Dr Who fans to mark anniversary (40 years!)

BBCi ^ | 11/22/03

[Hazzardgate]

Doctor Who fans are preparing for the 40th anniversary of the sci-fi show's television debut on Sunday.

The show first appeared on the BBC in 1963, with William Hartnell taking the lead role as the time-travelling hero

It grew into a much-loved institution, before being axed in 1989, by which time Sylvester McCoy was the seventh actor to play the Doctor.

Now fans are speculating as to who will take the lead role in a revival of Dr Who, due to be broadcast in 2005.

The new series is in the early stages of development, and is being written by TV dramatist Russell T Davies.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Anthony Head was voted favourite in a recent poll for Radio Times magazine.

Whoever gets the role will also follow in the footsteps of Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, and Colin Baker.

Hopes were raised of a comeback in 1996 when Paul McGann recreated the role in a TV movie version, co-produced by the BBC and the US Fox network.

But while it was a success in the UK, it failed to get the backing in the US for a new series to be made.

Since then, McGann, Colin Baker and Richard E Grant have provided the voice of the Doctor for animated adventures on the BBC website, and radio versions of the series have also been made.

Doctor Who was first conceived as an educational programme to slot into Saturday evening schedules.

Viewers discovered in the first episode that the Doctor was not a human, but an alien who travelled through time in his time and space machine - a Tardis - disguised as a police call box.

Later, when Hartnell left the series to be replaced by Troughton, he was written out by "regenerating" the Doctor.

At the end of a battle with the deadly Cybermen, the Doctor announced that his old body was beginning to "wear out" and he collapsed onto the floor of the Tardis, where special effects made the character change into his second form - played by Troughton.

Later it was explained that the Doctor was a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, and the process of regeneration was something that happened to all Time Lords 12 times before they finally died.

[Hazzardgate]

You know Dubya was really there for the 40th anniversary of DR. WHO, don't you? :-)

[Wendel Wilkie]

ROFL. Tony Blair and George Bush as closet Dr. Who fans!!! I've heard it all now.

[Billthedrill]

Tom Baker BTT. They threatened to have one of the Doctors regenerate as a woman, but nothing ever came of it.

Hmm...now Quentin Tarantino - he'd make a good Doctor. Wouldn't want to be Davros or his Daleks if it was him, though...we're talking C4 and chainsaws here...

[Hazzardgate]

[Kuksool]

It is a shame that PBS isn't showing re-runs of Doctor Who. My local PBS station shows Faulty Towers, Monthy Python, and Keeping Up Appearances during their quarterly fundraising drives. Yet No Doctor Who episodes.

[Hazzardgate]

Yeah, the PBS reruns have pretty much dried up across North America.

Sadly, BBCWW charge so much money for these old episodes PBS can longer justify the cost. Even with a built in cult following, I would imagine reruns of STARGATE SGC are cheaper than DR. WHO.

Thankfully some of the best episodes have been released on DVD. That's the best way to watch the show now!

[nuconvert]

No Doctor like Tom Baker.
He was the best.

[sushiman]

Peter Davison was great in ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL , one of my all-time fave shows .

[Moonmad27]

Jon Pertwee was the Doctor, to me. I'm biased, because Jon was a friend, but I appreciate Pat, Colin, Peter, Tom and all in that role.

Glad to see this thread as I had forgotten about the 40th anniversary! I had been at the 20th anniversary events in the US and UK, which were huge. Hard to believe those were so long ago.

Now to choose one of the DVDs ready to play tomorrow...

[nuconvert]

Yes, Davison was very good in "All Creatures..."
And what a great show that was.
Just didn't seem to fill Baker's shoes.

[Sapper26]

Dr. Who began 40 years ago, JFK was killed 40 years ago. Coincidence?

[nuconvert]

"Jon Pertwee was the Doctor, to me. I'm biased, because Jon was a friend..."

Neat. No wonder you're biased. He was good, too.

"...so long ago."

Time Flies....! (pun intended)

[Hazzardgate]

Interestingly enough, the very first episode of Dr. Who, "An Unearthly Child", was delayed because of the JFK assassination. The BBC also re-ran it again the following weekend.

For real tin-foil action, notice that the very first Dr. Who DVDS ("The 5 Doctors", "The Robots of Death", and "Spearhead From Space") were released on September 11, 2001. When I went to sleep on September 10, thats what I was thinking about :(

[Prof Engineer]

Here is a 40th anniversary worth celebrating!

[Hazzardgate]

You knew Jon Pertwee?

[Kuksool]

Some of the best Doctor Who Episodes were:

Carnival of Monsters
Ark In Space
City of Death
Five Doctors
Two Doctors

[Hazzardgate]

City of Death

This one is really great. Douglas Adams at his finest .... high-concept sci-fi comedy. And John Cleese!

[Kuksool]

Too bad Douglas Adams's other episode, Shada, was never broadcasted.

Also, I couldn't believe that LaLa Ward and Tom Baker married after they left the show.

[GreenLanternCorps]

So JFK wasn't asassinated, he just regenerated into William Hartnell???

[Joe_October]

I saw the Dr. Who movie and US Pilot. Stinky.

I saw the US version of Red Dwarf. Someone should have been caned for that fiasco.

Sci Fi should pick up the Doctor.

There was also a British sci fi series which was set in the near future where a detective solved mysteries. It was pretty good. I remember the show where he solved a crime where a ship was going to Mars and the occupants missed Mars. Pretty good science and interesting drama. You have to do more when all your creatures have zippers showing.