Doctor Who: The Lost Stories (G·H) A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z ? Jump: H Gallifrey Writers: Pip Baker and Jane Baker Notes: This was the first story to go into development after the yearlong postponement of production on Doctor Who's twenty-third season. The Bakers -- who had recently completed The Mark Of The Rani -- were commissioned to write the scripts on March 11th, 1985 (under the misspelt title “Gallifray”). However, no work appears to have ever been performed on the project, and it was soon supplanted by The Trial Of A Time Lord. Characters: The Sixth Doctor, Peri Episodes: 4 Planned For: Season Twenty-Three Stage Reached: Story idea Synopsis: May have involved the destruction of the Doctor's home planet, Gallifrey. References: Doctor Who: Magazine Special Edition #3, Doctor Who: The Eighties The Gaslight Murders Writer: Basil Dawson Notes: Dawson, a veteran screenwriter, was approached by script editor Robert Holmes to develop a story which would introduce a new companion to replace Sarah Jane Smith. The new character was a Cockney girl whom the Doctor would take under his wing and educate, in the manner of Eliza Doolittle in the George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion. “The Gaslight Murders” was quickly abandoned, however. Its spot in the schedule was ultimately filled by The Face Of Evil, while Holmes reused the general framework in The Talons Of Weng-Chiang. Characters: The Fourth Doctor Episodes: 4 Planned For: Fourth story of Season Fourteen Stage Reached: Probably storyline Synopsis: Involved murders in Victorian London. References: Classic Who: The Hinchcliffe Years Genesis Of The Cybermen Writer: Gerry Davis Notes: Former Doctor Who script editor Davis submitted this idea circa early 1983, intending it to be a prequel to his and Kit Pedler's original Cyberman serial, The Tenth Planet (which also featured Cyberman Krail). However, producer John Nathan-Turner and script editor Eric Saward were uninterested in “Genesis Of The Cybermen”, which they felt was rooted in an older storytelling style that was no longer appropriate for Doctor Who. Characters: The Fifth Doctor and Peri Episodes: 4 Planned For: Probably Season Twenty-One Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: The Doctor and his companion “Felicity” arrive on the planet Mondas, Earth's twin orbiting on the opposite side of the Sun. While the Doctor works on a piece of TARDIS equipment, Felicity encounters the gentle Prince Sylvan. Sylvan accidentally activates the TARDIS, sending him, the Doctor and Felicity fifty years into the future. There Dega, Sylvan's brother, has become king and has used the Doctor's device to begin turning his people into Cybermen. He has constructed a space fleet with which he intends to invade the mineral-rich Earth, and plans to kill any unconverted Mondans with cyanide gas. Felicity appeals to Dega's partly-Cybernised wife, Queen Meta, and she shoots her husband dead -- only to be killed by Dega's chief of staff, Krail. In the confusion, Sylvan and a band of Mondan rebels flee in the spaceships to Earth; the massive concussion of take-off knocks Mondas out of its orbit into deep space. References: Doctor Who: Cybermen, Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #9, Doctor Who: The Complete History #40 Ghost Planet Writer: Robin Squire Notes: Squire, who had briefly been Doctor Who's assistant script editor in late 1969, was commissioned to write a storyline for “Ghost Planet” on January 5th, 1983, followed by full scripts on May 20th. Characters: The Fifth or Sixth Doctors Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Season Twenty-One or Twenty-Two Stage Reached: At least partial script Synopsis: Unknown References: Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #1, DWM Special Edition #3, Doctor Who: The Eighties The Giants Writer: CE Webber Notes: The “miniscules” idea originated in Webber's earliest format guide for Doctor Who, which had been written by May 1963. The first episode was outlined in a subsequent iteration of the guide dated May 16th, with the description of the concluding episodes completed by June 4th. Rex Tucker was assigned to direct “The Giants”. Biddy, Cliff and Lola would eventually become Susan, Ian and Barbara, while the idea of the Doctor being explicitly referred to as “Dr Who” would effectively go unused. Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman disliked the use of the caterpillar and spider as “monsters” and felt the story lacked incident and character. However, it appears that it may have been the technical limitations of the outdated Lime Grove studio where Doctor Who was to be recorded which forced the abandonment of “The Giants” in favour of 100,000 BC. It was formally rejected on July 16th. The miniaturisation idea was unsuccessfully reused in a treatment by Robert Gould before finally making it to the screen in the form of Planet Of Giants by Louis Marks. Characters: Dr Who, Sue, Cliff, Lola Episodes: 4 Planned For: The first serial of Season One Stage Reached: Scripts for episodes one and two Synopsis: Teenager Sue and her teachers Lola and Cliff meet a strange old man in the fog. Calling him Dr Who, they discover that his home appears to be a police box, and it is in fact a time machine larger on the inside than on the outside. Wrong buttons are pressed and the four are transported to Cliff's laboratory, but reduced to just an eighth of an inch in height. There, Cliff and Sue are separated from the Ship and are menaced by a caterpillar, a spider, a student's compass and a microscope lens. Finally, they manage to communicate with the students and their teacher, and are returned to the time machine. References: Doctor Who Magazine #209, Doctor Who: The Handbook: The First Doctor The Gift Writers: Bob Baker and Dave Martin Notes: Baker and Martin developed a seven-part storyline for the Second Doctor after meeting with Doctor Who script editor Terrance Dicks, his assistant Trevor Ray, and producers Derrick Sherwin and Peter Bryant. Extremely ambitious, it featured the destruction of Battersea Power Station, space battles, and even a giant carrot crashing into Hyde Park. “The Gift” was scaled back to six installments by the time the script for Episode One was commissioned on December 1st, 1969, by which point Jon Pertwee had been cast as the new Doctor. However, the script was not submitted to the production office until April 6th, 1970 -- more than three months past the original delivery date of January 2nd -- and failed to meet the approval of new producer Barry Letts. Letts felt that “The Gift” was too much of a jumble of ideas, and he was unhappy with the skull spaceship image. The script also seemed to overestimate what could be accomplished on the limited Doctor Who budget. It was immediately rejected, but Dicks worked with Baker and Martin to redevelop it as The Claws Of Axos. Characters: The Second Doctor (original submission); the Third Doctor (revised) Episodes: 7 (original submission); 6 (revised) Planned For: Seasons Seven and Eight Stage Reached: Script for episode one Synopsis: A skull-shaped spaceship lands in Hyde Park. The aliens aboard offer a gift for humanity, but actually plan its destruction. References: Doctor Who: The Complete History #16 The Guardians Of Prophecy aka The Place Of Serenity Writer: Johnny Byrne Notes: After completing work on 1984's Warriors Of The Deep, Byrne was asked to develop a sequel to his 1981 story The Keeper Of Traken. He submitted his storyline around July 1983. However, discord had arisen between Byrne and script editor Eric Saward during the development of Warriors Of The Deep, and there was little enthusiasm from either Byrne or the production office to develop “The Guardians Of Prophecy” any further. In May 2012, Big Finish Productions released an audio adaptation of “The Guardians Of Prophecy” by Jonathan Morris. Characters: The Sixth Doctor Episodes: 2 (45-minute) Planned For: Season Twenty-Two Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: The Doctor and Peri arrive on the planet Serenity, which is part of the same Benign Union that once counted Traken as a member. Serenity is ruled by the aristocratic Elect, assisted by a mighty computer known as Prophecy. The Doctor is accused of stealing relics from the vaults of the Elect, but the true culprits are Auga, recorder to the court, and Mura, commander of the Guard. Aided by the mercenary Ebbko, who has kidnapped Peri, they have sabotaged Prophecy's power supply and used the relics to gain access to the tomb of Malador, the immortal creator of the Melkur. Auga and Mura hope that Malador will help them overthrow the Elect, but Malador has his own plans and kills them. Peri escapes only with Ebbko's aid. Malador is actually Prophecy's evil counterpart; once he has repaired their mutual power supply, he will transmit a signal that will corrupt all the worlds touched by Melkur. The Doctor manages to destroy the power supply, however, creating a dimensional fracture which consumes Malador. References: Doctor Who Magazine #170, DWM Special Edition #3, Doctor Who: The Sixties The Hands Of Aten Writer: Brian Hayles Notes: Hayles was commissioned to write a storyline for “The Hands Of Aten” on November 16th, 1965. It was abandoned on January 17th, 1966 because departing story editor Donald Tosh felt that it did not fit the vision espoused by the incoming production team of Innes Lloyd and Gerry Davis. Characters: The First Doctor, Steven, Dodo Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Season Three Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Unknown References: Doctor Who Magazine #196, Doctor Who: The Handbook: The First Doctor The Harvesters aka The Vampire Planet Writer: William Emms Notes: A couple of years after submitting this story under the title “The Harvesters” for the Second Doctor, Emms redrafted it in 1969 as “The Vampire Planet” to adhere to the new UNIT format. “The Vampire Planet” may have briefly been considered for the final slot of Season