Doctor Who

[Silver Nemesis]

I think everyone has their Doctor. It's usually the actor who was playing the part when they first watched the show.

My mum watched the very first episode back in 1963 and it was her favourite TV series as a child. So her Doctor has always been William Hartnell.

For me, it was a mixture of Pertwee and McCoy. Back in the early nineties the BBC repeated one story starring each Doctor, except for Pertwee. In his case they repeated four serials: The Daemons, The Sea Devils, Planet of the Daleks and The Green Death. So he was the Doctor I saw the most of on television. But McCoy was the Doctor appearing in the latest comics and novels at the time, so he was also my Doctor. Now that I'm older and I'm getting back into the show after a few years away from it, I think Hartnell may be my favourite. But Pertwee and McCoy will always be my Doctors from childhood.

It sounds like McGann is your Doctor, BatmAngelus. Despite my criticisms of The Night of the Doctor episode – and those were mostly generalised criticisms concerning the direction of the new series as a whole – I did get a kick out of seeing the Eighth Doctor back in action. After waiting for it for so long, it was a thrill. I can't deny that. As far as I'm concerned, that counts as his second TV story. It may only have been shown online, and it may only have been a mini-episode. But the bottom line is it's McGann playing the Doctor in a live action story again.

I'm quite jealous of the fact you met him. He seems like a nice down-to-earth sort of bloke (classic Liverpudlian  ).

And I vaguely remember The Flood. It was one of the last Doctor Who comic stories I read before I stopped collecting DWM.

Thank goodness for the iPlayer for us Americans.  I've listened to Chapter 1 so far.  It's certainly a darker way of bringing the crew together.

While I obviously wouldn't replace An Unearthly Child, I would've loved to have seen Hartnell appear from the shadows at one point, with an everlasting match in his hand.

Have you been listening to the other radio dramas? I wasn't mad on Protect and Survive. It was an interesting idea for a story, clearly inspired by those old Cold War PSAs, as well as Raymond Briggs' When the Wind Blows (1982). But the Doctor was hardly in it, and the subject matter was a little too bleak for my tastes. I think it might have worked better as a two or three parter rather than a four part story.

But I enjoyed the first two episodes of Fanfare for the Common Men. I was a huge Beatles fan throughout my teens and actually wrote a fan story about the Doctor encountering them back in Liverpool in the sixties. My story wasn't quite the same as this one, but it's nice to see someone else had a similar idea of using Beatlemania as the backdrop for an adventure.

Changing subject, I've just been watching some clips from the animated reconstructions of missing episodes included on some of the DVD releases. I'm really amazed. Back in the old days we had to make do with the soundtracks accompanied by slideshows of still images. Either that or inserts featuring one of the actors explaining what happened in the missing episodes. There was a really nice variant of this for the VHS release of The Crusade featuring William Russell as Ian, talking directly to the viewer about his adventures with the Doctor. I don't know if they included those segments on the DVD, but they should have. It was incredible to see him reprising the role in live action after all those years, and at a time when no new live action Doctor Who was being produced. But now, with these animated reconstructions, we have an alternative way to enjoy the missing episodes. I recall several fan-made attempts to do this in the past, but the animation was nowhere near this quality.

I'll look forward to seeing these when I get the DVDs. It makes me wish they could reconstruct entire stories like Marco Polo and The Power of the Daleks. But that might be a little too ambitious.

[BatmAngelus]

Due to my admiration for these actors, I'm probably more comfortable classifying McGann as one of my Doctors, rather than definitively my Doctor.  Like you, it's tough for me to pick just one. 

But yes, I do have a more personal connection to him than to many of the others, partially because I met him in person and partially because his audio adventures helped me get through chemo recovery weekends.

Funny story is that McGann was ALMOST my first Doctor.  I distinctly remember being a kid and seeing a commercial for the '96 TV movie on Fox, wondering what the heck this show was about.  I suppose, even just from seeing the trailer, it made an impression on me.  That long-haired stranger in a white sheet rising up from a dark table- was he "Doctor Who?"  Why was he called that?

I admit, I didn't see it when it aired.  Maybe I thought it looked too strange at the time.

Nearly a decade later, the 2005 revival became my introduction to Doctor Who, leading to me requesting Classic Doctor Who DVDs for Christmas and discovering William Hartnell, etc.

But I sometimes wonder how things would've gone if I saw the TV movie in 1996 first.  Would I have gotten into the Doctor Who mythology earlier or would I have just felt stumped and confused about what was going on?  Whatever the case, I'm glad I discovered the show eventually after all and became a big fan.

Also, here's something cool they did with McGann at a convention about a year ago that feels eerily prophetic now:

Have you been listening to the other radio dramas? I wasn't mad on Protect and Survive. It was an interesting idea for a story, clearly inspired by those old Cold War PSAs, as well as Raymond Briggs' When the Wind Blows (1982). But the Doctor was hardly in it, and the subject matter was a little too bleak for my tastes. I think it might have worked better as a two or three parter rather than a four part story.

