Return of the Doctor
- Publication: The Courier & Advertiser
- Date: 1990-09-01
- Author:
- Page: 12
- Language: English
WHAT WERE you doing when you heard that President Kennedy had been assassinated? The question was on a thousand liberal lips in the sixties.
Well, if you are of a certain vintage, the answer could well be that you were awaiting the start of the first ever edition of a programme that has regenerated almost as much as the Kennedy clan themselves-Dr Who.
The debut of the Doctor took place on November 23, 1963 the day after the death of the president, and such was the trauma of the Dallas shooting that the transmission was reshuffled into the schedules at a later time, nudged out by updates from the United States.
From such an inauspicious start did a British institution grow and, 27 years on, words like "Dalek" and "Tardis" are part of the vocabulary.
Even when the show is off the air, Dr Who fanzines, novels, models and hit records like "Doctoring the Tardis" keep the faith amongst the programme's substantial cult following.
Now devotees of the Doctor can take a Tardis trip through the time warp when a whole series of adventures from the early days of the show are broadcast later on this year to celebrate its anniversary.
Rather neatly the idea of a "Dr Who weekend" combines the dimensions of time (revisiting past episodes) and space, since the venture is being brought to Earth via satellite television.
Its launch was announced, at Marcopolo House, a futuristic building that would make a fitting temple for any Time Lord.
Its smooth floors and gliding lifts would provide balm for even the most tottering Dalek and, sure enough, there were a couple of them over in the corner hob-nobbing with a pair of silver suited Cybermen. Fortunately, they seemed to be keeping their megolamania to themselves for once!
Elsewhere, groups of Who acolytes were comparing notes on Who landmarks.
Apparently it was quite a coincidence that the launching-pad for the Dr Who weekend was Marcopolo House, since there had been a story line about Marco Polo in the first season of the show.
And out of the window, over there-wasn't that Battersea Power Station which had lost one of its chimneys during bombardment in "The Dalek Invasion of Earth?"
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- APA 6th ed.: (1990-09-01). Return of the Doctor. The Courier & Advertiser p. 12.
- MLA 7th ed.: "Return of the Doctor." The Courier & Advertiser [add city] 1990-09-01, 12. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: "Return of the Doctor." The Courier & Advertiser, edition, sec., 1990-09-01
- Turabian: "Return of the Doctor." The Courier & Advertiser, 1990-09-01, section, 12 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Return of the Doctor | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Return_of_the_Doctor | work=The Courier & Advertiser | pages=12 | date=1990-09-01 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=13 May 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Return of the Doctor | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Return_of_the_Doctor | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=13 May 2025}}</ref>
