OMG! Doctor Who Cancelled! (NOT!)

[23skidoo]

When I have nothing better to do (like, say, getting some REAL WORK done ), I find it fun to look at past gossip blogs where people reported "The TRUTH" (tm), only for it to be proven hogwash.

For example, check out this rant relating to a rumor that Doctor Who was being cancelled at the end of Season 4:

http://showmescifi.com/2007/05/31/doctor-who-getting-cancelled/

It may have been a case of a blogger believing The Sun tabloid, which likewise reported the TARDIS was shutting down for good in 2008:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article231415.ece

TV Squad also freaked out about it:

http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/06/01/doctor-who-to-end-in-2008/

And then of course there were all the reports about Kylie Minogue being cast as a Cyberwoman:

http://www.throng.co.nz/doctor-who/kylie-minogue-cyberwoman-in-series-4

http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/kylie-set-for-dr-who/2007/04/23/1177180481804.html

http://www.beyondhollywood.com/gallery/kylie-minogue-is-one-sexy-cyberwoman/

I've been chided here and at the Tardis Wikia site I edit for being skeptical of any sources other than the BBC itself and, usually, DWM. If you need any explanation as to why, just look at these links!

So let's have some fun. What are some of the wildest Doctor Who (or Torchwood, or Sarah Jane) rumors you've heard in the past? Links, please, if possible! And I'm not talking about current rumors, but stuff relating to the first 4 seasons or the first couple of specials, or even the classic series.

Alex

 

[Neroon]

I'm still too new to the fandom to be able to recall anything that approaches the leve of what you've posted. Fascinating reading, though.

 

[ParticleMan]

Seems like someone here a while back posted some examples of old rumors from the Colin Baker days that were circulating on the primitive versions of the internet back in the day...something about C. Baker being so disliked by the BBC that he'd regenerate after one episode...back into TOM Baker...or something equally odd...

 

[Professor Zoom]

Seems like someone here a while back posted some examples of old rumors from the Colin Baker days that were circulating on the primitive versions of the internet back in the day...something about C. Baker being so disliked by the BBC that he'd regenerate after one episode...back into TOM Baker...or something equally odd...

Wasn't it actually going to be Patrick Troughton?

 

[ParticleMan]

Seems like someone here a while back posted some examples of old rumors from the Colin Baker days that were circulating on the primitive versions of the internet back in the day...something about C. Baker being so disliked by the BBC that he'd regenerate after one episode...back into TOM Baker...or something equally odd...

Wasn't it actually going to be Patrick Troughton?

That might be it...it was one of the previous Doctors...

 

[Classic Fan]

Oh dear, where to start...


Well i dont know about the rest of you, but im heading to the place where 95% of the rumours started from, a place where no celebrity can escape, a place where no man ever willingly turns past page 3...


THE. SUN.

The Malcolm Taylor Spin off:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article2375240.ece

Doctor Who and the Deadly Anoraks:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...nky-sleeping-bag-style-coats.html#comment-rig
(The sneaky bastards have editied this, because all of us who saw the article in print will remember they thought it was the actual costumes for the season)

 

[Tom]

I'm still too new to the fandom to be able to recall anything that approaches the leve of what you've posted. Fascinating reading, though.

Then you lucky you have not gone through the pain many of had to go thru when the show was put on 'Haitus' at the end of the Eighties. In a way, its almost reminiscentof Star Trek, in that you had the BBC controled by Mike Grade who did not like Doctor Who being a big part of the show going off the air. With Star Trek we have Les Moonves who is not a fan of Star Trek, or Scifi in general, being a big part of Enterprise going off the air.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Seems like someone here a while back posted some examples of old rumors from the Colin Baker days that were circulating on the primitive versions of the internet back in the day...something about C. Baker being so disliked by the BBC that he'd regenerate after one episode...back into TOM Baker...or something equally odd...

Wasn't it actually going to be Patrick Troughton?

That might be it...it was one of the previous Doctors...

Yup, it was Patrick Troughton. As much as I adore Troughton (he's my second favorite Doctor), I would have hated this direction. But of course, that's assuming he would have done it in the first place.

