Fantasy Season 31/5!
This is my ideal 2010 season. Not something that I seriously expect to see happen (not under the current production team, anyway!) but the best of all possible seasons. I've thought about this quite a bit, and, uh...it could be construed as fanfic, but it's not, really. More of a highly metafictional wish-list.
Remember, these are abstracts, not actual synopses, so they're not that detailed. Or good.
Production No. 206: Ring of Eternity.
On Earth, UNIT (led by Colonel Mary Burke) investigates a mysterious crash-landing on the Isle of Man. The Master (Alexandra Moen) turns out to be behind it. Burke goes to General Sir Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart, Retired, and together they use his space phone to call up the Doctor (Julian Sands) and Donna. After the Master is defeated and flees into Deep Space (tm), the Brigadier requests one last trip.
Production No. 207: Jerusalem Ridge.
The Doctor, Donna, and the Brigadier help William Blake (Simon Callow again!) fight a rogue Time Agent--possibly Captain Spike, possibly a new character.
Production No. 208: The Secret of Peladon/Tunnels in Time.
Returning to the planet of Peladon a thousand years after his last visit with Sarah Jane, the Doctor discovers yet another disturbing cultic group controlling the planet. Apparently taking their cue from North American Indian mythology, they worship a trickster-god called 'Hahaoo' (the closest Peladonian equivalent to the coyote). The fight against the cult leaves the Brigadier badly shaken, and the Doctor drops him off at Sandford with a tearful good-bye.
Production No. 209: Those Who Trespass.
Now sans-Brig, the Doctor and Donna travel into the far future, where they become embroiled in a science-fictiony Heart of Darkness-type thing involving an insane priest who worships some sort of three-headed lobster-like creature. I haven't really thought through the plot of this one.
Production No. 210: The Price of Peace.
The obligatory Midseason Modern Earth Episode (registered trademark). The twist being that Colonel Burke and Captain Jack foil an alien invasion in the pre-credits sequence, call in the Doctor and Donna to help with an interplanetary peace treaty, and spend the next thirty-six minutes uncovering a third party's plot to sabotage the treaty.
Production No. 211: The Celestial Gallery/Hell Is Other Time Lords.
A MAJOR EPISODE. The Doctor and Donna are drawn off-course into the Braxiatel Collection, where they meet three Time Lord survivors: Braxiatel, Romana (Claudia Black), and Narvin. Then Rutans attack.
Production No. 212: The Puzzle Planet.
Romana agrees to join the Doctor and Donna on their travels. They end up on the Celestial Toymaker's (Anthony Stewart Head) planet, but instead of making them play stupid children's puzzles, the Toymaker forces them to sing, dance, and outsmart a playful but annoying and dangerous trickster doll. They do so, but only after the first-ever musical episode of Doctor Who (EVERY FANDOM NEEDS ONE).
Production No. 213: An Enemy of the Planet.
The Doctor, Romana, and Donna visit nineteenth-century Norway, where they help Edvard Grieg and Henrik Ibsen fight off a corrupt Swedish public servant and some aliens. The Obligatory Late-Season Crack Episode (registered trademark).
Production No. 214: The Valley of the Shadow/Timeless Pattern/Midwinter Spring.
The three-part season finale, yay! The arc word ('trickster') comes to a head when the Trickster from Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, who may or may not be the Black Guardian, erases the Doctor and Donna from time and puts Romana's knowledge to his own use. As chaos spreads across the universe towards Earth, Romana plays a dangerous game of trickery and sabotage, while Colonel Burke prepares to defend the planet at all costs. The Doctor is forced to team up with the Master (whose life he saved once, and who thus is also stuck in the Trickster's limbo; Alexandra Moen plays him anyway, but I'm sure there's a timey-wimey excuse for that) to reverse the Trickster's plot. In the end, the Master goes away again and Romana chooses to become UNIT and Torchwood's resident Time Lord, promising the Doctor that they will meet again.
This story is based upon the truism that every season of New Who must fall apart into chunks of meaningless SFX at the end. I also have another, simpler idea that basically just eschews the middle of this one.
Production No. 215: Labour Dreary.
