Dr Who's Long Battle
- Publication: TV Scene
- Date: 1983-12-10
- Author:
- Page: 4
- Language: English
After 20 years of space-age adventures...
DR WHO'S LONG BATTLE
Twenty years ago two school teachers pushed their way into an old police telephone box standing in a London junkyard and found themselves face-to-face with an argumentative old man in a shabby black frockcoat.
Dr Who had arrived on earth from the planet Gallifrey ...
Two decades later, he's still the star of the longest-running and most popular science fiction series in the world.
As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, the five versions of Dr Who met at a special function in Chicago last month - Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Richard Hurndall, who was standing in for the late William Hartnell.
And, a special TV spectacular The Five Doctors, will be shown to Dr Who devotees around the world.
The 90-minute special program will be screened on ABC-TV on Tuesday, December 13 at 7.30 p.m.
Pride of place during all the celebrations goes to the doctor's most celebrated adversaries the sinister robot Daleks.
These pepperpot-shaped creatures were recently voted the most successful non-human TV stars of all time... and program planners intend to bring them back very soon!
As the bizarre cult which surrounds the program-now being screened in 35 countries keeps on growing, Terry Nation, its original creator, is still amazed at its success.
"The idea of the Daleks was the greatest stroke of luck in my entire career," he says. "It came to me at breakfast one day when I was fiddling with a pepperpot! "The shape looked promising on the drawing-board. But I never thought the show would have such a long life."
The twists of the series are avidly watched by a world-wide audience of 100 million.
The Dr Who Appreciation Society's Dick Landon says: "We're a very learned body. Ask us when the Doctor first said, 'There's a fluctose path forming on the periscarp' and we'll tell you!"
The fan club now has eight departments producing magazines and films and organising lectures for enthusiasts.
Spokesman Keith Barnfather says: "It will never end because if they run out of ideas for Dr Who, they'll have run out of ideas for TV altogether."
Being swept backwards and forwards in time as the good Doctor's assistant is one of the choicest roles on television. But a long list of actresses have quit, feeling the series restricted their career. The Dr Who tag clung too long, making offers of other parts hard to come by.
Maureen O'Brien, who played the time traveller's assistant, Vickie, for a year, says: "Looking back, it was fun, but I was out of work for a year after I left the series."
Carole Ann Ford, who appeared in the first program in 1963 and stayed on for two years as Dr Who's grand-daughter, had a similar problem.
"I found it hard to get work afterwards," she says. "I wanted to be a character actress, but I was typecast as Dr Who's little girl."
Dr Who himself has long had the power to assume a new body when the old one wears out. Which has proved convenient for the producers when the actors wanted to move on to other work.
John Nathan-Turner, producer of the series for the past four years, believes its success lies in an endless number of storylines.
"We have the freedom to move from historic stories to fantastic ones as we please. I cannot see any reason why we should not do another 20 years."
Dr Who may come and go but the Tardis - the London policebox bigger inside than passersby might imagine has changed little.
The inherent fault which causes it to land anywhere in time and space unannounced was never put right - but fans would not have it any other way. Its next journey is in the 20th anniversary special program, The Five Doctors, which was surrounded by tight security to prevent the plot being leaked.
Actor Jon Pertwee, 64, who quit the role in 1974, was only one who was sworn to secrecy. Like his fellow Dr Who's, he is a great admirer of the series.
"As far as I can see, it will run as long as it is handled properly," he says.
Peter Davison, the current Dr Who, due to bow out shortly, agrees: "If anyone set out to invent a hero for a new series there is no way they could come up with someone like him."
The series, which began in black and white with crude props and a fairly wooden storyline on children's TV, is now sophisticated viewing, with a huge audience of technically minded adults who cannot easily be led up the fluctose path. The Daleks-eliminated on 13 occasions over the years will be wheeled back for the next series, currently in production. It stars a new Dr Who - actor Colin Baker.
Captions:
DR Who reunion... from left, Richard Hurndall, Peter Davison, Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton.
PETER Davison with six former Dr Who assistants who appear in The Five Doctors special.
NEW Dr Who Colin Baker and his assistant Nicola Bryant.
TOM Baker and Lalla Ward... teamwork led to marriage
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: (1983-12-10). Dr Who's Long Battle. TV Scene p. 4.
- MLA 7th ed.: "Dr Who's Long Battle." TV Scene [add city] 1983-12-10, 4. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: "Dr Who's Long Battle." TV Scene, edition, sec., 1983-12-10
- Turabian: "Dr Who's Long Battle." TV Scene, 1983-12-10, section, 4 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Dr Who's Long Battle | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who%27s_Long_Battle | work=TV Scene | pages=4 | date=1983-12-10 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=14 May 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Dr Who's Long Battle | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who%27s_Long_Battle | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=14 May 2025}}</ref>
