Any Suggestions, Doctor? The Improvised Doctor Who Parody!
August 2nd – 27th (not 14th), Pleasance Dome, 17:30
Returning to the fringe for their 6th triumphant year, Any Suggestions, Doctor? The Improvised Doctor Who Parody is landing at the Pleasance Dome for a month of going anywhere, anytime!
Based on the BBC hit sci-fi show Doctor Who, this loving parody improvises a brand-new episode of the show based on audience suggestions. Want to journey to the future to meet a new race of cyber warriors? Board the Titanic before it meets the iceberg? Travel to a planet called AAAAARGGGHH!? We can take you anywhere, any-when!
Accompanied by a live radiophonic workshop that improvises a musical score alongside the action, as well as sound effects and general wibbly wobbly noise making, the audience gets to decide when, where and who they will travel with, watching an entirely new story unfold before their eyes.
How did the company decide on Dr Who as a foundation for their improvisation?
It’s really borne out of two things, the first of which is the obvious truth that we all love Doctor Who, so we love working with the show’s characters and world. The other part came from the fact that we’d all done improv together for years and that we wanted to find a new show idea that gave us the freedom to do almost anything, and it turns out having a time machine that can go anywhere in the universe is a perfect improv comedy prompt. If I say to you “you can go anywhere at any time” you get some brilliant audience suggestions.
How far does the show stray from comedy? Can't the doctor get into some heavy situations?
Every show we’ve done has been a comedy, but not exclusively. Doctor Who is constantly playing with the light and the dark, and our show, while certainly a lot sillier and a far more tongue in cheek, absolutely has found itself some genuinely dark storylines. We’ve had nihilistic dinosaurs trying to prevent the creation of the universe, a city where everyone was surrounded but thought they were alone and even had regenerations on stage and the sadness that can bring. We don’t ever shy away from the idea that our show has stakes and that we must commit to consequences and story, even if that means we go to some darker places than you would expect. Though I will say, most of the time it is a deeply silly show, and that even villains as scary and evil as the Daleks and Cybermen get their parody comeuppance.
Are there any memorable or off-beat situations that you have ended up improvising?
I mean, basically every show, but I do remember in a tour show at Cambridge one of our performers, Harry, came on and declared himself to be the son of another character on stage played by Louise, to which she responded “Ah yes, you and your 7 identical brothers are here aren’t they?” Cue a phenomenal effort from Harry as he sprinted across both the stage and backstage to present all seven of the brothers as quickly as he could. He basically ran 2000m while creating seven new characters. It was so brilliant in fact, we made him do it again later. We love to make each other squirm, really.
What are you hoping for in the Fringe?
Good audiences! The reason we do the fringe every year is that it’s the best possible way to get as many shows as we can packed in back to back. We love just being able to turn up everyday and do the show all over again, taking the audience on a brand new adventure. It’s one of those rare shows where because we are equally unaware of what’s going to happen we get the same joy of discovery as the audience. I frequently come off stage absolutely delighted with the story we just invented on the fly, and I'm constantly in awe of the talent of my cast mates. So yes, we need good audiences so that we can make this work, because it just doesn’t unless you’re there. I guess that’s why The Doctor has companions.
Founded by a group from York, Any Suggestions Improv is an independent troupe of improvised comedy performers brought together by a common love of comedy, storytelling and melodrama. This is improv with a joyful heart and a tongue firmly in its cheek, hoping to give the audience not just a hilarious night out but a story to remember.
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