Seven -- ultimately taken by Inferno -- but was soon dropped. Characters: The Second Doctor (original submission); The Third Doctor, UNIT (resubmission) Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Troughton era (original submission); final story of Season Seven (resubmission) Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: The Masters pilot a purple planet into the solar system and despatch their Roboes to invade Earth. The Doctor defeats the Masters by frightening them with film of nuclear explosions. References: Doctor Who Magazine #299, DWM Special Edition #2 The Haunting Writer: Terrance Dicks Notes: Dicks submitted this idea around the start of November 1974, and was commissioned to turn it into a storyline on December 11th. Early in 1975, however, the production team concluded that it was not what they wanted, and it was formally abandoned on May 13th. In the meantime, Dicks was contracted to write The Brain Of Morbius instead. Some elements of “The Haunting” were reused for Dicks' abortive 1977 script “The Vampire Mutations”, which finally became the Season Eighteen serial State Of Decay. Characters: The Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Episodes: 6 Planned For: Season Thirteen Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Involved the Doctor confronting vampires. References: Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #8 The Hearsay Machine Writer: George Kerr Notes: This idea was submitted around the start of April 1966 and rejected by story editor Gerry Davis on June 15th. Characters: The First Doctor (with Steven and Dodo?) Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Season Four Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Unknown References: The Doctor Who Chronicles: Season Four, Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #7 The Heavy Scent Of Violence Writer: George Kerr Notes: This idea was submitted around the start of April 1966 and rejected by story editor Gerry Davis on June 15th. Characters: The First Doctor (with Steven and Dodo?) Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Season Four Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Unknown References: The Doctor Who Chronicles: Season Four, Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #7 Hebos Writer: Rod Beacham Notes: Beacham, an actor/writer who had played Corporal Lane in The Web Of Fear, was commissioned to write this storyline on December 5th, 1980. It was still being considered in April 1981, but was ultimately abandoned. Characters: The Fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan Episodes: 4 Planned For: Season Nineteen Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Unknown References: Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #9 The Herdsmen Of Aquarius aka The Herdsmen Of Venus Writer: Donald Cotton Notes: Submitted by Cotton following the completion of The Gunfighters, it was likely not viewed by story editor Gerry Davis as being in line with his and producer Innes Lloyd's more serious vision of Doctor Who. Lloyd and Davis had also complained that Cotton was difficult to contact. “The Herdsmen” was apparently rejected on June 15th, 1966, although it still appears on documentation dated August of that year. Characters: The First Doctor, Steven, Dodo Episodes: 4 Planned For: Season Four Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Involved the revelation that the Loch Ness Monster was a type of cattle bred by Aquarian (or Venusian) farmers. References: Doctor Who Magazine #221, Doctor Who: The Sixties The Herdsmen Of Venus see The Herdsmen Of Aquarius Hex Writers: Peter Ling and Hazel Adair Notes: Ling (who wrote 1968's The Mind Robber) and Adair had co-created the mid-Sixties soap opera Compact. In 1982, they began developing Impact, a relaunched version of Compact, with Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner. He hoped to leave Doctor Who to produce Impact, but when the project was shelved by the BBC, Nathan-Turner offered Ling and Adair a Doctor Who assignment as consolation. They were inspired to write “Hex” after observing some beehives that Adair had been asked to keep in her orchard. They also wanted to take advantage of the Fifth Doctor's youthful apparance by including a quasi-romantic subplot for the Time Lord. The storyline for “Hex” was commissioned on July 12th, 1983. Nathan-Turner liked the submission, but script editor Eric Saward grew gradually less impressed as work on “Hex” progressed. The story evolved from a six-part to a four-part version, and was then adapted as two 45-minute episodes for Season Twenty-Two, before finally being dropped on November 7th, 1984. In November 2011, Big Finish Productions released an audio adaptation of “Hex” by Paul Finch under the title “Hexagora”. Characters: The Fifth Doctor (original version), the Sixth Doctor (later version), Peri Episodes: 6 (original version), 4 (revised version), 2 (45-minute; final version) Planned For: Seasons Twenty-One and Twenty-Two Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: