Script to Screen: Dragonfire

Dragonfire was the final story of Sylvester McCoy's first season. Its main claim to fame was that it had the departure of Mel, and the introduction of the popular character of Ace. However, this is not the way the script was originally written. The original scripts for Dragonfire differ in some aspects from the version seen on our screens.

BACKGROUND

Ian Briggs was an actor, who had once worked in the BBC's script unit. This brought him to the attention of Doctor Who's new script editor, Andrew Cartmel, who approached Briggs for a story for Season 24 in February 1987. Sylvester McCoy had been cast as the Doctor only a matter of weeks earlier, and so Briggs decided to focus upon McCoy's natural comedic talents in the story which he submitted.

Titled The Pyramid's Treasure it concerned a disgusting 14 year old financial genius running a huge business empire, assisted by his sidekick Mr Spewey. The storyline was rejected, but after further discussions with Cartmel, it was decided to take certain aspects from it and create a new one. So, the theme of a treasure hidden inside a bio-mechanoid became the main focal point for the new story, entitled Dragonfire.

Briggs completed his first draft around March/April. Malcolm Kohll, who was writing the all-location story to off-set Briggs' all-studio story, completed his scripts for Delta and the Bannermen about the same time. It was at this point that John Nathan-Turner had planned to feature Sabalom Glitz from the previous season in a story this year. Briggs had included a pirate character, called Razorback, in Dragonfire, so, a re-write later, the pirate was substituted for Glitz. In an interview in DWM 134 Tony Selby, who plays the cowardly hood, says he was contacted regarding his availability only three months before production began. The story went into rehearsals in mid-July 1987, so this would place the time of Glitz's inclusion in the scripts around April.

RAY OR ACE?

Bonnie Langford's contract was coming up for renewal this year. So, while they waited for Langford to make her decision whether or not to stay on, JNT and Cartmel discussed possible replacements for Mel. They planned to introduce the new companion, in either the third or fourth story. There were two candidates: the Welsh girl Ray, from Delta and the Bannermen, and the street-wise Ace, from Briggs' story. Whichever companion was selected, the relevant story would become the final of the season. As it transpired, Langford did decide to leave, and, after Sophie Aldred was cast, Ace won the toss. The final scene in Briggs' script, which ended conventionally with Mel and the Doctor leaving together in the TARDIS, was rewritten by Ian Briggs and Andrew Cartmel as a result.

The final scripted scene is not the only one that differs from the TV version. There are several scenes which are missing from the TV episodes, which were probably cut due to timing reasons. The TV episodes feature scenes not in the scripts.

Below, is a study of the scripts (cross-checked with the novelisation) with specific emphasis on missing, or altered scenes. On several occasions, scenes appear on TV in a different order to that in which they were written.

I have not taken note of these changes below, unless it is of particular relevance or interest. Descriptions given in the script have been simplified in some cases.

THE SCRIPTS

The scripts upon which this analysis is based are not dated, so it is impossible to tell exactly when they were written or which draft number they are. There are several extra pages, headed with notations such as '1/np67' (meaning 'episode 1, new page 67'), which are in a different typeface, indicating that they are later amendments.

In Briggs' original storyline and first draft the villain was called Hess, in keeping with the imagery of Nazism on Svartos. However, he was instructed by the BBC to tone this down, and so Hess became Kane. On the pages of the script, it is clear that the name 'Hess' has been erased and over-typed with 'Kane'. In some instances, this has been over-looked and the name Hess still appears.

Every produced Doctor Who story gets given a code. These scripts are labelled '7F/G'. Dragonfire was eventually recorded as serial 7G, so this duality of code most likely reflects that, at the time they were written, the story had not yet been selected as Mel's farewell, and would either be the third story of the season (7F) or the last (7G). It is also possible that the double code refers to the fact that both serial 7F and 7G would be handled by the same director and production crew, but since there are no title pages to these scripts giving the names of the intended crew, then it is likely these scripts are from a time before director Chris Clough was assigned.

PART ONE

The script is 75 pages long, and covers 32 individual scenes. The televised version has only 24 scenes.