But I enjoyed the first two episodes of Fanfare for the Common Men. I was a huge Beatles fan throughout my teens and actually wrote a fan story about the Doctor encountering them back in Liverpool in the sixties. My story wasn't quite the same as this one, but it's nice to see someone else had a similar idea of using Beatlemania as the backdrop for an adventure.

I'll keep this in mind.  I'm working my way through the Daleks read-through at the moment.  Yes, I know the story from both the serial and the Cushing movie, but the completist in me wants to listen to everything I can before it gets taken off the site.  Plus, as I've said before, Ian is one of the best, most important companions in my book, so to hear William Russell read everything in first person is a treat.

I don't think they included Russell's Crusade segments on the Lost in Time DVD (to be fair, I've only seen the episode footage of Crusade from there so far and haven't explored the Special Features yet), but luckily, I was able to find them pretty easily on YouTube.

[BatmAngelus]

Continuing the discussion on the audios being broadcast on iPlayer:

I enjoyed Protect and Survive for the most part, but I agree it was too long.  Once it was down to Ace and Hex in part four, the story was outstaying its welcome for me and getting repetitive in the amount of times we followed them in the time loop.  The Seventh Doctor's one-chapter role and the cliffhanger ending didn't help matters either. 

None of this would've bothered me if I had purchased the story on my own and known it was part one of a trilogy, but as a radio broadcast to celebrate the 50th, it was a poor choice.  It wasn't much a showcase of the Seventh Doctor and the ending of part four made it seem like there was a part five coming.  I had to look it up online to find out that it was actually continued in a story called Black and White, which, of course, will not be broadcast. 

It'd be one thing if they used this to entice listeners into buying the other stories and said "To hear what happens next, check out..." but, at least in the iPlayer version I listened to, there wasn't even that.  A missed marketing opportunity, especially since Big Finish is having a 10% off sale this weekend:
http://bigfinish.com/news/v/10-off-anniversary-offer

Still, I wonder, why couldn't they have selected a solid, standalone story for each of the Doctors? 

I understand the rationale for having William Russell read the Daleks novelization.  Though, at around 5 hours long, I think the only people who listened to the whole thing were ones already familiar with the Hartnell era, like me.

But the remaining adventures this week include:
- Russell reading The Dalek Invasion of Earth next, as well as another First Doctor adventure
- A Fifth Doctor adventure set in 1963 (probably the most appropriate one to broadcast yet, given the 1963 setting and, while I've only heard part one so far, it seems to be pretty standalone.)
- Two Seventh Doctor adventures, one of which, as I said, barely had the Seventh Doctor.
- THREE Eighth Doctor adventures.

This is pretty uneven.  There's nine total adventures spanning only four Doctors, with no stories for the Second, Third, Fourth, or Sixth Doctors.  Even though Troughton and Pertwee are long gone, there are still novelization audiobooks and/or Companion Chronicles from Big Finish that feature them.

Still, I shouldn't complain about listening to nine audio stories for free.  I just wish they put more thought into their selection.

In other news, An Adventure in Time and Space will be broadcast in America tonight and I'm excited to check it out.

And for those interested, you can play the Google Doodle game as The Doctor.  See if you can get through all of it without regenerating!
http://www.kasterborous.com/2013/11/savetheday-google-doodle-anniversary-special/

[Silver Nemesis]

And for those interested, you can play the Google Doodle game as The Doctor.  See if you can get through all of it without regenerating!
http://www.kasterborous.com/2013/11/savetheday-google-doodle-anniversary-special/

Did it before breakfast. Well, actually I died a few times on my first play through. But second go, I did it without regenerating. Because I'm the Doctor. 

I agree with your points regarding the selection of audio dramas. It would have been a good opportunity to repeat the radio serials Pertwee recorded in the nineties: The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space. I listened to these when they were first broadcast, and admittedly neither of them was very good. But it would have made sense to have included Pertwee in the week's celebrations. They also could have repeated the classic Tom Baker radio play The Pescatons from 1976. But instead they chose a rather odd selection of stories.

I've listened to the first seven episodes of The Daleks. I'm not sure if I'll have time to listen to the remaining three while they're still online, but I've enjoyed the first half anyway. I've got the novels of both The Daleks and The Dalek Invasion of Earth, but it's particularly nice to hear Russell reading them. And I loved the unmade First Doctor story Farewell, Great Macedon. I'm tempted to buy the rest of the stories in that series, as well as The Companion Chronicles featuring Maureen O'Brien as Vicki.

The Davison story I quite liked. And the second McCoy story – A Thousand Tiny Wings – was much better than Protect and Survive. The worst story this week, in my opinion, was easily Human Resources. I listened to the first 50 minute episode, but I really can't be bothered listening to the second. It just didn't capture my interest at all. Which is a shame, because McGann has had some terrific audio dramas.

So yes, the First Doctor adventures triumph as far as the audio stories go.

Regarding An Adventure in Space and Time, here's my brief review (highlight text to read spoiler).

