30 Years of a Fan: 2008

[Si Hunt]

That’s the Hand of Fear and it’s 150 million years old”; “Romana II… she and the Doctor were an ideal team”; “Sara Kingdom…came to kill, stayed to become a friend.” Marvellous stuff

And don't forget "Adric - he died saving Earth". Which of course, he didn't!

That was great, that mag. I wore my copy out - I literally read it to destruction. Years later I got a replacement copy - I won a raffle at a Doctor Who convention and there it was! A mint quality copy! The cover of the new version somehow detached itself before I got home though, it was so flimsy! But that mag is so damn special - why? There's not a crap picture in it! Every photo is a glossy publicity still, that makes even the rubbish stories like "The Celestial Toymaker" and "The Keys of Marinus" somehow look magical. If that's all you've got (and it was) you'd think Doctor Who was the most beautifully filmed TV show ever. And I think maybe those lavish pictures of Sea Devils and Clowns made me fall in love with it forever. These days they'll put a wonky out-take photo in because it's rare, which is nice, but it's not the same if you're young and discovering the series.

It's a weird but funny fact that there is a feature about Sylvester McCoy in the Radio Times with the "Five Doctors" cover. It's true!

I still maintain I remember that they showed the wrong episode of Doctor Who back in 1983 one week. They mixed up an episode of "Snakedance" and "Arc of Infinity" and issued an apology afterwards before showing the correct episode - even delaying the news to do so. I remember this so clearly but no-one, repeat no-one else does! They all say I'm mistaken! But I'm so sure. One day I will find someone who remembers this too.

Si.

[Andrew Curnow]

They did it with Crossroads, if that's any help Si.

My favourite photo from the 20th special is the one 'from' Day of the Daleks, of Pertwee leaning against the wall, with two Daleks coming round the corner. I was very disappointed that this moment wasn't actually in the show when I finally saw it!!

[Si Hunt]

Oh that photo can take me right back 20 years!

A lot of photos they have actually lost the masters, which is why quite a few photos in that magazine you don't see now - perhaps that's why they still seem so nostalgic/special? Most of them haven't re-appeared since!

Si.

[Stephen Morgan]

Oh that photo can take me right back 20 years!

A lot of photos they have actually lost the masters, which is why quite a few photos in that magazine you don't see now - perhaps that's why they still seem so nostalgic/special? Most of them haven't re-appeared since!

Si.

I thought that was the case with the Tenth Anniversary special. Some of the pics in the reprint of that one are different to what was in the original.

[SiHart]

I loved the poster of the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough in the smoke. It still looks gorgeous to this day. I had that on my bedroom wall for a lot of years.

Si xx

[Logo Polish]

I still maintain I remember that they showed the wrong episode of Doctor Who back in 1983 one week. They mixed up an episode of "Snakedance" and "Arc of Infinity" and issued an apology afterwards before showing the correct episode - even delaying the news to do so. I remember this so clearly but no-one, repeat no-one else does! They all say I'm mistaken! But I'm so sure. One day I will find someone who remembers this too.

If anything like that ever did happen it must have been region specific. Definitely didn't happen where I was, where we were following the series quite closely.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

When I think back to TV which makes me feel nostalgic, there was always a sense of occasion and ritual about it, something we'd watch together as a family.

You know something we'd turn on the channel about 15 minutes before, because the TV took 2-5 minutes to warm up an expand from more than a spot on the box. It was a serious job getting ready to watch such "event" TV. No Sky Plus boxes to rewind. We'd watch with a cup of tea (which would have to be made) and maybe a cake (occasionally mum would bake). So watching event TV took several hours preplanning, with someone shouting through instructions to the kitchen of "it's almost on".

I remember The Five Doctors being such a huge event in the Talks family - but also series like Battlestar Galactica and Blakes Seven - but never really Doctor Who that much - mainly cos if it's scheduling.

With the new series, and esp the end of series episodes, it's something we feel a similar sense of ritual and occasion amongst the next generation of the Talks family.

[Si Hunt]

I thought that was the case with the Tenth Anniversary special. Some of the pics in the reprint of that one are different to what was in the original.

