Editor's Note

Douglas Adams used to talk about how much he loved deadlines. He claimed they made a nice whooshing noise when they went by.

During the two months between entries, I've become "offically" married, made Thanksgiving mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, done lots of favors, and been promoted at work. All of these wonderful developments have seriously impacted my free time.

The holidays, historically speaking, have not been well known for giving me a lot of extra time. However, please know I am committed to this project and fully intend to get back to it.

Until then,

Tim

Law and Order

“This knife shows what it has done. There is blood on it. Who killed the old woman? You killed the old woman!” – The Doctor

Ep. 004: The Firemaker
(Production A/Story #001: "An Unearthly Child" - Part 4 of 4)
Purchase this DVD at Amazon.com (US)

Our unwilling explorers come out of the forest, only to the find the Geico neanderthals waiting for them. The cavemen stand around menacingly, as if auditioning for a new ABC sitcom.

As Kal implicates Za in the old woman’s death, the Doctor outwits him (easily... as if there could be any other way) in a battle over evidence. Cornered, Kal admits he killed the Old Woman, in what is apparently planet Earth’s first courtroom drama. I felt this probably the strongest scene in the episode, and it comes unfortunately early. Under the Doctor, Ian, and Za’s leadership, the tribe drives Kal out. Sadly, however, the TARDIS crew fails to use this opportunity to slip out quietly, and their assistance in Za’s credibility problem is repaid by further captivity.

The Doctor refers to the Cave of Skulls as being “evil,” the first time something is given this label in the series.

Hur recaps the previous episode’s events, telling Za how the man called Friend (Ian) and his companions cared for Za’s wounds like a mother for child. As Za gives the time-travelers his ultimatum – make fire or die at the hands of the tribe - Ian tells him that in his tribe, making fire is not all that important. Ian defers to the Doctor as leader. However, their conversation is interrupted by Kal’s return. Za fights him to the death, apparently in another studio. As much as I didn’t enjoy seeing Kal and Za’s rather anachronistic underwear, I’m thankful it was there.

Meanwhile, in the sleeping cave, Will Ferrell's caveman stunt double tries to convince the tribe that Za is taking too long with the fire. Za manages to kill Kal about the same time that Ian kindles a flame. Suddenly, Za is able to show off a torch to the rest of the tribe, and Will Ferrell recounts how the meat and fire tasted together. Flame-broiled Whoppers can only a few years away now!

Although Za got what he wanted, he still keeps the TARDIS crew imprisoned, suggesting that he wants to annex their tribe. No one’s interested in helping further, as every bit of assistance up to this point has been met with incarceration. Luckily, Susan has seen Live and Let Die, and the group come up with a plan to scare the tribe enough to distract them as they escape.

The time-travelers run in place, as technicians out of frame hit them with the branches of tropical plants. They get through the forest and enter the TARDIS quickly. They dematerialize as the tribe’s spears miss their mark. For the first time, Za looks just as baffled as anyone from the twentieth century might be at the disappearance of the TARDIS. (“The first faint glimmerings…”)

Inside, the crew bickers about getting back home. The Doctor mutters, “You know I can’t do that.” He waffles about not having enough time upon their previous hurried departure to make proper notes. However, it seems to Ian and Barbara (and the audience) that he can’t really control the TARDIS at all. They land somewhere very obviously not 1963 London, and Susan takes her premature radiation count…

Next episode: The Dead Planet

(and the beginning of Doctor Who's impact on popular culture)

Running up that hill

"These people have logic and reason, have they? Can’t you see their minds change as rapidly as night and day?” – The Doctor

Ep. 003: The Forest of Fear
(Production A/Story #001: "An Unearthly Child" - Part 3 of 4)
Purchase this DVD at Amazon.com (US)

Boy, they weren’t kidding when they called it the Cave of Skulls. The Doctor takes some responsibility (finally) for getting his companions into their current predicament. Ian pauses as he notices all the skulls from previous prisoners were “split wide open.”

