On November 1963 – coincidentally, just a day after the assassination of President Kennedy – British viewers sat down to watch a new science fiction programme designed to fill the grandstand at Juke Box Jury. Minutes later, a mysterious figure with a flowing white cloak and a Victorian frock emerged from the fog – andContinue reading “A complete history of the history of Doctor Who”
Tag Archives: Doctor Who
Lost in space and time: the story of Doctor Who’s missing episodes
“I am being diminished. Whittled away, piece by piece… Great chunks of my past, detaching themselves like melting icebergs” – The Doctor, The Five Doctors People have been underestimating Doctor Who for a very long time. In 1963, cautious BBC execs were reluctant to commit to more than 13 episodes of their new teatime adventure serial,Continue reading “Lost in space and time: the story of Doctor Who’s missing episodes”
Philosophy in the age of the BBC Micro: the strange beauty of Season 18
This is an expanded version of the Season 18 Blu-ray review that first appeared in Doctor Who Magazine issue 536, April 2019 Of all the series in Doctor Who’s long and unexpected history, Season 18 stands as perhaps the most singular and distinctive. Fated to be the end of one thing and the start ofContinue reading “Philosophy in the age of the BBC Micro: the strange beauty of Season 18”
Inside the factory with John Levene
Why is UNIT’s Sergeant Benton celebrating 50 years of active service with a tour round a workshop in Nottingham? DWM tagged along to find out. In 1973, John Levene was filming Doctor Who in a Welsh coal mine when he spotted a young boy watching nervously from the sidelines. “I went over to him andContinue reading “Inside the factory with John Levene”
Mark Gatiss: “My career is partly a long revenge against P.E…”
Mark Gatiss is a busy man. No surprises there, of course: over the past two decades, the writer, actor, director and all-round pop-cultural polymath has racked up a CV longer than his beloved Doctor Who’s stripy scarf. When he’s not reinventing literary icons like Sherlock Holmes and Dracula, reuniting with his old pals from TheContinue reading “Mark Gatiss: “My career is partly a long revenge against P.E…””
Russell T Davies: “The way I write is like life – sad one minute and sunny the next, and not a hair’s breadth between the two.”
When Russell T Davies wrote It’s A Sin – his new Channel 4/HBO drama about the 1980s AIDS crisis, which might just be the best work he’s ever done – he didn’t expect to be premiering it during a global pandemic. “We shot this before lockdown,” Russell tells Weekend over a Zoom call. “This drama in whichContinue reading “Russell T Davies: “The way I write is like life – sad one minute and sunny the next, and not a hair’s breadth between the two.””
Trevor and Simon: “Looking back, we’re a bit surprised at some of the things we got away with…”
TV Heroes: They didn’t do duvets, but pant-swinging was virtually a legal requirement. The Saturday morning comedy legends talk celebrity freak-outs, skateboarding squirrels, overstepping the mark and inventing TV’s original (and best) Don Draper. “We were on the front of Radio Times once,” says Simon Hickson, as Trevor Neal, his comedy partner of some 30Continue reading “Trevor and Simon: “Looking back, we’re a bit surprised at some of the things we got away with…””
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