Home : Archive : TSV 41-50 : TSV 44 : Feature

The Doctor Who Story Generator

By Morgan Davie

Do you think you could write a pretty good Doctor Who story if only you had the time? Are you envious of all these under-talented fanboys making megabucks from Doctor Who fiction? Is it time for you to make some waves in the world of Doctor Who fiction yourself? If so, this is the opportunity you've been waiting for. The simple system presented here can generate literally hundreds of story outlines, each of which can provide an infinite number of variations simply by changing the name of the planet and villain!

All you need to do is go through the plot outline below, selecting any or all of the options available, and a Doctor Who story of your own will magically appear! Come up with few appropriate names and you can even send it off as a submission to Virgin - it is really that easy!

So what are you waiting for? The world of literary endeavour awaits you!

Plot Outline

The malfunctioning TARDIS lands...

  1. on 20th Century Earth
  2. on a planet that looks suspiciously like 20th Century Earth
  3. in a quarry

... and the Doctor immediately senses that something is amiss. Soon he realises that...

  1. the commoners are being ruthlessly dominated by those in control
  2. aliens are invading
  3. history is being altered

... and he must intervene to prevent a disaster. As he begins to investigate...

  1. he is separated from his companions
  2. he darkly suspects that he is the ultimate cause (McCoy only!)
  3. his companions all sprain their ankles

... and he finds himself ...

  1. arrested
  2. captured
  3. knocked out and abducted

... and put in a cell where he is ...

  1. almost beheaded by his captors.
  2. almost blasted by his captors.
  3. subjected to a mind probe by his captors.

Meanwhile, the Doctor's companions...

  1. are almost executed and need to be rescued
  2. fall in with a rebel faction
  3. twist their remaining good ankle
  4. writhe on the floor screaming 'Tractators! Tractators!'

... but they are in worse danger than they realise because...

  1. one of their new friends is a traitor.
  2. several of their new friends are traitors.
  3. all of their new friends are traitors.
  4. everyone they meet is a traitor and they all have big guns.

Elsewhere, the Doctor...

  1. has been put on trial
  2. has escaped through a ventilation shaft
  3. has convinced a wimpy bad guy to change sides

... and after a tense period of...

  1. running down corridors
  2. running down more corridors
  3. running back and forth down the same corridor

... is shocked to learn that...

  1. the aliens have zips down their backs (saving money on costumes)
  2. the aliens use mind control (saving money on special effects)
  3. the leader of the aliens looks exactly like him (saving money on actors)

... and the tension comes to a peak until, at the last minute, the Doctor saves the day by...

  1. making an improbable gadget at extremely short notice.
  2. helping the rebels overthrow their oppressors.
  3. blowing something up.

Happy writing!


This item appeared in TSV 44 (June 1995).