A New Discovery of Old - Guest Post -

The new discovery of an old era by Neil Baird

 

When Doctor Who was only on TV via UK Gold, I watched the series constantly and barring certain stories such as the Dalek serials, saw from Tom Baker's first to Sylvester McCoy's last several times. This was the time when I became a true fan of the series.

Then after many, many months, Jon Pertwee's era was added to the run. I was delighted. Another part of Who's long history was opened up to me. But I always knew there was an era of this wonderful show that was denied to me and that was the black and white era of Doctor Who.

 

Those years of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton were, to me, never to be seen. Due to the sadly many missing episodes/stories, and the haphazard continuity showing the surviving stories would cause, the Hartnell and Troughton stories were rarely, if ever, to my knowledge, shown on UK Gold or mainstream BBC.

I had enjoyed the glimpses of this era in the later stories such as 'Mawdryn Undead' and Patrick Troughton in the Multi Doctor Adventures he appeared in always enthralled me, but I really wanted to see him and William in their own times as it were.

As the audio releases of 'lost stories' came out I snapped them up. Then I finally saw a Hartnell story. 'The Time Meddler'. What a wonderful two hours of TV it was. I adored it. and wanted more!

When my mum went on a trip to London, I begged her to buy me a black and white Doctor Who video and she did. She brought back 'An Unearthly Child'.

I watched it that night and that first episode just transfixed me, as I know it did to viewers in 1963. I had fallen in love with this era.

 

The DVD releases have steadily come out over the last few years and I have always been keener to get one if it is an unseen (to me) black and white story.

Across the special features of the DVDs I already had there were often clips of the Hartnell/Troughton era, and to sit and watch a full, never seen before story (to me) is always a pleasure and a joy. Even in 2013 I'm still discovering these black and white Doctor Who adventures.

To see again a black and white story broadcast all those years ago. There is always something so magical about them. It saddens me to see modern day Doctor Who fans ignore these classics despite clips and images used in the current series. William Hartnell was in the first Matt Smith series four times! So I say embrace them. These stories are the groundwork for the modern episodes we see today. I understand to some used to the fast paced, over in 45 minutes series, that these black and white stories are slower and can take up to three hours to tell.

But don't ignore them. Some of the best stories and most remembered cliffhangers of Who history are there. It is no less shocking to see the Doctor or a companion in danger, or the reveal of a monster in simple black and white. The Dalek rising from the Thames or the Cybermen breaking out from their tombs would not be half as scary in colour.

 

So the next time you get the chance to watch a Doctor Who, give a classic black and white story another chance. The magic of the police box with the most beautiful, timeless and iconic inside is no less wonderful in monochrome.

Join the journey from a junkyard in London 1963 to our hero forced by his own people into changing. You never know. You might find yourself a gem or two. I did.

Neil Baird, 2012

 

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For more stories on how Doctor Who can change lives, check out these links:

 

- Thank You Doctor Who!

 

- How I Became a Doctor Who Fan

 

Everything I Learned In life, I Got From Doctor Who:

- #1 Talk To Strangers

- #2 Tea Is The Best

- #3 Be Yourself

- #4 Eat Jelly Babies

 

 

LORDI - The Riff

So, Lordi's latest album, 'To Beast or Not To Beast', hit the shelves last week, and now we have a fantastic new video from them, for their first single, 'The Riff'.

The video bears absolutely no relation to the song lyrics at all, centering around a half-naked woman shopping for toilet roll, in a supermarket crawling with zombies. Lordi themselves are performing in the supermarket in a ring of bog roll, while behind the scenes a bizarre chef man-handles bloody body parts.

It's a great video because it shows just how little Lordi care about the general opinion of their band. They aren't afraid to do a video that is so silly it's bordering on self-parody, whilst at the same time featuring much more blood than ever before in a Lordi music video.

It also has the heroine of the piece decapitating a zombie with a shopping basket, containing - yes, you guessed it - a roll of toilet paper.

As much as I enjoyed their feature-length 'Dark Floors' movie, I can't help but wonder if Lordi's film would have been much more fun with this level of randomness!

Enjoy....

 

 

 

 

- Artwork-

For the first time ever, I have had one of my pieces of writing illustrated. Here is a picture, and a link to the website of Lisa Statham, who has a style all of her own!

She has brought one of my own favourite poems, 'Lilies' to beautiful life here. Due to page constraints, the image is small, but on Lisa's site it is much bigger!

I am very happy with what she has done with this, and hope to collaborate again in the future!

Check out Lisa's other beautiful creations here: http://lisastatham.co.uk/

Buy my poetry anthology here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/232615

GUEST POST - Thank You, Doctor Who! -

Over the course of the next few weeks/months/years/centuries (delete as applicable), I will be letting people guest-blog and be interviewed on this very site. Maybe. Or maybe not. And to start this brand new series that may or may not actually become a series is Mrs Evil herself, Tricia Hayes, who has written a rather sweet little piece about how Doctor Who led her to love. It isn't for the cold-hearted, as there is romance involved. It also highlights just how much Doctor Who can mean totally different things to different people. Everybody has their own unique relationship with the show, which is why there are such a diverse range of fans out there, and a massive variety of opinions and theories on the show. And that is brilliant.