The Earth's most brilliant minds are being kidnapped, and the Doctor traces the disappearances to the planet Hexagora. Confronting Queen Zafia, the Doctor learns that Hexagora is spiralling away from its sun, and the Hexagoran civilisation risks destruction. She claims that the kidnappings are intended to provide them with the brainpower to find a solution to the dilemma. The Doctor offers to help move the Hexagorans to an uninhabited planet, but Zafia will agree to this plan only if the Doctor agrees to a “marriage of state”. However, Peri discovers that the Hexagorans are actually bee-like creatures who are transforming themselves into clones of the kidnapped humans. Their plan is to infiltrate Earth, but Zafia will first absorb all of the Doctor's knowledge when they are married. A renegade Hexagoran named Jezz sets fire to the Hexagoran hives, and the Doctor and Peri grimly rescue the abducted humans while Hexagora burns. References: Doctor Who Magazine #s 213, 214, DWM Special Edition #3 The Hidden Planet Writer: Malcolm Hulke Notes: This was an idea submitted by Hulke on September 2nd, 1963, after being invited to contribute to Doctor Who in July. Although it was not initially pursued by the production team, on September 23rd, Hulke was asked to stop working on “Britain 408 AD” and begin developing “The Hidden Planet” instead. In mid-October, “The Hidden Planet” was pencilled in as the sixth story of Season One, then pushed back to seventh by the time of its formal commissioning on December 2nd, due to the insertion of Inside The Spaceship into the running order. A month later, “The Hidden Planet” had been promoted to the fifth spot, due to difficulties with two other serials. Unfortunately, when Hulke delivered his script for episode one in January 1964, the production team found it unacceptable and asked Hulke to undertake rewrites; The Keys Of Marinus was hastily commissioned to take its place. Hulke disputed the rewrites, arguing that the episode one script had adhered to the accepted storyline and that he should therefore be paid extra for any rewrites. This request was refused and, in March, Hulke agreed to revise his scripts. Subsequently, the second installment was given the title The Year Of The Lame Dog. In April, “The Hidden Planet” was a possible second story for Doctor Who's second recording block. By July, Hulke had rewritten the adventure to be five episodes long, and consideration was given to making it first in the second block. However, it was felt that too much work would be needed to restructure “The Hidden Planet” following the departure of Susan, and there was also concern about the adventure's lack of monsters, now viewed as a key component of the programme's science-fiction serials. “The Hidden Planet” was therefore abandoned by story editor David Whitaker on September 24th, with its formal rejection coming on October 20th. Hulke resubmitted his storyline to the production office following Whitaker's departure from Doctor Who, but it was again rejected on April 2nd, 1965 by new story editor Dennis Spooner, because it still included Ian and Barbara, who were about to exit the series. Characters: The First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara (originally; the resubmission presumably replaced Susan with Vicki) Episodes: 6 (original submission); 5 (resubmission) Planned For: Seasons One, Two and Three Stage Reached: Probably partial script Synopsis: The TARDIS lands on “the Tenth Planet”, a world identical to the Earth but whose orbit around the Sun is diametrically opposite to our planet's, and which has therefore gone undetected. This world is very much like Earth, but there are subtle differences: four-leaf clovers are plentiful, for example, and glass refracts oddly. Most notably, women are the dominant sex while men struggle for equality. The leader of the planet is Barbara's double, and Barbara is kidnapped by rebels. Meanwhile, the Doctor, Susan and Ian are embroiled in the struggle for male suffrage. References: Doctor Who Magazine #310, DWM Special Edition #7, Doctor Who: The Handbook: The First Doctor The Hollow Men Writer: Brian Hayles Notes: “The Hollow Men” was discovered by Mark Hayles amongst his late father's files. Characters: The Third Doctor, UNIT Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Unknown Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Following the death of his wife from heart disease, the wealthy Sherman P Rayburn is determined to set up an institute to propel advances in medical science. However, his investments in this project have depleted his financial resources, and the government refuses to assist him. Enraged, Rayburn turns to a discovery made by one of his scientists, Professor Martin, who has found a way to turn a rabbit into a “negative” which can pass through normal, “positive” materials. Rayburn forces Martin to use the procedure to create a squad of commandos with which he can raid government treasuries. UNIT is helpless to stop them