Troughton

I’m a sucker for Pat Troughton…

Guest contributor Ryan O’ Connor examines some of the firsts to come from Troughton’s era.

It’s always a difficult thing, when a much-beloved actor passes away. Today marks the anniversary of such a most unfortunate occasion: the death of Patrick Troughton on the 28^th of March, 1987. The man who would one day go on to play the very first successor to William Hartnell in the increasingly-notable role of the Doctor had already performed in a multitude of roles in cinema and television, including his stint as Robin Hood (the first man to play him on television, to boot). However, it would be his performance as the Doctor (naturally) that made him a true icon, bringing the delightfully buffoonish Second Doctor to our screens and indeed our hearts; a true legend of the series that has become a worldwide phenomenon.

Note the above phrase, however. The very first successor to Hartnell. With the somewhat-tumultuous history of Doctor Who being what it is, it’s often an interesting exercise for fans that began watching in a later era to go back and, quite literally, observe the mythology and rules (so to speak) of the show being constructed as it goes along. The era of the Second Doctor is quite notable for that, originating quite a few of the many elements that would later become defining points of Doctor Who itself.

So, to remember and celebrate Patrick Troughton (my favourite of the classic Doctors, incidentally, as will likely become apparent) on this day, I thought it would be most appropriate to go back and take a look at some of those most notable firsts, to see just how much of what we now take for granted was brought to the table by this man and his Doctor. Without further ado, let’s get right to it.

The Sonic Screwdriver

I seem to recall that there’s a moment in The Tenth Planet, swansong of the First Doctor, where his companion Ben Jackson alludes to the utter absurdity of trying to deal with the deadly Cybermen by using basic tools like a screwdriver.

Oh Ben. How wrong you were!

The tool that has become more akin to a hyper-tech magic wand than anything else over the course of Doctor Who’s long lifespan would come into play for the first time in the Second Doctor’s run. Debuting in the serial Fury of the Deep and appearing only sporadically over the course of the Troughton era, the screwdriver (at this stage little more than a simple penlight in terms of appearance) was used for very simple tasks such as opening panels, a spot of impromptu welding and even (to the shock of many) as an actual screwdriver. That, of course, had to wait until Troughton’s finale, but it’s rather amusing to look at in hindsight. One of many ways in which the Second Doctor set the tone of the series to come, all merely by using such a minor gadget, little more than a curio.

The Time Lords

The importance of this one, of course, really can’t be overstated. While a member of the Doctor’s still-unnamed species had appeared during Hartnell’s run in the form of the Monk, the race themselves remained mysterious, nebulous. Suddenly, the finale for Patrick Troughton’s Doctor, the epic titled The War Games, came around and delivered what I believe to be one of the finest moments in the show’s history. The Doctor and his companions are trapped, utterly without hope, by the War Lords and their forces, stranded with massive numbers of time-displaced beings and unable to bring them home. With all options tried and failed, the Doctor is forced to enact his final resort: summoning the Time Lords. They make their impact in grandiose fashion, utterly eradicating the serial’s villains from history, dispatching Jamie and Zoe back to their own times with no memories intact, and subsequently forcing the regeneration of the Doctor, all in one episode.

Wow.

To see the dread on the Doctor’s face (which really couldn’t have been portrayed any better than by Troughton’s famously expressive performances) as he realises he must bring his people forth makes the debut of the Time Lords (and, somewhat less notably, a still-unnamed Gallifrey) an incredibly potent reveal, and as said above, easily one of the most important in Doctor Who history. This one didn’t so much go down in the history books as it did write them.

Other Aliens and Monsters

Of course, the Time Lords don’t get all the fun. Whilst the Daleks and, to a somewhat lesser extent, the Cybermen had of course debuted over the course of the First Doctor era, Troughton’s run saw quite a few notable species make their first appearance on the Doctor Who landscape. His own people, of course, have been mentioned already, but there was certainly something of a who’s who (if you’ll pardon the expression) list to go with them.

Firstly, of course, it was Troughton’s era in which the Cybermen truly began to become their own entity. Clashing with them multiple times, they could almost be seen as the Second Doctor’s signature foe. Stories like The Invasion and Tomb of the Cybermen, aside from being good contenders for top stories in the show’s history, made an enormous impact by showing the scope of their “civilisation”, with ancient plots, a great necropolis, small and scurrying Cybermats, and a new, eerier-than-ever aesthetic. These Cybermen stories still provide inspiration for writers even today, Nightmare in Silver and the Dark Water/Death in Heaven two-parter being particularly-notable and recent cases.

Also debuting were foes and ideas for foes that would later recur such as the Ice Warriors, the Macra, the first “good” Daleks, and even the Great Intelligence in a story arc that seemed like so little at the time, but would later be expanded on quite heavily in Matt Smith’s run.

The Attitude

This is the big one on this list, and arguably the reason why Patrick Troughton could be seen as the most important Doctor. The First Doctor was a grumpy, occasionally bitter grandfather figure. He was amusing, certainly, and had a notable charm about him that made him easy to watch thanks to Hartnell’s portrayal, but he was irascible and arrogant about his intelligence.

The Second Doctor changed that. Troughton’s portrayal brought a light-heartedness, a willingness to joke and mess about as the Doctor that we hadn’t seen up to that point. He was still brilliant and intelligent, that’s undeniable, but he began the trend of playing the fool (and doing it wonderfully) to throw others off. This Doctor, rather than keeping most of his companions at arm’s length, very much enjoyed their company and showed clearly that they were no mere companions; they were friends.

