Having been recently discussing Marco Polo and then posting a review of The Massacre on to TARDIS Guide, it occured to me that in both stories (and both written by John Lucarotti) the Doctor isn’t actually the main character. Marco functions more as a lead in the story and in The Massacre it is far more Steven’s story than the Doctor’s.
It got me thinking about other Doctor Who stories where the Doctor isn’t really the main character. The ones that leaps to mind are, of course, the ‘Doctor-lite’ stories such as Blink, Turn Left and Love & Monsters.
But are there any other examples in the show, particularly in the expanded universe. (And here we’re talking about stories which are ostensibly Doctor Who stories and not spin-offs where other characters take over as the lead).
The VNA “Birthright” is basically wholly without the Doctor as well as he is off gallivanting in “Iceberg”.
Main character duties are divided between Benny and Ace instead
Pretty much any of my beloved Companion Chronicles!
I do love the concept of a Doctor Who story from the perspective of someone who isn’t the Doctor or companion. Most of the examples I can think of are short stories, like the Short Trips ranges (prose and audio), where it’s pretty common. I wish the show did it more often!
Any episode of the Hartnell era where the Hartnell’s on holiday. Plus I’d say Eye of the Scorpion to an extent (at least in Episode 2), because the lead character kinda alternates between the Doctor and Erimem.
I’m going to throw in Planet of the Ood. That doesn’t quite fit the brief, perhaps, as the Doctor is present but, as I recall, he needn’t have bothered turning up. Nothing that he does in the episode has any real bearing on the climax. He and Donna are basically there to explain the plot to the audience. Everything that happens is the result of the actions of the Ood themselves and the human doctor that’s been helping them. This could easily have been a Doctor-lite episode.
Girl who waited. I picked this one mainly because it has a similar feeling to Flatline where Rory is the one going on the adventure while the Doctor is guiding him through the TARDIS.
Nobody’s mentioned this so far, but the last season had a number of episodes not lead by the Doctor, mostly because of Gatwa’s scheduling issues.
Most obvious is 73 Yards, which almost feels like Turn Left in how little it is about the Doctor, but I’d also say that The Church on Ruby Road is far more Ruby’s episode than the Doctor’s, much in the same camp as Rose.
And following on directly from 73 Yards is Dot and Bubble, where our lead is primarily Lindy Pepper-Bean, for better or for worse.
