Dr. Who. (TV: Battlefield)

Other suggestions include Cinderella's godmother being the Doctor's wife.

"Dr. Who" General Notes on Background and Approach for an Exciting Adventure - Science Fiction Drama Series for Childrens [sic] Saturday Viewing[]

The second memo was sent to Controller of BBC1 Donald Baverstock on 16 May 1963, it outlined the concept of a proposed programme called Dr. Who. It was prepared by Donald Wilson, C. E. Webber and Sydney Newman.

This updated concept included:

A schoolgirl named Sue, 15, getting involved in Dr. Who's adventures in time and space.
A a male science teacher named Cliff, 27, and a female history teacher named Miss McGovern, 23, who help Sue find the home of Dr. Who.
The early outline of "Dr. Who", a 650-year-old man lost in time and space with memory loss from his involvement in a galactic war.
Dr. Who's ship can travel in time and space. It is faulty and obsolete (TV: The Claws of Axos, The Deadly Assassin, et al.), thus unreliable. Dr. Who stole it to escape his galaxy in the year 5733 and isn't sure how to work it. It is disguised as a police box but is an "extensive electronic contrivance" on the inside. Pressing the wrong buttons causes the ship to transport them through time and space.
The first story would be called The Giants and feature the protagonists being miniaturised in Cliff's school laboratory. (Elements incorporated into TV: "An Unearthly Child", Planet of Giants.)

The pilot drafts[]

Scriptwriter C. E. Webber wrote scripts for the first two episodes of The Giants serial before it was dropped in favour of Anthony Coburn's "The Tribe of Gum". Corburn incorporated the first Webber episode into his serial. Their drafts of what would become "An Unearthly Child" developped new ideas that were discussed with the series' decision makers. Webber's scripts are now considered lost. (DWM 467)

These updates included:

Suzanne is now Doctor Who's granddaughter.
Cliff is now "C.E. Chesterton" the headmaster of the school. (2nd known Coburn draft)
Suzanne listens to Fred Grub, stagename Ollie Typhoon. (1st Coburn draft)
Miss McGovern is now "Miss Canning" (2nd Coburn draft)
The ship was called a "Change and Dimensional Electronic Selector and Extendor" (1st Coburn draft)
Dr. Who and Suzanne escaped their homeworld after it was invaded by the Palladin hordes who are still pursuing them. The Doctor is a "Lord of the House of Dooclare" and Suzanne is "Findooclare," the rightful heir of their enslaved world. (2nd Coburn draft)

Writer's Guide[]

In July 1963, script editor David Whitaker wrote an updated version of the guide with the changes he agreed to with Coburn. He sent it along with Coburn's second draft to recruit writers. It uses the final names of the four protagonists. (REF: The Sixties)

In other media[]

The Baverstock/Newman meeting implied by the memo was spoofed by Mark Gatiss and David Walliams in The Pitch of Fear.

Disambiguation[]

An unrelated writer's guide entitled "Gallifrey - Notes on the Planet's Background" by Andrew Cartmel, Ben Aaronovitch and Marc Platt was conceived for the Virgin New Adventures, based on ideas they developed during their era of the TV series. (REF: A History of the Universe)

The Leekley Bible was developed in the mid-1990s for an ultimately unproduced Doctor Who television series.

Russell T Davies conceived a pitch document for Series 1. (DWMSE 11)

External links[]

Footnotes[]

↑ Science Fiction: Characters and Setup at the BBC Archive website

[1] Science Fiction: Characters and Setup at the BBC Archive website

[1]

Tardis