April 23rd, 2013
30 comments
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Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who at the Cinema
Now On The Big Screen: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who at the Cinema
by Charles Norton
‘Now you can see them in colour on the big screen, closer than ever before. So close, you can feel their fire. So thrilling, you must be there…’
Available from telos publishing
In 1965, two American filmmakers took the BBC’s Doctor Who television series to the cinema. Starring Peter Cushing, Dr Who and the Daleks and Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150AD brought a colourful world of Dalek invaders and a time-travelling Police Box to the big screen for the very first time.
In the decades since, many other filmmakers have tried and failed to replicate the success of those two movies. Barely a year has gone by without someone, somewhere, trying to make a new motion picture based around Doctor Who.
Through new interviews with those involved and never before published paperwork from the British Board of Film Censors, the story of Doctor Who’s difficult relationship with the cinema can now be told.
This is the complete story of the few Doctor Who films that were made and the many more that were not. It is an exciting adventure of Scarecrows, Yeti and the deadly game of Cricket. It is also a cautionary tale of a hopeless place called ‘development hell’ and the souls of the many lost motion-pictures that have ended up there.
Categorised under: Books, Reference books
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Johnny
May 1st, 2013 - 10:41amAlso available direct from the publishers: http://www.telos.co.uk/
drjakeyoung
April 23rd, 2013 - 5:16pmhow many dr who movies that were never made have there been?
josh smith
April 24th, 2013 - 7:18am2
drjakeyoung
April 24th, 2013 - 11:01amwhat were they? i know there was doctor who meets scratchman but what was the other?
Pull to Open
April 24th, 2013 - 12:08pmThe other will be the script written by Douglas Adams that eventually became the third Hitch Hiker book (Life, the Universe and Everything).
The Silence
April 24th, 2013 - 4:16pmThere was also going to be a third Dalek Peter Cushing movie based on ‘The Chase’ as well as a completely different film planned when the series was coming to an end in the late-80s, I think. I read about it in ‘Doctor Who: 25 Glorius Years.’
MasterKasterborous
April 25th, 2013 - 4:56pmI don’t believe there was ever one planned for The Chase?
drjakeyoung
April 25th, 2013 - 5:01pmyes there was, it was called mission of doom.
Also just found out there was going to be a movie based on dr who Marco polo!
Dalek The Supreme
May 9th, 2013 - 2:52amThere was one called Dark Dimension which would star Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Sophie Aldred as Ace, and would feature Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy as their respective Doctors. It would’ve also been the first on-screen confrontation between the Daleks and Cybermen. There were also two or three versions of the same basic plot about the Doctor fighting a renegade Time Lord and his ex-girlfriend, one of them ending with Gallifrey’s destruction.
The TARDIS
April 23rd, 2013 - 5:12pmI might get this, really interested in Doctor Who Meets Scratchman!
Anonymous
April 23rd, 2013 - 4:37pmJust out of curiosity…can anyone name a popular TV series of any genre that was made into a movie and was not either a complete flop or completely changed the premis of the TV version beyond recognition in order to work for the Cinema?
I’d be interested to see if this idea has ever worked, which may answer why they still to this day talk about putting DW on the big screen.
Besides the obvious financial benefits to the makers and the excuse to go over board with special effects…I cant possibly think why they would make a DW film.
booboo
April 23rd, 2013 - 4:52pmtrying to , cant think of any
star trek with the next generation crew was similar to the series
The Silence
April 23rd, 2013 - 5:08pm‘Firefly’ and the film continuation ‘Serenity’.
Anonymous
April 23rd, 2013 - 5:37pmI did actually think of Serenity. They did great job at bringing the new fan upto speed without Firefly fans being bored. Alas, it bombed at the box office. This is the problem when bringing a TV series to the big screen…you either please the fans at the expense of commercial success or you go all out and look for a “Hollywood” hit at the expense of the fans.
I’ve not seen any of the ST TNG films (yet) but I’ve heard they are far better than the orginal ST films.
Nonetheless, this book will be a very interesting read.
NerdyMagee
April 23rd, 2013 - 8:11pmYes, Serenity was great. I hadn’t actually seen Firefly when I watched it but I never felt lost or confused, and you could tell it was true to the series.
Bob
April 23rd, 2013 - 8:37pmThe Inbetweeners Movie
pathdw98
April 24th, 2013 - 10:59amThought of a few(mostly kids shows). Mr. Bean, The Addams Family, The Flintstones, Power Rangers, Rugrats and Monty Python. I think they all did reasonably well at the box office based on the fact they all had sequels. May be wrong though.
Does anyone know how well the Doctor Who movies did at the box office?
drjakeyoung
April 24th, 2013 - 11:03am1st one did brilliant, second one did terrible which is why the 3rd one was never made.
The Greater Intelligence
April 24th, 2013 - 11:34amIronic because I thought the first one was average, but the second one was incredibly superb.
pathdw98
April 24th, 2013 - 1:18pmIf it happened the 3rd one was gonna be based on The Chase, wasn’t it?
Dalek The Supreme
May 9th, 2013 - 2:55amI liked the Doctor Who TV Movie, it wasn’t flawless but I don’t think it was bad either. There was also the 1986 Transformers movie based on the original TV series. I’m probably in the minority, but I actually like at least the first and third live action Transformers movies.
Anonymous
April 23rd, 2013 - 3:50pmIs it avilible on amazon?
booboo
April 23rd, 2013 - 4:02pmi think so
Johnny
May 13th, 2013 - 8:36amYes, it is listed on Amazon.
McGann is the Doctor
April 23rd, 2013 - 3:44pmWhat are the monsters on the cover ? They were never in the dalek films ? ❓
KORSAIR
April 23rd, 2013 - 4:01pmThey are the scarecrows from the unmade Tom Baker Dr Who movie and the two 60’s Dalek movies are great for when they were made when you consider that the budget for both films combined was probably less that the budget for one episode of the current series.
booboo
April 23rd, 2013 - 4:03pmDoctor What and the scratchman wasn’t it or something like that
KORSAIR
April 23rd, 2013 - 4:05pmYep something like that,DWM did an article on it a while back.
The Silence
April 23rd, 2013 - 5:10pmIt was ‘Doctor Who Meets Scratchman’.
The Flying Shark
April 23rd, 2013 - 3:31pmThis looks like a very good book. 🙂