We’re already familiar with her stance on violence and gruesome death, but I can’t help but wonder if Mary Whitehouse would approve of the entire Tribe of Gum sleeping together like that? Presumably, they’re all piled on top of each other for warmth. It would probably help if they would just invent pants. Pants are probably just as, if not more, important than fire…

The Doctor sits back and criticizes Ian’s efforts to escape, until he realizes it’s in his best interest to escape too. Suddenly, he switches off the grumpy old man mode, and makes helpful suggestions. The gang even has a heartwarming discussion about hope vs. fear.

Hur seems to have all the brain cells of the tribe. What little analytical reasoning present seems to be produced by her. She convinces Kal that they should stop the Old Woman from killing their prisoners. A moment later, we find out that the Old Woman was not interested in killing them, but rather letting them go so she and the tribe can avoid the advent of fire.

As the TARDIS crew escapes, Barbara shows the fear one might expect from being in a real life or death situation. A lot of us complain about later companions being screamers, but it is still refreshing to see at this early stage, that being part of the TARDIS crew has yet to become passé. They run through the “Forest of Fear,” which appears to be quite lush for what was such a cold region in the last episode. Maybe this is where the polar bears from Lost are born… As the time-travellers are chased through the woods by Za and Hur, Za is attacked by… something… that appears to be the camera operator.

Beyond all reason, (at least to the Doctor and much of the audience) Barbara chooses this moment to show compassion and see if there’s anything they can do to help Za. They stop running, and Ian and Barbara offer up their assistance as "friends." Hur doesn’t understand, but Za encourages her to trust them as, “they do not kill.” While Ian and Barbara are distracted, The Doctor tries to force Susan back to the TARDIS, presumably stranding the teachers forever. This is another example of an uncharacteristically dark Doctor. Luckily, Susan will have none of it, and helps Ian and Barbara. Barbara tries to give Hur a lesson in quid pro quo and just general kindness, but it doesn’t seem to take. The suggestion that everyone go back to the ship, Za and Hur included, for antiseptic is made. The Doctor refuses to help, until Ian embarrasses him into carrying the makeshift stretcher so the women don’t have to.

While all this was happening, Kal has found what the Old Woman has done. He seizes the opportunity to kill her and suggests Za and Hur have done it. Since the tribe have nothing to fall back on in the way of logic, they quickly fall victim to Kal’s version of events. Kal convinces the tribe to wait for them by the TARDIS, and as the stretcher party arrives …

Next episode: The Firemaker

(not to be confused with Mentos, the Freshmaker)

Stump speeches

“If you could touch the alien sand and hear the cries of strange birds, and watch them wheel in another sky, would that satisfy you?” - The Doctor

Ep. 002: The Cave of Skulls

(Production A/Story #001: "An Unearthly Child" - Part 2 of 4)
Purchase this DVD at Amazon.com (US)

In the opening shot, Kal sure casts a big shadow.

Actually, Za and Kal look a lot alike to me, though I guess Kal looks a little more like Ringo Starr. (Especially when you think of Ringo's Caveman experience with Barbara Bach.) When trying to make fire, I love the way Za gets frustrated with the twigs and yells at them.

Back in the TARDIS, Ian and Babara wake up after being knocked out for no real reason. The Year-O-Meter (perhaps made by Hasbro) apparently doesn’t work in negative numbers, reminding me of the Y2K problem. Susan checks the Radiation counter, foreshadowing what’s to come. The Doctor seems much happier (and far less malevolent) now that Ian and Barbara are a captive audience, and forced to accept their situation. I liked the way Barbara believes immediately that they’ve gone back in time, but Ian still can’t grasp it. Maybe it shows us the difference between the History teacher who grew up imagining herself in the past, versus the skeptical Science teacher who refuses to accept results until they’ve been tested, and the results reproduced.

Even outside the ship, Ian refuses to believe.

The producers’ choice to the make the TARDIS a police box was truly inspired. I love how even though I personally didn’t grow up with them, the police box for me is immediately an image that is safe and iconic. Sadly, for the Metropolitan Police, the police box is now synonymous with a TARDIS, whether they like it or not.

Once outside, The Doctor is disturbed that the TARDIS hasn’t changed its outward appearance. Minutes later, Susan explains that it blends into its surroundings, and on other occasions, looked like a column or a chair. I have to wonder how one enters a chair-shaped TARDIS. Do you sit in it and end up falling backward through the interior door?