 

[Rarewolf]

For example, check out this rant relating to a rumor that Doctor Who was being cancelled at the end of Season 4:

http://showmescifi.com/2007/05/31/doctor-who-getting-cancelled/

Ian Levine certainly believes we were closer to the show ending with RTD's departure than most of us would dare fear, he's probably claimed some responsibility for the u-turn.

 

[ChristopherPike]

I recall back in 1993 how a 30th Anniversary special - The Dark Dimension was to have starred Tom Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Peter Davison and Jon Pertwee. That part was true, but it never got off the ground. Conflict between the BBC and BBC Enterprises over making such a drama for a straight-to-video release. Also Philip Segal had his US series proposal under negotiation at that point and didn't want the BBC to attempt their own low budget revival. Certain actors weren't happy with Tom getting the lionshare of the adventure and having their roles reduced to cameo appearances.

The wild rumour doing the rounds in fanzines about the script sounded controversial but plausable... although having read the synopsis since, it turned out to be completely false. Basically it went something like this... a villain called Hawkspur travels back in time and prevents the Fourth Doctor falling from the telescope in Logopolis, this accounts for Tom's older appearance in the story. Then at the climax of The Dark Dimension, he then regenerates into Brian Blessed (a new 5th Doctor). This erases subsequent Doctors from history, or reduces them to existing in a some alternate reality. It's a fantasy, which sounds not far off what JJ Abrams ended up doing to Star Trek actually. Start off with the most iconic version and move forward again from there, having stricken future incarnations from the record.

 

[Starkers]

When I have nothing better to do (like, say, getting some REAL WORK done ), I find it fun to look at past gossip blogs where people reported "The TRUTH" (tm), only for it to be proven hogwash.

For example, check out this rant relating to a rumor that Doctor Who was being cancelled at the end of Season 4:

http://showmescifi.com/2007/05/31/doctor-who-getting-cancelled/

It may have been a case of a blogger believing The Sun tabloid, which likewise reported the TARDIS was shutting down for good in 2008:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article231415.ece

TV Squad also freaked out about it:

http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/06/01/doctor-who-to-end-in-2008/

And then of course there were all the reports about Kylie Minogue being cast as a Cyberwoman:

http://www.throng.co.nz/doctor-who/kylie-minogue-cyberwoman-in-series-4

http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/kylie-set-for-dr-who/2007/04/23/1177180481804.html

http://www.beyondhollywood.com/gallery/kylie-minogue-is-one-sexy-cyberwoman/

I've been chided here and at the Tardis Wikia site I edit for being skeptical of any sources other than the BBC itself and, usually, DWM. If you need any explanation as to why, just look at these links!

So let's have some fun. What are some of the wildest Doctor Who (or Torchwood, or Sarah Jane) rumors you've heard in the past? Links, please, if possible! And I'm not talking about current rumors, but stuff relating to the first 4 seasons or the first couple of specials, or even the classic series.

Alex

I think what's interesting about many of those is that there was an element of truth.

Kylie wasn't playing a cyberwoman, but she was in the Christmas special.

Who wasn't cancelled after season 4, but specials aside RTD and co did chose to hang up their sonic screwdrivers with 4 as their last full season.

That anoraks thing in the sun was exceptionally stupid though!

 

[23skidoo]

I remember a few others with relation to the new show back before it aired. Although folks may think the "gay agenda conspiracy" theory that some of the real hardcore RTD haters is a relatively new thing, I remember reading speculation treated as fact that the new Doctor was going to be gay. In almost the same breath people were saying there was going to be full-out "hanky panky in the TARDIS" once Billie Piper was cast.

Again, as noted above, there were grains of truth. The Doctor didn't become gay, but a gay companion was introduced (well, pan-sexual) and the two did share a kiss in one episode but it wasn't handled in any orientation-based way as far as the Doctor was concerned. And we all know that the Doctor and Rose fell in love -- but there was never any indication of "hanky panky in the TARDIS".

Of course if you want the real treasure trove of wild media speculation, look back at the days when every few months there were reports about a Doctor Who theatrical film being made, with everyone from David Bowie (who would have been fantastic) to David Hasselhoff -- I am NOT making that up -- being cast as the Doctor.

