The Children of January (Doctor Who)

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The Children of January was an unproduced 1986 two-part Doctor Who adventure serial written by newcomer Michael Feeney Callan for the Sixth Doctor and Peri.[1]

The Children of January- Warped Factor
Stock photo of “The Children of January” with drawings and CGI animation of the story background

Synopsis[2][]

The Doctor and Peri land on a desert planet that is dominated by the ruthless, unmerciful race: The Z'ros. A Z'ros leader appoints the Z'ros lieutenant to bring a few troops to find any intruder to kill, after suspecting a weird scanning detection on the planet. Peri finds out that the planet they are on is no fun for her, and the Doctor decides to take Peri somewhere else, until they're caught by a Z'ros army. 'The Children of January' - the outcasts, decides to fight the Z'ros army for victory, as the outcast leader had doubts, but agreed to do so. When the outcast leader finds the Z'ros army, she finds the Doctor and Peri caught and we're about to be killed. The outcast leader then stops, and convinces the Z'ros lieutenant to spare their lives. The Doctor is then greeted by the outcast leader to go to the space capsule and discuss how the despicable hatred from the Z'ros was caused from, and what happened to the planet. The leader said that the planet that was once theirs was decaying with the lack of water found to grow crops, and the Z'ros realized that the 'Children of January' race were useless to live. So a fleet of Z'ros space ships destroyed the almost every villager of the planet. The Doctor forgives the outcast leader of the destruction of their village that was conquered by the Z'ros for their unreasonable guilt. Peri looks on the TARDIS scanner to find where the Doctor is now. The TARDIS was then being attacked by a Z'ros laser cannon, whilst the Doctor heads back and tells the Z'ros leader to stop the shooting. The Z'ros leader enforces the Doctor to surrender in custody for being with the outcasts, but tricks them and heads back to the TARDIS. Peri was asking the Doctor- where was he at all this time. The Doctor did not have time to talk to Peri when he has a plan for the Z'ros to make peace with the outcasts, by exploding the Z'ros camp, and getting away with it. The Doctor lands the TARDIS at a Z'ros naval camp where the Z'ros lieutenant was at a war-map scanner, and then finds a bomb on a door, then retreats from the camp. The Doctor then tells the Z'ros lieutenant to tell the Z'ros leader to make peace with the outcasts and help the planet thrive once again, and does so. The Doctor and Peri then continue on with their travels again.

Production[]

Callan submitted the story on February 5, 1985, whilst having EastEnders director Bob Gabriel to direct the two-part adventure,[3] and for filming the story for February 13- March 6, 1986[2] on that following year to close the intended Season 23 of the show.[3] However, on February 27, 1985, it was announced that the production of Doctor Who was be put on a 18-month hiatus until Spring 1986.[4]

Producer John Nathan-Turner asked Callan to rework on the episode format to four-part, twenty five minute episodes,[5] but the story was dropped around when Doctor Who would returned as Trial of a Timelord and the serials that add up to fourteen-parts.[6][4]

Failed Adaptations[]

Around 2009, Big Finish Productions planned on adapting “The Children of January” for an audio adaptation, but these plans fell through due to Callan's other commitments.[7]

Notes[]

• According to Callan’s ideas of the story, the Z’ros we’re to look like ‘human’-bees. The idea would have been given to an unrelated Tenth Doctor story by Gareth Roberts, known as The Unicorn and the Wasp,[8] with a human being mutated to an alien bee.

• Some parts of the story Micheal Feeney Callan wrote for production was still in development.

References[]

  1. ^ Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #3- The Complete Guide of The Sixth Doctor- Pixley, Andrew- retrieved since 2003
  2. ^ a b http://www.galactical.co.uk
  3. ^ a b Doctor Who: The Lost Season- DVD documentary from Terror of the Vervoids- retrieved October 2008
  4. ^ a b A brief history of Doctor Who stories- The Lost Stories (The Sixth Doctor)- Patrick Sullivan, Shannon
  5. ^ Howe, Stammers & Walker 1996 p.13
  6. ^ The Original Season 23- Doctor Who- Wholmes, Harbo- YouTube- retrieved November 2019
  7. ^ Berry 2010, p. 18
  8. ^ Doctor Who: The Original Season 23- The Children of January- WarpedFactor- Updated/retrieved June 27, 2015

Bibliography[]

  • Berry, Dan (2010), Spilsbury, Tom (ed.), "The Macros", Doctor Who Magazine (published 29 April 2010), 422
  • Howe, David J.; Stammers, Mark; Walker, Stephen James (1996), Doctor Who-The Eighties, p. 13

External links[]

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