He had many an idle trait to display his clownish nature, from his classic “cosmic-hobo” clothing to the recorder he would play when he decided he didn’t have anything he wanted to say at that moment. It was Troughton’s portrayal that made the Doctor a most unconventional genius indeed, and that is something that every Doctor since has drawn upon in a huge way. Some Doctors (the Fourth, the early-years Seventh, the early-years Eighth) have done this quite obviously, some (the Third, the Sixth, the Ninth, the Twelfth…odd, that) less so, and occasionally (the Eleventh) they’re a straight-up homage to this most venerable of Doctors. Patrick Troughton shaped the idea of what the Doctor is just as much as William Hartnell did, and that’s something that continues to this very day.

So, there we have it! I’m sure there are some firsts I’ve left out (I chose not to talk about the concept of regeneration given its still-shaky nature at the time, but it’s an equally-fascinating one), so please do discuss away in the comments! Ultimately, this is all about celebrating, remembering and indeed honouring one of the men who was utterly instrumental in the formation of sci-fi’s greatest juggernaut, and about looking back over the career of a man who had nothing but enthusiasm for the show we all adore so much and brought that enthusiasm to the screen every single moment he was on it.

Gone but never forgotten, Patrick Troughton lit up and changed the show that brought our bizarre community together and, by extension, changed the lives of so many Whovians, myself very much included. As a great man once said, “that’s the exciting thing, that nobody in the universe can do what we’re doing,” and that’s down in no small part to Troughton and the lovable buffoon he played.

Interviews

Comparison

Let’s be honest, there have been a few clunkers along the way. And if the BBC were still in the habit of junking Doctor Who episodes, here are the ten that I really wouldn’t care if we could never watch again.

The Mirror’s #1: Fear Hear, which happens to be the lowest rated in both recent fan mega polls.

It is a terrible episode, no doubt.

(I agreed with none of their other picks, btw)

