Stories from the Dark: 5 Wholloween Story Ideas
Connor Johnston celebrates Wholloween by exploring 5 “spooky stories” that should be converted into episodes
“Where there is no imagination…there is no horror”
~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
An eeriness lingers in the air… a witches cackle is heard in the wind… and in the dark corridors of Coal High School sits a sinister puddle in need of a mop! Yes! This can only mean one thing: Halloween (Or rather Wholloween) is upon us! The one night in the year where we indulge our deepest and darkest fears among a parading sea of diabetes trick or treating toddlers – the most terrifying evil force known to mankind. Doctor Who has always prided itself on sending both adults and children alike screaming for the shelter of their sofas, so it’s not totally unjustified to conclude that Halloween is the most “Who-Appropriate” holiday ever celebrated. The question must be asked that if, in theory, Doctor Who and Halloween are as much as the perfect match as they seem… Why have we never had a Doctor Who Halloween special?! How would one even work?! What would one even consist of? Indeed that is the daunting mission that sits before us on this unholy evening. Looking to some of the most loved Christmas Specials of Who History we can see the recipe for success is not only a season appropriate tone but also a season appropriate plot to the episode. Taking inspiration from that idea join us today as we look at 5 bloodcurdling tales that could be integrated into Doctor Who.
5. Zombies
The Story: The idea of the “Zombie” is one of the most iconic Halloween monsters of all time. The earliest records of the “zombie” can be found in Haitian folklore described as “an animated corpse raised by magical means, such as witchcraft or disease”. In more modern times the classic zombie has been depicted as a mindless, awakened body (often originating or being converted from the dead) hungry for human flesh and “BRAAAIINSSS”. The product of myth, folklore and horrific fiction; one of the most crucial descriptions of the zombie lies in an ancient Mesopotamian poem entitled “The Epic of Gilgamesh”:
I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld,
I will smash the door posts, and leave the doors flat down,
And will let the dead go up to eat the living!
And the dead will outnumber the living!
TARDIS Twist: In my opinion there is only one premise that could ever do justice to such an iconic monster and still classify as a unique Doctor Who interpretation: An Alien virus infecting the human race and the Doctor (possibly with the assistance of UNIT) on the fight to find a cure. Due to their being quite a lot of “waking from the dead” present in this series; while it could be an incredibly unique way of indulging in a nostalgic trip down memory lane, it would probably be for the best if any “visits from beyond the grave” were left to the side. How would the world cope with a medical phenomenon more deadly than the Black Plague and more contagious then the Polio? How long would a real zombie apocalypse take to overthrow the order of the world? How long would the Doctor have to prove the literal and medical interpretation of his name? Could we even have some intertextual continuity and see a crossover with Peter Capaldi’s “World War Z” where he portrayed the character of: W.H.O Doctor…. The credits wouldn’t even have to change!!
4. Sleepy Hollow
The Story: “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a series of essays that follows schoolmaster Ichabod Crane during his time in the town of Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow’s most famous supernatural phenomenon is the ghost of the Headless Horseman, said to be a Hessian soldier who lost his head to a cannon ball during the Revolutionary War. The Horseman is seen most often riding by the church, where local historians say he was buried. He is believed to be always in search of his head. Ichabod is fascinated by this story, being especially interested (and prone to believe) in tales of the supernatural. A series of events culminate in a chase down of Ichabod by the headless horseman… the story ending with his fate remaining unknown.
TARDIS Twist: The genius of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is that it ends with an enigmatic conclusion. The fate of both Ichabod and the Headless Horseman is left completely unknown. Over time the mystery is forgotten and the case left open… Who but the Doctor would want to reopen it! Solving timeless mysteries is nothing new to Doctor Who, one only needs to look at “The Unicorn and the Wasp” and “The Shakespeare Code” to see this. Taking on the unsolved case could see a plethora of twists regarding the epochal “Headless Horseman” of old – whether it be set directly during the events or in modern times; Sleepy Hollow once again troubled and terrorised by a murderer seeking revenge. The cryptic incident seems like too much of an indulgent experience for the Doctor to ignore.
3. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
The Story: The tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde stems from the 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson entitled “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”. The story follows the life of Dr Jekyll who faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that changes him into the murderous animalistic Mr. Hyde. Despite his best attempts, Dr Jekyll finds himself in an impossible position: he knows that he would soon become Hyde permanently, having used the last of a repressing potion. Jekyll noted that, regardless of the crimes Mr Hyde might go on to commit, the end of his letter marked the end of his own life. The novel ends with the words: “I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end”.
TARDIS Twist: While we have already had glimpses of a “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” type of storytelling with the Doctor’s various alter egos found in in examples of the Time Lord Victorious in “Waters of Mars”, Mr Clever in “Nightmare in Silver” and even the Dream Lord in “Amy’s Choice” – I still feel like there is so much more to be taken from such a chilling tale. Automatically my mind fills with ideas of bipolar aliens, not only changing their moods but also their personalities and motivations. What a unique episode one would be if the heroes and the villains of the episode were trapped in the same body – One minute killing the world, the next saving it! A classic who-done-it with a twist that the detective is in fact criminal and doesn’t even realise it! The slow realisation creeping up through the plot as a little girl realises the monster chasing her is the monster looking back at her in the mirror! A man so invested to find the murderer slowly killing off his closest family members that he ignores the blood soaked knife in his hand! The list of haunting opportunities for episodes built on the idea of alter-ego or alternate personalities is endless.