Overall, I thought it was very good. But not perfect. There were a number of historical inaccuracies, some of which were highlighted by Doctor Who writer Lawrence Miles in the review on his blog (I was going to post a link, but he's now deleted his review). I didn't like the cameo from Matt Smith towards the end. I understand what it was meant to symbolise, but it just felt jarring to me. Brian Cox wasn't very convincing as a Canadian, and both he and Gatiss portrayed Newman with such broad strokes that the character came across as something of a stereotype rather than a nuanced depiction of the real man. It also would have been nice if they could have highlighted some of the other key figures in the show's early success; particularly David Whitaker, Christopher Barry and Terry Nation.

That being said, it was mostly a very good drama. The depiction of the show's creation was a bit melodramatic and predictable (the progressive woman producer rising up against the stuffy chauvinistic boy's club of the old BBC). But the programme was on surer ground once the emphasis shifted onto Hartnell. I've read a lot about Hartnell over the years, and I thought the portrayal of him in this programme was actually very accurate. They managed to capture his complexity in a way that acknowledged his faults without making him unsympathetic. Bradley's performance was excellent and he should probably win some sort of award for this.

The most moving scene of all, for me, was the footage of the real Hartnell delivering his famous farewell speech to Susan in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. This has long been regarded as a classic moment from the First Doctor's era, but it's never seemed more poignant than as the finale of this film. The real life interview footage that followed the programme was a nice touch too. Overall I'd rate it 4/5.

On the subject of the First Doctor, rumours are now circulating that the BBC has recovered the lost story Marco Polo. According to several sites, a fan recorded the serial upon its original broadcast using a cine camera. The rumours further state that the silent footage is now being restored and matched with the original soundtrack. The BBC has yet to confirm or deny this, but if it turns out to be true I think my head may explode.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/10468931/Missing-episodes-of-Doctor-Who-serial-Marco-Polo-rumoured-to-have-been-found.html

I'm currently rereading John Lucarotti's novel of Marco Polo and it's fantastic. Of all the stories that are still missing, this is probably the one I'd most like to see recovered. So let's hope the rumours are true. If they are, it would be the best 50th anniversary gift to the fans imaginable. 

[BatmAngelus]

I'll keep your thoughts in mind when I watch it tonight, SN (I'm already wearing my William Hartnell shirt in preparation).  I'm glad to hear that it was good for the most part and at least kept true to how Hartnell was really like.  I love the production stills I've seen and it's trippy for me to go from watching The Web Planet a few months ago to seeing Hartnell and the Menoptera recreated with a modern cast and in color.

The worst story this week, in my opinion, was easily Human Resources. I listened to the first 50 minute episode, but I really can't be bothered listening to the second. It just didn't capture my interest at all. Which is a shame, because McGann has had some terrific audio dramas.

I actually own this story, as part of the full Season 1 package of Eighth Doctor Adventures, and it's definitely another poor choice to broadcast.  The story's much weaker than the previous episodes.  Phobos and Immortal Beloved come to mind as a couple stronger choices from Season 1 they could've used.  HR was only worth listening to because it provided answers to the Lucie Miller mystery and introduced Straxus, who's a recurring Time Lord via different actors/incarnations. 

Peter Egan, the radio announcer in Protect and Survive, played a later incarnation in Dark Eyes and had a fantastic scene in the opening with McGann (that was more memorable than any moment in Human Resources), while Oliver Hume is apparently playing another incarnation of Straxus in The Light at the End.

Since they didn't air any of the previous Lucie Miller stories or later Straxus stories, it's still a bad choice.   I know they're airing the two-part Season 4 finale, Lucie Miller and To the Death, this weekend.  I haven't heard those yet.  I've heard they're really good, so I expect them to be much better than Human Resources. 

But considering it features a variety of companions previously introduced in other audios (i.e. on top of Lucie, there's Tamsin.  Then there's Alex, who was introduced in An Earthly Child), it hardly seems like the best selection of Eighth Doctor stories for people to follow.  I'm betting a majority of the audience probably haven't heard those other adventures before.  Hell, I haven't even heard all the Lucie ones or the ones with Tamsin and Alex yet.  The only ones familiar with those aspects are people who already know the Big Finish adventures. 

Isn't the point of all this just to broadcast good Doctor Who stories, with the potential of getting new customers interested in buying the Big Finish audios?  Why broadcast stories that are not only continuity-dependent but also aren't even the best BF productions?

They really should have aired Storm Warning this week since that was the first Eighth Doctor audio adventure.  With The Night of the Doctor reigniting interest in McGann's incarnation and referencing Charley Pollard, it'd be the perfect jumping off point to get people interested in buying more of the adventures of Eight and Charley on the Big Finish site.  Another missed opportunity.

As for Marco Polo, this would be another great thing for the 50th Anniversary.  What better way to top off this year than to recover one of the first stories for the First Doctor? 

I feel extremely fortunate to live at a time where most of the stories are out on DVD and easily accessible to rent on Netflix, while the lost stories are either being found, like the Troughton ones, or are being reconstructed in animation.

[BatmAngelus]

I've just finished An Adventure in Space and Time.  While I enjoyed it, I agree with SN that it could've been so much more.

I didn't like the cameo from Matt Smith towards the end. I understand what it was meant to symbolise, but it just felt jarring to me.