The Doctor smokes a pipe (as far as I can remember, the only time he does so) and is quickly knocked out and abducted by Kal. Susan discovers him missing and starts freaking out like that girl everyone was queuing up to slap in Airplane!

We return to the tribe, to find the prehistoric children beating another child dressed up as a cheetah. They yell, “Kill! Kill!” all without the help of violent television to place the images in their heads.

Later, the Doctor takes no pause in offering superior technology (fire) to an inferior culture (the Tribe of Gum). While he might do later, at this time he takes no moment deciding whether this might pollute the timeline. Of course, Za’s late father apparently already made fire a few times, so the argument is academic. But, supposing he hadn’t, and the Doctor had been successful in teaching the tribe to make fire, would the Doctor then be responsible for just about all technology on Earth, ever?

Though his life is threatened, the Doctor quickly backpedals as he realizes his matches were left behind somewhere. It’s now obvious that the real drama is between Kal and Za’s credibility, and the Doctor is vulnerable to the outcome of their prehistoric pissing contest. I enjoyed this scene. Here, Kal and Za have possibly history’s first Presidential debate. I almost expect them to move on from fire to something more important, like health or education.

The rest TARDIS crew breaks onto the scene, nearly saving the day, but only succeeding in getting captured. It is here that the Doctor does something heroic for the first time in the series, explaining that if Ian dies, “there will be no fire!”

By the end of the episode, an elder of the tribe trades his own daughter in for meat. Luckily, the daughter is willing. She echoes Lady Macbeth, as she clearly favors Ka and pushes him in his ambition. Another character, an old woman (possibly Ka’s mother) seems to have no ambition whatsoever, and never misses an opportunity to resist progress and naysay Ka’s skills as leader. She exhibits a healthy blood lust to replace her apathy, and is very vocal in her opinion that they should have killed the strangers. She adds, “There were leaders before there was fire. Fire will kill us all in end.” She (like many Old Mothers after her) fails to see the spark of progress, maybe preferring instead to see this new fire thing as some kind of dangerous fad.

***

Encore

Derek Newark (Ka) appears later in Inferno, and Althea Charleton (Hur) appears later in The Time Meddler.

Future Echoes
Is the column the default setting for the TARDIS, and did Master forget to change it in Logopolis?

Next episode: The Forest of Fear

Grendel's mother

“You see? The first, faint glimmerings…” – The Doctor

Unaired Pilot Episode

Purchase this DVD at Amazon.com (US)

I can understand almost every change they made. There’s certainly a lot more shouting in the pilot version. Sydney Newman, the man often credited with creating Doctor Who, allowed the producers another shot at making the first episode. [1] He gave extensive notes, including, “Old man not funny enough.” [2] And while I don’t think the Doctor’s particularly wacky in the broadcast version, he’s almost evil in this. More about that later.

My first thought was actually: the Coal Hill schoolchildren are even quieter teenagers in the pilot. And, instead of a waiting for a book, Susan seems to stay after school for no reason whatsoever. After her teachers bid her good evening, she stays behind to create the Rorschach from Hell, again, for no reason.

Unfortunately, Ian and Barbara have a little less chemistry, which I guess is to be expected. In the broadcast version, I can almost see Ian asking Barbara out for a drink later; but I don’t get that sense here.

Finally, when William Hartnell steps on to the scene, he makes a huge difference. It’s obvious there were quite a few dialogue changes between this and the new version. However, what’s striking, was that his tone was originally even darker. If you didn’t have visions of Susan locked up in a cupboard while watching the broadcast version, this performance may do it. The Doctor appears almost predatorial as the TARDIS door opens. We hear a reprise of the music from Susan’s radio, and he jumps as a discovered kidnapper might.

The Doctor and Susan seem more argumentative in the pilot. At one point, he even calls her a “stupid girl,” blaming Susan for the breach in security. Hartnell plays it angry, rather than mysterious. Likewise, his argument with Ian is most pointed. As Ian claims it’s improbable to find a scientific breakthrough in a junkyard, the Doctor replies, "For your science, schoolmaster, not for ours. I tell you, before your ancestors turned the first wheel, the people of my world had reduced movement through the farthest reaches of space to a game for children."

