Who's Who of Dr Who
- Publication: The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, NSW)
- Date: 1983-12-11
- Author: Nick Yardley
- Page: 58
- Language: English
ABC celebrates 20 years of TV sci-fi
IF YOU'RE one of those TV science fiction illiterates who can't tell a Dalek from a Cyberman, don't tune in to Channel 2 at 7.30pm this Tuesday. With five Dr Whos to sort out, you'd find it more baffling than a budget speech in Esperanto. You see, the BBC's seemingly eternal sci-fi children's show, Dr Who, is now 20 years old and the Beeb thought it would be a ripping idea to produce a 90-minute special which featured all the main characters. You could call it a Who's Who of Dr Who.
But the production is not without its problems.
The original Dr Who, William Hartnell, who played the role from 1963 until 1966, died earlier this year and the fourth Dr Who, Tom Baker (1974-1981), was unavailable because he was involved with another show.
These difficulties, of course, proved trifling.
After all. you couldn't have a Dr Who special scuttled by minor details such as the death of a Doctor or a disruption to the time-space continuum.
Hartnell's role has been recreated with admirable attention to detail by look-alike Richard Hurndall, venerable and slightly crotchetty and dressed like an eccentic undertaker.
The other Doctors are Patrick Troughton (1966-1969), John Pertwee (1970-1974) and Peter Davison (1982-).
Because Baker has been the most popular Doctor his non-materialisation is the show's major disappointment.
We are told he has been locked in a time warp (what else?), which prevents him joining the other four Doctors on the death zone of the planet Gallifrey (where else?) as they battle with such devious enemies as Daleks, Cybermen, errant Time Lords and the Master (who else?).
It is pointless to try to outline the plot.
If you have passed your basic Dr Who grounding by watching interminable episodes in which the Doctor of the day roams through endless papier mache tunnels accompanied by female assistants who invariably imperil everyone by spraining their ankles at the wrong time, you will know what to expect.
Connoisseurs will notice the doctors have become increasingly sophisticated and progressively younger as time goes by.
Patrick Troughton, for example, stomps around with a wrinkled face contrasting curiously, with his Prince Valiant hair cut.
He wears a moth-eaten fur coat and looks as though he has just escaped from a set for The Three Stooges.
Troughton, abrupt and testy, is not the type of Doctor to put up with a soppy female assistant and prefers the company of Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge- Stewart, the original whingeing Pom if ever there was one.
Most of the old regulars get a run and even K9, Sarah Jane's robot dog, makes a cameo appearance.
Appalling
For Dr Who lovers it is heartening to see that the Doctors' dress sense has remained constantly appalling.
Less heartening is their increased proficiency at piloting the Tardis.
They had better not get too adept at ending up where they aimed for — otherwise they might never find themselves fleeing down papier mache tunnels pursued by Cybermen again.
If that were to happen, Dr Who as we know it would never be the same again and the 40th anniversary special, due in 2023, would be totally incomprehensible.
Caption: ABOVE LEFT: Dr Who No 3 (Jon Pertwee) with Sarah Jane (Elizabeth Sladen). ABOVE: Dr Who No 2 (Patrick Troughton) with the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney).
Caption: The dreaded Cybermen are back to menace the Doctors Who in Tuesday's special.
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.: Yardley, Nick (1983-12-11). Who's Who of Dr Who. The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, NSW) p. 58.
- MLA 7th ed.: Yardley, Nick. "Who's Who of Dr Who." The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, NSW) [add city] 1983-12-11, 58. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Yardley, Nick. "Who's Who of Dr Who." The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, NSW), edition, sec., 1983-12-11
- Turabian: Yardley, Nick. "Who's Who of Dr Who." The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, NSW), 1983-12-11, section, 58 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Who's Who of Dr Who | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who%27s_Who_of_Dr_Who | work=The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, NSW) | pages=58 | date=1983-12-11 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=23 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Who's Who of Dr Who | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who%27s_Who_of_Dr_Who | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=23 April 2025}}</ref>
