Dimensions in Time
| Dimensions in Time | |||
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| Doctor Who serial | |||
| File:Dimensions in time.jpg | |||
| Cast | |||
Others
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| Production | |||
| Directed by | Stuart McDonald | ||
| Written by | John Nathan-Turner David Roden | ||
| Script editor | None | ||
| Produced by | John Nathan-Turner | ||
| Executive producer(s) | None | ||
| Production code | C280X[1] | ||
| Series | N/A | ||
| Running time | 2 episodes, 7.5 mins and 5.5 minutes, respectively | ||
| First broadcast | 26 November – 27 November 1993 | ||
| Chronology | |||
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Dimensions in Time is a charity special crossover between the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and the soap opera EastEnders that ran in two parts on November 26 and 27, 1993. It was filmed on the EastEnders Albert Square set, and features several of the stars of that programme at the time. Produced for the Children in Need charity, following Doctor Who's cancellation in 1989 this special was the only dramatisation broadcast in celebration of the show's 30th anniversary.
Synopsis
The Rani's latest diabolical plan traps the Doctor's various incarnations and companions in the unlikeliest of locations — Albert Square.
Plot
The Rani has opened a hole in time, allowing her access to the Doctor's timeline. She uses this to cycle through the Doctor's lives, causing him and his companions to jump back and forth between past and present incarnations. Her intention is to capture the Doctor(s) in a time loop, trapping him in London's East End; she has already captured the First and Second Doctor in the time hole. This causes the Fourth Doctor to send a message to his remaining selves, warning them of the Rani's plan.
The Seventh Doctor and Ace are confused when the TARDIS lands in Greenwich, near the Cutty Sark, thanks to the Rani's attack on the TARDIS. The Doctor finds a newspaper showing the year to be 1973, but before he can make any more conclusions, the Rani causes time to jump. Ace finds herself in Albert Square in 1993 with the Sixth Doctor. Local resident Sanjay tries to sell Ace some new clothes from his stall, and when his wife Gita tells the Sixth Doctor that it is going to be all the rage in 1994, the Rani jumps time again.
The Third Doctor and Mel appear from the time jump, and question an old Pauline Fowler and Kathy Beale on when they are. When Pauline and Kathy reply that it is 2013, another time jump occurs. In 1973, Pauline and Kathy remember the assassination of President Kennedy, while Kathy tells off a young Ian Beale. The Sixth Doctor and Susan Foreman appear, but Susan wonders what has happened to 'her' Doctor, the First.
After another time jump, Susan changes into Sarah Jane Smith and the Doctor changes from the Sixth to the Third Doctor. They start to piece together what is happening to them, but the Rani lets loose her menagerie of specimens, including a Cyberman, Fifi (from The Happiness Patrol), a Sea Devil, an Ogron and a Time Lord from Gallifrey in the next time jump. At one point, the second incarnation of Romana appears as well, however for some reason she is by herself and not accompanying a Doctor (possibly due to the Fourth Doctor being safe aboard his TARDIS).
In 1993, the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Peri are attacked by the Rani's menagerie, and after they tried to warn Pat Butcher of the danger, the Rani stops them outside of the Queen Vic.
The Rani makes the mistake of capturing one companion while the companion is in the form of Romana. This results in a Time Lord brain imprint being left on the computer inside the Rani's TARDIS, which gives the Doctor the edge needed to rig up a device to overload it. As the Seventh Doctor and Ace leave in the TARDIS, the Doctor observes "I — I mean, we — are difficult to get rid of".
Cast notes
- Tom Baker returned to the role of the Fourth Doctor on television for the first time since leaving it 12 years previously, though he had recorded links for the video release of the incomplete Shada the year before, apparently in character. No attempt is made at explaining his short, grey hair though the producer managed to persuade Baker to wear the burgundy hat which hides most of it. Interestingly, he sends a message to the other doctors, asking them to listen to him "for once", ironic given the fact that he never conversed with any of his other incarnations in any official episode.
- This was the final appearance of Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor on television. To date, it also marks the final on screen appearances of Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Tom Baker as the Fourth. Sylvester McCoy would return as the Seventh Doctor three years later in the 1996 telefilm, while Peter Davison, after joining Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy in the Big Finish audio dramas series, would reprise the role of the Fifth Doctor 14 years later in Time Crash - another Children in Need special.