Doctor Who Magazine #474 Poll Results

1. The Day of the Doctor (10, 11)
2. Blink (10)
3. Genesis of the Daleks (4)
4. The Caves of Androzani (5)
5. City of Death (4)
6. The Talons of Weng-Chiang (4)
7. The Empty Child (9)
8. Pyramids of Mars (4)
9. Human Nature (10)
10. Remembrance of the Daleks (7)
11. The Robots of Death (4)
12. The War Games (2)
13. The Parting of the Ways (9)
14. Terror of the Zygons (4)
15. Dalek (9)
16. The Web of Fear (2)
17. The Eleventh Hour (11)
18. Inferno (3)
19. The Power of the Daleks (2)
20. The Seeds of Doom (4)
21. The Deadly Assassin (4)
22. The Ark in Space (4)
23. The Tomb of the Cybermen (2)
24. Earthshock (5)
25. The Five Doctors (5)
26. The Curse of Fenric (7)
27. Vincent and the Doctor (11)
28. Spearhead from Space (3)
29. The Girl in the Fireplace (10)
30. The Green Death (3)
31. Silence in the Library (10)
32. Horror of Fang Rock (4)
33. The Invasion (2)
34. The Evil of the Daleks (2)
35. Journey’s End (10)
36. School Reunion (10)
37. The Doctor’s Wife (11)
38. The Dæmons (3)
39. Turn Left (10)
40. The Name of the Doctor (11)
41. The Brain of Morbius (4)
42. The Pandorica Opens (11)
43. The Waters of Mars (10)
44. Midnight (10)
45. Doomsday (10)
46. The Daleks (1)
47. The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1)
48. The Daleks’ Master Plan (1)
49. Asylum of the Daleks (11)
50. Doctor Who and the Silurians (3)
51. The Three Doctors (3)
52. The Impossible Planet (10)
53. The Time of Angels (11)
54. The Time Warrior (3)
55. Last of the Time Lords (10)
56. The Enemy of the World (2)
57. The Christmas Invasion (10)
58. The Impossible Astronaut (11)
59. Terror of the Autons (3)
60. The Sea Devils (3)
61. The Aztecs (1)
62. Logopolis (4)
63. Kinda (5)
64. Carnival of Monsters (3)
65. Day of the Daleks (3)
66. Father’s Day (9)
67. The Angels Take Manhattan (11)
68. The Snowmen (11)
69. Fury from the Deep (2)
70. Revelation of the Daleks (6)
71. The Fires of Pompeii (10)
72. Rose (9)
73. The Mind Robber (2)
74. The Stones of Blood (4)
75. Enlightenment (5)
76. The Mind of Evil (3)
77. The Time Meddler (1)
78. An Unearthly Child (1)
79. Survival (7)
80. Ghost Light (7)
81. Planet of the Spiders (3)
82. The End of Time (10)
83. The Crimson Horror (11)
84. Marco Polo (1)
85. The Tenth Planet (1)
86. The Unquiet Dead (9)
87. The Abominable Snowmen (2)
88. A Good Man Goes to War (11)
89. Tooth and Claw (10)
90. The Lodger (11)
91. The Girl Who Waited (11)
92. Planet of Evil (4)
93. The Curse of Peladon (3)
94. The Keeper of Traken (4)
95. The Time of the Doctor (11)
96. The Ambassadors of Death (3)
97. A Christmas Carol (11)
98. The Androids of Tara (4)
99. Resurrection of the Daleks (5)
100. The Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Eve (1)
101. The Hand of Fear (4)
102. The Unicorn and the Wasp (10)
103. The Ribos Operation  (4)
104. The Masque of Mandragora (4)
105. Amy’s Choice (11)
106. Partners in Crime (10)
107. The Shakespeare Code (10)
108. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (7)
109. State of Decay (4)
110. The Visitation (5)
111. Smith and Jones (10)
112. Snakedance (5)
113. The Moonbase (2)
114. The Pirate Planet (4)
115. Warriors’ Gate (4)
116. Robot (4)
117. Mawdryn Undead (5)
118. The God Complex (11)
119. Hide (11)
120. The Bells of Saint John (11)
121. Castrovalva (5)
122. Image of the Fendhal (4)
123. Planet of the Daleks (3)
124. Rise of the Cybermen (10)
125. Planet of the Ood (10)
126. The Seeds of Death (2)
127. Frontier in Space (3)
128. The Crusade (1)
129. The Wedding of River Song (11)
130. The Face of Evil (4)
131. The Romans (1)
132. Cold War (11)
133. The War Machines (1)
134. The End of the World (9)
135. Vengeance on Varos (6)
136. Gridlock (10)
137. Invasion of the Dinosaurs (3)
138. The Two Doctors (6)
139. The Claws of Axos (3)
140. The Sontaran Experiment (4)
141. The Ice Warriors (2)
142. The Faceless Ones (2)
143. Full Circle (4)
144. The Sontaran Stratagem (10)
145. The Myth Makers (1)
146. The Android Invasion (4)
147. Frontios (5)
148. Death to the Daleks (3)
149. The Next Doctor (10)
150. The Macra Terror (2)
151. Let’s Kill Hitler (11)
152. Doctor Who The Movie (8)
153. The Runaway Bride (10)
154. Destiny of the Daleks (4)
155. The Awakening (5)
156. Black Orchid (5)
157. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (11)
158. Voyage of the Damned (10)
159. Battlefield (7)
160. Revenge of the Cybermen (4)
161. Planet of Fire (5)
162. The Sun Makers (4)
163. A Town Called Mercy (11)
164. The Power of Three (11)
165. Closing Time (11)
166. The Highlanders (2)
167. The Vampires of Venice (11)
168. The Trial of a Timelord (6)
169. Mission to the Unknown (1)
170. The Reign of Terror (1)
171. The Rescue (1)
172. The Happiness Patrol (7)
173. Aliens of London (9)
174. The Leisure Hive (4)
175. The Chase (1)
176. 42 (10)
177. The Wheel in Space (2)
178. The Hungry Earth (11)
179. Boom Town (9)
180. The Doctor’s Daughter (10)
181. New Earth (10)
182. The Mark of the Rani (6)
183. The Edge of Destruction (1)
184. The Ark (1)
185. The Rebel Flesh (11)
186. The Beast Below (11)
187. Attack of the Cybermen (6)
188. The Invasion of Time (4)
189. Night Terrors (11)
190. Nightmare of Eden (4)
191. Planet of the Dead (10)
192. The Keys of Marinus (1)
193. Victory of the Daleks (11)
194. The Smugglers (1)
195. The Idiot’s Lantern (10)
196. The Invisible Enemy (4)
197. The Celestial Toymaker (1)
198. The Savages (1)
199. Colony in Space (3)
200. The Lazarus Experiment (10)
201. Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (11)
202. The Gunfighters (1)
203. Nightmare in Silver (11)
204. The Armageddon Factor (4)
205. The Long Game (9)
206. Silver Nemesis (7)
207. The Krotons (2)
208. Daleks in Manhattan (10)
209. Terminus (5)
210. Galaxy 4 (1)
211. The Creature from the Pit (4)
212. The Power of Kroll (4)
213. The Mutants (3)
214. Planet of Giants (1)
215. Dragonfire (7)
216. The Monster of Peladon (3)
217. Delta and the Bannermen (7)
218. Four to Doomsday (5)
219. The Web Planet (1)
220. Love & Monsters (10)
221. Arc of Infinity (5)
222. The Time Monster (3)
223. The Horns of Nimon (4)
224. The Underwater Menace (2)
225. The Sensorites (1)
226. Warriors of the Deep (5)
227. The Curse of the Black Spot (11)
228. The King’s Demons (5)
229. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (11)
230. Paradise Towers (7)
231. Meglos (4)
232. The Space Museum (1)
233. The Rings of Akhaten (11)
234. The Dominators (2)
235. The Space Pirates (2)
236. Underworld (4)
237. Time-Flight (4)
238. Timelash (6)
239. Time and the Rani (7)
240. Fear Her (10)
241. The Twin Dilemma (6)

Doctor Who TV NuWho Poll

You’ve had the absolute best and you’ve had the ones that didn’t fare so well. Now here’s every episode of Doctor Who’s revival to date ranked from top to bottom all in one handy post.

Note: For any new readers, across February and March these episodes were scored by DWTV readers out of 10 and an average was taken to determine position.