The first difference is a missing line of dialogue. As the Doctor and Mel arrive at the freezer centre, the tannoy announcer says:

They enter the refreshment bar. This is Ace's first scene, and she is described in the script as:

The Doctor and Mel sit, and the Doctor orders two vanilla milk shakes. On TV, the Doctor orders strawberry. Perhaps this is McCoy's favourite flavour?! Ace's first line of dialogue is different in the script:

Briggs has reinstated the line in his novelisation (pg 14).

Another BING-BONG announcement has been deleted from TV, just after Glitz denies knowing the Doctor:

Belazs and her troops arrive during this scene. In the script, Briggs makes the point of explaining that the 'zs' in Belazs is pronounced as in Zsa Zsa Gabor!

At the end of this scene on TV, the Doctor scolds Glitz, telling him he only has himself to blame. The scene continues in the script:

Glitz's mention of 'adventures' refers to the Doctor's recent trial, where he met Mel and the Doctor.

After a scene with Kane and Kracauer, we return to the refreshment bar. The first lines of dialogue in this scene are missing on TV:

The scene then continues as on TV with Anderson's line, 'You will do as you are told...' (Briggs has rewritten the dialogue slightly when reinstating it in his novelisation, pg 20)

Later, on TV, the Doctor corrects Mel's pronunciation of Loch. This is not in the script. Between the Doctor's line 'Absolutely', and Ace's 'Cor - can I come too?' there is some dialogue which has been cut:

Why this was cut before recording is unknown. Again, Briggs has altered the lines slightly in his book, pg 21.

The next scene is in Kane's control room. The TV scene ends on Kane's mention of the tracking device on Glitz's map. The script continues at this point:

This appears in the book, pg 22-23.

The next scene cross-cuts to a close up of the map. During their discussion about the authenticity of the map, Glitz says it's 'the real McCoy'. In the script, however, he says, 'This is the real oyster, this is.' The change was no doubt an ad-lib created during rehearsal. It appears as in the script in the book, pg 23.

This refreshment bar scene ends, in the script, on Glitz's line, "Just the two of us, then, Doctor..." On TV, as they exit the bar, the Doctor pats a little creature sitting at one of the tables. It snarls at him and tries to bite his hand. This was an ad-lib suggested by McCoy.

At the end of the scene where Ace and Mel get thrown out of the refreshment bar by Anderson, the script contains a further BING-BONG announcement missing from the TV version:

Scene 12 is the first scene set in the Restricted Zone where Kane has his 'coffin'. It is interesting to note that on TV, whenever Kane enters or awakens from the coffin, a computerised female voice announces the changes in temperature. None of these lines appear in the script. The actress hired to play the voice had been selected for the role of Ray in Delta and the Bannermen, but she had to pull after injuring herself shortly before filming began on that serial. JNT hired her for the part of the announcer as a form of consolation. It may be that these lines were added to the script at a later stage in order to make her part in the story larger.

Ace's quarters are described in the script as being a:

During Ace recount of her blowing up the Art Room, the script has additional dialogue, not on TV (but appears in book, pg 34):

The next scene was recorded but cut at editing stages because of timing reasons. It is retained in the novel, pg40-41. In terms of the TV version, it would have occurred immediately after the scene where Ace uses her nitro-nine to unblock the upper docking bay doors:

Immediately after the scene where Ace and Mel are captured by Belazs and her soldiers, we return to the Doctor and Glitz, in a continuation of the above cut scene. This appears in the book, pg 42-44, but which has been expanded upon there.

From the next scene with the Doctor and Glitz, where they get separated while in a tunnel, the type-face on the script changes, and all the subsequent pages are numbered differently - starting with '1/np67' through to '1/np75' which is the end of the episode. This indicates that these final eight pages are late amendments, made by either Briggs himself, or script editor Andrew Cartmel. These pages include Ace's indecision about taking Kane's coin; the Doctor's climb down the cliff-face; and Mel and Ace's encounter with the Dragon. The Doctor's arrival at the cliff is scene 25. The only line on page 1/np71 of the script is a note saying that 'SCENES 26-29 ARE CUT'. The book has a scene with Glitz finding the Ice Gardens (pg 47-48), and one with Kane ordering soldiers after the two girls (pg 50-51) which do not appear in the script or on TV so it would appear that these are the scenes in question. In Part Two, when Glitz rescues the Doctor, he tells the Time Lord that he has found the Ice Gardens, but we do not see him do so. These two scene were cut before rehearsals, but were reinstated in the book.

