Recently, we took a look at the classic Doctor Who storyThe Star Beast. Not just the 60th anniversary special starring David Tennant, but also the original comic story featuring the Fourth Doctor. Comparing these two versions (as well as an audio adaptation and novelization), I was fascinated by how similar the core stories were. Yet at the same time, there were major differences, too.
For example, the core plot essentially remained the same, with the adorable Meep being chased by the scary looking Wrarth. And of course, both the comic and the TV episode featured the key twist of the Meep actually being horrifically evil all along.
But the comic and the TV adaptation still stand out as their own distinct versions of the story, and the reason for this is simple: the different Doctors and companions. The original comic was another fun adventure for the Fourth Doctor, one where he meets new companion Sharon, as well as her highly genre savvy friend Fudge.
The TV version meanwhile sees the recently regenerated Fourteenth Doctor reunited with his old friend Donna. Naturally, Donna’s family is focused on greatly in the episode, including her mother Sylvia, her husband Shaun, and of course, her daughter Rose. Together, they drive the TV adaptation’s story into its own direction and resolution.
Other stories, other Doctors
Unsurprisingly, this isn’t the first time that a story from expanded media has been retold for television, although not all of them were quite so direct. When the New Series began, Sixth Doctor audio Jubilee by Robert Shearman was used as the basis for his own TV episode Dalek, and Fifth Doctor audio Spare Parts inspired Series 2’s Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel.
However, in both cases, the audio and TV counterparts are radically different, with brand new characters and settings. In the case of Spare Parts, Series 10 episode World Enough and Time felt closer to an adaptation than Rise of the Cybermen. The original stories weren’t just “inspiration” - they were loose inspiration, at best.
It was Series 3 that gave us our first direct TV adaptation. Human Nature by Paul Cornell featured the Doctor and his companion temporarily staying in pre-World War One England. The Doctor has become human, not only going by the name of John Smith but even having brand new memories and a new personality, with his Time Lord essence hidden away. While working as a teacher at a school, John finds himself falling in love, having no idea who he truly is.
Different perspectives
This broad synopsis describes not just the two-part TV story starring David Tennant and Freema Agyeman as the Tenth Doctor and Martha. It also describes the original novel of the same title, featuring the Seventh Doctor and Professor Bernice Summerfield.
There are a few notable differences between each version, with a few different characters and a change of villain, although the Family of Blood are at least similar to the novel’s Aubertides. But the most significant difference is the Doctor himself. The novel highlights exactly how alien the Seventh Doctor is - indeed, he becomes human in the first place in order to understand his companion’s grief, as he completely fails to understand it as a Time Lord.
The TV version, on the other hand, is more about highlighting how the Tenth Doctor, despite relating to humans more than most of his predecessors, can never live an ordinary life. Human Nature, perhaps ironically, is a key example of how different Doctors can cause the same story to be told in radically different ways.
Shada
On the other side of the spectrum, we have Shada. This story is notably different, as it began life as a TV serial in Tom Baker’s sixth season instead of in expanded media. However, because the production of the story was never completed due to strike action, this lead to the story being re-told in several different ways. Initially, the existing footage was released on VHS, with new effects included and Tom Baker providing linking narration for the unfilmed scenes.
A novelization by Gareth Roberts was released in 2012, and the story was completed by animation in an omnibus edition released in 2017. This wasn’t quite the final version released, though - in 2021, Season 17 was released on Blu-ray, and this included a new six-part version of the story.
Before many of these versions, however, an audio adaptation and partially animated webcast was released in 2003, starring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. Despite the change of Doctor, this one stuck extremely close to the original story and, more importantly, to Douglas Adams’s original script. This isn’t too surprising - Tom Baker was asked to return for the audio production, but he declined, leading to McGann’s Doctor being used and a few small changes added to the script to address the changes in continuity.
Necessary retellings
Essentially though, both the audio and completed TV versions tell exactly the same story, with no real changes caused by using a different Doctor. However, the Eighth Doctor version is still worth checking out, even if it’s just to hear McGann’s own take on a Tom Baker story. It’s decent enough in its own right, but it's not the best example of how different a familiar story with a different Doctor can be.
But while the idea of different Doctors being used in familiar stories is a fascinating concept, it’s not something I’d want to see too much of. For example, I’m not sure a range from Big Finish imagining Classic Who stories with New Series Doctors - or vice versa - would work. (Although having said that, they did explore the idea of later Doctors being swapped with their earlier selves in The Locum Doctors trilogy. However, the stories themselves were brand new, in this instance.)
Old stories being retold with new Doctors work best when there’s a clear reason for it. When it’s a change of medium; when the story deserves to be seen by a larger audience; when it serves a key purpose in a season’s arc. Simply put, like the best storytelling in Doctor Who, it should happen naturally, providing the fans with something that’s both familiar and fresh.