From Which We Were Spared

From: List of unmade DW serials or films

90s US reboot - Leekley bibleEarly in the process that was to lead to the 1996 Doctor Who film, Universal Television had Amblin Entertainment produce a writers' bible which detailed John Leekley's proposed pilot and episodes of a new series.[160] The new series would have established a new continuity rather than following on from the classic series,[160] and the bible reused many elements from the classic series. It is unclear whether clearance could have been obtained for all the episodes detailed, as the costs would likely have fallen to the BBC.[160]

The pilot was to feature the half-human Doctor seeking his father, Ulysses, through various time periods—contemporary Gallifrey (where Borusa dies and is merged with the TARDIS, and the Master becomes leader of the Time Lords), England during the Blitz, Ancient Egypt, and Skaro (where the Daleks are being created).[161] Other proposed episodes in the bible included The Pirates, in which the Doctor teamed up with Blackbeard,[162] and several remakes of stories from the classic series, including:

The Talons of Weng-Chiang, set in New York[162]
Earthshock, featuring the "Cybs" (Leekley's more piratical version of the Cybermen)[162]
Horror of Fang Rock[162]
The Celestial Toymaker, who was to have been under the control of the Master.[163]
Don't Shoot, I'm the Doctor, a more historically accurate[164] remake of The Gunfighters[165]
Tomb of the Cybs, a remake of The Tomb of the Cybermen in which the Cybs are awoken by the Master[165]
The Yeti, a remake of The Abominable Snowmen featuring the Dalai Lama and Sir Edmund Hillary[165]
The Ark in Space[165]
Earlier versions of the bible included, among others:

The Cybs, a story set on Mars in which the Doctor escapes capture by hiding in a gold mine[165]
A remake of The Sea Devils, set in a Louisiana oil rig[165]
The Outcasts, in which the Cybs would attack Gallifreyan outcasts[165]
The Land of Fear, a conflation of The Reign of Terror and The Claws of Axos[166]
A remake of The Dæmons, set in Salem, Massachusetts[166]
A completed version of Shada, which would have introduced Romana and Professor Chronotis as Romana's uncle.[166]

Leekley's scripts were not well received at Amblin or elsewhere; and in September 1994, he was removed from the project.[167]

Not surprisingly removed from the project; I too was wincing throughout reading the whole list.