| The following article is written from an Out of Universe perspective. |
Season 35 aired between 21 November 1998 and 13 February 1999. It starred Michael French as The Doctor in his third season, whilst it was the first for companion Sammy Thompson as played by Laurie Holden. Also making their debuts in this season were: Susan Belbin as producer in her only season in the role, Steven Moffat as Script Editor, and David Renwick as Executive Producer.
This season was notable for the programme being the first under a co-ownership between the BBC and Paramount Television and the first produced by BBC Wales.
Overview
Another New Era
Season 35 was considered as a new era for the show; the newest since 1991. Very few elements remained from the last season, the main one being Michael French returning for his third season as The Doctor. Experienced television director and producer, Susan Belbin took over the producer’s chair from Stephen Garwood; Steven Moffat replaced Colin Brake as script editor. This season would be significant for it being the first to be under the 'Paramount Deal' which saw Paramount Television co-own the show with the BBC. Additionally, David Renwick was brought on as showrunner and executive producer, having decided to take the job after the BBC rejected his planned mystery series Jonathan Creek due to financial issues.
New plans
In late-1997, talks began between the BBC and Paramount to co-own the show which was formally agreed at the end of the year. With the show not only continuing, but a giant restoration project was also ordered for the 1960s episodes to be colourised and every missing episode animated. The process took over 13 months before being completed.
Joining Renwick and Belbin as script editor was Steven Moffat who wanted to express some ideas he had for the show that thought of within that time and would be a co-showrunner alongside Renwick. Moffat also wrote two of the seven stories in this season.
Another big change was the move in production from London since it had been from its inception to Cardiff, where the show would now be produced by BBC Wales in order to give the show a new and modern feel as well as the variety of locations it could offer as well as the Paramount Deal.
American aboard the TARDIS
Elsewhere, this season also saw a new companion to the show: Sammy Thompson, played by American actress Laurie Holden; the first proper American actress to play a companion. This was especially helped with the fact that the BBC pushed for the show to reach a more mainstream American audience, and the recent deal, which made her fit in well.
Other changes
Another change was the aspect ratio, ahead of the launch of digital television set to debut in October 1998. The historic 4:3 ratio was changed to 14:9. As with widescreen programmes, analogue viewers (which was still the majority of the British public), the show was seen in that way unlike 16:9 shows which was cropped to 14:9 letterboxed.
To go with the new aspect ratio and feel, a new title sequence was commissioned; produced by Mike Tucker, which included a new theme arrangement from Julian Stewart Lindsay. The titles consists of model shots of the TARDIS in various landscapes including a desert, submarine, snowscape and surrounded by space whales (the latter being CGI). Familiar elements such as the Doctor's face remained, with French's surrounded in a purple time tunnel slowly zooming closer.
The new logo was very different to that of all the previous ones, but it was designed to make use of it on screen, to fill out the new aspect ratio, but remained 4:3 safe with the text. Some compared it to that of the movie ‘Top Gun’ and with the 1987 McCoy logo due to the negative reactions despite being created by Bernard Lodge who previously worked on the titles and logos for the show from its inception until 1980.
Scheduling issues
With only thirteen episodes and the recent deal, worries began that the season may not be ready in time for the year following a tradition that a new season always began every year since 1963. Though it may have been easier, episode lengths were now 45-minutes long, similar to several American TV formats. Despite this, the show was just about ready in time but started near the end of November; part of this was due to Season 34 starting slightly later than normal as well as finalising the Paramount Deal where production didn't commence until February 1998.
Furthermore, there were many creative differences and battles between Renwick and the BBC to the point where Renwick nearly resigned after the season, but it was only when the BBC realised the success of the season that allowed Renwick to have some more creative freedom going forward.
Stories
Stories that featured in this season included the introduction of Sammy in Scotland, the end of the world, robots messing with time, a crossover with Star Trek, the Ice Warriors on Mars, the threat of blinking and dark goings-on at Christmas.