Doctor Who - Journey into Time radio play (lost radio program pilot; 1966-1967)
Journey into Time was the pilot to a planned radio show based off of the British Sci-Fi TV series Doctor Who.
A pilot episode was made and a further 52 episodes were planned. However, the series did not receive further production and the pilot never aired.
Production
The show was to be a collaboration between Stanmark Productions and Watermill Productions. The only confirmed cast member is Peter Cushing, who was to play the titular main character. Many would think Cushing would play Dr. Who, the human inventor from the two non-canon 1960s Doctor Who movies: 1965's Dr. Who and the Daleks and 1966's Daleks-Invasion Earth 2150A.D. made by AARU Productions, however, this is unlikely as advertising made no mention of the movies, just the TV show. Also, Peter Cushing wasn't the original choice; the original choice was Boris Karloff, who turned down the role.
Plot
The pilot featured a character named Mike, who went to Secondary School with a girl named Susan, finding out that she and her grandfather, Dr. Who, were humans from the far future where time travel was possible and they had taken the TARDIS, Dr. Who's time machine, back to the 1960s and enrolled Susan in school after many of their adventures through time and space. They were ready to continue their adventures, but Susan wanted to take Mike along. Mike agrees to go and they go back to the American Revolution. In the end, Mike wants to go home but it's revealed that Dr. Who and Susan can't control when or where the TARDIS lands.
Availability
Although the pilot itself has never surfaced, the pilot's script, written by Malcolm Hulke, was found in the BBC archives in 2012 by Richard Bignell. Richard Bignell remains hopeful to find the pilot itself, claiming that at least two copies are known to have been made. The script is publicly available in the third issue of the fanzine Nothing At the End of the Lane. In 2012, after the script was found, Beermat Productions(formerly Bandril Productions) produced a fan adaptation. It is no longer available on YouTube, but can be found on the Beermat Productions website.
See Also
- Doctor Who: "The Parting of the Ways" (lost alternate ending of science-fiction TV series finale; 2005)
- Planet of Giants "The Urge to Live" (lost unaired forth part episode of Doctor Who serial; 1964)
- Doctor Who (lost pilot episodes of cancelled reboot of British sci-fi TV series; 1991)
- The Doctor Who Years (found "Doctor Who" BBCi documentary series; 2005)
- Doctor Who (partially lost episodes of British science-fiction TV series; 1963-1974)
- Shada (found unfinished Doctor Who serial; 1979)
Source
- doctorwhonews.net page on the missing pilot. Retrieved 02 Apr '18