Doctor Who: The Lost Stories (G-L)

The Giants Writer: CE Webber Notes: The “miniscules” idea originated in Webber's earliest format guide for Doctor Who, which had been written by May 1963. The first episode was outlined in a subsequent iteration of the guide dated May 16th, with the description of the concluding episodes completed by June 4th. Rex Tucker was assigned to direct “The Giants”. Biddy, Cliff and Lola would eventually become Susan, Ian and Barbara, while the idea of the Doctor being explicitly referred to as “Dr. Who” would go effectively unused. Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman disliked the use of the caterpillar and spider as “monsters” and felt the story lacked incident and character. However, it appears that it may have been the technical limitations of the outdated Lime Grove studio where Doctor Who was to be recorded which forced the abandonment of “The Giants” in favour of 100,000 BC. The miniaturisation idea was unsuccessfully reused in a treatment by Robert Gould before finally making it to the screen in the form of Planet Of Giants by Louis Marks. Characters: Dr. Who, Sue, Cliff, Lola Episodes: 4 Planned For: The first serial of Season One Stage Reached: Complete outline, with scripts for episodes one and two Synopsis: Teenager Sue and her teachers Lola and Cliff meet a strange old man in the fog. Calling him Dr. Who, they discover that his home appears to be a police box, and it is in fact a time machine larger on the inside than on the outside. Wrong buttons are pressed and the four are transported to Cliff's science class laboratory, but reduced to just an eighth of an inch in height. There, Cliff and Sue are separated from the Ship and are menaced by a caterpillar, a spider, a student's compass and a microscope lens. Finally, they manage to communicate with the students and their teacher and are returned to the time machine. References: Doctor Who Magazine #209, Doctor Who: The Handbook: The First Doctor The Hands Of Aten Writer: Brian Hayles Notes: Hayles was commissioned to write a storyline for “The Hands Of Aten” on November 16th, 1965. It was abandoned on January 17th, 1966 because departing story editor Donald Tosh felt that it did not fit the vision espoused by the incoming production team of Innes Lloyd and Gerry Davis. Characters: The First Doctor, Steven, Dodo Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Season Three Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Unknown References: Doctor Who Magazine #196, Doctor Who: The Handbook: The First Doctor The Harvesters aka The Vampire Planet Writer: William Emms Notes: A couple of years after submitting this story under the title of “The Harvesters” for the Second Doctor, Emms redrafted it in 1969 as “The Vampire Planet” to adhere to the new UNIT format. “The Vampire Planet” may have briefly been considered for the final slot of Season Seven -- ultimately taken by Inferno -- but was soon dropped. Characters: The Second Doctor (originally submission); The Third Doctor, UNIT (resubmission) Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Troughton era (original submission); final story of Season Seven (resubmission) Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: The Masters pilot a purple planet into the solar system and despatch their Roboes to invade Earth. The Doctor defeats the Masters by frightening them with film of nuclear explosions. References: Doctor Who Magazine #299, DWM Special Edition #2 The Haunting Writer: Terrance Dicks Notes: Dicks submitted this idea around the start of November 1974, and was commissioned to turn it into a storyline on December 11th. Early in 1975, however, the production team concluded that it was not what they wanted, and it was formally abandoned on May 13th. In the meantime, Dicks was contracted to write The Brain Of Morbius instead. Some elements of the “The Haunting” were reused for Dicks' abortive 1977 script “The Vampire Mutation”, which finally became the Season Eighteen serial State Of Decay. Characters: The Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Episodes: 6 Planned For: Season Thirteen Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Involved the Doctor confronting vampires. References: Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #8 The Hearsay Machine Writer: George Kerr Notes: This idea was submitted around the start of April 1966 and rejected by story editor Gerry Davis on June 15th. Characters: The First Doctor (with Steven and Dodo?) Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Season Four Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Unknown References: The Doctor Who Chronicles: Season Four, Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #7 The Heavy Scent Of Violence Writer: George Kerr Notes: This idea was submitted around the start of April 1966 and rejected by story editor Gerry Davis on June 15th. Characters: The First Doctor (with Steven and Dodo?) Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Season Four Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Unknown References: The Doctor Who Chronicles: Season Four, Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #7 The Herdsmen Of Aquarius aka The Herdsmen Of Venus Writer: Donald Cotton Notes: Submitted by Cotton following the completion of The Gunfighters, it was likely not viewed by story editor Gerry Davis as being in line with his and producer Innes Lloyd's more serious vision of Doctor Who. Lloyd and Davis had also complained that Cotton was difficult to contact. “The Herdsmen” was apparently rejected on June 15th, 1966, although it still appears on documentation dated August of that year. Characters: The First Doctor, Steven, Dodo Episodes: 4 Planned For: Season Four Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Involved the revelation that the Loch Ness Monster was a type of cattle bred by Aquarian (or Venusian) farmers. References: Doctor Who Magazine #221, Doctor Who: The Sixties The Herdsmen Of Venus see The Herdsmen Of Aquarius The Hidden Planet Writer: Malcolm Hulke Notes: This was an idea submitted by Hulke on September 2nd, 1963, after being invited to contribute to Doctor Who in July. Although it was not initially pursued by the production team, on September 23rd, Hulke was asked to stop working on “Britain 408 AD” and begin developing “The Hidden Planet” instead. In mid-October, “The Hidden Planet” was pencilled in as the seventh story of Season One, then pushed back to eighth by the time of its formal commissioning on December 2nd, due to the insertion of Inside The Spaceship into the running order. A month later, “The Hidden Planet” had been promoted to the fifth spot, due to difficulties with two other serials. Unfortunately, when Hulke delivered his script for episode one in January 1964, the production team found it unacceptable and asked Hulke to undertake rewrites; The Keys Of Marinus was hastily commissioned to take its place. Hulke disputed the rewrites, arguing that the episode one script had adhered to the accepted storyline and that he should therefore be paid extra for any rewrites. This request was refused, and in March, Hulke agreed to revise his scripts. Subsequently, the second installment was given the title The Year Of The Lame Dog. In April, “The Hidden Planet” was a possible second story for Doctor Who's second recording block. By July, Hulke had rewritten the adventure as a five-parter, and consideration was given to making it first in the second block. However, it was felt that too much work would be needed to restructure “The Hidden Planet” following the departure of Susan, and there was also concern about the adventure's lack of monsters, now viewed as a key component of the programme's science-fiction serials. “The Hidden Planet” was therefore abandoned by story editor David Whitaker on September 24th, with its formal rejection coming on October 20th. Hulke resubmitted his storyline to the production office following Whitaker's departure from Doctor Who, but it was again rejected on April 2nd, 1965 by new story editor Dennis Spooner, because it still included Ian and Barbara, who were about to exit the series. Characters: The First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara (originally; the resubmission presumably replaced Susan with Vicki) Episodes: 6 (original submission); 5 (rewritten version) Planned For: Seasons One, Two and Three Stage Reached: Probably partial script Synopsis: The TARDIS lands on “the Tenth Planet”, a world identical to the Earth but whose orbit around the Sun is diametrically opposite to our planet's, and which has therefore gone undetected. This world is very much like Earth, but there are subtle differences: four-leaf clovers are plentiful, for example, and glass refracts oddly. Most notably, women are the dominant sex while men struggle for equality. The leader of the planet is Barbara's double, and Barbara is kidnapped by rebels. Meanwhile, the Doctor, Susan and Ian are embroiled in the struggle for male suffrage. References: Doctor Who Magazine #310, DWM Special Edition #7, Doctor Who: The Handbook: The First Doctor The Impersonators Writer: Malcolm Hulke Notes: Hulke was commissioned to write a storyline for “The Impersonators” on July 5th, 1968. It was planned that this adventure would form Serial ZZ, with a four-part Serial AAA by Derrick Sherwin then serving as the final story for the Second Doctor. However, when problems hit both projects, it was decided to instead conclude Season Six with a ten-part Serial ZZ, which became The War Games, cowritten by Hulke. “The Impersonators” was formally abandoned on December 30th. Characters: The Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe Episodes: 6 Planned For: Penultimate story of Season Six Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Unknown References: Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #4 The Imps Writer: William Emms Notes: A year after the transmission of his Galaxy 4, Emms was commissioned to write “The Imps” on October 17th, 1966. The story was rushed into production when it was decided that The Underwater Menace could not be suitably realised on Doctor Who's budget. Emms completed draft scripts and some rewrites before falling ill in November. Around this time, producer Innes Lloyd and story editor Gerry Davis decided to add the character of Jamie as a new companion in The Highlanders, the story preceding “The Imps”, meaning that the character would have to be incorporated into Emms' scripts. With the writer too sick to do the necessary work, The Underwater Menace was resurrected in its spot in the schedule. It was intended that “The Imps” would now follow it into production, but by mid-December, the spot had been given to The Moonbase. “The Imps” was formally rejected on January 4th, 1967, possibly because it would have needed substantial reworking to accommodate the planned exit of Ben and Polly, and the introduction of a new female companion. Emms later used elements of the story for his Sixth Doctor choose-your-own-adventure book, Mission To Venus, published in 1986. Characters: The Second Doctor, Polly, Ben (and later Jamie) Episodes: 4 Planned For: The fifth or sixth serial of Season Four Stage Reached: Draft scripts Synopsis: An interplanetary passenger liner lands at a remote spaceport on Earth, bearing with it imp-like creatures who can become intangible, and alien spores. They cause an aggressive form of vegetation to spring up around the spaceport and attack the humans within. References: Doctor Who Magazine #209, DWM #299, DWM #322, DWM Special