Doctor Who Saves Lord of the Rings! - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Lalwendë · 03-27-2007, 11:18 AM

Sticking this here because it's just so weird I can't think where else to put it.

Now I love Tolkien of course, and I love Doctor Who. We've already seen the Doctor meet with Charles Dickens and he meets with Shakespeare in the new series; so why can't he meet with Tolkien?

Except he has.

Doctor Who, like many other sci-fi cults, spawned spin-off novels, not terribly canonical, and allegedly never as good as the TV series anyway. One of these has the blurb as follows:

Quote:

‘Grrrrr.’

The greatest book ever written.

Professor Reginald Tyler’s The True History of Planets was a twentieth-century classic; an epic of dwarves and swords and wizardry. And definitely no poodles. Or at least there weren’t when the Doctor read it.

Now it tells the true tale of how the Queen of the poodles was overthrown; it’s been made into a hit movie, and it’s going to cause a bloodbath on the Dogworld -- unless the Doctor, Fitz and Anji (and assorted friends) can sort it all out.

The Doctor infiltrates the Smudgelings, Tyler’s elite Cambridge writing set of the early twentieth century; Fitz falls for flamboyant torch singer Brenda Soobie in sixties Las Vegas, and Anji experiences some very special effects in seventies Hollywood. Their intention is to prevent the movie from ever being made. But there is a shadowy figure present in all three time zones who is just as determined to see it completed... so the poodle revolution can begin.

The synopsis for Mad Dogs and Englishmen just sounds mad! Some weird parody, it features not only Tolkien, but Edith, CS Lewis, Noel Coward, George Lucas and Ray Harryhausen. And Dogworld, a planet ruled by Poodles. A time traveller goes back in time and persuades Tolkien not to write about Elves, but about Poodles instead!

I think the best thing about this is that it shows Doctor Who to be a Tolkien fan - and one who saves Lord of the Rings from an horrific fate! And the worst is that I'll bet it's extreme silliness has dashed my hopes of a TV Tolkien/Who spectacular.

Could any of us come up with any better Who/JRR storylines?

The Squatter of Amon Rûdh · 03-28-2007, 04:25 AM

Alternatively, this could mean that some people buy anything even remotely related to Tolkien, and that one writer has realised the same.

How about a story in which an attempted invasion of the Cybermen in First-World-War Northumbria must be thwarted? Who enlists the help of a small garrison, under a young lieutenant only recently recovered from a long illness. After the experience, the army officer begins to write some very strange fiction indeed.

davem · 03-28-2007, 04:50 AM

Well, I've never been convinced by the story that three ships were enough to save all the Faithful Numenoreans - unless of course at least one of them was an odd looking ship that was bigger on the inside than the outside.....

More seriously, Tolkien's fascination with time travel is well known & the idea of a crossover Doctor Who/Lost Road/Notion Club story doesn't seem too out of place....

Cybermen rounding up the Faithful in Numenor..... Daleks at the fall of Gondolin... Hobbits in gasmasks wandering around asking 'Are you my mummy?

Essex · 03-28-2007, 05:24 AM

We could always have the Doctor going back to the Professor, proof reading his first draft and then pointing out to him that "the bit where the Witch King breaks Gandalf's staff will NEVER work!" - so JRR chnages it.............

Lalwendë · 03-29-2007, 10:01 AM

I'm loving these ideas!

Of course, Tolkien could have been a Time Lord himself, having predicted the Great Storm in the Notion Club Papers, which is quite spooky!

Inserting a bit of our favourite Time Lord to Tolkien's world could explain a fair few things - what about Tom Bombadil? That ageless enigma residing in the Old Forest with his 'companion' Goldberry? Hmmm, and the Ring has no effect on him, and he was there when it was all created, suggesting He Is Not Of This World...

Does Bombadil have a sonic screwdriver hidden away somewhere? It might also explain the eccentric dress sense...

***

Or how about a story involving the Doctor arriving on Middle-earth and thwarting Melkor's evil plans to create Cybermen? Or maybe only slightly thwarting it, which may explain where the steely ones come from?

03-28-2007, 04:25 AM	#2
The Squatter of Amon Rûdh Spectre of Decay Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Bar-en-Danwedh Posts: 2,177	With the Tardis to Gondolin Alternatively, this could mean that some people buy anything even remotely related to Tolkien, and that one writer has realised the same. How about a story in which an attempted invasion of the Cybermen in First-World-War Northumbria must be thwarted? Who enlists the help of a small garrison, under a young lieutenant only recently recovered from a long illness. After the experience, the army officer begins to write some very strange fiction indeed. __________________ Man kenuva métim' andúne?

03-28-2007, 04:50 AM	#3
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	Well, I've never been convinced by the story that three ships were enough to save all the Faithful Numenoreans - unless of course at least one of them was an odd looking ship that was bigger on the inside than the outside..... More seriously, Tolkien's fascination with time travel is well known & the idea of a crossover Doctor Who/Lost Road/Notion Club story doesn't seem too out of place.... Cybermen rounding up the Faithful in Numenor..... Daleks at the fall of Gondolin... Hobbits in gasmasks wandering around asking 'Are you my mummy? __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."

03-29-2007, 10:01 AM	#5
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	I'm loving these ideas! Of course, Tolkien could have been a Time Lord himself, having predicted the Great Storm in the Notion Club Papers, which is quite spooky! Inserting a bit of our favourite Time Lord to Tolkien's world could explain a fair few things - what about Tom Bombadil? That ageless enigma residing in the Old Forest with his 'companion' Goldberry? Hmmm, and the Ring has no effect on him, and he was there when it was all created, suggesting He Is Not Of This World... Does Bombadil have a sonic screwdriver hidden away somewhere? It might also explain the eccentric dress sense... *** Or how about a story involving the Doctor arriving on Middle-earth and thwarting Melkor's evil plans to create Cybermen? Or maybe only slightly thwarting it, which may explain where the steely ones come from? __________________ Gordon's alive!

03-28-2007, 05:24 AM	#4
Essex Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Essex, England Posts: 886	We could always have the Doctor going back to the Professor, proof reading his first draft and then pointing out to him that "the bit where the Witch King breaks Gandalf's staff will NEVER work!" - so JRR chnages it.............