I'm a fan of the actor, but I do admit that his inclusion felt a little out of place and, as you said, jarring.  When I first heard about this, I felt mixed.  While I get what they were saying at the end, I feel as if Hartnell's meeting with Troughton made the same point.

Brian Cox wasn't very convincing as a Canadian, and both he and Gatiss portrayed Newman with such broad strokes that the character came across as something of a stereotype rather than a nuanced depiction of the real man.

I agree.  From the documentary featurettes I've seen, I didn't get the impression that Newman acted like this.   Things like him sucking up to Hartnell during the pilot filming or threatening to fire Verity over the Daleks (did that actually happen?) felt like too much.  I'd have preferred more moments, like his "What do I know?" scene with Verity after the Daleks premiered or his "I'm sorry" to Hartnell towards the end.  Still tough, but less stereotypical Hollywood producer.  Instead, some of his scenes, especially towards the end when replacing Hartnell with Troughton, made him seem heartless.

I feel like the lunch scene with him threatening to fire Verity and Waris walked the fine line the best, probably because that anecdote is so well known by Who historians.  (I was fortunate enough, at Gallifrey One last year, to see a panel where Waris Hussein shared this story.)

The depiction of the show's creation was a bit melodramatic and predictable (the progressive woman producer rising up against the stuffy chauvinistic boy's club of the old BBC). But the programme was on surer ground once the emphasis shifted onto Hartnell.

I also don't get why they emphasized Verity not getting along with Rex Tucker upon their first meeting, only for him to leave the movie immediately afterwards.

On the subject of Lambert, I really wish they covered more about Verity's decision about leaving Doctor Who.  She's established to be so tied into the show, but then, suddenly, she brings up to Mrs. Hartnell that she's leaving!  If they explored her reasons, this would've made those scenes more dramatic, in my opinion.

I was also slightly annoyed by some inaccuracies that jumped out at me, though I understand why Gatiss made the changes.  For example, there's no way kids were saying "Exterminate!" after the Daleks premiered since the Daleks didn't even say that until a later story.  However, I totally get why it was done.  What better way to show the impact on the kids than have them recite the Daleks' now-famous motto?

The other one was the release of the Doctor Who Annual, which, in the movie, Hartnell looks over while in costume for The Reign of Terror. 

The annual, however, didn't come out until well after that story.  The reason I know this is because a pdf version was attached to The Web Planet DVD (a much later adventure) and has a short story about the Doctor returning to the planet and encountering the Zarbi again. 

Again, though, I see why they did this.  They wanted to foreshadow Hartnell's eventual departure and it wouldn't have had as much impact if the scene happened directly after Verity left (after the Web Planet filming).

I liked the casting for the most part.  I enjoyed William Russell's cameo, but thought Carole Ann Ford deserved better.  It's ironic that the biopic touches on her desire to do more than just yell onscreen...and yet it makes Ford do the same thing herself later!

Reece Shearsmith did okay as Troughton, but looked too young to me (even though I know he's only a couple years younger than Troughton was at the time).

I wish they did more with Delia Derbyshire.  She had such a major role in some of DW's most iconic elements and here she had only one line!

Another minor complaint, casting-wise- couldn't they have gotten someone to look more like Peter Purvis?  Especially since all he'd need to do is smile at a camera for a few seconds.  Oh well.

The real life interview footage that followed the programme was a nice touch too.

Dammit.  The BBC America version had no such follow-up.   

A few links you might enjoy if you haven't seen them already. 
A BTS look at An Adventure in Space and Time: http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/behind-the-scenes-of-an-adventure-in-space-and-time-55868.htm
I THOUGHT I recognized Jean Marsh and Anneke Wills in the crowd singing to Verity.

The fact that, at one point, Gatiss was playing Pertwee for a Three Doctors segment makes me wonder if there was an extended ending, covering Hartnell getting to revisit the role one last time.  Part of me is kind of glad it didn't happen.  As much as I like Gatiss as Mycroft in Sherlock, he doesn't fit Pertwee in my mind.

Also, here's the full scene reconstructions of the famous DW moments.  I was a bit disappointed in the movie that we didn't see a full on close-up of Bradley doing the farewell speech to Susan, but I'm glad it was shot like this to be shown online (though in watching it, I do wish Bradley had stuck a little closer to how Hartnell recited it):
http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/an-adventure-in-space-and-time-bonus-reconstruction-scenes-55907.htm

[Silver Nemesis]

Since they didn't air any of the previous Lucie Miller stories or later Straxus stories, it's still a bad choice.   I know they're airing the two-part Season 4 finale, Lucie Miller and To the Death, this weekend.  I haven't heard those yet.  I've heard they're really good, so I expect them to be much better than Human Resources. 

I feel very out of touch with the mythology from these plays. It sounds like there's a lot of back story. I hope I'll be able to understand Lucie Miller and To the Death.

They really should have aired Storm Warning this week since that was the first Eighth Doctor audio adventure.  With The Night of the Doctor reigniting interest in McGann's incarnation and referencing Charley Pollard, it'd be the perfect jumping off point to get people interested in buying more of the adventures of Eight and Charley on the Big Finish site.  Another missed opportunity.

