Who's who in Who
- Publication: Daily Mail
- Date: 1980-10-25
- Author: Paul Donovan
- Page: 17
- Language: English
As the Good Doctor decides to quit the Tardis
FOR 17 light entertainment years and an infinity of intergalactic miles. an eccentric figure in black coat and blue police box has added dimensions of folklore to Saturday teatime viewing.
Yesterday, there was another timewarp in the immortal saga of the BBC's Dr Who: The fourth actor to play the intrepid time lord, Tom Baker. announced he was leaving the Tardis, hang-in; up his ankle-flapping scarf and settling down on earth.
To be replaced—with predictable shudders in certain quarters of time and space—by, perhaps, a woman.
Whatever the sex of the new captain of the Tardis, the series will inevitably and effortlessly glide on.
It all began in 1963, the year of the Profumo scandal and JFK's assassination. when it was modestly tipped by one actor to last six weeks. 'Nonsense', replied the late William Hartnell. the first Doctor who wore. a monocle. white wig and check trousers. It will run for five years.'
They were both on the wrong wavelength. Today more than 500 episodes and 115 stories later. it embarks on yet a new adventure.
In that 17-year period, when real-life man has stepped on the moon and come back again. Dr Who has sprouted into an extraordinary. world-w i d e cult; spawning records, jokes (knock knock, who's there? Doctor. Doctor Who ? Yes) toys. its own appreciation society and an audience of 100 million in 37 countries.
Adventures
In America the doctor's adventures have a cult following.
Local stations throughout the country show them in competition with offerings from America's major networks and the Tardis adventurer is winning in the ratings in most areas.
Earlier this year, a Dr Who convention was held in Los Angeles with more than 1,000 people paying £8 a time to attend.
There were Tom Baker-Dr Who lookalikes. Daleks and a specially constructed Tardis.
The new story tonight is called Full Circle, but Dr Who is an endless fantasy. Actress Lalla Ward, who plays the current assistant Romana, remembers first watching the show from behind her mother's sofa: Now she is starring in it and followed by 10 million viewers in Britain alone.
There are many keys to its totally unpredicted success. As Tom Baker, whose thyroid blue eyes have gleamed out of the screen for the last seven years. said yesterday: 'It is. par excellence. a participating programme. People start off behind the chair or even in their granny's arms watching it and they grow up with it as part of their weekend.
'Without any doubt there is an inherent conservation about areas of our life when we're tired and relax. There's the soccer results, Basil Brush. then Dr Who, there's a sense of anticipation.
'People don't like sudden changes and when a character is successful on popular TV, he and the series become largely frozen.'
The fundamental point is that while assistantsLalla is the 15th—and monsters and planets. and even the touchingly anthropomorphic K - 9, come and go, the Dr goes on for ever. He cannot die, for as a time lord he has two hearts.. and he simply generates a new body when the old one gets fed up and wears out.
Dangerous
This cunning device of his infallibility allows even nervous children to realise that despite alarming sound effects and dangerous cliffhangers. all will be alright in the end and the Doctor will live to fight another battle in another universe against the same forces cf evil.
For, despite the subtle regenerative changes (William Hartnell) the strict school teacher, Patrick Troughton grumpy, Jon Pertwee a sophisticated velvet-jacketed trendy in the first series to be seen in colour, Tom Baker an absent-minded, slightly flippant Harpo Marx type the Doctor stays the same: An adventurous, courageous time-traveller, who goes into the ring against injustice and tyranny.
His enemies are dictators who always display the insensitivity of authoritarians. Apart from the chromium-plated pepper-pots the Daleks, and the Cybermen, there were the lisping ice warriors. the vocs, robots of death, and the sinister black rubber Voords. You know they will eventually get their come-uppance, and a good thing too.
ACTORS may go but Dr Who lives on ... William Hartnell, with Aztec girl Jacqueline Hill; Patrick Troughton; Jon Pertwee and pterodactyl; and Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, plus Tardis
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.: Donovan, Paul (1980-10-25). Who's who in Who. Daily Mail p. 17.
- MLA 7th ed.: Donovan, Paul. "Who's who in Who." Daily Mail [add city] 1980-10-25, 17. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Donovan, Paul. "Who's who in Who." Daily Mail, edition, sec., 1980-10-25
- Turabian: Donovan, Paul. "Who's who in Who." Daily Mail, 1980-10-25, section, 17 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Who's who in Who | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who%27s_who_in_Who | work=Daily Mail | pages=17 | date=1980-10-25 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=21 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Who's who in Who | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who%27s_who_in_Who | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=21 April 2025}}</ref>