One of the amendment scenes was Ace's indecision about taking Kane's coin. In the original scene Ace was to have taken up Kane's coin and be left with the burn mark on her palm. She then becomes a member of his elite guard, donning the white uniform. It was not until Kane later orders that Mel be frozen that Ace rebels, and the pair flee to the ice tunnels where they encounter the bio-mechanoid as on TV.

The next scripted scene (after the deleted ones on page 1/np71) is Mel and Ace running down a corridor. This then leads into the Doctor's climb down the ice face. On TV, the next two scenes were swapped around, so the cliff-hanger to Part One is on the Doctor as he hangs precariously over the precipice. In the script, however, the cliff-hanger is written as Mel and Ace come face to face with the dragon. The script describes the ending as:

PART TWO

The script is 87 pages long, and covers 33 individual scenes. The televised version also has 32 scenes.

As in Part One, the scenes with the Doctor and Glitz climbing down the cliff face are in a different type-face, and are numbered 2/np4/5-12/13. An extra scene appears in the script between scenes with Glitz and the Doctor. Here, the two girls are hiding from the creature:

The comedic scene where the Doctor scrambles down the cliff, and performs a contortionist act under Glitz's legs, is not in the script. This would appear to be an ad-lib created during rehearsals. The script simply starts at the point where Glitz says, "It's no use..."

In the scene where Ace and Mel climb down the same cliff as the Doctor before them, the script describes Ace pulling a rope and some rock-climbing gear from her rucksack.

On TV Ace produces a steel ladder from her bag. Briggs has, however, retained the rope in his book, pg59.

In the humorous scene where the Doctor and the guard, Arnheim, have an interesting conversation about philosophy, much of the dialogue on TV is in addition to that which is scripted.

Scene 17 is Kane's murder of the sculptor. The pages are headed as 2/np38 to 2/np39, indicating they are amendments, and yet the scene on TV is very different again. Here is the scripted scene, which includes dialogue from TV:

In the book (pg 56-57), the scene is as scripted.

Page 2/40 of the script carries a single line, which says, in a very Monty Python-ish way, 'NO PAGE 40' (!!)

Ace and Mel's encounter with the zombified crew members, ending with Mel slipping over on the stairs is numbered 2/np50 to 2/np52, indicating they are amendments. Kraucauer and Belazs's discussion about being in Kane's power is also an amended scene, running from page 2/np56 to 2/np59.

In the scene where a reunited Doctor and Glitz, Mel and Ace encounter the zombied crewman Pudovkin, the crewman does not have any lines in the script, which is numbered 2/np67 at this point of the scene. On TV, he and Glitz have a conversation about fruit alcohol and Glitz's contempt towards the other crewmen. In the script, he simply appears, fires on them, then gets killed by the dragon without as much as an utter! This would imply that the actor was given lines at a later stage to make the character more sympathetic.

Page 2/np72/73 has only one line, saying '[SCENE 28 IS CUT]'. There is no indication in the book as to what this scene entailed. Page 2/np78 states that '[SCENE 30 IS CUT]'. Again, the book does not supply any information as to what was cut.

Scene 32 is at the Singing Trees, where the Archivist makes an appearance. Her dialogue is as it appears on TV, but this page (2/83) is one which was not corrected, and so, she refers to the 'Hess-Krylla gang', which became the 'Kane-Xana Gang' on TV.

PART THREE

The script is 104 pages long, and has 58 individual scenes. The televised version has only 49 scenes.

After the scene where McLuhan and Bazin get prepared to go on an ANT hunt and "blow this ANT clean across the space lanes", we cut to a scene with Glitz, Ace and Mel at the Singing Trees. All but one line of the scripted dialogue has been cut here, the sole surviving line being Mel's suggestion that they play "I Spy":

The scene is intact in the book, pg 92-93.