Storm Warning would indeed have been perfect. I love that adventure. Great setting, great atmosphere. And it requires no previous knowledge of the mythology. Then they could have followed it up with some of the other Eighth Doctor/Charley stories like Sword of Orion and The Chimes of Midnight.

Have you listened to The Light at the End yet? My copy hasn't arrived. I originally ordered it off Amazon over a week ago, but their delivery estimate wasn't until next week. So I cancelled my order and bought it directly from Big Finish. But now they're telling me to wait up to a month for delivery. Oh well, I'll get it eventually. Maybe you could give me your spoiler-free review after you've listened to it. Let me know if it's any good.

I feel extremely fortunate to live at a time where most of the stories are out on DVD and easily accessible to rent on Netflix, while the lost stories are either being found, like the Troughton ones, or are being reconstructed in animation.

I know what you mean. It's a great time to be a fan of these early adventures. With classic "missing" serials being recovered (please let the rumours about Marco Polo be true!), newly animated versions of the lost episodes, brand new DVD features, and fresh audio dramas starring surviving cast members, it's like the sixties era has been given a new lease of life. Speaking of which, who's looking forward to seeing The Enemy of the World when it's released on DVD next week? It'll be the first new "classic" Who story I've seen in ten years. I can't wait.

Things like him sucking up to Hartnell during the pilot filming or threatening to fire Verity over the Daleks (did that actually happen?) felt like too much.

Newman was unhappy with the Daleks, but his aversion to B.E.M.s stemmed largely from a report written by John Braybon and Alice Frick, dated July 25th 1962. The document was directed to Donald Wilson, the head of serial drama at the BBC, as a guideline on how to approach science fiction programming. The number one rule was: "They do not include Bug-Eyed Monsters." They even used the abbreviation B.E.M. elsewhere in the document. So Newman's hostility towards such things was not simply a matter of personal taste, as the docudrama would suggest, but rather a reflection of departmental policy.

The show was under threat of cancellation during the first thirteen episode block, but I don't recall reading anything about Newman threatening to fire/demote Lambert over the Daleks. The whole "kill Doctor Who" bit was terribly melodramatic.

If you want a really good source of information on sixties era Doctor Who, there's one book I can't recommend highly enough: Doctor Who: The Sixties by David J Howe, Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker. I'm not sure if it's still in print, but if you can find a second-hand copy for a decent price it's well worth the purchase. It features biographical information on all the actors, writers, directors, producers, composers, etc. It contains behind-the-scenes accounts from people who worked on the show, information about the unproduced stories, production art, and even the original character outlines (the Doctor was originally meant to be a human from the year 5733, and the TARDIS featured a lock that prevented it from travelling beyond that point in time). It's full of interesting images, including several photos that show you what the sets and costumes looked like in colour. It also covers the two Doctor Who movies and all the merchandise from that era. Similar books were produced for the seventies and eighties eras of the show, but I found the sixties book the most interesting.

I'd have preferred more moments, like his "What do I know?" scene with Verity after the Daleks premiered or his "I'm sorry" to Hartnell towards the end.  Still tough, but less stereotypical Hollywood producer.  Instead, some of his scenes, especially towards the end when replacing Hartnell with Troughton, made him seem heartless.

Agreed. I think you phrased it better than I did, but that's what I was getting at. The whole cigar-chomping Hollywood producer stereotype seemed a little lazy and inauthentic.

I feel like the lunch scene with him threatening to fire Verity and Waris walked the fine line the best, probably because that anecdote is so well known by Who historians.  (I was fortunate enough, at Gallifrey One last year, to see a panel where Waris Hussein shared this story.)

I didn't know Hussein attended conventions. I've got even more respect for him after reading his criticism of the new series:

"There is an element now, and I know we're living in a different era, of sexuality that has crept in," he said. "The intriguing thing about the original person was that you never quite knew about him and there was a mystery and an unavailability about him."

The 74-year-old pointed out that Smith and Coleman shared an on-screen kiss in last year's Christmas special 'The Snowmen'. "Now we've just had a recent rebirth and another girl has joined us, a companion, she actually snogged him," he added.

Hussein said that he favours an "unavailable" Doctor, like the character of Sherlock Holmes, adding: "Why bring in this element, when in fact you needn't have it there?"

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a471052/original-doctor-who-director-criticises-new-series-its-too-sexy.html

Well said, sir.

I was also slightly annoyed by some inaccuracies that jumped out at me, though I understand why Gatiss made the changes.  For example, there's no way kids were saying "Exterminate!" after the Daleks premiered since the Daleks didn't even say that until a later story.

That didn't actually occur to me, but well spotted.

The other one was the release of the Doctor Who Annual, which, in the movie, Hartnell looks over while in costume for The Reign of Terror.

The annual, however, didn't come out until well after that story.  The reason I know this is because a pdf version was attached to The Web Planet DVD (a much later adventure) and has a short story about the Doctor returning to the planet and encountering the Zarbi again. 

Quite right. The Reign of Terror was broadcast between August and September 1964, and the episodes would have been recorded about three or four weeks prior to the transmission date. The first Doctor Who Annual – the one featured in the docudrama – went on sale in September 1965. So we're talking a whole year's difference here.

