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The Nth Doctor was a Doctor Who reference book published by Virgin Publishing and iUniverse.
Publisher's summary
First edition
- How are the Master and the Doctor connected?
- Whatever happened to the Key to Time?
- What is Romana's dark secret?
- Was the First Doctor really the First Doctor?
- What's the name of the Doctor's mother?
Since 1977, when Tom Baker and his co-star Ian Marter tried to produce a movie to be entitled Scratchman, several different companies have held options to produce a Doctor Who movie — including Green Light Productions, Lumière Films, Amblin Entertainment and BBC Enterprises.
These projects have always obsessed Doctor Who fans, partly because they were and remain shrouded in secrecy. The show's absence from our screens for seven years only served to heighten the importance of these projects, as fans were starved of new Doctor Who.
This volume contains a detailed plot summary of each script, an account of the circumstances of its creation and the reasons why it was never made, as well as interviews with the various writers. The book will also explore the roles and input of the big names associated with each project — men such as Steven Spielberg, Leonard Nimoy and Johnny Byrne.
Second edition
Over the last three decades, several film production companies have held the rights to make a Doctor Who movie. To this day, intense speculation surrounds the details of these unmade productions. Here, for the first time, is an in-depth exploration of the Doctor Who films that almost were, including detailed synopses and extracts from the scripts themselves, interviews with the writers, behind-the-scenes articles explaining how these productions came to be, why the contemplated films were never shot, and the role played by stars such as Leonard Nimoy and Steven Spielberg.
Subject matter
Coverage of seven unproduced scripts that were intended to become a film or a revival of "classic" Doctor Who.
Notable features
Most of the films/TV movies mentioned in the book, aside from The Dark Dimension, don't have titles or were simply known as Doctor Who, but it is noted that the author sought out to confirm the titles that are given. They are all presented in detail with accompanying notes and a review.
second edition cover
- The Return to Varnax - Written in 1987 by Mark Ezra from a story by Peter Litten and George Dugdale.
- The Time Lord - Written in 1988 by Johnny Byrne. (A rewrite of Mark Ezra's screenplay.)
- Last of the Time Lords - Written in 1991 by Johnny Byrne, a new script which seemingly still carried some of the elements of the previous two.
- The Jewels of Time - A screenplay written in 1993 by Denny Martin Flinn, originally intended to be directed by Leonard Nimoy.
- The Dark Dimension - Written by Adrian Rigelsford in 1993 with the intent for it to be part of the BBC's 30th Anniversary celebrations.
- Fathers and Brothers - Written in 1994 by John Leekley. Commissioned by Philip Segal on behalf of Amblin Television, Universal Television and BBC Enterprises.
- The Time of My Life - Written in 1994 by Robert DeLaurentis. Commissioned by Philip Segal on behalf of Amblin Television, Universal Television and BBC Enterprises. Officially titled Dr. Who?, the title chose by Robert DeLaurentis.
Notes
- This book was written shortly after the production and broadcast of Doctor Who, when it was looking as though there would not be a series from it.
- Varnax who appears in several of the proposed scripts, is also mentioned in the stories The Infinity Doctors and The Gallifrey Chronicles.
- Ulysses was used in later novels as a possible candidate to be the Doctor's father.
Reboot and incorporation
Most of the scripts are in essence re-boots of Doctor Who, though some (like The Dark Dimension) do attempt to continue continuity. Though some do both, incorporating elements of previous stories and weaving their owns continuity at the same time.
- Fathers and Brothers - John Leekley's screenplay includes what could be seen as a massive reboot and re-telling of Genesis of the Daleks.
- In the Fathers and Brothers section there is some detail of the Leekley Bible a 45 page "writer's bible" of the type produced as reference material for TV series writers. It has in it examples "sample premises" to illustrate the types of stories that could be told in this rebooted format; these included:
- The Pirates (an adaptation of The Smugglers)
- The Talons of Weng-Chiang, relocated to New York City
- Earthshock, loosely based on the original story, which would have introduced a new more savage Cyberman
- The Horror of Fang Rock
- The Celestial Toymaker
- Don't Shoot, I'm the Doctor! (The Gunfighters)
- Tomb of the Cybermen
- The Yeti (The Abominable Snowmen)
- The Ark in Space
