Doctor Who (BBC/Disney Co-Production)

This is an idea for a possible reboot of the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who that could have been helmed by more than one production company. It would also be helmed by Walt Disney Pictures. The programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called "the Doctor", an extraterrestrial being, to all appearances human, from the planet Gallifrey. The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS. Its exterior appears as a blue 1960s British police box. Accompanied by a number of companions, the Doctor combats a variety of foes while working to save civilisations and help people in need. The seres would continue production until 2010 when the Doctor regenerated into his 11th incarnation (Matt Smith), and the production rights reverted back to the BBC. Disney Channel would, however, continue airing the show, and would also retain joint home media and streaming distribution rights with the BBC.

Premise
Doctor Who follows the adventures of the title character, a rogue Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who goes by the name "the Doctor". The Doctor fled Gallifrey in a stolen TARDIS ("Time and Relative Dimension in Space"), a time machine that travels by materialising into and dematerialising out of the time vortex. The TARDIS has a vast interior but appears smaller on the outside, and is equipped with a "chameleon circuit" intended to make the machine take on the appearance of local objects as a disguise; due to a malfunction, the Doctor's TARDIS remains fixed as a blue British police box.

Across time and space, the Doctor's many incarnations often find events that pique their curiosity and try to prevent evil forces from harming innocent people or changing history, using only ingenuity and minimal resources, such as the versatile sonic screwdriver. The Doctor rarely travels alone and often brings one or more companions to share these adventures. These companions are usually humans, owing to the Doctor's fascination with planet Earth, which also leads to frequent collaborations with the international military task force UNIT when the Earth is threatened. The Doctor is centuries old and, as a Time Lord, has the ability to regenerate in case of mortal damage to the body, taking on a new appearance and personality. The Doctor has gained numerous recurring enemies during their travels, including the Daleks, the Cybermen, and the Master, another renegade Time Lord.

Episodes
Each season would comprise of 13 regular episodes, a Christmas special and the occasional minisode, amounting to 14-15 episodes in total. There would also be a series of specials after season 4 bringing an end to the tenure of the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant). Each season would keep the same episodes as the existing show; the only difference being the broadcast order of certain episodes:

Season 1

 * 1) Rose (March 25, 2005)
 * 2) The End Of The World (April 1, 2005)
 * 3) The Unquiet Dead (April 8, 2005)
 * 4) Aliens Of London (April 15, 2005)
 * 5) World War Three (April 22, 2005)
 * 6) Dalek (April 29, 2005)
 * 7) The Long Game (May 6, 2005)
 * 8) Father's Day (May 13, 2005)
 * 9) The Empty Child (May 20, 2005)
 * 10) The Doctor Dances (May 27, 2005)
 * 11) Boom Town (June 3, 2005)
 * 12) Bad Wolf (June 10, 2005)
 * 13) The Parting Of The Ways (June 17, 2005)

Specials

 * 1) Born Again (2005 Children In Need Special (November 18, 2005))
 * 2) The Christmas Invasion (2005 Christmas Special (December 25, 2005))

Regular Episodes

 * 1) Tooth And Claw (April 7, 2006)
 * 2) New Earth (April 14, 2006)
 * 3) School Reunion (April 21, 2006)
 * 4) The Girl In The Fireplace (April 28, 2006)
 * 5) Rise Of The Cybermen (May 5, 2006)
 * 6) The Age Of Steel (May 12, 2006)
 * 7) The Idiot's Lantern (May 19, 2006)
 * 8) The Impossible Planet (May 26, 2006)
 * 9) The Satan Pit (June 2, 2006)
 * 10) Love And Monsters (June 9, 2006)
 * 11) Fear Her (June 16, 2006)
 * 12) Army Of Ghosts (June 23, 2006)
 * 13) Doomsday (June 30, 2006)

Specials
The Runaway Bride (2006 Christmas Special (December 25, 2006))