Edition #4 The King's Bedtime Story Writer: Roger Dixon Notes: This idea was submitted on January 16th, 1967. Characters: The Second Doctor Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Season Five Stage Reached: Story idea Synopsis: The Doctor and his companions are forced to perpetually enact the King's favourite story without changing any aspect of it. References: Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #4, The Doctor Who Chronicles: Season Five The Labyrinth see The Space-Part People The Lady Killers see The Prison In Space The Laird Of McCrimmon Writers: Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln Notes: By late April 1968, it was clear that Frazer Hines would be leaving Doctor Who sometime during Season Six. One candidate for his departure story was Haisman and Lincoln's third Yeti serial, which they were working on around the start of June. Over the summer, however, the writers became embroiled in a dispute over copyright with the BBC regarding the Quarks, robot monsters which had appeared in their previous Doctor Who commission, The Dominators. The ensuing acrimony resulted in the abandonment of “The Laird Of McCrimmon” during August. Characters: The Second Doctor, Jamie, Victoria (would have been replaced by Zoe) Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Season Six Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: A possessed Jamie pilots the TARDIS to 1746 Scotland and his ancestral home, Castle McCrimmon. There, he finds the current Laird, Sir James, is on his deathbed. Yeti appear and surround the castle while the local villagers fall under the influence of the Great Intelligence; the only person who seems to be immune is a girl named Fiona, with whom Jamie falls in love. The Great Intelligence wants to inhabit Jamie's body and become the Laird once Sir James dies. However, the Intelligence is defeated by the Doctor, and Jamie decides to stay behind and become Laird himself. References: Doctor Who Magazine #262, DWM Special Edition #4 The Living World Writer: Alan Wakeman Notes: Referred to on one production document as a “pilot”, it is unclear whether “The Living World” was intended to be a potential first episode for Doctor Who, or was merely requested to give the production team a basis on which to gauge whether or not they should ask Wakeman to write the rest of his serial. It was commissioned on July 31st, 1963, shortly after Wakeman was invited to contribute ideas for Doctor Who by story editor David Whitaker. Characters: The First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara Episodes: 1 Planned For: Season One (possibly the first episode) Stage Reached: Complete script Synopsis: Unknown References: Doctor Who Magazine Summer Special 1994, DWM Special Edition #4, Doctor Who: The Handbook: The First Doctor The Lords Of The Red Planet Writer: Brian Hayles Notes: Producer Peter Bryant requested a second Ice Warrior adventure from their creator, Brian Hayles, both to capitalise on the popularity of the monsters following their debut in The Ice Warriors, and to get additional use out of the expensive costumes. “The Lords Of The Red Planet” was commissioned on February 2nd, 1968. However, no further development seems to have taken place, and on July 15th, a new Ice Warrior storyline -- The Seeds Of Death -- was commissioned from Hayles. It's unclear whether this was an entirely new idea, or just a reworked version of “The Lords Of The Red Planet”; therefore, this may or may not constitute a “lost” story. Characters: The Second Doctor (with Jamie and Zoe?) Episodes: 6 Planned For: Season Six Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Involved the Ice Warriors. References: Doctor Who Magazine #274 The Lost Legion Writer: Douglas Camfield Notes: After directing The Seeds Of Doom for Season Thirteen, Camfield approached producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes about the possibility of writing a serial for the next block of episodes, as Camfield also had some scripting credits to his name. Holmes harboured doubts about the idea, but Hinchcliffe was enthusiastic and so “The Lost Legion” was commissioned on January 22nd, 1976. The story idea stemmed from Camfield's fascination with military history, and his admiration of the 1924 novel Beau Geste by PC Wren. By this point, Elisabeth Sladen had already indicated that she would be leaving Doctor Who after the second story of Season Fourteen, and so “The Lost Legion” was developed with the intention of dramatically writing Sarah Jane Smith out of the programme by killing her off. It was anticipated that Camfield would also direct his own serial. When he submitted his first script on February 9th, however, it did not meet Holmes' approval, and he began to groom The Hand Of Fear as a possible replacement. Camfield thereafter became increasingly late with his submissions, and “The Lost Legion” was taken off the schedule by the end of March. Camfield continued working on the story -- finally submitting the script for part four on September 24th -- but by this time the production team had no interest in developing it further. Characters: The Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Episodes: 4 Planned For: The second serial of Season Fourteen Stage Reached: Draft scripts Synopsis: An isolated North African outpost of the French Foreign Legion becomes the focal point of a confrontation between the Skarkel and the Khoorians, two factions of an alien race. At the story's conclusion, the last of the aliens shoots Sarah Jane as it dies, and she expires in the Doctor's arms. The Legionnaires build a funeral pyre for Sarah, which burns as the TARDIS dematerialises. References: Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #8

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