The True Story Behind Doctor Who's Abandoned Anniversary Movie

10. BBC Enterprises Plans An Anniversary Movie

According to The Dark Dimension's scriptwriter Adrian Rigelsford, the planned movie was at the behest of Tom Baker. Speaking to the Space Mountain convention in Clacton-On-Sea in 1993, Rigelsford told fans that:

Tom Baker went to the BBC and said "I would like to be Doctor Who again", and that's the reason why it happened.

Baker apparently had also suggested that the script be written by Douglas Adams. In light of this, and the strong performance of Doctor Who in the home entertainment charts, BBC Enterprises began planning something special in September 1992. A brand new, feature-length episode for exclusive release on home video to mark Doctor Who's 30th anniversary in 1993. Rigelsford's script was commissioned two months later, and was specifically written with Tom Baker's request in mind.

The plot revolved around Hawkspur, a villainous alien who murders the incumbent Seventh Doctor and alters the Doctor's personal timeline so that Tom Baker's incarnation never regenerated. This older 4th Doctor would team up with Ace and the Brigadier to put history back on course. The other surviving Doctors would make brief cameo performances throughout.

While this may have satisfied fans and certain BBC high-ups who felt the series lost its way in the 1980s, it was a storyline that would prove controversial later in the pre-production process...