When I started this blog earlier in the year I made only one rule for myself: no Doctor Who.
Why? Well, it's my favourite thing ever and it would be dead easy to waffle on at great length about anything and everything to do with it. A bit more challenging to talk about everything else instead. Occasionally it's been mentioned in passing - I didn't want to jump through too many hoops to avoid bringing it up - but I've never discussed it here.
But today is Doctor Who's birthday. 48 years to the day since the first brilliant episode was transmitted. So, since everybody else is doing it by way of celebration here are 48 fab things about Doctor Who:
1) Katy Manning: brilliant back then as Jo Grant, and madder and more brilliant now as older Jo in the Sarah Jane Adventures and as transtemporal adventuress Iris Wildthyme – ‘I’ve been to the Death Zone and it was rubbish!’
2) The bit in The Parting of the Ways where Lynda with a ‘y’ is menaced on a space station by the Daleks. Outside, in the vacuum of space we can’t hear their voices. But as the light on one Dalek’s dome flashes four times with a particular rhythm we know exactly what it’s saying…
3) Peter Davison’s impression of William Hartnell in episode 1 of Castrovalva – ‘What would I do if I were me? Hmm!’
4) Bernard Cribbins: from Tom Campbell on the big screen in colour back in the sixties to Wilfred Mott blowing a tearful kiss goodbye to the Tenth Doctor. Legend.
5) Falling in love with Patrick Troughton in The Krotons when I was thirteen. ‘Now go away and don’t bother me, no wait a minute come back, what does this button do? No, it’s all right, I know.’
6) Being too scared to enter the Doctor Who Exhibition at Blackpool.
7) ‘Gallifrey? That’s in Ireland, isn’t it?’
8) The news that it was coming back with Russell T Davies as producer turning up on the website in 2003. I was at work and couldn’t believe the news. ‘Sit down, have a biscuit’ advised the site. I was beaming for the rest of the day.
9) Buying issue 55 of Doctor Who Monthly from the newsagent on Irlams o’th’Height during the break before a school swimming lesson and seeing Peter Davison in full cricket regalia – his new costume – on the cover. So exciting.
10) Running past plastic wheelie bins (the recently returned new series had shown us they were Autons!) on the way home from school with a 5 year old No1 son. Without realising he was quoting Troughton he turned to me and said ‘When I say run, run!’
11) Reading the novelisation of The Five Doctors a few days before it was on the telly due to it being released early. The Master making a diving roll, picking up a blaster, and shooting the Cyberleader in one movement! I couldn’t wait to see that! Wasn’t quite the same, was it?
12) The Dalek going up the stairs in Remembrance of the Daleks. Not long after that ‘skeleton negative’ extermination effect earlier in the episode. And the Special Weapons Dalek later on. Basically all the Dalek stuff (and loads more) in this fab story.
13) The fact that they took Paul Cornell’s brilliant novel Human Nature, a beautiful, haunting story created in the wilderness years when there was no Who on telly, and adapted it for the new series so millions more could enjoy it. A wonderful secret (I think it’s still on the BBC website as an ebook – treat yourself and read it) finally shared.
14) Colin Baker getting his chance to shine in the Big Finish audios. Check out The Holy Terror, Jubilee, The One Doctor and Doctor Who and the Pirates for starters.
15) The bit at the end of Paul Magrs’ Tom Baker audio The Stuff of Nightmares where the Doctor promises to tell Mike Yates the story of The Dead Shoes and Mike goes ‘phwoar!’ with excitement.
16) Jon Pertwee’s Venusian martial arts (can you have martial Venusians?). The Doctor was one of the few two-armed beings to become a master (no pun intended). You can’t tell me that’s not cool.
17) William Hartnell staring down them War Machines in, er, The War Machines. This guy was trained by the Mountain Mauler of Montana. Don’t mess with him.
18) The Christmas Invasion. Song for Ten. It’s always a bit spesh the first time you see the Doctor in his new get up. This time there was a song! And then he goes and puts the brainy specs on. Top.
19) William Russell’s reading of Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with The Daleks. It’s perhaps the best of the novelisations to begin with, but having Ian Chesterton himself as the first person narrator is just class.
20) Paddy Kingsland’s music for Logopolis. From around the same time as his score for the TV version of Hitch-Hiker and very similar. I had an off air audio cassette copy of this story and the music really made it.
21) Ghost Light. The last story of the original run to be made. An arcane, allusive tale scheduled against the Street wasn’t going to do the numbers. But it’s full of great lines and great performances, not least from the regulars. Lost luggage and lost souls…
22) A Good Man Goes to War is a great episode, but it was capped off perfectly (I burst out laughing) when a caption came up saying the next episode was called Let’s Kill Hitler. Best. Title. Ever.