The holiday special. After Romana leaves, a heartbroken Doctor decides to spend Christmas with Donna in mediaeval Italy. The ensuing story involves St Francis of Assisi and maybe Captain Spike again.
What would you like to see in 2010?
Remember, these are abstracts, not actual synopses, so they're not that detailed. Or good.
Production No. 206: Ring of Eternity.
On Earth, UNIT (led by Colonel Mary Burke) investigates a mysterious crash-landing on the Isle of Man. The Master (Alexandra Moen) turns out to be behind it. Burke goes to General Sir Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart, Retired, and together they use his space phone to call up the Doctor (Julian Sands) and Donna. After the Master is defeated and flees into Deep Space (tm), the Brigadier requests one last trip.
Production No. 207: Jerusalem Ridge.
The Doctor, Donna, and the Brigadier help William Blake (Simon Callow again!) fight a rogue Time Agent--possibly Captain Spike, possibly a new character.
Production No. 208: The Secret of Peladon/Tunnels in Time.
Returning to the planet of Peladon a thousand years after his last visit with Sarah Jane, the Doctor discovers yet another disturbing cultic group controlling the planet. Apparently taking their cue from North American Indian mythology, they worship a trickster-god called 'Hahaoo' (the closest Peladonian equivalent to the coyote). The fight against the cult leaves the Brigadier badly shaken, and the Doctor drops him off at Sandford with a tearful good-bye.
Production No. 209: Those Who Trespass.
Now sans-Brig, the Doctor and Donna travel into the far future, where they become embroiled in a science-fictiony Heart of Darkness-type thing involving an insane priest who worships some sort of three-headed lobster-like creature. I haven't really thought through the plot of this one.
Production No. 210: The Price of Peace.
The obligatory Midseason Modern Earth Episode (registered trademark). The twist being that Colonel Burke and Captain Jack foil an alien invasion in the pre-credits sequence, call in the Doctor and Donna to help with an interplanetary peace treaty, and spend the next thirty-six minutes uncovering a third party's plot to sabotage the treaty.
Production No. 211: The Celestial Gallery/Hell Is Other Time Lords.
A MAJOR EPISODE. The Doctor and Donna are drawn off-course into the Braxiatel Collection, where they meet three Time Lord survivors: Braxiatel, Romana (Claudia Black), and Narvin. Then Rutans attack.
Production No. 212: The Puzzle Planet.
Romana agrees to join the Doctor and Donna on their travels. They end up on the Celestial Toymaker's (Anthony Stewart Head) planet, but instead of making them play stupid children's puzzles, the Toymaker forces them to sing, dance, and outsmart a playful but annoying and dangerous trickster doll. They do so, but only after the first-ever musical episode of Doctor Who (EVERY FANDOM NEEDS ONE).
Production No. 213: An Enemy of the Planet.
The Doctor, Romana, and Donna visit nineteenth-century Norway, where they help Edvard Grieg and Henrik Ibsen fight off a corrupt Swedish public servant and some aliens. The Obligatory Late-Season Crack Episode (registered trademark).
Production No. 214: The Valley of the Shadow/Timeless Pattern/Midwinter Spring.
The three-part season finale, yay! The arc word ('trickster') comes to a head when the Trickster from Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, who may or may not be the Black Guardian, erases the Doctor and Donna from time and puts Romana's knowledge to his own use. As chaos spreads across the universe towards Earth, Romana plays a dangerous game of trickery and sabotage, while Colonel Burke prepares to defend the planet at all costs. The Doctor is forced to team up with the Master (whose life he saved once, and who thus is also stuck in the Trickster's limbo; Alexandra Moen plays him anyway, but I'm sure there's a timey-wimey excuse for that) to reverse the Trickster's plot. In the end, the Master goes away again and Romana chooses to become UNIT and Torchwood's resident Time Lord, promising the Doctor that they will meet again.
This story is based upon the truism that every season of New Who must fall apart into chunks of meaningless SFX at the end. I also have another, simpler idea that basically just eschews the middle of this one.
Production No. 215: Labour Dreary.
The holiday special. After Romana leaves, a heartbroken Doctor decides to spend Christmas with Donna in mediaeval Italy. The ensuing story involves St Francis of Assisi and maybe Captain Spike again.
What would you like to see in 2010?