I don't really understand why they don't just scan and re-use them? Surely with the quality of scanning you wouldn't be able to tell they were "second hand". Yet it's definately the case that photos in existing magazines published 30 years ago (which we still have) consistently don't reappear today because the originals have gone awol. Apparently a LOT of photos were stolen from the BBC library in the eighties - I suspect a lot now languish in fan collections.

Si.

[Jon Masters]

Apparently a LOT of photos were stolen from the BBC library in the eighties - I suspect a lot now languish in fan collections.

Si.

Wasn't a certain DW Non-fiction book writer caught and prosecuted for doing such a thing ?

[Si Hunt]

Yes, that was a bit later on and a somewhat more "prolific" case of theft, but I believe you're absolutely right.

I bet a lot of tealeafing went on in the eighties when the BBC wern't as bothered about keeping track of what they own as well.

Si.

[Andrew Curnow]

That's interesting, I didn't know that. Although it does explain why there are a couple of pics in the original (ie, Pertwee) version of The Making of Doctor Who book, which I don't think I've ever seen anywhere else.

BTW, I know what Mike means about family event TV - and ironically I'd say 1983 is where for us Who stopped being that. Other shows which, back in the day, were event TV were major happenings (usually deaths) in soaps - I can vividly remember ten of us waiting to see Pat Sugden die in Emmerdale, and similarly waiting for Meg's return in Crossroads. Aye, happy days!

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

Can I just say that I'm loving this thread!!!

[WhiteCrowNZ]

BTW, I know what Mike means about family event TV - and ironically I'd say 1983 is where for us Who stopped being that. Other shows which, back in the day, were event TV were major happenings (usually deaths) in soaps - I can vividly remember ten of us waiting to see Pat Sugden die in Emmerdale, and similarly waiting for Meg's return in Crossroads. Aye, happy days!

These days it seems most event TV, esp in soaps revolves around carnage. And if there's a death at a wedding you're on a sure fire ratings hit!

Back on the subject of the Five Doctors - it was just a superb story really wasn't it? Again as an avid reader of Doctor Who mag, I'd read about all these past Doctors, companions and adversaries. But there was little video available even at that time (videos were starting to boom, I think we might have bought one about now).

Of course they'd repeated some stories before, but this was like a condensed fan-pleasing story, almost a montage of Dr Who's best bits, but within an original story. Plus of course it was a 90 minute complete story/movie. That said I remember being heartbroken K9 wasn't in it more!

[Jonno]

While we're still in 1983, here's how the now 4 terrestrial channels lined up on Tuesday 18/01 for part 1 of Snakedance. I've jumped a story because Arc started on a Bank Holiday Monday and is not therefore representative of a normal line up.

On BBC1, Nationwide led straight into Who, followed by Best of the Week, Vox Pop (a documentary serial), By The Sea (comedy), Boys From the Black Stuff after the 9 O'Clock News, and then The French Foreign Legion. Can't say I remember any of those on after Who, though I would have been in bed by about 9.

BBC2 had The Waltons straddling Nationwide and Who, followed by the film It Came From Outer Space, then Russell Harty with Arena and Newsnight on later.

LWT had Emmerdale Farm at 5.15 and Crossroads at 6.35 with news in between. After a local variation at 7pm, Murder Mystery & Suspense at 7.30 then Bloomfield at 9 with a film after News At Ten.

C4 had The Addams Family at 6, News at 7, Brookside at 8, followed by a consumer show and a film.

Interesting to see back then that there were more films to see and at a more reasonable time than the midnight or so that they tend to start these days. And ITV got its soaps out of the way before primetime!

[SiHart]

1984

1983 had ended excitingly with the Radio Times special, The Five Doctors and the announcement that we had a new Doctor on the way. Its funny. I don't remember ever being terribly excited by Peter Davison's Doctor. At the time, he was just the Doctor, nothing more, nothing less. Tom was always the one I did in drawings at school and the Doctor who was highest in my affections. I never disliked Davison, and I always loved the show as much as ever, but he was never the one, if you know what I mean. These days I feel more and more that he was one of the better Doctors and he's become one of my favourites. There's great comfort in watching his era now for me, with his lovely hat and those star-field titles. It all reminds me of happy times in my childhood.

