Saturday 4 November 2023

Doctor Who: Journey Into Terror

















The long lost script for a proposed Doctor Who radio
series was finally unearthed in
the BBC archives in January
2012.
In 1966, following the release
 of Amicus' second Dalek film,
two independent production
companies, Stanmark and
Watermill planned to record
a fifty-two part radio spin-off
 drama starring Peter Cushing
as Dr. Who. 
A pilot entitled Journey Into
Time, written by Malcolm
Hulke, was produced, but a full series was ruled out when the BBC
dismissed the adventure (set during the American Revolution) as
"extremely feeble." The 23-minute pilot episode was never broad-
cast, and remained lost until fanzine Nothing at the End of the Lane
presented the full script in their third issue. Hulke (1924-79) went on
to pen eight Doctor Who stories for television, and adapted seven
Target novelisations.
It's possible that a radio spin-off was considered when a third Dalek
film (based on the TV serial The Chase) was abandoned, and Cushing
was keen to continue in the role. 
Interestingly, Cushing once stated in an interview that he believed his
version of the Doctor was in fact canonical. Long before the concept of
unbound Time Lords, he theorised that Dr. Who was actually a future
incarnation kidnapped by the Celestial Toymaker, who had "wiped his
memory and made him relive some of his earlier adventures."
Furthermore, we know that the First Doctor had indeed escaped the
Toymaker before their televised encounter.

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