In the TV scene where the Doctor finds the Ice Gardens and quotes from 'Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary', the script inserts a scene part-way through the Doctor's dialogue. It is a brief scene set in the Freezer Centre. The tannoy sounds:

Back to the Ice Gardens, in the script, the Doctor describes the constellations as 'The Waterfall, The Old Man, The Great Lever'. He does not give the names on TV. The names are intact in the book, pg98.

There are several scripted scenes cut which feature Ice World visitors running from the attacking zombies. These have been reduced to a single scene of them entering the air-lock of the Nosferatu on TV.

After the visitors enter the ship, the next scene on TV is Glitz running to the air-lock door as it slams in his face. In the script, there is a scene between these two, set in Kane's restricted zone:

The child is un-named in the script. Her name is Stella on TV. This scene appears in the book, pg115-116.

Page 3/np65/66 is a new page. In relation to the book (pg 123-124) this replaces the scene where Mel finds Ace's graffiti: 'ACE 4 WAYNE', and is as it appears on TV.

When Glitz goes to Ace's quarters, the arranged meeting place, the script makes mention of his seeing a poster on her wall. It is:

Page 3/np75 says '[SCENE 48 IS CUT]', and the next two pages are numbered Page 3/np76 and 3/np77/78/79/80/81 meaning that six pages of original script have been replaced here. The book, pg 130-134, contains scenes not on TV and not in the script, where the child puts her Teddy in Kane's cabinet, and it shatters; followed by Glitz setting up a booby-trap for the zombies. The TV scenes are of Stella putting her Teddy to bed, followed by Kane's deal to trade the Dragonfire for Ace.

The final scene in the script, was, as previously mentioned, later rewritten to include Mel's departure and the Doctor offering Ace a ride home. On TV, the final scene takes place in the TARDIS. In the script, it is in the freezer centre:

It is unclear why Mel's departure on TV was simply a redressing of the original scene. It seems uncharacteristic of her to want to leave the Doctor and stay with Glitz, as much as it was for Leela to be with Andred in The Invasion of Time. The scene does, however, work well with Glitz and Ace. The constant bickering and name-calling between the two makes it all the more funny that they should end up together! Why wasn't a whole new scene written, still set within the TARDIS, where the Doctor takes both Mel and Ace back to Earth? To justify Ace's not staying on Earth with Mel could easily have been explained away by the accidental dematerialisation of the ship, or something to that effect. As a departure scene for Mel, the version on TV just doesn't work.

Ian Briggs said in an interview in the fanzine Proteus issue 2 (April 1990): 'I knew for some time that Bonnie might leave, so it was written so it was not difficult to swap the pairing around. As for the actual rewriting, I don't think I was told Bonnie was taking another job until after the first studio session. Then we sat down and said it's time to rewrite it. The trouble was, there were five people all with slightly different ideas about how it should be written. In the end, John [Nathan-Turner] had to put his foot down, and leave it to Andrew [Cartmel] and me to work out an acceptable compromise. We finalised it on the day it was shot - the last few lines were written that morning on a napkin in one of the breakfast bars at the BBC. If I'd known earlier that Bonnie was definitely leaving, there would have been more of a build-up to Mel's decision to go.'

SUMMARY

As is covered above, Briggs incorporated many of the lost scenes in his 1989 novelisation - plus several additional scenes especially added for the book. It was hoped within fan-circles that at least some cut scenes would be reinstated for the 1994 video release however there is nothing extra on the tape.

RECORDING DRAGONFIRE

Studio One: 29-30 July 1987
Studio Two: 11-13 August 1987

UK TRANSMISSION

Part One: Saturday 23 November 1987 (Drn: 24`02)
Part Two: Saturday 30 November 1987 (Drn: 24`41)
Part Three: Saturday 7 December 1987 (Drn: 24`26)

Reference Sources:
Dragonfire (scripts) by Ian Briggs
Doctor Who - Dragonfire (novel) by Ian Briggs
DWM (various)