Extend a Doctor’s tv era

How do you manage to turn everything into Capaldi's Doc getting off with Clara?

There are obvious reasons why era's didn't last - most Doctor's were shown the door, or at least not invited to return. Ratings, viewer feedback etc. I think it's only fair to take those OUT of the equation. Likewise, take media like BF and books out as they've been kinder to some than others obviously.

SO to answer the question if all things were equal I should have liked a McGann series but not a US one. Some of the ideas for the proposed show were horrendous and I'd take McGann and give him the BBC treatment. 3 seasons at least - the romantic Byron figure, no angst.

Then just as obviously I'd give Colin and Sylvester their last seasons each. Both of them we know pretty much how they'd have shaped out and while not earth shattering, I think they'd have been solid additions to the show and given both Doctors a chance to breathe and connect with an audience better.

Davison's always said he played the role too young. So being wacky, he'd have come back in the 90s to play a Doctor closer to Campion.

Hello again.

If you are interested in seeing an extension to the Seventh Doctor's era one fan has become exec producer for Doctor Who and created the What If Doctor Who Wasn't Axed? Youtube channel. www.youtube.com/user/DaDoctorWhoFan

It is quite extraordinary. Starting with Season 27 it tracks the journey Doctor Who could have taken if it had not been cancelled which includes "a lot, and I mean an awful lot of guesswork." It even includes spinoffs. It is clear that this fan has taken ideas from all sorts of Doctor Who media and some of his ideas probably wouldn't have worked on tv. That said, it is a work of immense dedication and creativity.

Back to timegirl's question. I feel that Classic Who reached its natural conclusion on BBC in 1989. The Beeb really didn't care about it. They wouldn't give it the money it needed and felt that its American imports e.g Star Trek, Buffy and the X Files were far better than 'tired' old Who. The so-called Wilderness years gave us a fascinating extension of the 7th Doctor. While some of the stories are not so good, I enjoyed the New Adventures and loved Bernice Summerfield.

The 1996 movie had its moments and a great Doctor in Paul McGann but again the execs really weren't interested in a series. It took a sea change at executive level to greenlight Doctor Who.

Without that time that Who wasn't on television we would not have got the story-making machine that is Big Finish. It is here that you get the true exensions to classic Who. Here budget is only limited by your imagination, all Doctors, but particularly the Eighties Doctors have had a real renaissance. Each has had a new companion that really worked: Erimem, Dr Evelyn Smythe and Hex. The Eighth Doctor has had some great stories and my favourite run of his, the epic season 4 of the eighth Doctor adventures, orginally broadcast on BBC Radio 7 now BBC 4 Extra.

As far I'm concerned, Doctor Who had an epic first run, twenty-six years for such a difficult to write for show with new sets and cast every four or so weeks is extraordinary. The fact they got this produced in the first place on a BBC budet is remarkable. The ideas, the risks they took, the characters and the story-telling mark this series out as special in the minds of the British public.

The only extended run I miss is season 23. I disliked the Trial and would have liked to have seen an untruncated season 23. The Lost stories give us a flavour but it would have been interesting to see them realised on screen.

Producer Derrick Sherwin apparently tried to purchase the rights to the series after it had finished, so he could market it internationally. I kind of like the idea of the show coming to its natural conclusion in 1989... on television, and getting the JAG/Brooklyn Nine-Nine treatment with a twist. The series is picked up again by another production company, this time with direct-to-video sequels. Starting off small, but eventually getting to the point where they occassionally put out Special Releases once or twice every couple of years, featuring earlier Doctors (Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant star in Song of the Space Whale/Peter Davison and Mark Strickson in Endurance/Jon Pertwee and Caroline John in The Nightmare Fair).

Sitting inside the show's tenure itself... I would've liked to see an intervening production block between the Third Doctor's first and second seasons (Season 7 and 8). More Caroline John as Liz Shaw. Bringing the UNIT family into focus. Probably cutting down the episode count from the 7-parts standard to 4, as the Letts era did. A nice way of segueing Liz out might have been to have the Doctor and her arrive in Earth's past or an alien world. Put her face-to-face with the otherworldly in such a way that she gets antsy working at UNIT. Decides she'll be able to do far more, learn and teach far more, at Cambridge, outside the constraints of the Official Secrets Act and the threat of the week. A place where she can actually process what she's experienced.

Extend 2nd Doctor's Era to include Season 7. I thought The Invasion was a really good set up and is one of Troughton's best stories, so would have loved to have seen his Doctor in this era. It would also be good to see Troughton in colour (and perhaps have more episodes).

I wonder what the 4th Doctor would be like in Season 19 - especially whether his Doctor would handle Tegan, Nyssa and Adric differently.

Unless BBC politics could also change, I am not sure whether 5th Doctor in Season 22 would have made much difference to the direction of the show. It might have been better to have had more 5th Doctor and Peri stories with Androzani at the end of Season 22 - would make more sense for the sacrifice that way.

Clearly Paul McGann should have had more than just the TVM. Although I doubt any TV production company, US or British, would have given us the diverse type of entertaining stories that Big Finish have given us. I definitely see Paul's Doctor as the one that got the raw deal though. (I consider the early MR Eighth Doctor stories with Charley Pollard as extensions to his TV era anyway.)

Chris Eccleston should have done more than one season too, (his choice though obviously) so I would like to have seen his era extended. The first year of the Ninth Doctor was brilliant and promised so so much, and then we were left with ...Barcelona... ! Fortunately, next year we'll get to hear our own version of what might have been.

Oh and the kid in me would love to have seen the Jon Pertwee era extended, as he was THE Doctor. However, that would have meant no Tom Baker in 1974... so the older kid in me will just leave things the way they were.