Regular Episodes

 * 1) Smith And Jones (March 30, 2007)
 * 2) The Shakespeare Code (April 6, 2007)
 * 3) Gridlock (April 13, 2007)
 * 4) Daleks In Manhattan (April 20, 2007)
 * 5) Evolution Of The Daleks (April 27, 2007)
 * 6) The Lazarus Experiment (May 4, 2007)
 * 7) 42 (May 11, 2007)
 * 8) Human Nature (May 18, 2007)
 * 9) The Family Of Blood (May 25, 2007)
 * 10) Blink (June 1, 2007)
 * 11) Utopia (June 8, 2007)
 * 12) The Sound Of Drums (June 15, 2007)
 * 13) Last Of The Timelords (June 22, 2007)

Specials

 * 1) Time Crash (2007 Children In Need Special (November 16, 2007))
 * 2) Voyage Of The Damned (2007 Christmas Special (December 25, 2007))

Regular Episodes

 * 1) Partners In Crime (April 4, 2008)
 * 2) Fires Of Pompeii (April 11, 2008)
 * 3) Planet Of The Ood (April 18, 2008)
 * 4) The Sontaran Stratagem (April 25, 2008)
 * 5) The Poison Sky (May 2, 2008)
 * 6) The Doctor's Daughter (May 9, 2008)
 * 7) The Unicorn And The Wasp (May 16, 2008)
 * 8) Silence In The Library (May 23, 2008)
 * 9) Forest Of The Dead (May 30, 2008)
 * 10) Midnight (June 6, 2008)
 * 11) Turn Left (June 13, 2008)
 * 12) The Stolen Earth (June 20, 2008)
 * 13) Journey's End (June 27, 2008)

2008-2010 Specials

 * 1) The Next Doctor (December 25, 2008)
 * 2) Planet Of The Dead (April 11, 2009)
 * 3) The Waters Of Mars (November 15, 2009)
 * 4) The End Of Time-Part One (December 24, 2009)
 * 5) The End Of Time-Part Two (December 31, 2009)

Production
The production would be helmed by both the BBC and Walt Disney Pictures. The three main producers would be Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson, and they would also deal with casting and hiring writers and directors for individual episodes. Disney would finance larger-scale production facilities, larger-scale sets and provide a larger budget to enable the BBC to film beyond South Wales.

Production Dates

 * Season 1: June 25, 2004-April 21, 2005
 * Season 2: June 30, 2005-March 31, 2006
 * Season 3: June 22, 2006-April 2, 2007
 * Season 4: June 28, 2007- April 5, 2008
 * 2008-2010 Specials: April 7, 2008-June 3, 2009

Effects
Effects (both practical and visual) would be provided by a variety of both British and American institutions such as The Mill, The Visual Effects Company, Cinesite and Industrial Light And Magic. Creature prosthetics would be provided by both the BBC's in-house team and the Jim Henson Creature Shop.

Music
The soundtrack for all episodes would be composed by Murray Gold and Tangled composer Kevin Kliesch, and recorded by the BBC National Orchestra Of Wales.

The recognizable theme tune, for the first 3 seasons would be based on the electronic melody sound sampled from the original 1963 Delia Derbyshire arrangement with rapidly upward- and downward-arpeggiating strings added as a counter melody. It would also incorporate the use of some additional electronic elements. The opening theme follows the normal pattern of the main theme and a repeat to fade. The closing theme would again have the scream and intro, followed by the main theme twice, followed by the middle eight and outro.

For Season 4 and the 2008-2010 specials, Gold would create a second theme arrangement. It would still feature the original electronic Derbyshire melody, but the strings would be different and drums and piano would be added to dramatically change the feel. A new ending arrangement, with "middle eight" intact, would also be composed and again recorded by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Doctor Who Confidential
The series would also be supplemented by a documentary series called Doctor Who Confidential, Each series would follow behind-the-scenes footage on the making of Doctor Who through clips and interviews with the cast, production crew and other parties, including those who have previously contributed to the series. Each episode revolves around a different topic, and in most cases refers to the Doctor Who episode that preceded it that evening.