Joanna Lumley plays a distaff Dr. in the classic spoof Doctor Who and the Curse of the Fatal Death , but if Doctor Who ’s creator had gotten his way , she might have taken on the role for tangible , supersede Colin Baker .
When Doctor Who was struggle in the mid-1980s , during the notorious Colin Baker era , the BBC ’s Michael Grade approach the show ’s original Divine , Sydney Newman , for advice on how to deliver the show from its doldrums . ( Newman call mid-1980s physician Who “ largely socially valueless , escapist shlock , ” a legal opinion it ’s heavy to take issue with . ) And in a fresh uncovered letter , Newman told Grade that there was only one agency to touch on the show . He offered a two - stage plan :
1 ) wreak back Patrick Troughton , the former Doctor from the 1960s , temporarily , to avail stabilise the TARDIS for a spot , and prepare the way for a more basal shift . ( The letter of the alphabet is dated Oct. 6 , 1986 , just about six months before Troughton ’s last . )
2 ) Have the Doctor afterwards regenerate into a fair sex . potential candidates included Frances de la Tour , Joanna Lumley and Dawn French . ( in reality , I ’m not sure if Newman suggested these doer , or this was just fan speculation . ) And this Modern distaff doc should travel around accompany by a cornet - playing schoolgirl in John Lennon drinking glass , and her older brother , a “ yobbo ” who spray graffiti everywhere .
But he was implicated that a female Doctor should n’t be too perfect . He write to Grade : “ I want to avoid a gaudy , Hollywood Wonder Women because this kind of heroine with no defect is a bore . fall in more time than I have now , I can create such a character . ” In return for his advice on how to fix the show , he wanted to be brought back as a sort of “ Executive Director ” to apply these idea , and he want a lasting listing on the show ’s remainder credit rating . But Grade spurned Newman ’s advice , and instead turned Colin Baker ’s doc into Sylvester McCoy . [ Telegraph ]
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