Dr Who will survive for years, says show's star
- Publication: Sandwell Evening Mail
- Date: 1986-10-25
- Author: Paul Cole
- Page: 16
- Language: English
"Don't write me off yet! The Daleks have failed to break me: the Cybermen flopped rather badly - and I hope that Michael Grade won't kill me off."
Dr Who has no hesitations about defying the laws of time and looking into the future. He sincerely believes that he's going to be around for decades to come.
Colin Baker -- the ninth Dr Who all told -- shrugs off fears for the fate of Saturday's traditional blend of set-fi excitement, wit and entertainment.
Pleased
The good doctor la currently helping to prop up the Top 100 TV shows with the Tardis leading around 97th position each week.
But Colin believes that it will be safe landing, and a launch ramp for another series of Dr Who (BBC1, 5.45) to defy all the show's critics.
I think that the series is going well," he says. "Michael Grade says that he is pleased with the show so far, and I hope that we have future.
"Dr Who is on trial - make no mistake - but I feel that it has become too much of a national institution to get the chop.
"The show has a very important foothold in the national consciousness, and very few other programmes can say that - perhaps just Blue Peter and Coronation Street.
"Don't forget also that the programme actually makes profit. Overseas sales mean that the show brings in a lot more than the BBC has to spend on it.
"Unfortunately all of that money does not filter back to the department responsible for Dr Who, but it's obvious that It would be very tiny to drop it altogether."
Next week the Doctor gets new assistant - his 26th -in the form of action girl Bonnie Langford. and producers hope that her appearance will boost ratings.
"Bonnie has got into the part very quickly indeed," says Colin. "She is very professional and an absolute joy to work with.
"I have worked with her in pantomime before and she is totally unflappable. I have tried to throw her off balance by joking during filming, but she doesn't bat an eyelid."
Colin has played Dr Who with zany light-hearted touch and believes that he is finding favour with the feu after an uphill battle for their affections.
The Dr Who fans are very keen indeed," he reveals. "I have been given more head than previous doctors and I have played up the light hearted humour.
"You still have to maintain a credible threat, but I don't want to get too serious about it all. A realistic storyline should still allow little humour."
The Doctor has only one regret - he's had to miss the last three episodes of his own adventures because his daughter Lucy is too frightened to watch them.
"My little girl is only 18 months old," explains Colin. "She is too young to define the difference between reality and what she sees on television.
"When this series started I was away in America and the saw the opening scenes in which I was being attacked by a giant robot. She thought it was her daddy in danger.
"In her young mind she really believed that I was really being attacked and she was quite frightened by it all. She's refused to watch Dr Who ever since!"
Before we part the good Doctor puts in a word for the traditional Tardis, still shaped like an old police telephone box despite all attempts to reshape it
Previous
"It's down to the chameleon circuit," he explains. "The Tardis changes appearance to match the environment in which it lands. That's why it was a police-box to start with.
"If it landed in Birmingham it would most probably turn into an underpass."
Dr Who fans take note! The previous TV doctors are William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Richard Hurndall and Peter Davison. Peter Cushing played the part in two movies and an actor played the part in stage version.
Caption: Colin Baker: "Dr Who has become too much of a national institution to get the chop."
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.: Cole, Paul (1986-10-25). Dr Who will survive for years, says show's star. Sandwell Evening Mail p. 16.
- MLA 7th ed.: Cole, Paul. "Dr Who will survive for years, says show's star." Sandwell Evening Mail [add city] 1986-10-25, 16. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Cole, Paul. "Dr Who will survive for years, says show's star." Sandwell Evening Mail, edition, sec., 1986-10-25
- Turabian: Cole, Paul. "Dr Who will survive for years, says show's star." Sandwell Evening Mail, 1986-10-25, section, 16 edition.
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- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Dr Who will survive for years, says show's star | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who_will_survive_for_years,_says_show%27s_star | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=28 March 2025}}</ref>
