This isn’t an interview, it’s part of a letter from Sydney Newman to Michael Grade in which Newman suggests that the seventh Doctor should be a woman. Covered in the Daily Telegraph, the recently discovered letter doesn’t really inspire much confidence. Thankfully his advice wasn’t heeded; if it had been, we’d never have had Sylvester McCoy as No. 7, and so my favourite Doctor wouldn’t have existed!
“At a later stage Doctor Who should be metamorphosed into a woman. Don’t you agree that this is considerably more worthy of the BBC than Doctor Who’s presently largely socially valueless, escapist schlock?
“This requires some considerable thought – mainly because I want to avoid a flashy, Hollywood Wonder Woman, because this kind of heroine with no flaws is a bore.
“Should you accept these ideas the fee I would accept would be in the form of my being taken on and paid to be its executive director to ensure the concept is properly executed
“Given more time than I have now, I can create such a character.”
Tags: Doctor Who, Sydney Newman
October 25, 2010 at 10:11 pm |
I really like Newman’s initial draft of the character as seen in the Beginning’s Box Set, but even he couldn’t predict what has been most successful for Doctor Who (such as the Daleks).
Anything that kept McCoy from being the Doctor would have been tragic.