Dimensions in Time
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| Dimensions in Time
<tr><th>Doctor</th> <td>Jon Pertwee (Third Doctor) |
Dimensions in Time was 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. They were the only dramatised episodes to celebrate Doctor Who's 30th anniversary, after the show's cancellation in 1989, and were made in aid of the charity Children in Need.
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[edit] Synopsis
The Rani's latest diabolical plan traps the Doctor's various incarnations and companions in the unlikeliest of locations — Albert Square.
[edit] 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 she 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".
[edit] Cast
- The Doctor — Tom Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison
- The Rani — Kate O'Mara
- Ace — Sophie Aldred
- Susan Foreman — Carole Ann Ford
- Sarah Jane Smith — Elisabeth Sladen
- Cyrian — Sam West
- Melanie Bush — Bonnie Langford
- Peri Brown — Nicola Bryant
- Frank Butcher — Mike Reid
- Nyssa — Sarah Sutton
- Liz Shaw — Caroline John
- Mandy Salter — Nicola Stapleton
- Captain Mike Yates — Richard Franklin
- Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart — Nicholas Courtney
- Ian Beale — Adam Woodyatt
- Phil Mitchell — Steve McFadden
- Grant Mitchell — Ross Kemp
- Sharon Watts — Letitia Dean
- Pauline Fowler — Wendy Richard
- Kathy Beale — Gillian Taylforth
- Pat Butcher — Pam St. Clement
- Romana — Lalla Ward
- Victoria — Deborah Watling
- Leela — Louise Jameson
- Voice of K-9 — John Leeson
- K-9 Operator — Mat Irvine
[edit] Canon or not?
While, typically, all televised stories are considered canonical by Doctor Who fans, this story is an exception due to its peculiar nature. Ultimately, the canonicity of Dimensions in Time is still a matter of debate. Producer John Nathan-Turner argued for the story's canonicity at the time, and unsuccessfully lobbied for the serial to be assigned an official production code. Indeed, when production began, the story was presented as a legitimate revival of the series. Arguments against canonicity generally centre on how preposterous the story is in its ultimate form, the fact that it makes little or no narrative sense, and the disfavour with which fans regard it.
Also, placing within the continuity of Doctor Who is also challenging given its nature and the fact it keeps jumping between Doctors. Some online sources such as the Doctor Who Reference Guide suggest that the story actually takes place during the Seventh Doctor's era since it is this Doctor and his companion who begin and ultimately resolve the actual adventure. In addition, McCoy was the reigning Doctor at the time and his era's logo and title sequence were used. The Discontinuity Guide, however, suggests that it is an adventure of the Fourth Doctor, who is first seen on screen, and Romana, who 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.
The Virgin New Adventures novel, First Frontier by David A. McIntee, states that Dimensions in Time was a particularly unpleasant nightmare. The short stories Rescue and Storm in a Tikka are also set around Dimensions in Time. Like all spin-off media, their canonicity in relation to the television series is unclear.
In addition, several events that have occurred in the EastEnders universe contradict this story. For instance, Dimensions in Time shows Kathy Beale alive in 2013, when the character died off-screen during the 2006 series of EastEnders. Previously, EastEnders characters have referred to things being "like the TARDIS", seemingly a reference to Doctor Who as fiction, and in the 2006 episode The Impossible Planet, the Doctor says, "This'll be the best Christmas Walford has ever seen", referencing EastEnders as a television show, which would seem to render Dimensions in Time as non-canonical. The use of a supposed EastEnders clip in the later episode, Army of Ghosts, supports this theory.
[edit] Trivia
- The Dimensions in Time was the working title for this story.<ref name=brief> Dimensions in Time at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)</ref>
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- The Daleks were also supposed to appear, but the segment (which was filmed but unused) was pulled after a dispute with Dalek creator Terry Nation over payments. 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.
- 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, and as the Brigadier in stories featuring all of them.
- 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.
- Other specially made episodes of Doctor Who include the 2005 Children in Need mini-episode (which is considered canonical) and Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death for Comic Relief (which is not).
- 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.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
<references/>
[edit] External links
- Dimensions in Time episode guide on the BBC website
- Doctor Who Scripts Project page for Dimensions in Time
- Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) episode guide entry for Dimensions in Time
- Doctor Who Reference Guide episode guide entry for Dimensions in Time
- Doctor Who World episode guide entry for Dimensions in Time
- Title music