Maybe Matt Smith brought it back in time with him and left it lying around the set.  That whole moment just didn't ring right for me. It felt like a plug for the new series, and it drew attention away from Hartnell during a scene where he needed to remain the focus. If they wanted to have him looking into the show's future, couldn't they have shown all of the Doctors appearing in succession? Or if that was too difficult on a technical level, how about simply having him hear their voices speaking lines from classic stories?

I agree with Carney's sentiment that her grandfather would have been proud to see the character enduring after all these years. But I'm also fairly certain Hartnell would have despised what the show has become. If he'd really been able to look into the future and see what modern Who was like, I suspect he would have been mortified. Instead of smiling at Smith sentimentally, he probably would have punched his lights out.

By the way, the interview footage with Hartnell that was featured in the documentary after the film (the documentary was only about four minutes long) is apparently included as an extra on The Tenth Planet DVD. I think it's the only interview footage of Hartnell I've ever seen.

I liked the casting for the most part.  I enjoyed William Russell's cameo, but thought Carole Ann Ford deserved better.  It's ironic that the biopic touches on her desire to do more than just yell onscreen...and yet it makes Ford do the same thing herself later!

I didn't spot Ford's cameo when I watched it. I spotted Russell, Wills and Marsh, but Ford and Mark Eden slipped me by.

I wish they did more with Delia Derbyshire.  She had such a major role in some of DW's most iconic elements and here she had only one line!

Yes, she should have featured more prominently. They also should have given Raymond Cusick a head's up during the sequence about the Daleks. He passed away earlier this year, so it would have been an appropriate tribute.

Another minor complaint, casting-wise- couldn't they have gotten someone to look more like Peter Purvis?  Especially since all he'd need to do is smile at a camera for a few seconds.  Oh well.

Tell me about it. And the actress playing Maureen O'Brien looked almost as tall as William Russell! Was it really so difficult to find lookalikes for these small nonspeaking roles? I also thought Reese Shearsmith was miscast as Troughton. He looked and sounded nothing like him, and his impersonation seemed to be based on the Second Doctor rather than Troughton himself.

One more peeve I have is that I felt they overplayed Hartnell's vulnerability. Based on this film, you'd think he spent his entire tenure on the show hallucinating and staring off into the distance in bemusement. Yes, he had health problems. And those grew worse as the years progressed. But he was also a very capable actor and I think the film should have highlighted his professional strengths a little more prominently, in addition to his weaknesses.

But overall, I thought it was good. It reminded me a lot of Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt. But while that film was played for laughs and camp value, An Adventure in Space and Time was geared more towards sentimentality and melodrama. Its heart was in the right place, and I think they captured the essence of Hartnell accurately. So overall I was happy with it.

By the way, have you heard about The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot? I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's on tonight. It's some sort of special celebration made by some of the classic Doctors who weren't included in the 50th anniversary story. Apparently Sean Pertwee's involved. Could he be playing the Third Doctor?

http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/the-fish-dr-revealed-the-fiveish-doctors-reboot-55789.htm

I wonder what it is...

[BatmAngelus]

Have you listened to The Light at the End yet? My copy hasn't arrived. I originally ordered it off Amazon over a week ago, but their delivery estimate wasn't until next week. So I cancelled my order and bought it directly from Big Finish. But now they're telling me to wait up to a month for delivery. Oh well, I'll get it eventually. Maybe you could give me your spoiler-free review after you've listened to it. Let me know if it's any good.

I'm sorry to hear this, BUT if you ordered the physical CD from the Big Finish website like I did (I went as far as getting the Limited Edition version), they SHOULD allow you to download a digital copy off their site.  Here's what I got from the receipt:

If you have purchased one of our audio adventures on CD and that audio is available as a download, this will be made available to you FOR FREE! Simply log in to the "My Account" section of the site to access these and all your downloads.

Which means you can listen to it now!

I haven't heard it yet.  I'm doing that tonight after I watch Day of the Doctor, but I'll be sure to pop back in here with my thoughts.

That whole moment just didn't ring right for me. It felt like a plug for the new series, and it drew attention away from Hartnell during a scene where he needed to remain the focus. If they wanted to have him looking into the show's future, couldn't they have shown all of the Doctors appearing in succession? Or if that was too difficult on a technical level, how about simply having him hear their voices speaking lines from classic stories?

After thinking it over, I believe the big dramatic problem with the ending is that the audience has been siding with Hartnell this whole time.  When we get to those scenes, we view the regeneration and recasting as tragic.  We don't want it to happen.  We don't want to see Troughton or anyone else replacing him, even though we know it's what really happened. 

So to have him suddenly come to terms with leaving the show, due to seeing a couple of the future actors who'll take his place, just doesn't feel right.

I think a better way to have illustrated the "future of Doctor Who" point would've been if they had Hartnell recognizing the show's impact on children, like his granddaughter and future generations, and explored him coming to terms with the fact that the show must go on, for their sake.

