Feature by ANDREW PIXLEY Illustration by ADRIAN SALMON
By 1988, producer Mark Furness had capitalised on several film and television brandings to lure audiences back to the theatre, including the saucy movie sequel The Further Confessions of a Window Cleaner, the Thames sitcom adaptation George and Mildred, both staged in 1977, and in 1986 a version of BBC1’s wartime romp ‘Allo ‘Allo! Also running London’s Wimbledon Theatre, Furness was now seeking another established small-screen show suitable for live staging. He selected Doctor Who, then celebrating its silver anniversary.
“A West End impresario wanted to do a play,” recalls Andrew Cartmel, who at the time was working on his second season of the television series as script editor. “When he approached the Doctor Who office, producer John Nathan-Turner very kindly passed it onto me. It was standard procedure that the script editor would get the first bite. I immediately made an extremely good decision – which was to involve Ben.”