The Complete History of Dr. Who - part one

by our Sun TV Reporter

Although Doctor Who appeared regularly on radio during the war, the series was actually created for television by the famous science fiction author, Terry Nation in 1960. Many other more famous authors were invited to write for the new series including George Orwell following the success of his emmy award winning script for the 'Play For Today' series called 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' and set in the far future. 

Doctor Who’s main character was called “Dr.Who” and portrayed by the elderly actor William Hartnell who was then famous for his role in the sitcom 'Dad’s Army'. In the early episodes he was accompanied by three schoolteachers called Mr. Chesterfield, Mrs Wright and Miss Foreman - the latter being an alien superwoman in disguise!

In these early years, Dr.Who met many enemies including the evil Daleks who were evil computerised men from the planet Arso. The Daleks were very popular and spawned in their own television series, many episodes of which were destroyed by the BBC in the seventies because they didn’t have any cupboard space to put them in. Dr.Who also met many famous historical figures including the Irish explorer Mark O’Polo, Julius Caesar and Proffesor Van Helsing.

For a short while, William Hurndall left the role and was replaced by the horrific actor Peter Cushing because he started getting on a bit. Cushing’s episodes were eventually re-edited together and released as cinema films because he was famous at the time as a Dracula in the States.

When Hartnell eventually died, he was finally replaced by Patrick “Paddy” Troughton, who played the part as an obsessive Roman Catholic priest whose catchphrase - “You must drink the blood of Christ!” - became a national institution. Questions were often asked in Parliament about the series, it was that good!

When Troughton’s Dr.Who was killed off (after being impaled by a falling church spire), he was replaced again by the comedian John Pertwick who was then famous as an actor in the 'Confessions' films. Pertwilly’s first story was a big budget colour film made entirely on location and was later edited down into four episodes to be shown as a mini-series in 1970.

It was during the seventies that Dr.Who became stuck on Earth and joined MI5, whose chief was known only as “The Brigadier”. “He” sent Dr. Who on his various dangerous assignments against such adversaries as giant robot daffodils, the Yeti and, of course, the darleks.

to be continued

(Note: This is actually something I originally wrote for the fanzine 'FanGrok' way back in the nineties - before even Paul McGann became associated with "the best role in telly." I keep coming back to it now and again to update it. I'll post the rest of it - bringing it completely into the present - shortly.)

Great Unreleased Doctor Who Merchandise of the 20th Century - part one

THE DOCTOR WHO 5th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

Published by BBC Publication/Enterprises - 1968 - Original Price 9d

Most collectors are aware of the special magazines created for the tenth and twentieth anniversaries of Doctor Who by the BBC’s TV listings magazine Radio Times. It may come as a surprise to many of them that one was published to celebrate the fledgling show’s fifth year. For various reasons, lost in the mists of time, the magazine was only available in the south of England. The content appeared to have been put together by the regular Radio Times editorial team – there’s no credit for writers or editors – with little or no input from the Doctor Who production office. The text offers little insight into the series other than general synopses of the series so far up to and including “The Return of the Cybermen” – the then working title of “The Invasion”. There are many black and white pictures but given the usual quality of the Radio Times’ then printing on newsprint, some of them remain a mystery. Ironically, one showing the identities of the alien ambassadors from ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ is undermined by the fact that the caption is apparently for a collection of grey tones and a black smudge. Of most interest to modern Who historians though is the short story that sees the ‘original’ Doctor Who meet the ‘rejuvenated’ one. It was allegedly written by Doctor Who’s ‘creator’, Terry Nation but since it doesn’t feature any characters called Tarrant, this is open to debate.”

Venusian Akido Doctor!

I've always had a lot fun mocking up fake 'Doctor Who' merchandise as you have probably gather from the handful of previous posts. Normally they are simple photoshop mock-ups treated to look like the sort of photos you see on certain Ebay seller accounts.



But this little effort takes the 'Doctor Who' fakery to another level.

Love it. 

And made in in the UK apparently by a gentleman called Joshua.

The Man from THE SECOND HAND BOOKSHOP

Back in the 70s I used to frequent second hand bookshops. Indeed, there used to be a few in Derby where you could take your old paperbacks and exchange them for either a bit a cash or something new to get your teeth into. Certain books became very familiar in these places. Not necessarily because they were crap and unwanted but simply because there were dozens of them. The novels based on 'The Man from UNCLE regularly cropped up.

I have to say I ended up with a near complete set over the space of a few months simply by keeping my eyes open and having 10p or so spare in my pocket. To be honest, the novels themselves were often unreadable drivel based losely on the successful TV series. At the time, it wasn't a crime to produce merchandise that had little relevance to the brand it was part of. You only have to look at the Doctor Who annuals that World Distributors inflicted on kids each Christmas. But the best thing about the books were their often lurid titles - "The Stone Cold Dead in the Market Affair" is a classic.

Anyhow, this is a roundabout way of saying I was inspired to create some more 'Doctor Who' merchandise that has never been released. Last year I posted three covers for paperback books based on "The Men from UNIT" that bore more than a passing resemblance to those UNCLE novels. They were quite popular with my Facebook book friends and that nice Mark Gatiss fellow even tweeted me to say that he thought he had a set of them somewhere.

I've managed to dig around my loft and having failed to find anything of interest, I've knocked this complete set up just so I can say I now have the complete set. (You can click on the image to enlarge it) Sad to day that I failed to obtain the complete set of 'Man from UNCLE' books back in the 70s and I now only have one. I still haven't made it past the first chapter.



But I'm sure these little gems would be read and dog-eared by the end of the week.

Detective comics...

Remember back in the sixties and seventies, toy makers and book publishers jumped at the chance to produce anything connected to a popular TV show regardless of the show's demographic or content. Hence, the kids of those decade were afforded annuals and games based on the likes of such adult shows as 'Z Cars', 'The Sweeney' and 'The Professionals'. Looking back, it does seem odd if not immoral that a show like 'The Professionals' could spawn a kids merchandise bonanza but it did. 

What if modern detectives had their own comics aimed at the junior market?

Yeah, I know 'Murder She Wrote' might be a bit tame for seventies kids but what the heck?