In other words, don't show any of the future actors like Troughton and Smith.  Instead, use the fans and the children (who were already part of the biopic's story) to make this point.  In real life, the children were the ones who really brought him joy anyway. 

I think we all would've bought Hartnell smiling sentimentally at the thought of them, instead of at any of the actors who took over his job.

By the way, the interview footage with Hartnell that was featured in the documentary after the film (the documentary was only about four minutes long) is apparently included as an extra on The Tenth Planet DVD. I think it's the only interview footage of Hartnell I've ever seen.

Aha, I'll check this out when I get to the Tenth Planet.

One more peeve I have is that I felt they overplayed Hartnell's vulnerability. Based on this film, you'd think he spent his entire tenure on the show hallucinating and staring off into the distance in bemusement. Yes, he had health problems. And those grew worse as the years progressed. But he was also a very capable actor and I think the film should have highlighted his professional strengths a little more prominently, in addition to his weaknesses.

Now that you mention it, I do agree with this.  The film had more moments of Hartnell messing up on camera than moments of him nailing it or proving why he became so beloved as the Doctor.  If they had more of the latter, it would've made his faltering moments more heartbreaking and emotional, as opposed to "Oh, he's messing up again."  I would've loved to have seen more reenacted scenes of his finer moments, like Hartnell appearing from out of the Dalek in The Space Museum or any moment from The Romans (neither of which were covered, though I didn't expect them to be able to show filming for every episode).  Throw in some additional footage of audiences at home, laughing and enjoying his performance.  There was a bit of this in showing the families watching the Daleks, but this felt more like they were watching it for the Daleks than for Hartnell.

By the way, have you heard about The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot? I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's on tonight. It's some sort of special celebration made by some of the classic Doctors who weren't included in the 50th anniversary story. Apparently Sean Pertwee's involved. Could he be playing the Third Doctor?

http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/the-fish-dr-revealed-the-fiveish-doctors-reboot-55789.htm

I wonder what it is...

I know only a little more than you do.  From what I understand, Peter Davison wrote and directed it as a comedy sketch with five Doctor actors- Davison, Colin Baker, McCoy, McGann, and Tennant- playing themselves, and apparently Sean Pertwee and Olivia Coleman thrown in the mix.  I'm not sure what else is there, but speculation is that it's about the four Classic Doctor actors trying to get in on the 50th Anniversary special (and hijack it from Tennant?).

Of course, I could turn out to be way off base on this.  We'll see soon, won't we?

[johnnygobbs]

I know only a little more than you do.  From what I understand, Peter Davison wrote and directed it as a comedy sketch with five Doctor actors- Davison, Colin Baker, McCoy, McGann, and Tennant- playing themselves, and apparently Sean Pertwee and Olivia Coleman thrown in the mix.  I'm not sure what else is there, but speculation is that it's about the four Classic Doctor actors trying to get in on the 50th Anniversary special (and hijack it from Tennant?).

Of course, I could turn out to be way off base on this.  We'll see soon, won't we?

A certain blockbuster movie franchise director and a knighted top English actor/comic-book movie star also make an appearance.  The latter has a particularly hilarious piece of dialogue.

Surprisingly it's a very funny piece and makes up, for me at least, for the absence of Messers Davison, C Baker, McCoy and McGann from the 50th anniversary episode (unless you include archive footage/a dodgy CGI-looking climactic assembly of the twelve (?), including Hurt, Doctors at the end.

Also, I have to say even as somebody who isn't a massive fan of 'The Doctor' I rather enjoyed the 50th anniversary episode and the Professor Brian Cox 'The Science of Doctor Who' lecture from last week.  But best of all, especially for a TV history buff like me was the 'An Adventure in Time and Space' special featuring a particularly poignant performance from David Bradley (who's having a heck of a late bloom in his career with great performances in "Game of Thrones", as a Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Nick Frost regular, and as Argus Filch in "Harry Potter", not to mention his beautifully understated performance in 'Another Year' a few years back alongside his 'An Adventure...Space' co-star Lesley Manville).  The scene where Verity Lambert (Jessica Raine) comforted a nervous and vulnerable William Hartnell (Bradley) during the shooting of the first episode was particularly touching in view of the initial curmudgeonly image he seemed to project.  I truly hope Bradley's performance is recognised by Bafta and/or other acting award-giving institutions.

[Silver Nemesis]

I think a better way to have illustrated the "future of Doctor Who" point would've been if they had Hartnell recognizing the show's impact on children, like his granddaughter and future generations, and explored him coming to terms with the fact that the show must go on, for their sake.

In other words, don't show any of the future actors like Troughton and Smith.  Instead, use the fans and the children (who were already part of the biopic's story) to make this point.  In real life, the children were the ones who really brought him joy anyway.

I think we all would've bought Hartnell smiling sentimentally at the thought of them, instead of at any of the actors who took over his job.

I agree, that would have been much better. I think Gatiss misjudged the scene.

Have you listened to The Light at the End yet? My copy hasn't arrived. I originally ordered it off Amazon over a week ago, but their delivery estimate wasn't until next week. So I cancelled my order and bought it directly from Big Finish. But now they're telling me to wait up to a month for delivery. Oh well, I'll get it eventually. Maybe you could give me your spoiler-free review after you've listened to it. Let me know if it's any good.