• The Day of the Doctor 9.40
• Blink 9.33
• The Eleventh Hour 9.05
• The Empty Child 9.06 / The Doctor Dances 9.04
• Silence in the Library 9.00 / Forest of the Dead 9.01
• Human Nature 8.81 / The Family of Blood 8.93
• The Girl in the Fireplace 8.86
• The Pandorica Opens 8.95 / The Big Bang 8.76
• Listen 8.84
• Mummy on the Orient Express 8.83
• Dalek 8.83
• Vincent and the Doctor 8.81
• The Doctor’s Wife 8.76
• Waters of Mars 8.74
• Flatline 8.65
• Bad Wolf 8.40 / The Parting of the Ways 8.87
• The Impossible Astronaut 8.66 / Day of the Moon 8.55
• Midnight 8.57
• The Name of the Doctor 8.45
• Turn Left 8.34
• Dark Water 8.65 / Death in Heaven 7.89
• A Good Man Goes to War 8.25
• The Impossible Planet 8.23 / The Satan Pit 8.26
• Deep Breath 8.24
• The Time of Angels 8.23 / Flesh and Stone 8.12
• The Stolen Earth 8.36 / Journey’s End 7.95
• A Christmas Carol 8.13
• The Snowmen 8.11
• Utopia 8.45 / The Sound of Drums 8.24 / Last of the Time Lords 7.64
• Last Christmas 8.10
• The Girl Who Waited 8.05
• Amy’s Choice 8.04
• Asylum of the Daleks 8.02
• School Reunion 8.01
• Army of Ghosts 7.80 / Doomsday 8.17
• The Time of the Doctor 7.97
• The Angels Take Manhattan 7.86
• The End of Time Part One 7.78 / The End of Time Part Two 7.91
• The Christmas Invasion 7.80
• The Fires of Pompeii 7.77
• The God Complex 7.76
• The Lodger 7.69
• Father’s Day 7.65
• The Bells of St John 7.62
• Time Heist 7.56
• Into the Dalek 7.54
• Planet of the Ood 7.54
• Rose 7.49
• Hide 7.40
• Smith and Jones 7.38
• Partners in Crime 7.33
• The Crimson Horror 7.28
• Rise of the Cybermen 7.26 / The Age of Steel 7.30
• The Wedding of River Song 7.21
• The Runaway Bride 7.20
• A Town Called Mercy 7.16
• The Unicorn and the Wasp 7.15
• The Caretaker 7.11
• Tooth and Claw 7.11
• The Unquiet Dead 7.08
• Let’s Kill Hitler 7.06
• The Sontaran Stratagem 7.06 / The Poison Sky 7.04
• The End of the World 7.04
• The Shakespeare Code 7.02
• Gridlock 7.00
• Voyage of the Damned 6.97
• Dinosaurs on a Spaceship 6.89
• The Hungry Earth 6.87 Cold Blood 6.88
• Cold War 6.85
• Kill the Moon 6.81
• The Vampires of Venice 6.78
• The Rings of Akhaten 6.77
• The Beast Below 6.76
• The Power of Three 6.74
• 42 6.69
• The Doctor’s Daughter 6.68
• Closing Time 6.58
• Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS 6.55
• Robot of Sherwood 6.55
• Planet of the Dead 6.54
• The Rebel Flesh 6.49 The Almost People 6.53
• Boom Town 6.37
• The Next Doctor 6.33
• Nightmare in Silver 6.32
• Aliens of London 6.30/ World War Three 6.34
• Victory of the Daleks 6.20
• New Earth 6.20
• The Long Game 6.18
• The Lazarus Experiment 6.06
• Night Terrors 6.01
• Daleks in Manhattan 5.90 / Evolution of the Daleks 5.80
• The Idiot’s Lantern 5.76
• The Curse of the Black Spot 5.43
• The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe 5.38
• In the Forest of the Night 5.32
• Love & Monsters 4.52
• Fear Her 4.17

Of the top ones “The Eleventh Hour” is 3rd in the NuWho Poll but 17th over all in DWM poll where Empty Child was higher.

But the NuWho Poll also has Series 9 in it that the DWM poll was done before it aired.

Nerdy fascinating.

Rose: 10 Years Later

It isn’t the best episode of the last 10 years by a long shot, but if you have never seen the show it’s the place to jump on board because it gives you everything you need to get started in the modern age.

My first episode as many who’d read this blog or know me personally, was “Ark in Space” Part 2. My intro was the Wirrn falling out of the medical closet.

That’s a terrific story, especially in 1982 when I started my Whovian Life. Followed by Genesis and the Hincliffe/Holmes “golden era” it was perfect.

But lots has changed in 33 years. Especially, that now 10 years on from the reboot Doctor Who is notn only a worldwide phenomenon but it’s cool to be a Whovian. That’s something I never get used to. 🙂

So let’s join Digital Spy in a retrospective of that first foray into NuWho…

It’s crazy to think now, 10 years on, that the reputation surrounding Doctor Who before the broadcast of series one episode ‘Rose’ – starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper – in 2005, was not what it is now.
In fact, in the pre-2005 Who landscape, it’s safe to say that in terms of the general public and especially in the media, the series was regarded as a bad joke. And not even a very good bad joke at that.

The press just didn’t take it seriously. In the aftermath of the initial 2003 announcement of the show’s return, tabloids suggested that people like Paul Daniels and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen were in the running to be the new Doctor Who. Remember, they’re not even actors.

But before another lazy journalist had the time to type “wobbly sets” for the 13th time that hour, a masterstroke was pulled – the BBC presented Christopher Eccleston as the next actor to play the Time Lord – a statement of intent by Russell T Davies and his production team.

Eccleston, not known for his family roles, was an immaculate choice but it’s interesting to note that, despite having worked together on The Second Coming just a couple of years previous, RTD didn’t think Chris would be keen. It was, in fact, the Northern actor who contacted Davies asking to be considered.

