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Fans Invade the Tardis

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50th anniversary special
23 November 2013
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RESURRECTION Daleks got a polish in this 1984 Peter Davison classic, photographed for RT by Ric Gemmell

Who & me

Jo Whiley, TV presenter

I've never been mbarrassed out being a fan. Doctor Who wasn't particularly cool [in the 80s] - but then neither was I - so I joined the local Doctor Who Appreciation Society. You may not be surprised to hear I was the only girl there. We used to go round to each other's houses and watch old episodes - fourth-generation VHS dubs pirated from Australian TV. It still wasn't cool when it came back with Christopher Eccleston but I used to mention it on my Radio 1 show. From Behind the Sofa: see p25


WHO KNEW?

Stalk talk

Davison's Doctor always wore a stick of celery on his lapel - but why? In his final adventure he revealed he was allergic to "gases in the praxis range" - the celery could turn purple as a warning.

BEGINNING OF THE END

Producer John Nathan Turner wanted to avoid giving any clues Oabout Adric's demise (below), so the boy appeared as a phantom in the following week's episodes just so that his name would still be listed in Radio Times.


Years 1982-1984 Episodes 69

Who is he? Born in south London, 1951, Peter Moffett changed his surname to Davison when he began his acting career. He was well known to BBC1 viewers as Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small (see right), when he was cast as the Time Lord. Always in steady work, he recently starred in ITV's Law & Order: UK.

Doctor profile The first youthful Doctor had a love of cricket. Mild-mannered, he often acted like a big brother to his scrapping junior companions.

Key companion Tegan (Janet Fielding). The strident air hostess kept the Doctor on his toes and was in all but his final adventure. Ultimate foe The Mara, a malign force that lay dormant in Tegan's mind and manifested itself (quite poorly) as a giant serpent. Age now 62

I've always been a great fan

THE PERCEPTION IS that fans took over the show in 2005 with the advent of Russell T Davies and David Tennant, but the first generation of aficionados seized control in the 80s. Producer John Nathan-Turner was recently outed by childhood pal Roy Hawkesford: "We were both Doctor Who fans. We used to find William Hartnell amusing as he was fairly poor as an actor."

One of Nathan Turner's first decisions was to cast Matthew Waterhouse (a lifelong fan) as boy companion Adric. Months later, incoming Doctor Peter Davison met his childhood hero Patrick Troughton in the BBC car park, who told him to stay in the role no longer than three years. He followed his advice. Discussing his departure in RT in 1983, Davison said: "Of course, I'll miss it. I've always been a great fan and [as the Doctor] I was fed up with always knowing what was going to happen next."

He reprised the role in 2007 for a Children in Need skit alongside David Tennant (below left). It was their first meeting: "I only found out later that David was a fan of my Doctor, because he sent me a very nice text saying that he was at first a bit tongue-tied." Now these two fans-turned-Doctors know each other well: Tennant is Davison's son-in-law.

The young ones

A younger Doctor than his predecessor is perfectly acceptable in today's Whoniverse, but it was a huge shock in 1981. When All Creatures actor Peter Davison took over from Tom Baker, he was just 29. (Matt Smith broke that record when he made his 2010 debut at just 27.)

It was a canny move, with average viewing figures jumping from 5.8 million in Baker's last season to 9.3 million in Davison's first.

The decision to go younger will be reversed when Peter Capaldi takes over from Matt Smith this Christmas. Capaldi will be 55, the age William Hartnell was way back in 1963.


Must-see moment

EARTHSHOCK (1982)

The death of a companion a is a very rare event but this was a story that delivered shock upon shock. Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) dies as a space freighter crashes to Earth, causing the a cataclysm that wiped out the dinosaurs. The Doctor is powerless to intervene. Cue: silent credits a honour of his passing.

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.: Berkeley, Michael (2013-11-23). Fans Invade the Tardis. Radio Times p. 39.
  • MLA 7th ed.: Berkeley, Michael. "Fans Invade the Tardis." Radio Times [add city] 2013-11-23, 39. Print.
  • Chicago 15th ed.: Berkeley, Michael. "Fans Invade the Tardis." Radio Times, edition, sec., 2013-11-23
  • Turabian: Berkeley, Michael. "Fans Invade the Tardis." Radio Times, 2013-11-23, section, 39 edition.
  • Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Fans Invade the Tardis | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Fans_Invade_the_Tardis | work=Radio Times | pages=39 | date=2013-11-23 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=25 November 2024 }}</ref>
  • Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Fans Invade the Tardis | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Fans_Invade_the_Tardis | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=25 November 2024}}</ref>


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