Each of the four foreign adaptations had to cater to different audiences, but Doctor Misterio had probably the hardest job of them all, because if successful then the show could potentially be syndicated to dozens and dozens of countries, due to the high amount, especially in South America, which speaks Spanish. This also gave CBS a vested interest in the show, as there’s a lot of Spanish speaking people in the United States as well. To capitalise on this, CBS, who own Spanish language TV Channel, MTV Tres, arranged for Doctor Misterio to be broadcast, in its original Spanish, on the channel, several months after it’s English Dub release on CBS All Access, for the USA.
This show was also different to all the others, as Executive Producer and Showrunner, Carlos de Pando, decided that the (first season, at least) of the programme would be an almost direct adaptation of Season 51, with only a few changes. The biggest change was the fact that, due to the unpopularity of the Fifteenth Doctor, it was decided that the Doctor’s characterisation would be based on a mix between the First and Eighth Doctors, and thus veteran actor, Jamie Blanch, was cast, with companion Pedro Fernández (Doctor Misterio’s version of Pete) left to be the action hero male lead, similar to Ian’s original role in the Hartnell era. Also, obviously, Sally is in this, but her name is Sarita Delgado, instead.
LOS DEMONIOS DE LA ESCUELA
Season 1, Episode 1
Written by CARLOS DE PANDO
Directed by MARC VIGIL
TX Date – 15 January 2019
This episode is an adaption of the Season 51 opener, as expected, The Demons of Madison Road and follows pretty much the exact same plot, except Pete doesn’t start out as the Doctor’s companion, but instead he actually is a government school inspector (instead of just his cover). Apart from that, it’s pretty much the same, apart from the Doctor’s actual character.
LOS ASESINOS
Season 1, Episode 2
Written by CARLOS DE PANDO
Directed by MARC VIGIL
TX Date – 22 January 2019
Again, a direct adaptation of the Assassins – the biggest, and pretty much only change here, save the Doctor’s character, which is throughout the season, is the fact that Krasko is dealt with in this episode, as Rosa was an episode TVE decided to drop.
DEBAJO DEL AGUA
Season 1, Episodes 3 & 4
Written by CRISTINA CLEMENTE
Directed by KOLDO SERRA
TX Date – 29 January & 5 February 2019
Replacing Rosa is now a two-parter from Season 50, Under the Lake, which is pretty much the same, apart from the fact it’s set in Spain, and all the communist stuff is dropped, instead, the flooded village is one from the 1960s, too. The Doctor’s original role in this story is split between him and Pedro, while Sarita takes Raleigh’s full role.
HABITACIONES MÁS GRANDES
Season 1, Episode 5
Written by CARLOS DE PANDO
Directed by CHIQUI CARABANTE
TX Date – 12 February 2019
Again another Season 50 story is used here, in the form of The Dimensions of Space and Time, because Carols de Pando thought Season 50 probably had stronger stories. This episode is probably the most dramatically different of the adapted episodes as a lot of the main plot focused on Raleigh’s backstory, and obviously, all of that is gone. Also, the Master isn’t in it, so the main villain is replaced by a group of generic space pirates who take siege of the TARDIS while the Vortisaurs also attack it and the crew get lost in the ever-winding corridors of the TARDIS, while the hallucinate about the past. Mostly, a lot of this episode is newly written, and only bears a superficial resemblance to the original, but it does allow for a lot of good character development of Pedro and Sarita.
LA INQUIETANTE
Season 1, Episode 6
Written by SERGI BELBEL
Directed by PACO PLAZA
TX Date – 19 February 2019
The Haunting finally shows up, at Episode 6, and this is a pretty by-the-by adaptation, with very little different from the original. It also leads straight into the next episode, like the original, which is…
LOS LECTORES DE LA MENTE
Season 1, Episode 7
Written by DAVID HARE (translated by Sergi Belbel)
Directed by PACO PLAZA
TX Date – 26 February 2019
Open Minds! And this again, it’s the same thing – just with a far better shooting location than a quarry, as TVE have access to Lanzarote, which just makes the whole thing pop! This story was the only one, where apart from the Doctor himself, due to his different characterisation, not one line of dialogue in the script was changed, meaning that not only was the episode credited to being written by David Hare (although in the end credits a ‘script translated by Sergi Belbel’ credit appeared). In addition, this meant for the English dub, they just used the English dialogue directly from the original Open Minds, for all the characters but the Doctor.
LA CONSPIRACIÓN DE LAS TIENDAS
Season 1, Episode 8
Written by JORDI CALAFÍ
Directed by CHIQUI CARABANTE
TX Date – 5 March 2019
The Conspiracy of PriceMart comes in at Episode 8, and while this is again, very very similar to the original, it has a very different feel, as it’s point in Season 51 was to develop the character of Pete and shine a little light on him, but by Episode 8 of this series Pedro is so developed and so major in this show, in contrast to Pete, that, while this episode is nice, it’s not really needed, and Sarita is the one without much focus on her by this point. In addition, the character of the Spanish politician, Oscar Garrido (the Spanish Oliver Griffiths) is included in this episode, introduced in Episode 1.
INVASIÓN DE LA TIERRA
Season 1, Episodes 9 & 10
Written by CARLOS DE PANDO
Directed by MARC VIGIL
TX Date – 12 & 19 March 2019
Due to the fact that the Season 51 finale was 1. Considered to be bad by Carlos de Pando 2. Very continuity heavy to the Elysium and 3. Just didn’t make sense in the context of this series, it was obviously dropped, in favour of a story completely different to anything from Season 51 and 50, as we’d previously had, as Pando chose to adapt The Dalek Invasion of Earth, which is actually far more an adaptation of the movie Daleks – Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. as it uses that version of the story, not least because of its brevity, in comparison to the original, but also takes a lot of moments original to that story, for the Doctor Misterio version. This is a pretty faithful adaptation to the movie, especially as Pedro can easily take Ian/Tom’s role, and Sarita takes a merged version of Barbara/Louise and Susan’s role. The story serves as a satisfying conclusion to the series, leaving with the Doctor, Pedro and Sarita just flying off in the TARDIS for another adventure, in complete contrast to the original, where Susan left, and to Dokter Wie, which ended on a giant cliffhanger.
WIDWWA 