Also known as: Doctor Who Disclaimer part 2.
I have, for the most part, worked out which of my recurring and other characters can replace the various Doctor Who characters in my fanfiction-to-original-fiction experiment.
The (name not decided) man would replace Mickey Smith in the first story in the set, as well as Jack Harkness in any stories he would have appeared in.
The only other story Mickey appears in, the “Psychic Thieves” one, will not be rewritten as such. I already had other plans for that one regarding its fan/original fiction status, so his shared scenes with Jack will not be a problem.
The Prince and the Doctor storyline will not be rewritten as such (I have other plans for one of the subplots).
Between this one and the Psychic Thieves plot, I would have no need to replace Martha Jones.
Fae would work as a substitute for River Song in the handful of stories she would have appeared in.
Leila (from my Rite of Passage short story) would take over for Clara Oswald and Donna Noble both in any stories they would have appeared in.
There are no shared scenes.
This includes the Three Doctor story, in which Clara could take over for Amy and Rory, if I rewrite that one. In order to fill in a certain gaping plot hole, however, Leila would need a bit of River’s “meeting in the wrong order” if I rewrite that one.
The Wanderer, a member of a race whose own name for themselves is either lost to time or else simply doesn’t translate well to languages such as our own (I’ll decide which one later ;)) but whose societies are often known by other races as The Wandering Ones (quite possibly taken from the Wanderer, just as our word for a healer comes from the Doctor), Egregore, or even The Wild Ones (depending on the particular society, of course), is, simply put, The Doctor.
He is not a different character of my own making taking the Doctor’s place. He is, to my mind, as much the Doctor, as much the same character as the Doctor, as Faction Paradox‘s “Evil Renegade” is the Doctor. Just with a different name, in a different universe, and maybe different traits depending on how his regenerations went.
However, he finds, in whatever regeneration, that travel between different universes, while still not precisely easy, is at least more likely in my stories than in Doctor Who. Some universes moreso than others, for reasons that may take a whole other post and more to get into.
Torchwood might go by the name Fireweed on the few occasions I’d need to mention a name.
And, of course, specific scenes would need to be rewritten or removed, as detailed in my previous post.
Prologues and epilogues will be left in their Doctor Who versions as originally intended, and will be posted here, along with any notes that I deem relevant.
The main stories (sans prologues or epilogues) will be rewritten so that I can actually publish them as my own work.
This leaves three particular decisions.
One: what name to use for the man who replaces Mickey and Jack.
Two: who to replace Rose in the one or two stories she appears in.
And three: should I rewrite the Three Doctor story as part of the set?
The first is inconsequential, to say the least. Whatever name I pick, the story will go as the story goes; the name will not truly affect the rewrite.
The second and the third are somewhat tied together.
At present, my choices for Rose are to either substitute the currently-generic Sasha (less a recurring character than a recurring name when a female character needs naming), or to let Leila take over her role.
But Leila would already be present in the three Doctors story, as a substitute for Clara who substitutes for Amy and Rory… and Rose was supposed to be in that story with the Ninth Doctor.
Now, I could let two versions of her meet–I can’t do this story without time travel or regenerating, anyway (and the Beast of Gevaudan story still requires the time travel)–and figure out how that affects her character.
Or I could eliminate Rose’s position with Nine and Jack in the rewrite, and modify Leila’s part accordingly; if Leila meets the Wanderer “in the wrong order,” her/Rose’s concern in the prologue that the Wanderer/Doctor doesn’t remember something that she remembers would still have merit, and it would eliminate the Blinovitch Limitation Effect on her part. (Although it would be far more likely that she’d try to tell him sometime closer to the Beast of Gevaudan story. And maybe Fae, who would be present in both stories, could be the one to explain the situation.)
So, what do my readers think?
Should Rose become Sasha, or Leila? In the first story, specifically.
If Leila, should she appear twice in the three Doctors story? Or once (as Clara), with maybe a generic Sasha still taking Rose’s place? Or should I simply leave that story alone?
Thoughts?
Oh, two more decisions.
What to call the Tardis, and how to refer to it. (Rite of Passage refers to a man traveling in a blue box, but that’s more shout-out than true connection between stories, and it’s only mentioned in passing.)
And what to call the various versions of the Doctor/Wanderer in the event that I actually, and successfully, rewrite the three Doctor story.
Related articles
- Clara Oswald and the Best of the Latest “Doctor Who” Episodes (roboheartbeat.wordpress.com)
- After Series Seven of Doctor Who… What Do I Think Might Happen in the 50th Anniversary Special? (comparativegeeks.wordpress.com)
- Rewriting the Myth: An Interview with Neil Gaiman (pop-break.com)
- Doctor Who’s Disappearing Companions (ladygeekgirl.wordpress.com)
- Disclaimer Draft for Doctor Who (pioneersoftheshatteredwaters.wordpress.com)
- rewriting (supposedtobewriting.wordpress.com)
- Review #2 – The Wise Man’s Fear (aspiringwriter.co.uk)
- Mickey Smith: The Man Least Spoken About (areyougeekingme.wordpress.com)
- Fanfiction…beauty or the beast? (questionway.wordpress.com)
Pioneers of the Shattered Waters 