How different things could have been had Hugh Grant said yes.

Hugh was fine in the Comedy Relief sketch “Curse of the Fatal Death” but he was only on screen for around a minute.

Opening episode ‘Rose’ is still a fascinating and thrilling story (and we’ll assume you’re watching it today to celebrate). Showrunner Davies invited the audience into the world of Doctor Who through Billie Piper’s hugely engaging and spirited London shopgirl, Rose Tyler.

The ordinary meets the extraordinary.

Her exuberance and assuredness (just check out the way she handles a horde of moving mannequins bearing down on her in the store’s basement) was exactly what the role of Doctor Who companion needed. As Eccleston noted in contemporary interviews, the Doctor and Rose were equals – hence why the alien liked her so much.

The chemistry between the two was instant too. From “Run for your life!” to the easy-going chat in her council flat (and also that amazingly funny scene with Rose’s mom Jackie trying to seduce the stranger in her boudoir) to the Doctor explaining the turn of the Earth to the now legendary, “Lots of planets have a North!”, the Doctor and Rose were a charming couple from the get-go.

Writer Davies positioned them as the reason to watch, placing monsters and aliens and space and time-travel into second place as a base from which their relationship could grow and true drama unfold.

Having said that, RTD introduced us to the TARDIS in spectacular style. Leaving it until we’d met the Doctor, Rose and the Autons (though, oddly, never named as such on screen in the episode) and had time to digest it all, the Gallifreyan ship-of-choice was like a character in its own right.

Rose’s quick in-and-out, run-around and then full entry was exquisite, and just how a first scene in the TARDIS should be for a companion (and a new audience) – full of wonderment, apprehension and magic. Kudos to the director for such a thrilling and dynamic shot as we all enter the ship to discover its Narnia-like qualities.

Another way in which ‘Rose’ grabbed the audience in was the immediacy of its location filming. London had been used in Who’s past to excellent effect in William Hartnell’s ‘The War Machines’ and Patrick Troughton’s ‘The Invasion’, but, for the first time, the Doctor and his companion were inhabiting London, and indeed the Earth, with the rest of its population.

It felt real as the world whizzed by around them (again, used to great effect in the Slitheen two-parter later that same year) and added veracity to the alien invasion, complementing the drama – and of course, the location shooting gave rise to that wonderful Ninth Doctor gag involving the London Eye. Fantastic.

It has to be said, however, the episode is not perfect. The lighting and almost soft-focus camera work dates the first series somewhat and certainly juxtaposes when you watch the more crisp HD episodes since 2009.

And the CG work with a certain burping bin doesn’t quite hit the mark in the same way that the space station scenes in just the following episode, ‘The End of the World’, or the landscape of World War II London in ‘The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances’ do. A small point, though.

The response to New Who was incredible. Over 10 million people in the UK alone watched the return of the Time Lord, and reviews were unanimously positive. Overnight, the sour reputation Doctor Who was lumped with had disappeared completely. It had become a national treasure once more, with everyone talking about it, not just the online community.

So, happy 10th anniversary, new Doctor Who, and a heartfelt thank you to Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, Russell T Davies, executive producer Julie Gardner and all the rest of the team who not only brought back the world’s greatest television show, but restored it to shine like never before.

AMEN.

Back from the Past

The 80’s bible of Doctor Who Episode Guides is Back!

In the days before the Internet was widespread and fast there was Jean-Marc Lofficier!

The grand tome of episode knowledge from the mist of time itself. And now it’s back!

A new programme guide is to be published in April, picking up from where the originals left off in 1989 …

The New Who Programme Guide
Written by Paul Smith, with a foreword by Jean-Marc Lofficier

In 1981, the publication of Jean-Marc Lofficier’s original Doctor Who Programme Guide was a seminal moment in the history of Doctor Who reference books (and in many young fans’ enthrallment by the series). This and the updated edition in 1989 — which covered up to what turned out to be the end of the Classic era — became the series bible for fans throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Now the legacy of that original guide continues. Picking up where the 1989 edition left off, The New Who Programme Guide covers the revived series from the debut of the Eighth Doctor to the passing of the Eleventh. Every television adventure, plus the many mini-episodes and prequels produced for broadcast and DVD, is detailed in the same clear and concise format.

Each has a full cast list featuring both credited and notable non-speaking roles; the names of the writer, director and producers; and a brand new synopsis of the storyline. There is also a rundown of in-character appearances by the regular cast outside the main programme, and indexes of every actor, writer, director and producer to have worked on the show.

Presented in the same compact and easy-to-use form as the original Doctor Who Programme Guide, the book is the perfect companion to Lofficier’s original and a handy quick-reference guide to the New Series.

The New Who Programme Guide will be available on Amazon from 3rd April 2015.

SQUEEEEEE!

Anniversary Day: A Trip of a Life Time

 

Today is the 10th Anniversary of NuWho. (the first 10th Anniversary was in 1973 so how many shows do you know that get 2 10th Anniversaries!) Today, a TV legend was reborn. No one knew if it would work. Many thought it couldn’t work.

The old fans wouldn’t watch because they were over it, that was something they watched as a kid.

The younger fans wouldn’t watch because it was something their parents’ liked when they were kids.

Then there’s US, the Americans. We were not considered too much back then. If you watched the first episode 10 years ago, you were downloading it or had access to Canadian TV. Wink Wink Nudge Nudge. That was it.