The first glimpse I had of Colin Baker's Doctor came one day at the end of John Craven's Newsround. A rather camp looking photo of the new Doctor appeared before him and John informed us that Colin said we could expect "a few surprises" with his Doctor. How right that was! His costume was quickly dismissed by my friends at school as being like a clown's, but I was sure it was going to be OK. I was always an optimist!

There was a an exciting trailer for most of the season that was shown during the children's programmes in the Christmas holidays before the new season began. It showed loads of amazing things from the first few stories of the season. Sea Devils! Silurians! The Malus! The Tractators! And best of all the Daleks crashing through an exploding door! Wow! This was looking like being a great set of stories and indeed, for the most part it was too. We had monsters and gripping stories and even Warriors of the Deep doesn't seem so bad when you're 8!

Mum and Dad had allowed me to keep the Five Doctors on video after its broadcast and this year they said I could have a three hour tape to keep two stories from the series. The choice was easy. Resurrection because it had Daleks in it and Caves because it was a regeneration story and was therefore bound to be great. While now I might prefer Frontios to either of those stories, at the time I was right. Resurrection was epic and had extra long episodes which made it seem extra special and Caves was good. I think its a story you grow into. For ages I dismissed it as dull and didn't watch nearly as often as Resurrection, but I was wrong about that. I still have that video which Mum labelled for me, with its chopped together episodes (I missed a large chunk of the start of part 2 of Androzani, which I only learnt of later!) and the start of The Awakening at the beginning. Somehow it'd be wrong to part with it.

My first real glimpse of Colin was being interviewed by Janet Ellis on Blue Peter. They showed all the regenerations at the start of the interview "and it all began with Doctor number 1: William Hartnell". I videoed that too, and it was amazing to see all the changeovers, especially the well remembered Logopolis one. Shamefully Peter Davison was totally overlooked in the montage, but there were some clips from The Twin Dilemma. Colin himself was rather subdued in the interview, certainly compared to later interviews, but I always liked the way he sent Jack the cat through time, even if they got the TARDIS background hum wrong!

So the season finished with me a little unsure about this new Doctor, but his smile at the end won me over. I can remember watching his titles for the first time and crying out "Look Mum! The new Doctor smiled!" which seemed really amazing at the time. Even then I was a title sequence lover!
There was the usual batch of Target books bought and read this year .I remember buying Mawdryn Undead in WH Smiths in Yeovil with my birthday money and at Christmas 1984 I got a batch of oldies- The Ice Warriors, Curse of Peladon, The Abominable Snowman and The Web of Fear from my Aunty Linda. We used to scour local jumble sales and fetes for Doctor Who stuff (although the rest of my family might be looking at various other things like clothes and stuff) and I remember there was one jumble sale in 1984 where they had a big pile of original editions of the Target books. There were all these covers I'd never seen for books like Terror of Autons that I bought that day. I laid them out to show my Dad when he got home from work that day. That's a very Doctor Who fan thing to do, isn't it?

DWM was as important as always, especially when the sixth Doctor started his strip adventures. I loved the comic strip a great deal, especially so the Tide of Time in 1982 but Colin's stories immediately seemed better drawn and even more imaginative than the Davison ones had. I mean there'd never been a cliffhanger quite as great as the one where the Shape Shifter eyes are revealed in the Time Rotor! Wonderful stuff! John Ridgway remains my favourite artist to ever have drawn the Doctor Who strip. There's something so right about his art and those stories that means, for me, they're unmatched to this day.

That summer we stayed at Grandma and Granddad's house in Weston-Super-Mare for our holiday, and as a special treat we went to Longleat. I'd been in 1980 and could sort of remember it (my main memory of that trip aside from finding the Dalek frightening was asking my Mum if the Brain of Morbius in its tank was the Doctor's heart!), but this year it was really special. I can't remember now what the exhibits were, but there was definitely a trundling K9 telling us where each version of him was and Cybermen, Daleks and the console in the middle of the exhibition. It was really exciting, especially seeing the Malus breaking through the wall from The Awakening. There was the usual photo taken outside the police box doors and I bought a mug with the neon logo on it from the shop. Its still sitting on the windowsill in the spare room today. I don't think I've drank out of it, just kept it safe. I already had a collection of stuff I wanted to keep nice.