But anyway, without further ado, here is my amazing girlfriend, talking about stuff. Enjoy!

The first episode of Doctor Who I saw was 'Rise of the Cybermen'. I didn't see it on its' original broadcast, but a few years later when BBC 3 started showing repeats of the television show that would change my life, in a way I never could have imagined.

I had seen the Paul McGann TV movie a few years before and had enjoyed that, so I'm not sure why I didn't watch the series when it returned in 2005. Then again, I guess everybody discovers Doctor Who in their own way! Anyhow, I started watching regularly from the repeats of 'Rise of the Cybermen and 'The Age of Steel' onwards, and it had me right from the opening credits. I started watching whenever I could, and the DVD Files helped me build up my knowledge of the earlier episodes I had missed, and fill in the gaps. I have been a fan ever since.

By now, I had seen four actors in the role of the Time Lord known only as the Doctor. McGann, Eccleston, Tennant, and Smith, but what about the other seven before them? Soon enough, I would get to experience stories from Doctor Who's past, as my life changed unexpectedly. Here is how it happened....

I joined Facebook in February 2012. I had never bothered or thought about it before, but it was the curiosity of signing up to the site that led me to a Doctor Who Page, and caused a series of events that would spiral out of control. I can't remember the name of the page I liked, but on it were lots of people moaning and complaining about various aspects of the show. And then, amongst all that, there was a lovely, positive comment from this chap called Cory John Eadson. It was so nice to see somebody with such an optimistic attitude, and I decided, rather nervously, to send him a friend request.

We became friends on Facebook in March, and if you are wondering how my life has changed since then, well, in just under four weeks time we will be celebrating our 10-month anniversary together as boyfriend and girlfriend. I live in Ireland at the moment, but I am writing this in a notepad in England, sat on Cory's bed surrounded by his amazing Doctor Who collection.

Doctor Who has changed my life in a way that I could never have imagined. It introduced me to my very own Time Lord, Cory John Eadson. I would never have thought, sitting down to watch 'Rise of the Cybermen', that a few years later I would be sitting in a different country with the love of my life. In fact, the very first time we met physically was when Matt Smith returned in 'Asylum of the Daleks', the first episode we watched together.

It is through Cory that I have a fondness for 'classic' Doctor Who. I was inspired to watch 'Remembrance of the Daleks' at home by Cory, and afterwards we had a little chat about it. He also had a star letter printed in Doctor Who Magazine, an article on Season 6B published in a fanzine (and HERE), and had done a great many short stories based on the Doctor, all of which deepened my interest for the old series. One of Cory's stories involved Eight regenerating into Nine in a different and original way to what actually is believed to have happened, and it was a beautiful piece that really fired up my imagination.

Cory has taken me on a great adventure through time and space, introducing me to every Doctor I hadn't seen before, many amazing episodes, and telling me things about the making of the show that I never knew.

Me and Cory have also had a great many adventures of our own, away from the escapades of the TARDIS, and I know we will continue to have them for Evermore. We might have met through Doctor Who, but it is because of us that our relationship is so strong, because of us that we are in love.

I am fond of Doctor Who, but I am in love with my Cory John Eadson. And I will be, forevermore.

Tricia Hayes, January 2012

 

 

LISTS! - A Beginner's Guide to Doctor Who -

Image by http://ferrlm.deviantart.com/

Seeing as it's Doctor Who's fiftieth anniversary year (in case you hadn't already noticed), I think now is a good time to reel in those people on the fence. You folk who watch it 'a little bit', who think it's 'ok'. Now is your chance to join the side of the Whovian, by watching these 11 television stories.

I have picked one story from each of the eleven Doctors so far, carefully selected for the inquisitive beginner. All of these serials are available on DVD, and after a marathon viewing, you may just open up your life to a world of jelly babies, long scarves and bow-ties!

1) The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964) – This is the second Dalek story, in which the metal meanies not only invade earth, but actually conquer it! Scary, tense, and in its' final moments, heart-breaking, The Dalek Invasion of Earth pre-dates the eerie 'Night of the Living Dead' movie by a few years with the deserted streets and lumbering, zombie-like Robomen, and sees William Hartnell bringing a new heroic rise to the character of the Doctor. The cliffhanger to the end of episode 1 is also absolutely stunning.

2) Tomb of the Cybermen (1967) – A creepy, claustrophobic adventure seasoned with moments of genuine hilarity at the hands of Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines, certainly one of the greatest Doctor/companion pairings of all time. This is one of the best Cyberman stories.