23) Big Finish audio plays on BBC Radio 7/4 Extra. Paul McGann doing his bit in Shada (also part-animated online!) and the brilliant The Chimes of Midnight.
24) Tom Baker. ‘Nuff said.
25) The Cybermen from The Tenth Planet. A brilliant design, refined of course for later appearances, but that original one with surgical bandages and sing-song synth voices just freaks me out. Brrr.
26) The really, really long scarf that my mum knitted for me. Thanks, mum!
27) Nicholas Courtney’s subtle performance in Mawdryn Undead showing two versions of the Brig, before and after a breakdown. Courtney is always good value but he shines here.
28) Sir Terrance Dicks, king of Target Books. He wrote The Doctor Who Monster Book and a heap of novelisations. It’s his fault I’m waving the scarf today.
29) The ending of Rose where she runs into the TARDIS, taking us with her. The Doctor was back. No better feeling.
30) The way No2 son equates a visit to my flat with watching ‘Old Doctor Who’. He taught me how to sign it!
31) Eating a pub lunch with Russell T Davies at a writers’ day in Hull back in 2003 just before production started on the new series. He bought a round later too and told us which shop to go to to get the DWM 40th anniversary special. Top bloke.
32) The bit in The Caves of Androzani where John Normington’s Morgus speaks directly to camera. Apparently a misunderstanding of what director Graeme Harper (later to return, brilliantly, to the new series) asked for, Harper ran with it and the result is a striking moment in a brilliant story.
33) Will Thorp and Debbie Chazen’s book readings. Guest stars on the TV programme they do some brilliant voice and character work on the audio versions of some of the tie-in novels.
34) The Scream of the Shalka, the web cartoon that introduced us to a Ninth Doctor just before the new series came along and replaced it. Richard E Grant doesn’t quite get the hang of the Doctor, but Derek Jacobi (as the Master, before he appeared in Utopia), Sophie Okenodo and Jim (Bishop Brennan) Norton are fab.
35) Terry Molloy’s Davros. Michael Wisher may give the definitive performance, but nobody beats Molloy for ranting, slavering and giggling maniacally all at the same time (Revelation of the Daleks is probably his finest hour, even in a fish bowl). Julian Bleach clearly references him in Journey’s End.
36) Troughton and Pertwee bickering in The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors. It’s broad, but still a delight to watch. Sue me.
37) The fact that as pants as the 1996 television movie was, Paul McGann was still brilliant. He just looks the part when he thumps the console at the end.
38) Not changing the design of the Daleks for the new series. Every time a new version of Doctor Who was mooted there was always talk of redesigning them – Spider Daleks or some other nonsense. How brilliant to just say ‘they already look great – don’t change them’. The fact the new Daleks don’t quite work is testament to what a good decision this was at the time.
39) The Crash of the Elysium. Punchdrunk Theatre Company’s immersive play that ran as part of the Manchester Festival this year. A Weeping Angel actually came down a corridor at us! It was terrifying!
40) Four words: ‘Are you my mummy?’
41) Roger Delgado watching The Clangers and John Simm watching Tellytubbies. A gag good enough to repeat 35 years later.
42) Alan Barnes and Scott Gray’s 8th Doctor comic strips from DWM. Collected in 4 volumes it’s a remarkably consistent piece of work with great art from Adrian Salmon, Roger Langridge, Lee Sullivan and most notably Martin Geraghty. Great companions too in Izzy, Fey and Destrii (and Kroton the Cyberman from Doctor Who Weekly!)
43) Matt Smith’s costume. By all accounts they were close to giving the 11th Doctor a more swashbuckling look but Smith hated it. Just before they were going to sign off on the costume he asked them to wait. ‘Let me try on this tweed jacket,’ he said. ‘Oh, and this bow tie…’
44) The Curse of Fatal Death. 1999, no Doctor Who on TV. Some chap named Moffat writes a short funny episode for Red Nose Day and reminds everyone how brilliant it is. Why is it so good? I’ll explain later…
45) The middle 8/bridge/whatever-it’s-called of the theme. Surprising that it’s missing from most of the 70s titles. Howell’s 80s version makes the most of it and McCulloch and Debney are smart enough to put it in the opening.
46) Doctor Who? jokes within the programme itself. Never gets old. My favourite is Jackie in The Christmas Invasion. Spooky to think asking that question may form part of the climax to the 11th Doctor’s era.
47) David Troughton doing an impression of his dad for the Serpent Crest audios. Not out for a week or so, but I’m surprised how excited I am by this.
48) Christmas Specials! They might not rank as the best episodes but frankly they make Christmas Day for me. Can you believe there’s been seven? What’s your favourite? I’m going through a bit of a The Next Doctor phase at the mo, but I do like A Christmas Carol.
Join me next year for 49 Fab things. And why not bob my name into Amazon and buy any Doctor Who short story audiobook collection you might come across. ;-) You know it makes sense.
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