The scene becomes heated, and soon we see Ian and Barbara beating on the doors to get out. It’s at this moment that the Doctor laughs at them, as if a villain. I have to admit, the moment gave me chills. The Doctor seems rather evil here, and it’s reinforced by his electrifying the TARDIS console, as Ian’s flipping switches. The broadcast version seemed less malevolent. The Doctor still chooses to turn the console “live,” but he steps away before Ian even gets to it. I'm not sure why, but the moment played this way strikes me as being more defensive than anything else.

The one bit of dialogue I wish they could’ve kept, was part of the Doctor’s conversation with Susan - trying to get her on his side. He explains that it doesn’t matter if the teachers don’t understand the TARDIS yet, just knowing that the dimensional anomaly is possible may pollute the timeline. He compares it to giving the ancient Romans gunpowder or supplying Napoleon with an air force.

Even the technical aspects of the pilot seem darker. There are more half-lit shots of ominous dummies in the scrapyard; and one shot with a voyeuristic view through an empty mattress frame in the foreground. The theme even has an extra electronic crack! at the beginning. It’s just not the comforting tune I grew up with, and I wonder how long the series would have lasted had it followed through with these darker characterizations...

Or, if it would’ve been canceled entirely.

Next episode: The Cave of Skulls

___________
[1] I tend to think of no one person as the creator of Doctor Who. Sydney Newman (the newly hired Head of Drama at the BBC) certainly got the ball rolling, and had final say in a lot of the original situations and character decisions. However, I consider him more seminal in organizing the show’s original production staff, including: Donald Wilson, C.E. Webber, and Verity Lambert, with whom he would often butt heads. The Doctor (as John Smith) in Human Nature, refers to his parents as "Sydney and Verity."

[2] Doctor Who: Origins. (DVD special feature)

A Dark Lord?

“Have you ever thought what it’s like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension? Have you? To be exiles…” – The Doctor

Ep. 001: An Unearthly Child
(Production A/Story #001: "An Unearthly Child" - Part 1 of 4)

Purchase this DVD at Amazon.com (US)

The opening shot is beautiful shadow and fog, almost film noir-ish. Unfortunately, for me, the effect is undermined by the theme continuing past its title sequence. I have to remember that those seeing this for the first time wouldn’t necessarily find the theme tune as comforting as I do. It’s a familiar sound from my childhood, but back in 1963, this haunting melody was not at all likely to be heard in your sitting room right before Juke Box Jury. I won’t go into how unique and groundbreaking it was, and still is. I'll only say that it’s very eerie if I don’t take it for granted.

Ron Grainer's music ends right about the same time our eyes meet the police box. [1] The box begins humming mysteriously. Maybe it knows what’s coming.

In following scenes, I detect obvious chemistry between Ian and Barbara. I like them instantly. I loved the bit where Ian knows all about the band Susan is listening to. I’m sure most of the kids think he’s square, and probably he is, in every important respect. Still, he has an “enquiring mind,” and probably similar to Susan, he lets out his (pop culture) knowledge “a little bit at a time, so as not to embarrass” them.

I wonder why Susan expects to return Barbara’s book the next day. Will she have finished it because she's had the time to read it, after countless adventures in time and space with her grandfather? Doesn’t that imply her grandfather has more control over the time machine than he lets on? Or does time pass differently inside the ship? And why is she borrowing a book on the French Revolution, if she has already witnessed it? Viewing the episode through the eyes of the 60s, her comment, “that’s not right,” regarding the history book is the audience’s first clue of the adventure to come.

I love the flashbacks with Susan, and for the first time, it becomes obvious that the show was shot live to tape in a single studio. Though the flashbacks are presumably on different days, Susan clothes haven’t changed at all. Even ignoring this little continuity error, the scenes are effectively awkward. Director Waris Hussein’s use of close-ups evoke memories of classroom embarrassments, humanizing Susan’s rather alien dialogue. [2] (One curious point, and maybe someone can explain this to me… If dimensions A, B and C, are effectively space, why does Susan say that E is also space? [3])

I find the Doctor quite creepy in his very first scene. He is suspicious and defensive from the start. If I try to watch this first episode from the perspective of never having seen it before, the Doctor appears (at the very least) to be an abusive grandfather. Think of it this way: Ian and Barbara do not know this stranger. They suspect he’s Susan’s grandfather, and is a doctor of some kind, but know nothing else about him. Worse, they’re convinced he’s got Susan locked up in a box that’s not roomier than two feet square. Scary.