2. Grimms’ Fairy Tales
The Story: More life a large collection of stories – “The Brothers Grimm Chronicles” are a collection of 209 tales created from the imaginations of German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the early 19th Century. The Brothers Grimm rediscovered a host of fairy tales, telling of princes and princesses in their castles, witches in their towers and forests, of giants and dwarfs, of fabulous animals and dark deeds. Among them some of the best-loved and most famous fairy tales in all literature: “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Rapunzel,” “Rumpelstiltskin,” and “Tom Thumb”… But all with a more sinister tone then modern society would have you believe. Derived from folk tales that had been part of the oral storytelling tradition for centuries, these stories are acknowledged as literary landmarks that transcend their time and culture.
TARDIS Twist: The first and second choices for my personal top 5 today are completely interchangeable due to the reason I would love to see either one of them make it onto a Doctor Who line-up. The Brothers Grimm Fairy tales were the first to ever truly fill me with fear, so there is somewhat of a personal motivation to my choice today – although it’s not my only reasoning. In this year’s “Listen” we saw how fear can be used as a superpower… but what if fear and insanity could be used as fuel? For me, the perfect scenario to utilise the darkness and terror of the Grimms’ fairy tales would be aliens who feed on insanity. Creating illusions and visions of these stories to drive people mad and feast on their saneness, either inspiring or having been inspired by the collection of stories.
1. Frankenstein
The Story: The story of Frankenstein begins with story of its author, Mary Shelley, an 18 year old English woman growing up in the early 19th Century. As the legend goes, Shelley came up with the idea during a competition between her and her friends to see who could write the scariest horror story – needless to say: She won! Onto the actual tale, we meet Dr. Victor Frankenstein who is obsessed with the secret of resurrecting the dead. But when he makes a new ‘man’ out of plundered corpses, his hideous creation fills him with disgust. The story is more than just your ordinary horror – It’s a tale centered on heart, hurt, human cruelty and revenge. Rejected by all humanity, the creature sets out to destroy Frankenstein and everyone he loves. And as the monster gets ever closer to his maker, hunter becomes prey in a lethal chase that carries them to the very end of the earth.
TARDIS Twist: It absolutely fathoms me as to why we haven’t had a Dr Frankenstein story in Doctor Who. Absolutely fathoms me! Not to say we haven’t had somewhat similar concepts, “The Brain of Morbius” immediately comes to mind, although I personally don’t feel it translates the entire essence of the story. There is so much potential in a story following an insane scientist that in essence creates life from the dead. Now hold up Big Finish fans! No, I’m not forgetting the 4 times when the Doctor has met Mary Shelley herself in the full cast audios: “The Company of Friends”, “The Silver Turk”, “The Witch from the Well” and “Army of Death” – but I must stress that today’s article is strictly looking at televised episodes rather than the extended universe of Who fiction, and if anything the stunning and eerie quality of these encounters should just prove how much of a success watching the story translated onto our screens would be. Creating life is challenge enough – but controlling it is where the real threat of Frankenstein lies.
In a perfect world, if Doctor Who ever did take on such classic and creepy tale, it would be my wish to see it not be adapted or reinterpreted, but watch the creation of a legend play out in front of us by having the story center around author Mary Shelley. Shelly is easily one of my favourite adult authors of all time due to the fact she is the in-flesh example of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s motto that both headlined and inspired today’s article: “Where there is no imagination…there is no horror”. Who knows what route an “Origin of Frankenstein” story could go! Could we perhaps see an appearance of the Clockwork Droids or the Half Face Man? Or maybe see the Doctor become the inspiration for Victor Frankenstein himself by attempting to play God? The ambition and bloodcurdling imagination of Mary Shelley just screams for Doctor Who acknowledgement, and is today my number one choice for an episode I’d like to see integrated into the show’s future line up. Until that day comes however, we can enjoy Big Finish’s “Doctor and Mary Shelly” range as well as the hauntingly excellent interpretation of “The New Prometheus” itself starring ‘Who’ royalty Nick Briggs (Voice of practically everything) and Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams).
BONUS: Blast from the past
Of course there have been many other scary tales already integrated into Doctor Who with a certain “Sci-Fi” twist that can’t be ignored in discussion today. The Mummy in my mind has been the most successful spooky integration having found its way into Who mythology thrice in the fourth Doctor Adventure “Pyramids of Mars” and the recent series 7 and 8 episodes “The Rings of Akhaten” and “Mummy on the Orient Express” – but the examples don’t stop there! For more reason to see how successful adaptations of spooky legends into Doctor Who episodes have been, one need only look at the ‘Undead’ Gelth from “The Unquiet Dead”, the ‘Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform’ werewolf from “Tooth and Claw”, the “Carrionite” witches from “The Shakespeare Code”, The “Pyrovillian” Gods of the Underworld from “Fires of Pompeii”, the “Saturnyn” Vampires from “Vampires in Venice”, the virtual Siren from “The Curse of the Black Spot”, the “Time Travelling” Ghost from “Hide” and much, much more!
And so there we have it! If (And we hope it does!) Doctor Who ever does decide to go down the path of a Halloween Special there is hardly a shortage of material it can draw inspiration from! Have any more “spooky stories” that would work well as Doctor Who episodes? Let us know in the comments below.
Boo to you from our crew here at Doctor Who TV, and Happy Haunting!
It’s Halloween! It’s Halloween!
The moon is full and bright
and we shall see what can’t be seen
on any other night.
Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls,
Grinning goblins fighting duels,
Werewolves rising from their tombs,
Witches on their magic brooms.
In masks and gowns
we haunt the street
and knock on doors
for trick or treat.
Tonight we are
the king and queen,
for oh tonight
It’s Halloween!
