Doctor Who writer teases possibility of resurrecting lost David Tennant episode
BBCFormer Doctor Who scribe Mark Gatiss recently hinted his unmade Tenth Doctor adventure, ‘The Suicide Exhibition’, could still see the light of day.
A Doctor Who fan growing up, Gatiss went on to write several episodes for the revived series, starting with 2005’s ‘The Unquiet Dead’, headlined by Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor. His subsequent efforts starred Eccleston’s successors David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor), Matt Smith (The Eleventh Doctor), and Peter Capaldi (The Twelfth Doctor).
Gatiss has also appeared in front of the camera on four occasions. He portrayed Doctor Lazarus in ‘The Lazarus Experiment’, Danny Boy in ‘Victory of the Daleks’, Gantok in ‘The Wedding of River Song’, and the Captain in ‘Twice Upon A Time’. What’s more, he’s written and performed in a number of Doctor Who audio dramas, and penned An Adventure in Space and Time, a film about the show’s creation.
While this lengthy list of credits should seemingly be enough to make even a long-time Doctor Who devotee like Gatiss content, it appears he still has unfinished business with the franchise.
Doctor Who writer teases possibility of resurrecting lost episode
Indeed, Gatiss is pushing for the belated release of ‘The Suicide Exhibition’ – an unproduced Doctor Who installment he wrote for David Tennant’s tenure as the show’s Time Lord protagonist. As Gatiss related in a recent interview with Radio Times, ‘The Suicide Exhibition’ was ‘on the verge of production for a while in the late 2000s’ but it ultimately failed to materialize.
Gatiss added that he retained a copy of the unfilmed ‘Suicide Exhibition’ teleplay after production on the episode fizzled out, and has held talks with Big Finish Productions about adapting it as an audio drama. “I do [still have a copy of the ‘Suicide Exhibition’ script],” he said. “Big Finish has expressed an interest [in making it]. It’s all gone very quiet, though. I’m waiting for that emergency phone call!”
The English actor and screenwriter also gave Doctor Who fans a taste of the episode’s plot and tone, framing ‘The Suicide Exhibition’ as a rollicking WWII escapade. “[I wrote] two drafts – one set in the First World War, then Nazis… I just moved a war on,” Gatiss revealed. “It’s… set in the British Museum, it’s a sort of Indiana Jones-type story. It’s rather good, I think.”
Mark Gatiss talks An Adventure in Space and Time sequel
Getting ‘The Suicide Exhibition’ in front of fans isn’t Gatiss’ only Doctor Who-related ambition, either. In the same Radio Times interview, he indicated that he’s up for a sequel to An Adventure in Space and Time centered around the tumultuous tenure of Sixth Doctor Colin Baker.
“It’s a strange thing to say, but the darkest hour for the show would definitely make a very interesting drama, wouldn’t it?” Gatiss opined. “I mean, the personal conflicts, the professional conflicts, the resignations… that’s the one, isn’t it? And I suppose out of the darkness comes the light, because there’s a rosy future to look forward to.”
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