I didn’t have hi-speed internet back then, dial-up took 24 continuous hours to download “Rose”!!

BBC America wasn’t very “british” back then in my opinion and the Sci-Fi Channel was getting less Sci-Fi by the day.

Technically, Series 1 didn’t premiere on these shores until 2006 and on The Sci-Fi Channel no less!

Where it wasn’t shown much love.

“Initially, the Region 1 DVD release announced for 14 February 2006 was limited to Canada, with the US release delayed until a broadcaster could be found. When none seemed forthcoming, BBC Worldwide announced that the US DVD release would be available at the same time as the Canadian one. In the interim, however, Series 1 was picked up by Sci Fi, so while the Canadian DVD release went ahead as scheduled the US DVD release was pushed back to 4 July 2006. Series 1 began airing on Sci Fi on 17 March 2006.”

In December of the same year it was announced that US PBS station KTEH 54, which services San Jose, California, had acquired the rights to broadcast the 2005 episodes.

Doctor Who went back to it’s American Roots, PBS, while languishing on the Sci-Fi Channel.

BBC America began airing Doctor Who on 17 April 2010.

BBC America aired A Christmas Carol on Christmas Day, 2010, making this the first episode of the revived series to be aired in North America on the same day as in the UK.

The first part of the sixth series of Doctor Who was broadcast on BBC America in the U.S. and Space in Canada on the same day as it was in the UK – on Saturday, 23 April – making it the first series since the show’s revival in 2005 to be broadcast on the same days in America and Canada as the UK broadcast.

We now know that Doctor Who is the #1 show on BBC America and has been for several years now. They bank on it. But it took them 5 frickin’ years to get on board.

5 years!

No wonder I was dependent on “the internet fairies”. 🙂

That’s how my experience differs from the British experience on this anniversary.

But it’s still a happy day because we old fans never thought it would come and then it did, and boy did it ever. It wasn’t that easy on this side of the pond, but it was still joyful nonetheless.

And it remains the love of my life, and always will be. That’s why it’s my life and the journey through it. 🙂

Donna Noble, 2006 – 2010

And now the current man of the hour:

Anniversary Tomorrow

The tenth anniversary of NuWho is tomorrow. I planned to do a top 10 list tomorrow (plans can change) so…

Change, my Dear

People can be very frightened of change.

I remember all of these whinings back in the day…A number of them were silly then and definitely silly now too.

Incredibly, when Doctor Who made its glorious return to television screens in 2005, there was a certain section of fandom who did not appreciate the new direction their beloved show had taken with Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper.

Here are just some of those complaints from the more old-skool viewers.

Billie Piper

‘She’s a pop singer! And a faded one at that!’ cried forums.

Granted, these points were true but Piper had trained at the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School, and starred in a few films and the BBC’s well-received ShakespeaRe-Told: Much Ado About Nothing.

Given some of the actresses who’d taken the role of companion in the past, her pedigree was better than many.

Give me some Spock, I didn’t know Billie Piper from a hole in the ground because I’m not British. Sure I heard all the whinging but I had none of the baggage. I didn’t know her anymore than I knew Chris Eccleston.

No ‘costume’

Not everyone loved the outfit (Picture: BBC)

When you look at some of the more ridiculous excesses and incongruous choices of the eighties, cricket motifs, question mark pullovers and the Sixth Doctor, it was a relief that Russell T Davies and co. went with a more subdued, realistic and battered look for the 2005 incarnation.

Bizarrely, this ruffled the feathers of certain fans who wanted a wacky look for the Time Lord, presumably with a dozen zany accessories and a million different costumed colours.

I had no dog in this fight either.

Where are all the cliffhangers?

Classic Doctor Who was well-known for its weekly cliffhangers, playing just as a big a role as the TARDIS and the Doctor.

That’s what many loved and remembered about the show. 2005 pretty much ditched the suspenseful denouement, with only three in the series.

But what it did add, in this respect, was a pre-title sequence cliffhanger. Before we get to the meat of any episode, we’re given the treat and excitement of a brief taster and then the sting of the theme tune.

TV had changed and if they had tried to do the traditional 25 Minute 4-Parts in the Internet instant gratification I-want-it-now age it would have failed miserably.

Burping bins and farting aliens

Ok, we’ll give them that one.

AMEN! 🙂

No new planets

The series pent more time on earth than planet hopping (Picture: BBC)

Series one introduced no new additions to Doctor Who’s planetary oeuvre (aside from the odd mention of some exotic new worlds) and this riled fans brought up on sci-fi quarries and beaches.

Much was made of the ‘council estate’-centric nature of New Who but it was that very Earthbound feature that seemed to galvanise the general audience so much.

For the majority, it didn’t matter that focus of the show had shifted from outer space to the inner city (and it should be noted that Jon Pertwee’s first two years in the TARDIS saw him exiled on Earth).

Season 7 & 8 The first Pertwee years were Earth bound with UNIT and I love those. True, to get to real SF you need new planets, but you need to ground the series first, then you go off and be wild & crazy.

I think RTD hit the domestic side pretty well. Come on, Camile Coduri as Jackie Tyler was hilarious!

What’s with all the feels?

This new version of Who was big on emotions.

Never had the show really explored the effects of a companion leaving home (and the aftermath behind) or losing a parent (as in the excellent Father’s Day).

The Doctor himself shed a tear – for the very first time, it should be noted – when we learned he was the last of his kind (in the second ep, The End of the World) and even the solitary Dalek he met wasn’t averse to having emotions (thanks to Rose’s DNA).