- The special marked the final on-screen appearances to date of all but two of the various companions featured, though several would reprise their roles for Big Finish's audio dramas in the following decade. Elisabeth Sladen, however, would get to reprise the role of Sarah Jane Smith some 13 years later in School Reunion and the 2008 finale The Stolen Earth/"Journey's End" plus her own spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures. K-9 (voiced by John Leeson) would also appear in School Reunion and, briefly, in Journey's End and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Kate O'Mara makes her final, to date, on-screen appearance as The Rani.
Continuity
Within the Doctor Who universe
- The first meeting between Doctor Who and EastEnders occurred in the short story Brief Encounter: Mistaken Identity by Gary Russell, published in Doctor Who Magazine #174. In it, the mercenary Lytton meets Den Watts in the Queen Victoria and mistakes him for Davros's adjudant Kiston. Leslie Grantham, who played Watts, played Kiston in Resurrection of the Daleks.
- In the 2006 episode "The Impossible Planet", the Doctor gives, as an example of jinxing things, "This'll be the best Christmas Walford has ever seen!", referencing EastEnders as a television show he is aware of, which would seem to conflict with the reality of the events in Dimensions in Time. The use of an EastEnders clip in the later episode "Army of Ghosts" (featuring Barbara Windsor in character) also seems to contradict the reality portrayed in this serial.
- As with A Fix with Sontarans, David A. McIntee's Virgin New Adventures novel First Frontier offers the premise that Dimensions in Time was merely a particularly unpleasant nightmare of the Doctor's. On the other hand, the short stories Rescue and Storm in a Tikka are set around Dimensions in Time.
- An additional problem in placing the story within series continuity lies in its unusual structure and the fact it keeps jumping between Doctors – and that his companions 'switch form' and seemingly divide into more than one person, too. Some online sources such as the Doctor Who Reference Guide conclude that the story may be placed during the Seventh Doctor's era, since it is this Doctor and his companion who begin and ultimately resolve the core plotline. In addition, McCoy was the incumbent Doctor at the time and his era's logo and a sped-up version of his title sequence were used. The Discontinuity Guide, however, suggests that it is an adventure of the Fourth Doctor (as his cameo is the first scene in the story) and Romana (as she is crucial to the resolution of the plot). It is also noted that Romana appears on her own, the only companion not seen accompanying one of the Doctors.
- This story marked the only televised meeting of the Sixth Doctor and the Brigadier, meaning that actor Nicholas Courtney is the only person to have worked alongside the first seven Doctors from the original show's run, although his first appearance opposite the first Doctor was not as the Brigadier but rather Bret Vyon; the first Doctor's later appearance in The Three Doctors was recorded separately and did not involve Courtney. He has also appeared alongside the Eighth Doctor in the audio adventure Minuet in Hell, and also shared scenes with Richard Hurndall, who stood in for the late William Hartnell as the first Doctor in The Five Doctors.
Within the EastEnders universe
- Since it was broadcast, several events have occurred in the EastEnders universe that contradict the authenticity of Dimensions in Time. Most notably, two of its characters, Kathy Beale and Pauline Fowler, appear as elderly women in 2013, when both died in 2006.
- Albert Square as depicted in 2013 is not consistent with EastEnders' present set, for example with the absence of the Minute Mart.
- Additionally, Albert Square as depicted in 1973 is inconsistent with the original 1985 EastEnders set, most notably the Queen Victoria pub, which was not painted red until the early 1990s but appears as red in 1973.
- Previously, EastEnders characters have referred to things being "like the TARDIS", seemingly a reference to Doctor Who as fiction. Additionally, the characters of Trevor Short, Bradley Branning, Abi Branning and Ben Mitchell have been depicted as being Doctor Who fans and Bradley was depicted attending a Doctor Who convention with his estranged wife.
- Louise Jameson appears in the special as Leela but later starred in EastEnders as Rosa di Marco.
- Shobu Kapoor would appear as a prisoner of the Daleks in the episode "Journey's End".