In an aside to himself, the Doctor mutters, “Not the police, then?” in reference to Ian and Barbara; securing his criminal intent. Once inside the TARDIS, the audience [4] is relieved that Susan’s all right, but that doesn’t matter - because now we have the paradigm shift of entering the ship for the first time.

The Doctor continues to be creepy, albeit for new reasons. If we were prepared to believe that he was an abusive grandfather, what might he do to Ian and Barbara while trapped in his domain? Here, nothing makes sense. Anything could happen.

While the schoolteachers are distracted by the trappings of the TARDIS, he argues, “The point is not whether you understand. What is going to happen to you?” confirming this dark sentiment. The more the Doctor speaks, the more we’re compelled to find out more about him. He cycles through ignoring and mocking Ian’s inability to comprehend, until finally the Doctor’s motivations become clearer. He mentions that he and Susan are on Earth “without friends or protection,” implying they might be on the run from someone; or at least, vulnerable enough to be caught up in warfare, disease, crime, or any other dangers that exist at their destinations. The universe is dangerous, and in turn, the Doctor must also be dangerous to protect himself and Susan. His vigilance keeps their lives secret. If they let the intruders go - he and Susan must flee, or be discovered. Creepiness turns to tough love, as the Doctor decides to take on (or kidnap) Ian and Barbara in order to keep an upset Susan from staying in the 20th Century with her teachers…

…on the other hand, it’s clear the Doctor wanted to leave anyway. He remarks, “I tolerate the 20th Century, but I don’t enjoy it.”

As the TARDIS leaves for the first time on television, the Doctor and Susan turn away from the console, as if doing that is somehow necessary for dematerialization. The Doctor looks as if he’s suffering from severe heartburn here. Thank goodness this sequence of events is not necessary in future episodes. We rush into the next segment, and I realize this is not the Doctor I remember. He's more mysterious and unpredictable. Maybe not a dark lord [5], exactly, but certainly more complicated than I remember from childhood. As an adult, I can recognize a tighter performance. Hartnell plays him with more depth than I may given him credit for in the past.

Encore
Jacqueline Hill (Barbara) later plays Lexa in 1980’s Meglos with Tom Baker.

Future Echoes
Ian doesn’t know how right he is when he touches the police box and declares, “It’s alive!” I forget how we find out the TARDIS is an intelligent living being with telepathic circuits, but I know it’s long before the new series. I believe the Doctor’s assertion in Rise of the Cybermen - that the ship is not built, but “grown” - is the first time we hear about a presumably organic component to the TARDIS. I can’t wait to hear more about it in future episodes, and rediscover it in past adventures.

I love how massive the TARDIS appears on the inside, and how Ian can’t wrap his head around it for several minutes. It was great how Ian walked all around the police box, which conflicts him greatly once inside. Chang Lee (1996 Movie) and Rose (Rose) both do the same, but after they’ve entered, if I remember correctly. Chang Lee and Rose aside, many later companions surprisingly take this dimensional aberrance in stride. True, it saves time and helps keep the long-term audience engaged, but I think this knocks down the believability a notch. It's also unfortunate that Console Room seems to be seriously reduced by the Tom Baker era.

The Doctor's temporary address, 76 Totter’s Lane, appears again in Attack of the Cybermen and Remembrance of the Daleks. The latter story also features the reappearance of Coal Hill School. Sam Jones of the Eighth Doctor BBC Novel range attended Coal Hill in the 90s.

Coming soon: The Unaired Pilot


__________
[1] Written by Ron Grainer, but realised by Delia Derbyshire, out of electronically created sounds in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

[2] Depending on how you look at it, Susan is an alien in time as well as space. She mentions in the unaired pilot that she was “born the 49th Century.”

[3] While it doesn’t really answer my question - maybe Susan meant E-space (Exo-Space), an area occupying the same space as our universe, yet negative. We journey to E-Space in Full Circle, State of Decay, and Warriors’ Gate.