But it was the heartbreaking finale that saw the tears flow from everyone as Christopher Eccleston sent Billie home back in time, saving her from the aforementioned pepper pots.

And if that weren’t enough, he only went and sacrificed his own life to become David Tennant.

I have no real problem with this because it gave the show more depth of character than it had in “classic” Who. It’s one of the reasons why Sarah Jane  and Ace stick out so much in “classic” who they because they go beyond it’s norms for the companion.

And that’s always the exciting bit, Change.

This show is all about Change.And 10 years ago (in 2 days) the program changed again when it came back to our screens.

Nothing wrong with a little change. 🙂

In-joke Alert

Den of Geek:

From Autons to tribophysics via Kronkburgers, here’s a pick of the best nerdy in-jokes and references from the 2005 series of Doctor Who…

Ten years ago, the world was about to be re-introduced to one of the most enduring and exciting television characters of all time, Doctor Who. The programme’s new 2005 sheen brought with it a cheeky self-referential side (though it did do a bit of that in the 80s) and a knowingly raised pop culture eyebrow. From films such as E.T. to Barbarella to Star Trek to modern literature (The Lovely Bones) and icons (Michael Jackson) – everything was in the Time Lord’s gaze.

So let’s take our very own trip back in time and have a look at the more notable and interesting references and in-jokes from Doctor Who Series One, starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper.

Rose

Most obviously, this opener saw the return of the Autons (though they were never actually referred to by name in the episode) and the Nestene Consciousness – both first seen in Jon Pertwee’s debut, Spearhead From Space.

That’s where the continuity pretty much ends for this instalment (apart from obvious facets like the TARDIS and Sonic Screwdriver), though there are a couple of amusing inferences. Clive, the “internet lunatic murderer”, is perhaps your archetypal Who fan (up until that point, at any rate). A man with a shed and conspiracy theories up the wazoo (though his about the Time Lord are actually true); his wife was even surprised that a girl turned up – “She’s read a website about the Doctor? She’s a she?” How the landscape of Doctor Who fandom has changed.

Eccleston himself manages to poke fun at his ears. Past Doctors upon regenerations had sometimes been irked by their new appearance – Tom Baker’s The Fourth Doctor also had an issue with his ears, and Jon Pertwee and Peter Davison had their disdainful mirror moments, though both Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy liked their new faces.

Perhaps one of the funniest moments in Rose, and certainly since the show’s return, was the debate on The Ninth Doctor’s regional accent – “Lots of planets have a North!” he defends himself against Rose’s incredulity. Doctor Who had always been the mainstay of RP when it came to the Gallifreyan’s accent, regardless of where that actor originated from, and so this was a neat prod at the past and a look to the future. (More observant fans will note that the 1979 story The Armageddon Factor featured a Time Lord by the name of Drax, whose accent was distinctly Cockney.)

There are some notable firsts for Rose too: it was the first episode to include the name of the companion in the story title (sorry, we’re not accepting The Feast Of Steven from The Daleks’ Master Plan); the “Next Time” trailer was introduced; and the inside of the TARDIS was visible when the door was ajar.

Doctor Who food fact fans will also no doubt be aware that Rose included the very first use of the word “pizza” in the history of the show.

The End Of The World

And just like pizza, “hell” is used here for the first in Doctor Who as a swear word. “What the hell is that?” comes courtesy of the new more brutish, more direct and less well-mannered Ninth Doctor. He even manages to do something no other regeneration did before him (on screen), shed a tear. When the Time War crops up in conversation (again, another first for the audience), Eccleston’s time traveller wells up. Though he probably needn’t have bothered shedding any tears given the events of The Day Of The Doctor.

This Russell T Davies tale also saw the start of mobile phones being used extensively in the series, a trope that continues ten years on. We also discovered that the TARDIS translates for the Doctor and his companion, though older readers will remember 1976’s The Masque Of Mandragora where the Fourth Doctor explained (later) to companion Sarah Jane Smith that her understanding of different languages was a “Time Lord’s gift.”

The Titanic gets a mention for the second week in a row (the Doctor had been pictured at its launch in Rose). The doomed ship had also been referenced in Robot (1974), The Invasion Of Time (1978) and would be the intergalactic star of the 2007 Christmas Special, Voyage Of The Damned.

The Unquiet Dead

Fascinatingly, in the audio commentary for this trip back in time to Cardiff, writer Mark Gatiss revealed that there was initially a reference to Time Lords being able to change sex. (We’d have to wait a few years for that to happen.)

Actress Eve Myles joined the rank of a number of Doctor Who stars who managed to return as a different character. Here, she’s Gwyneth but she would return to Doctor Who as Torchwood’s Gwen in the 2008 series finale. The Unquiet Dead set up the rift in Cardiff which became the home for the spin-off show, Torchwood. (And also gave The Doctor an excuse to pop back to Cardiff now and again.)

As an in-joke, The Ninth Doctor berates his hero Charles Dickens for the “American bit” in Martin Chuzzlewit (which was added in the novel for effect), a sly dig at the North American production of Doctor Who back in 1996. Starring Paul McGann in the lead role, it has a few fans though showrunner Russell T Davies was not one of them.

Aliens Of London / World War III

Continuity fans alerted those who care about such things that The Doctor got his age “wrong” in this two-parter. In Time And The Rani (1987), the Time Lord claimed he was 953 years old, yet here he tells Rose is but 900. Time wimey and all that.