I'm sorry to hear this, BUT if you ordered the physical CD from the Big Finish website like I did (I went as far as getting the Limited Edition version), they SHOULD allow you to download a digital copy off their site.  Here's what I got from the receipt:

If you have purchased one of our audio adventures on CD and that audio is available as a download, this will be made available to you FOR FREE! Simply log in to the "My Account" section of the site to access these and all your downloads.

Which means you can listen to it now!

Aha! That serves me right for not scrolling down the email. Thanks for tipping me off about this. I wouldn't have realised otherwise. I was able to download it and listen to the first episode yesterday, and I've just listened to the second episode today. I was also able to listen to the last three episodes of Russell's reading of The Daleks yesterday and I watched the first episode of An Unearthly Child in the evening.

And... I watched The Day of the Doctor. I learned you-know-who was making an appearance as the curator, so I had to see it. I've got to be honest, as much as I dislike the new series, this story really wasn't bad at all. In fact I'd say it's the best episode I've seen from the BBC Wales series. I liked that they included Kate Lethbridge-Stewart from the spinoff Downtime (1995). And it was good to see the Zygons return, although they weren't as frightening as they were in Terror of the Zygons. I also liked the fact they undid the destruction of Gallifrey, which was a plot point I always hated in the new series. It's about time they rectified that mistake. And of course the appearance by him was the icing on the cake. What better way to celebrate the anniversary than to see the greatest living Doctor return to our screens?

Moving on to The Light at the End, I enjoyed it a lot. My only criticism is that I sometimes found it difficult to distinguish between the voices of the first three Doctors during the scenes where they were conversing with one another. I thought the actors playing them, while not sounding exactly like the originals, nevertheless did a good job of representing them. But it was sometimes hard to tell them apart. Even so, I appreciate that they made the effort to include the first three Doctors. It made the story feel more complete. And having William Russell involved created a link with the very first episode back in 1963; something that was lacking from The Day of the Doctor.

The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot was quite entertaining. I've met Davison, C Baker and McCoy, and they're all thoroughly nice blokes. So it's good to see them getting some of the limelight again.

And that pretty much covers Doctor Who's 50th anniversary. Of course it's not quite over yet. We've still got one more audio drama this evening, plus a week to catch up with those episodes we may have missed. And tomorrow, finally, The Enemy of the World is getting released on DVD. And for me that's probably the most exciting event of all.

However, there are a couple of things I haven't liked about the 50th anniversary. One is the overabundance of celebrity recollections. More or less every television or radio programme on the subject has been crammed full of z-list celebrities sharing their fond memories of the series. I don't remember any previous anniversary placing such a big emphasis on celebrity reactions to the show. Where were all these so-called fans during the wilderness years when us real fans were campaigning to get the series back on TV? Why are they only expressing their "love" for the show now that it's a big success again? Sorry to sound cynical, but I haven't seen a single nonfiction programme this anniversary that comes close to classic documentaries like More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS or The Doctors - 30 Years Of Time Travel And Beyond.

I also feel that one particular Doctor was largely overlooked during the celebrations. And I'm not talking about Cushing.

The new Doctors have all been interviewed on various TV shows, as well as featuring in The Day of the Doctor.

McGann starred in The Night of the Doctor mini episode, had three of his stories broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra, and also appeared in The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot and The Light at the End audio drama.

Davison, Colin Baker and McCoy all appeared in The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot and The Light at the End. They've all also been appearing on various TV shows commemorating the anniversary, and Davison and McCoy have had some of their stories broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Tom Baker appeared in The Light at the End and The Day of the Doctor, and he's been interviewed quite a bit on television over the past few days.

Troughton's gotten a lot of press coverage in the past few months owing to the recent recovery of two of his stories, one of which is getting a much hyped DVD release tomorrow. He's also received considerable praise from the other Doctor Who actors during interviews for the anniversary programmes.

Hartnell's been the subject of an acclaimed docudrama, An Unearthly Child was repeated on BBC Four, and three of his stories have been read on BBC Radio 4 Extra in the past week.

But where was Pertwee? All the new documentaries I've seen seemed to gloss over his era fairly quickly. Granted, Pertwee himself, Barry Letts, Caroline John, Roger Delgado, Nicholas Courtney and Elisabeth Sladen have all passed away, and consequently there aren't many people left from that era to share their memories of it. But couldn't they have repeated one of his radio plays or book readings? Couldn't they have shown some of his television serials, or perhaps produced a small documentary to celebrate his time on the show?

Back in 1993 Pertwee was everywhere. He appeared in all the documentaries and spinoffs from that year, had one of his serials repeated in a primetime evening slot, showed up on lots of chat shows, and introduced the first episode of Dimensions in Time on Children in Need Night. He played the Doctor for five years and amassed the third highest number of episodes of any Doctor, after Tom Baker and Bill Hartnell. I just wish there'd been something this anniversary to highlight his contribution to the franchise. I didn't feel his presence at all, and I missed him.