The most bizarre "rumor reported as fact" I remember related to Doctor Who was actually perpetrated by the otherwise-trustworthy Doctor Who Magazine. At some point in the very early 1990s I remember DWM ran a story covering a press conference in which some actor no one had ever heard of had been cast as the Doctor. Nothing more was ever said with regards to his. I wish I still had that issue, but about 10 years ago, in a moment of great stupidity, I got rid of virtually my entire DWM collection from the late 80s and 90s. (insert "boo! hiss!" here).

The thing that's both entertaining and frustrating is that so many of these rumors get reported as fact by major media. Those aren't amateur blogs reporting on Kylie being a Cyberwoman. This isn't Doctor Who, but I still remember seeing TV news reports regarding Sean Connery filming a cameo for Die Another Day, playing James Bond's father. If you've never heard of such a scene, there's good reason -- it never existed. I believe there was some speculation about Connery appearing in the 20th Bond film, but it never went beyond idle consideration.

And of course everyone remembers the news reports of Eddie Murphy being cast in one of the Star Trek films, right? Right?

Alex

 

[Tomalak]

Wasn't it actually going to be Patrick Troughton?

That might be it...it was one of the previous Doctors...

Yup, it was Patrick Troughton. As much as I adore Troughton (he's my second favorite Doctor), I would have hated this direction. But of course, that's assuming he would have done it in the first place.

And I think I read somewhere that one of the ideas for the Trial season was to have the "evidence" feature past Doctors - Troughton and Pertwee - with Colin pulling the story together in the last section.

 

[ChristopherPike]

HOORAY! Paul McGann is returning to Doctor Who to film his long overdue regeneration!

Look here he is outside the New Series TARDIS doors...

Oh no, wait...

That's Julie Gardner!

 

[23skidoo]

And I think I read somewhere that one of the ideas for the Trial season was to have the "evidence" feature past Doctors - Troughton and Pertwee - with Colin pulling the story together in the last section.

That's actually quite a plausible idea, considering we'd just had Troughton appear in The Two Doctors. It might have made for an interesting story if they'd done that.

Alex

 

[The Nth Doctor]

That might be it...it was one of the previous Doctors...

Yup, it was Patrick Troughton. As much as I adore Troughton (he's my second favorite Doctor), I would have hated this direction. But of course, that's assuming he would have done it in the first place.

And I think I read somewhere that one of the ideas for the Trial season was to have the "evidence" feature past Doctors - Troughton and Pertwee - with Colin pulling the story together in the last section.

Now that would have been very cool.

 

[Starkers]

I just remembered the other mad rumour that was flying about...that the Doctor and the Master would swap bodies, enabling Simm to play the Doctor for a season whilst Tennant went off and did other things

(although again there was some grain of truth here given we ended up with the specials rather than S5)

 

[Tomalak]

I just remembered the other mad rumour that was flying about...that the Doctor and the Master would swap bodies, enabling Simm to play the Doctor for a season whilst Tennant went off and did other things

(although again there was some grain of truth here given we ended up with the specials rather than S5)

Yes, I remember that! I thought that would have actually been brilliant, as Simm would make a good Doctor and Tennant would be a fantastic Master. Almost a shame it didn't happen, even for an episode or two.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I just remembered the other mad rumour that was flying about...that the Doctor and the Master would swap bodies, enabling Simm to play the Doctor for a season whilst Tennant went off and did other things

(although again there was some grain of truth here given we ended up with the specials rather than S5)

Yes, I remember that! I thought that would have actually been brilliant, as Simm would make a good Doctor and Tennant would be a fantastic Master. Almost a shame it didn't happen, even for an episode or two.

I remember that rumor, too. At the time, I thought it was a terrible idea, but now that I've seen Simm as The Master (as well as on Life on Mars and State of Play), I think this would have been very interesting indeed.

 

[Starkers]

The only problem I would have had with it is that Simm wouldn't have been playing his interpretation of the Doctor as he'd still, technically, be ten rather than being eleven. So he'd effect have to play Tennant playing the Doctor rather than being the Doctor.