- In the Christmas episode in 2008, some of the characters sat down and watched T.V. with the doctor who theme tune playing in the background.
Production
- The Dimensions Of Time and 3-Dimensions Of Time were the working titles for this story.[2] David Roden managed to convince producer John Nathan-Turner not to use either title, and instead settled on 'Dimensions In Time'.
- An original draft of the script featured Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, meeting the Brigadier, Nicholas Courtney, en route to a UNIT reunion - and becoming involved in a battle with a crashed spaceship full of Cybermen. The script was entitled Destination: Holocaust, and featured the Seventh Doctor and Brigadier holed up in a burning church, trying to fight off the advancing hordes of damaged Cybermen. This original idea, written by David Roden, was vetoed by Nathan-Turner after it became apparent that Children In Need wished for the story to be a tie-in with EastEnders. Despite loving the originally proposed script, Nathan-Turner also had concerns about the cost, which would have included several lengthy night-shoots and a much larger special effects budget.
- Anthony Ainley was initially approached by Nathan-Turner to play the part of the Master in this short story, but he turned it down. Michael Gough was later approached to re-create the role of The Celestial Toymaker, and again Nathan-Turner was turned down. Finally, Kate O'Mara was asked if she would like to reprise her role of the Rani - a request to which she readily agreed. O'Mara was joined by Sam West, who played her sidekick Cyrian - a part originally offered to Sir Ian McKellen (Sir Ian ... hence, Cyrian). It appeared that Sam West was a huge Doctor Who fan, and jumped at the opportunity of appearing in one of his favourite programmes.
- The special was one of several special 3D programmes the BBC produced at the time, using a 3D system developed by American inventor Terry D. Beard that made use of the Pulfrich effect. The technology required spectacles with one darkened lens and one transparent one; these were sold in shops to the public, with the proceeds going to Children in Need.
- The Daleks were also supposed to appear, but the segment was pulled after a dispute with Dalek creator Terry Nation over payments, the sequence was not ultimately shot. All actors and crew were working unpaid, with the only stipulation being that it could never be repeated or sold on a home video for profit. The Dalek segment would have seen Peter Davison facing up against them again in the streets seen in the 1984 serial Resurrection of the Daleks.
- Other specially made episodes of Doctor Who include the 2005 Children in Need mini-episode and, for the 2007 Children in Need night, "Time Crash". A special, Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death was produced for Comic Relief in 1999.
- David Roden later went on to write and direct several plays for the theatre before directing and writing short films - including Beginners Please (2006) and the Cornwall Film Festival award winning The Resurrectionist (2006), both starring actor Guy Siner.
- David Roden currently works for the BBC Drama Department in London. During 2007 and 2008 he worked for the BBC Wales Drama Department in Script Development alongside the production team for Season 4 of Russell T Davies' new 'Doctor Who'. He has recently contributed a short story to the forthcoming 'Doctor Who' novel 'The Story Of Martha', due to be released on Boxing Day 2008.
Broadcast
- Part One was broadcast as part of the 1993 Children in Need telethon.
- At the end of Part One, viewers were asked to phone in and vote for which EastEnders character would save the Doctor at the start of Part Two. They were given the choice of 'Big' Ron and Mandy and hence two versions of the scene were filmed. The money raised from phone calls went to Children in Need. The result of the vote was announced prior to the screening of Part Two. The Mandy version won with 56% of the vote.
- Part Two was broadcast as part of popular UK programme Noel's House Party. Noel Edmonds, the host of the programme, requested the episode have several key lines and moments cut from broadcast for timing reasons. This contributed to the story's failure to make any real narrative sense.
- Dimensions in Time achieved viewing figures of 13.8 million viewers for the first part and 13.6 million for the second part, making them two of the most highly watched episodes of Doctor Who ever produced. The highest single audience figure was for Part Four of City of Death, at 16.1 million viewers.
References
- ^ "BBC - Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide - Dimensions in Time - Details". Retrieved 2007-12-13.
- ^ Template:Brief
External links
- Doctor Who Scripts Project page for Dimensions in Time
- Template:Brief
- Template:Doctor Who RG
- Dimensions in Time at BBC Online
- Doctor Who World episode guide entry for Dimensions in Time
- Title music
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