2. What If Doctor Who Meets Scratchman Had Been Made?
Tom Baker and Ian Marter had enough spare time while filming Doctor Who that they collaborated on a film script that would pit the Doctor, Sarah, and Harry against the Daleks, the Cybermen... and the Devil. To be played by Vincent Price. And on the big screen, no less. Baker tried to secure funding for the project - even getting donations from the fans at one point - but despite getting the interest of director James Hill, he project went nowhere. But what if it had? We suspect we'd have had a lot more to complain about that Dimensions in Time, that's for sure. The story begins with the Doctor, Sarah, and Harry heading for 1920s Scotland for a picnic (yes, really) and during a game of cricket they encounter a group of animated scarecrows (right) and then the Doctor builds a High Velocity Moth Machine (that's what it's called) and then they end up on a giant pinball table... To be honest, it would have made the TV Movie look like an example of tight plotting. Also, the movie would most likely have been produced after both Harry and Sarah had left the series, so whether they'd even have appeared is an open question. Leela could possibly have appeared in something like this, but Romana? K-9? Actually, K-9 would fit right in... Knowing Doctor Who fans, though, we'd probably look back on it with the same tutting fondness that we look at the Cushing films, and it would probably be on Blu-Ray by now, which we'd all own, of course.
Tony Whitt has previously written TV, DVD, and comic reviews for CINESCAPE, NOW PLAYING, and iF MAGAZINE. His weekly COMICSCAPE columns from the early 2000s can still be found archived on Mania.com. He has also written a book of gay-themed short stories titled CRESCENT CITY CONNECTIONS, available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle format. Whitt currently lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
