Timeless Adventures by Brian J. Robb

Author:Brian J. Robb
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781843441571
Publisher: Oldcastle Books
Published: 2013-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

Graham Williams saw the Key to Time season as a method of attracting an audience that would stick with the show for a full season, from first episode to last. His previous season had varied widely from a per-story average low of 7.8 million (Image of the Fendahl) and a high of 10.5 million (The Invasion of Time). Williams’ hope was that the ongoing over-arching story, albeit spread across six separate serials, would hold audience attention for a 26-week run.

A three-page document had been drawn up in November 1976 (soon after Williams took the producer’s position) outlining his ambitions for what was to become the sixteenth season of Doctor Who in 1978. Full of mystical and esoteric-sounding content, the document outlined the forces that balance the universe and introduced the ‘Guardians’, one representing ‘good/construction’ and the other ‘evil/destruction’. These forces are accessed through the Key to Time, which has been split into six segments and scattered through time and space. The Doctor and his new companion, Time Lady Romana (Mary Tamm), are set the task of finding the pieces, assembling the Key and returning it to the White (‘good’) Guardian, while avoiding the hindrance of the Black (‘evil’) Guardian and his agents. An added complication was the nature of each segment: they could change form or be disguised as anything (or anyone). The document included a character profile for the new companion, Romana. ‘We decided to do the one big remaining stereotype that had yet to be done,’ admitted Williams. ‘This was the exact opposite of the savage huntress (Leela), namely the ice goddess.’ A long search finally saw Tamm cast as the neophyte Time Lady who was to act as both a companion and conscience for the Doctor.

The six stories were planned as diverse adventures and some had been developed independently of the story arc idea, so the Key had to be inserted into the plot somewhere. This was more successful in some cases than others. Opening tale The Ribos Operation pulled off the now established trick of having the design department create a period-costume-drama look representing an alien world. Robert Holmes’ script and the look of the story were heavily influenced by the popular movie conception of Russian literature in the Dr Zhivago (1965) mould (or Anna Karenina, with some of the sets coming from the 1977 ten-episode BBC adaptation featuring Eric Porter) crossed with a heist movie plot. On the planet Ribos, three conmen have tricked the Graff Vynda-K into believing the planet is rich in the mineral Jethryk, used for powering spaceships. In fact, the only Jethryk on the planet is on display in a reliquary and is part of the Key to Time sought by the Doctor. Caught up in the conmen’s manoeuvres and the Graff’s ambitions, the Doctor also has to recover the Key segment.

The literary games are further played out in later story The Androids of Tara, a fun retelling of The Prisoner of Zenda in the same future-feudal mode as The Ribos Operation, giving the BBC costume designers and set builders a period workout once more.

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