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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!lll-crg!dual!decwrl!hughes@godzla.DEC (We HAVE the technology...)
From: hughes@godzla.DEC (We HAVE the technology...)
Newsgroups: net.tv.drwho
Subject: Dr Who films and other bits and pieces
Message-ID: <516@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 20-Sep-85 16:13:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.516
Posted: Fri Sep 20 16:13:26 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 25-Sep-85 08:08:06 EDT
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Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 30

Before anyone rushes out to buy either of the two existing Dr Who films,
be warned! They are terrible. They bear almost no resemblance to the program.

As for sets and props. They had a lot more money than the BBC to spend on
production. And the existing BBC stuff would have been geared for monochrome
(using greens to appear white on the final broadcast and other colour tricks).
So the film producers built their own props. The TARDIS looked nothing like the
real one inside. They did do a good job of the Daleks however. They shipped one
out to Australia for the initial run of the 'Invasion' film and it did look
good.

The story line of the first film is not too far from the series but the
second (title 'Dalek Invasion of Earth:2150 AD or similiar, at least in
Australia) bore very little resemblance to and of the TV series.

I remember reading in a few places that there was a pilot episode made that
was NOT 'The Unearthly Child'. It is not uncommon for pilots to be made
that are quite different from the resulting series (e.g. the pilot for Star
Trek, later made into 'The Menagerie', the first episode 'Where no man has
gone before' and the series all have a very different feel). I don't think
the Dr Who pilot has ever been shown and probably does not exist any more.
It's only fairly recently that producers have realised the potential value
of pilots for popular series. There are a few anthologies of pilots that
failed floating around.

Lastly, in the earlier series, each episode had its own title, which gives
rise rise to some of the confusion. I'm not sure if the early series had
story titles.

gary