When Series 2 of the modern series rolled around, viewers were introduced to a new sort of story - one which has become known as ‘Doctor-lite’. Due to pressures of production, the team decided to make a story which was double-banked with another meaning the Doctor would feature less and the focus would be put on to other characters as the leads.
Love & Monsters was the first story of this type with Blink, Turn Left and 73 Yards being good later examples.
But, actually, the Doctor-lite episodes go right back to the Hartnell era when stories like The Massacre and The Celestial Toymaker hardly feature the Doctor and instead focus on the adventures of his companions.
Likewise in the New Adventures, there is Birthright - a novel focussing on Ace and Bernice’s adventures whilst the Doctor is away having his own adventure in the following novel, Iceberg.
What are your favourite Doctor-lite stories?
I’ve already presented a defence of Love & Monsters in the TV Club thread but obviously I also love Blink, Turn Left and 73 Yards.
Turn Left is probably very good, but it’s “What If?” nature and the big reset of the story in the end just kind of bug me a bit.
73 Yards is all atmosphere, a big reset and a ream of unanswered questions. Millie Gibson is excellent in it and the cinematography is fantastic, but in the end it doesn’t really work for me. Plus the prank played on Ruby by the locals goes on forever.
It did have Ncuti’s best outfit though, even if he was only in it for a minute and a half.
Dot and Bubble worked much more for me. There was a proper good idea behind it and beautifully executed (amazing colour scheme). The Mantraps was a great monster design, and seeing how they made them work behind the scenes was so fascinating.
That moment when Ricky September is murdered because of Lindy’s betrayal was so gruesome.
Bring back Ricky September!
I adoreeeeeeee Turn Left, one of my total favourites of all time. I need to revisit 73 Yards because I think I probably really like that too, but I haven’t rewatched any Ncuti yet.
I’m trying to think if they ever really do this on audio, and I’m struggling to think of any. I also kind of hate it in the books when you’re introduced to a huge plethora of random side characters and the Doctor and Companion are barely relevant. Like hello why do you think I’m here…
Ohhh Companion Piece I love (obvious, really, I’m in all this for the companions more than anything), and the Fairytale of Salzburg two parter is brilliant as well. And Lucie Miller…
Is it maybe because in Episode 2 the Doctor spends most of it buggering around on the space beacon whilst, as you say, we watch Milo Clancey make boiled eggs and toast?
If that’s the case then we can also throw The Keys of Marinus in as Doctor-lite as he is completely absent from two episodes. The Dalek’s Masterplan has some Doctor-lite episodes, as does Marco Polo.
The Eye of the Scorpion the 5/Peri/Erimem audio has a Doctor-lite episode when he has been poisoned. Looks like the Guide needs updating if these examples fit the criteria.
Almost every story during the Hartnell era has episodes without the Doctor and one of the companions, because someone always had their week off during production. So that would make most Hartnell stories Doctor-lite or companion-lite
It depends though because for some the absence is covered by pre-filmed scenes - Susan in The Aztecs and Ian in The Reign of Terror for example. I imagine we’d have to only count them if they are completely absent like Barbara in The Sensorites or the Doctor in The Keys of Marinus.
Reminds me of Paradox Moon, which states that the timelines rewritten don’t just disappear. Sibling Same and Sibling different actually build a TARDIS out of TARDIS scraps from rewritten timelines . I’ve no idea how that works but it’s soooo cool. Sounds like some bizarre things they write in the Wilderness Years.
I’ll go ahead and add any we think should be included but should we include stories where the Doctor is only missing for one or two episodes or does it need to be the majority of the story.
Even though I like Blink, I can’t help but pick The Cabinet of Light and Who Killed Kennedy.
Both one of the best DW books out there and for a good reason.
Cabinet is a surreal post WW2 detective story about Honore Leschessieur, a time sensitive “fixer” who was approached by a woman who calls herself Emily with a request to find her husband, known simply as the Doctor.
The Doctor in this story is unidentified, and he is barely present in the story, and that does a great job in setting up the mystery about who the Doctor can be and how is he connected to the history of Earth. This looming mystery of the Doctor’s identity does a great job in making us invested with Honore’s investigation.
Kennedy does a similar thing. The book is told from the perspective of James Stevens - a journalist, who would do anything for a good selling story. And as the book goes on, he investigates the UNIT activities and the several mysterious people known as the Doctor.
What James goes through in that book is an emotional rollercoaster, and I highly recommend it to everyone. Especially to fans of a certain underrated First Doctor companion - her handling here is overhated, I think it was a good sendoff to her and the demonstation that not every story has a happy ending.
