When people think of Doctor Zhivago, they picture sweeping romance, breathtaking landscapes, and an epic runtime of over three hours.
But newly uncovered letters suggest that the film could have been even longer—if not for an unexpected source of inspiration: a 1960s British police drama.
It turns out that legendary director Sir David Lean was struggling with the film’s length while adapting Boris Pasternak’s novel for the big screen.
In a surprising move, he looked to the fast-paced storytelling style of Z-Cars, a popular TV cop show at the time, to help keep the film moving.
David Lean’s Secret Inspiration
In a letter dated April 11, 1964, Lean confided in screenwriter Robert Bolt about his unexpected admiration for television’s evolving style.
He noted that while the content of Z-Cars wasn’t necessarily groundbreaking, its pacing was far ahead of most films.
He wanted Doctor Zhivago to avoid the slow, predictable storytelling of older movies like Prisoner of Zenda and instead take a more modern approach.
At 56 years old, Lean—who had already directed Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Brief Encounter—found himself questioning his own methods.
He admitted that his instinct still leaned toward slower, more traditional filmmaking, but he wanted to fight against it.
He marveled at how modern filmmakers used quick, sharp editing while still maintaining clarity for audiences.
A Judi Dench Casting That Never Happened
As Lean and Bolt worked on the adaptation, another intriguing suggestion surfaced in their letters: the idea of casting a then-unknown Judi Dench in the role of Zhivago and Lara’s daughter.
In an undated letter, Bolt described the character as needing a unique kind of beauty—someone with an “innerness, some inner life which is secret and jealously protected.”
He proposed “Judy Dench” (as he mistakenly spelled her name) as a possible contender, citing her standout performance in an episode of Z-Cars from 1963.
At the time, Judi Dench was in her late twenties and had mostly worked in stage productions and a few television roles.
Despite Bolt’s suggestion, she was never screen-tested, and the part ultimately went to Rita Tushingham, a rising star in British cinema.
From Doubts to Box Office Glory
Doctor Zhivago finally premiered in December 1965, with a final runtime of three hours and twelve minutes—long, but still shorter than it might have been.
Initial critical reception was lukewarm, with many reviewers comparing it unfavorably to Lean’s earlier masterpiece, Lawrence of Arabia.
However, even skeptics acknowledged the film’s rapid pacing.
A Daily Mirror critic noted that the screenplay managed to “toss away pretty well everything else except a handful of basic characters” and still retain the spirit of the novel—suggesting that Lean’s effort to speed up storytelling had paid off.
Despite the mixed reviews, the film went on to win five Academy Awards, including one for Best Adapted Screenplay, and became a massive box office hit.
Even today, when adjusted for inflation, Doctor Zhivago remains one of the top-grossing films of all time.
What Could Have Been
Sixty years later, it’s fascinating to think about the small decisions that shaped such an iconic movie.
Without Lean’s interest in Z-Cars, would the film have been even longer? If Judi Dench had been cast, would it have changed the trajectory of her early career?
A spokesperson for Dame Judi later confirmed that she had never been aware of the casting suggestion and had never met David Lean.
But one thing is certain—Doctor Zhivago remains a cinematic giant, proving that even the most confident filmmakers sometimes look for fresh inspiration in unexpected places.