Dr Who escapes again for a birthday reunion
- Publication: The Sydney Morning Herald
- Date: 1983-11-28
- Author: Stuart Kettle
- Page:
- Language: English
YOU either love it or hate it. But few people under 35 with a television would have failed to see at least one or two episodes of Dr Who.
On Tuesday, December 13, the ABC will screen the 20th anniversary show, called The Five Doctors, of the series which began screening in England on November 23, 1963. It wasn't until January 15, 1965, that the ABC screened the first episode in NSW. (In other States the series began later.)
Over the years, The Doctor and his assorted companions have travelled the dimensions of time and space without much regard for many of the cliched science fiction heroes. Because above all, The Doctor is an old-world character with a belief in life and knowledge that has pervaded each interpretation of the character by five actors in his lifetime.
The series has been given the ultimate scope for imagination. The central character, The Doctor, can travel to any time or place in his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) which is shaped like an old British police box and behaves like a well-loved but unreliable old car.
The Doctor's chances of ending up where he planned are a little like the throwing of dice for a double six but he appears to relish the haphazardness of his trips and the adventure.
He is no ordinary doctor either. He is a Time Lord, one of a race from the planet Gallifrey who are the guardians of time travel. In addition, he has two hearts and regenerates in differing forms (very handy for when a new actor assumes the role) for a lifetime that spans hundreds of earth years. He is also very likable.
My earliest memories of the series was as a child watching Dr Who battle the Daleks ("We will exterminate"). It was originally screened on Friday nights and it was with some excitement or fear that we would tune in at 6.30 pm to see how he would escape some approaching peril.
By the time we had finished our fish and chips, The Doctor would have escaped, only to be enmeshed in another seemingly impossible situation before the closing music and titles started.
Of course, we tuned in the following week and, of course, he escaped to battle the Daleks again and win. But it was not the end of the Daleks, who return again and again to harass The Doctor.
For me and many other Dr Who fans, the strongest image is of The Doctor facing the Daleks — It Is also my favourite. Other threats, however, have been equally frightening and recurrent. The Cybermen (humanoid robots), Ice Warriors (from Mars) and Ogrons (alien mercenaries) have all been
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- APA 6th ed.: Kettle, Stuart (1983-11-28). Dr Who escapes again for a birthday reunion. The Sydney Morning Herald .
- MLA 7th ed.: Kettle, Stuart. "Dr Who escapes again for a birthday reunion." The Sydney Morning Herald [add city] 1983-11-28. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Kettle, Stuart. "Dr Who escapes again for a birthday reunion." The Sydney Morning Herald, edition, sec., 1983-11-28
- Turabian: Kettle, Stuart. "Dr Who escapes again for a birthday reunion." The Sydney Morning Herald, 1983-11-28, section, edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Dr Who escapes again for a birthday reunion | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who_escapes_again_for_a_birthday_reunion | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | pages= | date=1983-11-28 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=7 May 2024 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Dr Who escapes again for a birthday reunion | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who_escapes_again_for_a_birthday_reunion | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=7 May 2024}}</ref>