Old skool fans also raised a cheer at the return of UNIT – the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Their first appearance was in the 1968 Cybermen classic The Invasion though their incursion with the Slitheen was to prove the last time their more familiar name was used, as future appearances would see the acronym changed to Unified Intelligence Taskforce.

Just like the previous ep, a Torchwood actor appears – Naoko Mori. Playing Doctor Sato here, she was better known as Toshiko Sato in the spin-off (which would reveal she was actually covering for her mischievous colleague, Owen Harper).

Another nod to the future was The Ninth Doctor’s insistence at calling Mickey Smith, Ricky. The following year we would meet his parallel Earth alter ego Ricky Smith in Rise Of The Cybermen where he was “London’s most wanted”, leader of The Preachers.

And look out for some graffiti, not BAD WOLF but Salford – the home town of Christopher Eccleston.

Dalek

Surprisingly, in an episode called Dalek, one of the first things you see is the head of a Cyberman (sadly not one of the cool 80s ones). A more subtle wink to the past comes when Rose asks the title Skaro bad boy, “What do you expect?” The exact wordage and question was asked by Victoria Waterfield in the Patrick Troughton epic, The Evil Of The Daleks.

During early drafts of the script, writer Robert Shearman (who was loosely adapting his own Dalek adventure, the Big Finish audio adventure Jubilee) had to replace the intergalactic pepper pot with another race when it appeared that rights issues may have prevented their return. The race in question, as revealed by Russell T Davies, was the Toclafane, and they would have their day in the memorable Series 3 finale featuring the return of The Master (as played by John Simm).

In another first for naughty words in the history of Doctor Who, “goddamn” is used by Van Statten. Don’t be like him kids, don’t swear – it ain’t cool.

The Long Game

Comic strip fans raised a glass to a niche mention of “Kronkburgers” – the tasty delights were the snack of choice by soldiers in Doctor Who Magazine’s, The Iron Legion (1979). Just a few years later, Russell T Davies submitted an early version of this episode to the production team, then headed by the flamboyant John Nathan-Turner.

Without wanting to make you wretch slightly, this episode also featured the almost universally hated Adam (of course, there was a reason for this). He has the honour of being the only “companion” to be chucked out of Team TARDIS. Well, he was an asshat.

Father’s Day

Doctor Who doesn’t often feature narration (though it’s more common these days) and this brilliant slice of time-changing consequences was only the third story to do so (the previous two being 1976’s The Deadly Assassin and the 1996 TV Movie with Paul McGann).

The ep features a snatch from a tune by one-time popular beat combo, The Streets – the band’s frontman Mike Skinner briefly appeared in the Matt Smith romp, The Time Of Angels.

The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances

Though there’s been a plethora of stories with “the Doctor” (and variations thereof) in the title post-2005, this was the first us since the first instalment of the William Hartnell adventure The Gunfighters, titled A Holiday For The Doctor.

This much-loved Steven Moffat World War II tale included numerous kisses to the past: the Time Lord’s “name” John Smith is resurrected; we learn that Captain Jack is a Time Agent, a position previously mentioned in The Talons Of Weng-Chiang (1977); and, from more recent times, Albion Hospital is back after its appearance in Aliens Of London.

As a kiss to the future, as it were, the phrase “It’s Volcano Day!” is coined. The Tenth Doctor would get to enjoy an actual volcano and use the same phrase three years later in The Fires Of Pompeii.

Boom Town

“Is that a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?” asks Captain Jack whilst fans nod knowingly saying “tribophysics” to themselves. Pyramids Of Mars (1975) saw its only other onscreen mention in Doctor Who.

Bad Wolf / The Parting Of The Ways

The last episodes provided a few fine firsts for Doctor Who. Eccleston’s finale saw: the first mention of Torchwood (during The Weakest Link quiz segment); first same-sex kiss (between the Gallifreyan and Captain Jack); and the first “standing” regeneration (technically, it’s possible that Troughton was standing when he regenerated but we didn’t really see the full thing). Since then, standing regenerations have been the change du jour – Utopia, Journey’s End (sort of), The End of Time, Day of the Moon, Let’s Kill Hitler, The Day of the Doctor and The Time of the Doctor have all featured this modern style.

Sticking with regeneration, The Ninth Doctor mirrors The Fifth Doctor’s sentiments on the process – the latter commented, “That’s the trouble with regeneration, you never quite know what you’re going to get” (Castrovalva) whilst the former said, “I mean it’s a bit dodgy this process, you never know what you’re gonna end up with.”

In his pre-recorded message to Rose, the Time Lord asks her to leave the TARDIS, forget about it and move on. “Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner. And over the years, the world’ll move on and the box will be buried,” he holographically tells her. Of course, when Russell T Davies was writing this episode, the future for Doctor Who was an unknown quantity, and the writer has confessed he didn’t expect it to be successful let alone the ratings behemoth it became. The beautiful speech could almost have been a message regarding the show itself, an oddity that had no place in the Noughties – thankfully, of course, it did.

Oh, but my very favourite thing to look out for in this series is the credit that Christopher Eccleston receives at the end of every episode – he’s “Doctor Who”. That should settle a few arguments… 🙂

Pond Life

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-03-22/how-well-do-you-know-doctor-whos-amy-pond

Come along Pond…

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-03-21/how-well-do-you-know-matt-smiths-eleventh-doctor