10 Doctor Who Novels That Would Make Great TV Episodes
5. The Roundheads
Its a little surprising that the television series has never directly tackled the English Civil War period. It is a well-known part of school history and theres a ready supply of re-enactors to fill out those battle scenes. The closest we have come so far is The Awakening and that was set in the present day with people dressing up as Roundheads and Cavaliers, albeit taking it rather too seriously thanks to the alien influence of the Malus. So theres definitely a gap to be filled and Mark Gatiss 1997 novel would be perfect. It is a straight historical with only the arrival of the Second Doctor and his companions Ben, Jamie and Polly providing the SF element. As is usually the case with historical stories, the TARDIS crew is soon separated and caught up in capture, escapes and local intrigues. The Doctor meets Oliver Cromwell, now Lord Protector of England as well as an old superstitious man. But the author throws in an intriguing fresh element that adds a touch of time paradox to the proceedings. You see the Doctor does not know this era of English history very well, so he takes along a school textbook with him as a guide, a book he loses and which ends up in the hands of Cromwells son Richard. Who reads it and is shocked to learn his future as an ineffectual leader who will ultimately hand the kingdom back to the royalists. How Richard deals with this knowledge is one of the most interesting parts of the book and definitely ought to be at the core of a television adaptation. Whilst the author has to provide sub-plots to occupy three companions, the television series will probably only have one companion, making it easier to edit the story into a 45 minute format. Bens exciting adventure with the pirates is the most obvious candidate for cutting. It would be good if the imprisoned Charles I and a plot to free him could be retained though. A straight historical would be a small risk for the show but series 8 has shown that the production team are more prepared than ever to play with the shows formula and a period adventure, especially one as fun as this one could actually feel quite fresh.