 

3) The Green Death (1973) – The one with the giant maggots. Scary, funny, camp, heart-breaking...a brilliant story with a strong exit for the Third Doctor's longest-running companion.

4) Genesis of the Daleks (1975) – A masterpiece. It is everything a Doctor Who story should be, and more. The regulars give sterling performances, but extra credit must be given to Peter Miles' cold realisation of Nyder, and Michael Wisher, the first actor to bring the Daleks' creator, Davros, to life. It was this story that cast me into the time vortex: 'How I Became a Doctor Who Fan: An Autobiographical Account of a Huge Obsession'

 

5) Kinda (1982) – A deep, beautiful story. Layered and slightly whimsical, it features collapsing sanity, possession, giant snakes, and a lavish jungle setting. One to make you think.

 

6) Revelation of the Daleks (1985) – A darkly humorous story from the 'violent era' of the show. It packs in references to cannibalism, necrophilia, incest, torture and alcoholism, and has the Doctor almost crushed by his own, giant headstone. The best Davros story since Genesis.

7) Battlefield (1989) – McCoy gives one of his best performances in this entertaining romp. He is at the top of his game in this tale of sword and sorcery. It also marks the last proper Doctor Who television adventure with the Brigadier, played by the late, great Nicholas Courtney.

 

8) The Movie (1996) – McGann's only TV story. A flawed, contrived plot and overly-Americanised elements can't detract from the shameless fun of this adventure. Paul McGann is excellent throughout!

 

9) Dalek (2005) – The Doctor comes face to face with his oldest enemy again in an underground base. Eccleston completely sells the Doctor's anger and fear of his arch nemesis, and takes the Time Lord to new, uneasy depths. The end is also surprisingly touching.

 

10) School Reunion (2006) – Elisabeth Sladen. 'Nuff said. I guarantee you will cry.

 

11) The Doctor's Wife (2011) – The TARDIS is personified, quite literally. A funny, beautiful love-letter to the show, penned by Neil Gaiman, this episode is brought stunningly to life with an endearing performance from Suranne Jones as Idris (the TARDIS), and some excellent set-design. A dark, whimsical adventure with a fairy-tale quality to it. Perfection.

 

All of these stories are available on DVD right now (!), so you have absolutely no excuse not to watch them. If anybody else has their own definitive 'Beginner's List', please feel free to share it!

 

 

Cory Eadson, 2013

And here is how Doctor Who can change your life...
- #1 Talk to Strangers
- #2 Tea is the Best
- #3 Be Yourself
- #4 Eat Jelly Babies

50 Reasons Why 'Time Crash' Is The Most Perfect 8 Minutes of 'Doctor Who' Ever

#8 "Does he still have that rubbish beard?"

The Doctor's arch nemesis, the Master, who has destroyed countless lives and planets over many centuries, is nevertheless the subject of some ridicule. The Tenth Doctor had just been aged beyond all recognition and locked inside a cage for a year, while the Master conquered the world, and yet in Time Crash the two Time Lords have no problem poking fun at him, as if he's just a minor niggle!

It's Five's 'beard' comment that I find the most telling. Imagine Davison's Doctor tied to a chair while a chuckling Ainley Master calmly explains his plans for Universal domination. Part of the Doctor is hastily concocting a plan in his mind to escape, while the other part of him is thinking, "Gosh, I wish the Master would have a bloody shave!".

More Moffat genius!

 

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For the complete list (SO FAR), click HERE!

 

What We Know About the Fiftieth Anniversary (So Far)

In case you hadn't noticed, this is Doctor Who's fiftieth anniversary. And, in true fan-style, speculation is rife about what will be happening between now and December. What we do know so far is that there will be a further 8 episodes that commence on the 30^th of March, concluding series 7. There will be at least one anniversary special for broadcast around November 23^rd. And there will be a 90-minute docu-drama based on the creation of the series back in 1963. We also know that both the Ice Warriors and the Cybermen are returning, that there will be a TARDIS-centric episode, and a tangled web of intrigue surrounding Clara. There will also be a Christmas special.

The 50^th anniversary special itself has garnered a fair bit of controversy, as it has been heavily rumoured that it will be a mere 60-minutes long. Note that I said 'rumour'. In fandom, rumours can either be very close to the truth, or as far from it as an Ice Warrior on the sun. Steven Moffat himself has told us not to believe this guff, and I trust him completely. He is a fantastic writer and exec-producer, and it's his vision that has given our favourite show a new lease of life.

So, you loathe the idea of a 3D episode? Well, watch it in 2D then! Angry about the rumours of a sole 60-minutes for the biggest episode in the series' history? Don't believe them! Hate Moffat's vision for the show? Watch something else!

I watch Doctor Who because I love it. I trust Moffat and everyone else at the BBC to bring us a year to remember. Let's stop worrying, and enjoy the ride! And if you're still not happy, there IS the Big Finish audio celebration to look forward to....