Si xx

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Caves is indeed a classic, and kind of spot on targets the kind of 80s Yuppie greed in it's main villain. But last time I watched it I noticed it's a very grim, dark and quite nasty tale at times - a trend in storytelling which continued into Colin Bakers era. I've always thought this didn't help with the Docs declining ratings and fall from favour.

[Andrew Curnow]

I remember that pre-season trailer, Si, and being totally convinced that the humanoid shapes behind the Daleks were Ogrons!!

Of 1984 in general I don't really remember anything that specific - we still watched Who, and I was probably more of a fan than ever, but I didn't find the show actually captivating me quite as much as usual. Frontios, and part 1 of Planet of Fire, were rare exceptions when I found it really, really rivetting, but apart from that it was (dare I say it) as much a habit as anything. Caves, of course, I famously hated, and although I warmed to it last time I watched it (2007) it still baffles me that it's so popular. Certainly, in 1984, it was a really poor send off to a Doctor I really loved.

In fact, my major Who memory of that year is probably of buying issue DWM 92 (the one with Tom on the cover, and interviewed inside) while on holiday at Gran & Grandpa's, even though we knew that the usual copy would be waiting for us when we got back home. It was the one which revealed fairly major news about the forthcoming 1985 season, if my memory is correct, such things as the Cybermen returning and even more excitingly Patrick Troughton!!

[Andrew Curnow]

Oh what am I talking about, I know what else happened in 1984 - I got both The Celebration (saved up and paid for it m'self dontchaknow) and the then-new Key To Time, both by Peter Haining. I got the KTT one for Christmas that year, and it remains a real favourite.

I also, maybe even more exciting, bought my first ever hardback (as opposed to paperback) of a Doctor Who book, in the shape of Gerry Davis' The Highlanders. I loved, and still love, the feel of it, so solid and exciting.

[SiHart]

I remember pestering the librarian at Harmans Water Library to get The Key to Time in for me to read. To her credit she did and I made sure it was popular by taking it loads of times. I really liked some of the illustrations in there. Some of them were great (and it was the first time we got any Alistair Pearson art, which was a bonus). My Mum always wished she;d had enough money to buy me the leather bound version... I eventually settled for the paperback.

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

I can remember first seeing it in either Smiths or Menzies in (I think) St Austell, which was the big town near Gran & Grandpa's house - which suggests it was either the October halfterm or the Summer holidays. And as you can imagine I spent as much time as possible flicking through it (and The Celebration as well I guess) while we were in the shop. There's one photo in there, it's Hartnell in his photoshoot hat, with (if memory serves) the glasses as well, and it was the first time I'd seen it, and that one photo just really excited me and stuck in the memory. I can remember the excitement even now, great stuff!

[SiHart]

1985

Some days are imprinted on your memory as clear as anything. I can remember one particular day in 1985 very clearly indeed. It was the day I met Doctor Who.

Nowadays, I’m rather blasé about this. I’ve met them, shook their hands got their autographs and been ignored by several Doctors Who, but in 1985 I was nealy ten and I’d never met anyone who’d been in the show. This was to change as Mum and Dad spotted the advert for the opening of a new Texas Homecare store in Reading, being opened on Saturday July 6th 1985 (and not as I always thought July 7th, my birthday) by the current Doctor, Mr Colin Baker.

My parents were always rather good at fooling their offspring, which made birthdays and Christmases great fun as they were ingenious at hiding presents and making everything a big surprise. This day was no exception. Mum told me to wear to wear my best polo shirt (the one with burgundy and grey stripes you know) because we were going out, but she wouldn’t say where. It was going to be a long car journey apparently, so she told me to bring a book, perhaps The Dalek Omnibus I’d got the previous Christmas would be a good read, so thinking nothing of it, we all piled into the car and went off on the trip.

I can remember being a bit disappointed that we’d not really travelled very far before we pulled into the car park, but that soon ebbed away as Mum and Dad showed me the advert from the paper, and told me I was about to meet Colin Baker!

The attractions of a DIY superstore are never going to hold the attention of a 9-year-old lad particularly, so I was rather impatient. There was a bouncy castle which me, Vicki and Jonathan went on while we waited, and we met the Dulux dog from the adverts (oh yes, he was there too) and the out of nowhere, with very little fanfare the great man himself appeared, looking very dapper in a grey checked suit wit the black cat badge from the series on his lapel. He seemed ever so tall, even to me who was ever so tall for my age. He greeted the crowd, and then went off and got changed into an identical suit in beige and officially opened the store and came back to meet the fans.