until, during their final assault on the Bank of England, the Doctor convinces the commandos that Rayburn has concealed the truth from them: the procedure is irreversible. The shadow squad turns on Rayburn and destroys him. References: Nothing At The End Of The Lane #3 The Hollows Of Time aka In The Hollows Of Time Writer: Christopher H Bidmead Notes: On June 19th, 1984, Bidmead was commissioned to provide a storyline inspired by the writer's interest in physics and, in particular, string theory. By the time full scripts were requested on November 21st, the serial had gained the title “The Hollows Of Time”. It was probably earmarked as the fifth story of Season Twenty-Three, to be directed by Matthew Robinson, who had recently worked on Attack Of The Cybermen and would also be the director of season premiere “The Nightmare Fair”. However, on February 27th, 1985, it was announced that production of Doctor Who was being suspended until Spring 1986, with the programme then returning for a season of twenty-five-minute episodes. Bidmead was asked to rework his storyline for this format. But then, at the end of May, it was decided that Season Twenty-Three would be only fourteen episodes long, leading to the development of The Trial Of A Time Lord and the abandonment of all of the original Season Twenty-Three serials. In February 2010, Bidmead's audio adaptation of his storyline was released by Big Finish Productions. Characters: The Sixth Doctor, Peri Episodes: 2 (45-minute) Planned For: Probably the fifth story of Season Twenty-Three Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Forthcoming References: Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #3, Doctor Who: The Complete History #42 The Horror Of Fang Rock Writer: John Leekley Notes: This was one of several storylines which appeared in Leekley's series bible for Philip David Segal's version of Doctor Who, released on March 21st, 1994. It was based on Terrance Dicks' 1977 serial Horror Of Fang Rock. Characters: A reimagined version of the First Doctor Episodes: 1 (45 minutes) Planned For: 1995 series Stage Reached: Story idea Synopsis: The TARDIS follows mysterious streaks of light travelling through space to a lighthouse in 1906 England. A fog rises and the Doctor saves the passengers aboard a clipper which runs aground, only to be accused of the murder of the ship's captain. He must prove his innocence while stopping an alien which has crashlanded on Earth and has possessed the lighthouse keeper. References: Doctor Who: Regeneration Hostage Writer: Neil Penswick Notes: This was an unsolicited submission which script editor Andrew Cartmel deemed too expensive. Nonetheless, he liked “Hostage” enough to prompt a meeting between himself and Penswick. However, it was not long afterward -- in September 1989 -- that Doctor Who was cancelled. Penswick later used some elements of “Hostage” for his Doctor Who: The New Adventures novel The Pit, released in March 1993 by Virgin Publishing. Characters: The Seventh Doctor Episodes: 3 Planned For: Season Twenty-Seven Stage Reached: Script Synopsis: Elite soldiers pursue shapeshifting criminals Butler and Swarfe, who have stolen advanced weapons technology and brought it to a jungle planet where the Time Lords once fought a race called the Scaroth. References: Doctor Who Magazine #255, DWM Special Edition #10 The Hounds Of Time Writer: Brian Hayles Notes: This storyline appears to have been submitted around the time that Hayles completed The Smugglers in mid-1966. It was discovered by Mark Hayles amongst his late father's files. Characters: The First or Second Doctor, Ben, Polly Episodes: 4 Planned For: Season Four Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: A scientist named Melloris has despatched robotic hunters to capture humans from throughout Earth's history and bring them to his laboratory on the planet Terrin. Amongst those kidnapped are Ben and Polly, but the Doctor pursues them to Terrin and confronts Melloris. He discovers that Terrin's warlord, Vartan, is studying mankind in order to determine the optimal point in history to invade and make Earth a vassal of Terrin. The controlling computer now identifies 1970 as the crucial year. Having second thoughts, Melloris tries to stop Vartan but is killed. However, Ben and Polly escape from the trap, and the Doctor sabotages the computer with a logical paradox, depriving Vartan of the power he needs to launch the invasion. References: Nothing At The End Of The Lane #3 The House That Ur-Cjak Built Writer: Andrew Stephenson Notes: A storyline was commissioned on June 10th, 1982, after which Stephenson's idea was apparently abandoned. Characters: Presumably the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough Episodes: Unknown Planned For: Season Twenty-One Stage Reached: Storyline Synopsis: Unknown References: Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #1, Doctor Who: The Eighties

	Return To
Main Page		Lost Stories

A B

C D

E F

G H

I J K

L M

N O

P Q R

S T

U V W

X Y Z

?