Trenchcoat Canon Guide - Season 32 (Trenchcoat Ninth Aspect)

Trenchcoat Canon Guide - Season 32

Eighth Doctor

Season 32

Soon after the filming wrapped for Season 31, Edward Peel-Smith shocked the fan press by announcing that the next season of Doctor Who would be his last. Not so. After five years, it was time to move on, said Edward Peel-Smith. And when Sara Griffiths followed this up with her own decision to leave the series partway through Season 32, fans knew that an era of the program was drawing to a close.

Gerry Davis and Terry Nation had six months to shape the scripts for Season 32. They resolved to feed off the “end-of-an-era” atmosphere, creating something similar to Tom Baker’s final year. On the co-production side of things, Davis and Nation were able to increase their American investment, extending Season 32’s episode count from 15 to 17. The production crew spoke of “standard American-length seasons”, but the British fan-press stubbornly stuck to its labels of the 45 minute episode length as “double-length”.

In the midst of all this, the production crew had to search for Fayette’s replacement. Aware of the risks of leaving the show in the hands of an inexperienced Doctor/Companion team, the producers turned to established characters Sue Novak and Ryan Parnel. They were popular from the spy-story episodes Story on a Train and Syndicate and, more importantly, it was felt that they could handle the physical action that could be left over if an older actor were selected to play the ninth Doctor. The fact that they were Americans on a progressively Americanized show was seen as a side benefit.

Filming for the eighth Doctor’s last season began in May 1996. The first episode premiered on BBC1 on Sunday, September 1 that year.

The Graveyard of Time (40750 words) by Martin Proctor

The TARDIS is sucked into a dimensional warp which maroons the ship on an asteroid, but they are not alone. Scores of timeships litter the terrain. Can the Doctor cut through the distrust between the survivors and find the source of their imprisonment before time runs out?

The Graveyard of Time fits into the continuing plotline of the Daleks gearing up to alter Earth’s history, but that’s not its primary focus. The Meddling Monk reappears (regenerated into Jonathan Harris—“Dr. Smith” of Lost in Space fame) and the Doctor is forced to come to terms with the risks he has taken, and the mistakes he has made. Some of these mistakes he can’t even remember—including using the Hand of Omega to destroy Skaro, thus starting the Daleks’ war for the conquest of Time itself.

Smaointe Ar Na Laethe Bhi (24000 words) by James Bow

After the traumatic events within the dimensional warp, the Doctor questions his right to put Fayette through so many dangers. He lands the TARDIS in 1994 Ireland to give himself time to think. But the Doctor and Fayette must realize there is only one place where the relentless forces of Time can not lay siege.

Linked to The Graveyard of Time, Smaointe… is something of a sequel to Jabberwocky Dreams in that it is the second of Trenchcoat’s two “Celtic Who” stories. Although bearing some similarity to The New Twilight Zone’s “A Message from Charity”, and featuring no monsters or real villains, Smaointe… remains a winner among critics and fans alike.

Distractions (14000 words) by Dan Kukwa

The Celestial Toymaker returns, but the games he plays with the Doctor and Fayette now have a more sinister purpose…

Dan Kukwa returns to pen the return of the Celestial Toymaker. The tale is highly inspired by a trip Dan took with his family to Disneyworld—one could only wonder at just how much fun he had there.

The Captive Sleuths (11500 words) by Patricia Bow

Just how far can you take literary piracy?

Patricia Bow pens this crossover between the Doctor Who and the Sherlock Holmes universes, plus several other famous (and not-so-famous) fictional detectives have cameos. Martin Proctor drafts some extra special pencil illustrations, done in the style of Sydney Paget’s work.

Into the Fire (23500 words) by James Bow

The Doctor and Fayette land on Polaris VI and discover Professor Grant. He has been beaten by his expedition and left for dead. Once they help him recover, they set out to find why the behaviour of Grant’s colleagues changed so dramatically, but they are being watched…

This adventure story features the return of the Cybermen, although this time they are not the main villains of the piece. Into the Fire also has the difficult task of writing out Fayette Calonne.

The Sea of Doubt (17250 words) by James Bow

On a secret mission in 1996 Maine, F.B.I. agents Sue Novak and Ryan Parnel are shocked to find the Doctor on the scene. His appearance at this time could not be a coincidence, could it?

After being introduced as early as issue 1’s Story on a Train, Sue and Ryan take on the mantle of companions permanently in this sleepy tale sandwiched between two season heavyweights.

Twilight’s Last Gleaming (23250 words) by James Bow

The Earth is a burnt out husk of a planet after war in 1984. But Sue, Ryan and the Doctor know this is wrong. The Daleks have altered history. Can the Doctor put things to right? And at what cost?

The ongoing Dalek plotline comes to a head in this episode which regenerates the eighth Doctor. Again, the Doctor is forced to consider the consequences of his actions, for it appears that, in the face of the destruction of Skaro by the Doctor’s use of the Hand of Omega, the warring factions of the Daleks have reunited. However, nothing prepares the Doctor for the atrocity that makes the Hand of Omega, and even the destruction of Earth, pale by comparison. This story ends on a cliffhanger.