We queued for a while (some things never change) and I chatted to an older fan while we waited he told me he’d seen The Sea Devils in 1972 which I remember being quite impressed about at the time, and eventually we met Colin. He was really lovely. I was still quite shy in those days and so I didn’t really know what to say to him, but he put me at my ease by asking my name and asking me lots of questions, so I soon felt OK. I presented my Dalek Omnibus for him to sign, and he looked it over and quipped “Ahhh, all my predecessors in this one!” and was about to sign it when I asked, remembering it was my birthday the next day, if he could write happy birthday in the front for me. He did, and it’s still inscribed in the front of the book Happy Birthday Simon from Colin Baker Who? It brings back so many happy memories.

He gave us a signed photo each (yes he gave them away! Those were the days!), signed my sister’s balloon and drew a picture of himself on it (we’ve still got that too somewhere) and signed issue 100 of DWM to my sister. I got that back as soon as I could. We hung around as the queue dwindled and I just remember chatting to him for a bit like it was the most natural thing I the world- me talking to Doctor Who.

In these jaded days where Doctor Who’s ignore you and carry on their conversations while you meet them, or when you have to come at 9am to try and get a wristband to meet the current Doctor, it’s lovely to remember a time when things were more casual, and the whole experience was somehow more magical and special. Colin was the first Doctor I ever met, and somehow I don’t think you could do much better. A really lovely man and a very special day for me.



Thanks Colin, you were great!

A few weeks after that my Dad drove us all into London, to spend my birthday money. We weren't going to spend it just anywhere though. Oh no, Dad took us to Wapping, just round the corner from where they'd filmed Resurrection of the Daleks, to the newly opened Doctor Who Shop! This was back before they moved to a real shop. Back then it was in an old warehouse. We walked in and found the door, which was painted like a Police Box door with the opening times in one of the panel, walking through into an Aladdin's Cave of Doctor Who stuff!

It was pretty damn amazing I can tell you. A whole shop devoted to Doctor Who! They had all the Target books! TV Comics! Doctor Who videos! EVERYTHING! I simply cannot stress how exciting it was just to be there. I had £30 of birthday money to spend, but how do you choose what to buy? I wanted all of it! Should I buy one of the videos? Mum said probably best not to as it would take nearly all of my money, so I bought a variety of stuff- A Dalek Pencil Case (still got that!), The Doctor Who Monster Book, Monster of Peladon book (it was exciting back then, honest and second-hand so it was cheap!), various back issues of Doctor Who Weekly (mostly ones with Dogs of Doom in them, as I really wanted to read that strip), Doctor Who- The Music II and probably a few more things I've forgotten with time.
Mum and Dad sneakily bought me lots of things for Christmas while we were there and I remember being absolutely stunned by the framed Andrew Skilleter Art Prints they got for me. The frame has gone, but the art prints are still safely stored away to this day.

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

I was born on August 27th, missing Slipback by three weeks. Phew.

[SiHart]

I didn't hear Slipback until the cassette was released a couple of years later. Dad wouldn't let me retune his stereo while he was out at work! He quite possibly did me a favour, considering...

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

I do remember feeling morally outraged at the cancellation of Doctor Who, and yet in hindsight you kind of think maybe the BBC had a point. Season 22 could, and should, be so much better - I always think it's a huge shame, that although Colin was coming in new and therefore full of excitement, probably JN-T and Eric Saward were a bit 'jaded' by then. So season 22 doesn't feel new and bright and vibrant, it feels a bit second-hand and under par.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

In these jaded days where Doctor Who’s ignore you and carry on their conversations while you meet them

I know what you mean, although I've met Colin about 4 times now, and he's never been like, always a very freindly and personable.

Which is kind of ironic because barring Hartnell, his Doctor was one of the more irritable incarnations.

Last time I got Sylv's autograph at Little Shop Of Horrors I got one of those "you're one of THEM" stares, despite asking him to sign the program, which everyone from the main stars to the chorus girls had signed. And no, I wasn't wearing my Dr Who scarf ...