[4] When I say “audience” or “we,” I assume this audience has the same emotions and reactions as I do. You’ll notice I’ll use “we” a lot, so I don’t have to say “I” all the time. Everyone, of course, is entitled to unique experiences, and if your perspective contrasts (or agrees with) mine, I invite you to comment.

[5] On the other hand, the Valeyard has to come from somewhere, right?

The Tunnel

My best friend from 6th Grade, Jeff, still has a lot to answer for.

Over twenty years, and many piles of money later, Doctor Who continues to be a major driving force in my life. A lot of free time and resources are spent with friends exhibiting similar motivations.

When first introduced to the series, I was already excited about science fiction movies, and filmmaking in general. The images fueled my boyhood imagination in ways that no kind of outdoor sport would. But I knew little of sci-fi television beyond the realm of Star Trek. Which, all in all, isn't a bad start.

When not in the swimming pool, my grandparents and I would spend summers consuming Star Trek. I have pretty good memories of watching old videotapes with them, recorded when the show was in syndication in the 80s. I lived for Kirk's adventures, and greatly enjoyed the wit displayed between Spock and McCoy. The trips spent with my grandparents left me wanting more. However, there wasn't much Trek at the time to go around.

One night, a sleepover at my best friend's house changed my life forever. We were up late (all of 10:30 pm), when this strange show came on public television. I don't think I even knew what public television was at the time, but I was being initiated that night. He knew what was about to happen, but I don't remember him telling me his favorite show was about to come on. I'd already been subjected to an evening full of Monty Python's Flying Circus, knowing it was funny, but not quite grasping why. Then, a weird brown tunnel comes out of nowhere. My ears detect this strange, unearthly music. A man in a scarf and a barely clothed woman start arguing with a robot dog.

All eleven-year-old boys with a pulse love robot dogs.

I get involved in the story, and soon find out, "The quest is the quest."

Even at that age, I knew the effects weren't quite right. I'm not sure I could've articulated why I liked Doctor Who back then, but the stories were so interesting and so different from anything else I'd ever seen, I didn't care about the effects or costumes. I bought every coffee table book written by Peter Haining I could get my hands on. I still have them.

Ironically, now I look back and appreciate this wondrous program - put together for practically nothing, yet feel that if they had more money, Doctor Who wouldn't have looked right. I wouldn't have the same dogged loyalty I have to the show now. Part of Doctor Who being "slightly rubbish," is almost a badge for my identity as a fan. [1] Don't get me wrong, I like the other shows too. I still enjoy Star Trek. My wife and I would follow Joss Whedon anywhere he'd go. In the 90s, when there was no new Who on the air, my favorite show was The X-Files. [2] But it's my interest in Doctor Who that has defined me, at least culturally, as a person. I've been the underdog, just as (at least in America) Doctor Who has been.

While Doctor Who may not have had the resources of a lot of other science fiction on television, it stands out as being a series about one extremely intelligent man making a difference. In a culture with a lot of gun violence, it's refreshing to see a hero outwit an enemy without using a weapon, or physical force or any kind. And if the hero insults you as he saves the day, than you probably saw it on Doctor Who. For me, it's this combination of factors that makes the Doctor the most important character on television.

And, the thing that gets me - he's still relevant. With the increasing violence and environmental dangers in our world, Doctor Who may be more relevant than ever. I don't want to be ridiculous and infer that a television show can change or save the world (what a weight for any producer's shoulders!) but Doctor Who certainly has a better shot at it than Desperate Housewives. The Doctor's message of understanding diversity, protecting the environment, using your head, and most of all - trying to find peaceful solutions to problems - is one that needs to resonate with the children (and some adults) of the twenty-first century.

Thankfully, this seems to be the case. With the series approaching its 45th Anniversary (as well as what is, technically, Season 30) we are now amidst at least some third generation Doctor Who fans who can't wait until the next Christmas special. The show is just as popular now as when Dalekmania first hit London. The series is winning Hugos and BAFTAs, and the children who always knew the show's potential have grown up to become its writers, actors, production staff, and even critics. It's true that a lot of my friends have been unsettled by some recent episodes, but that's always been true about "new" Doctor Who. I know one or two people who refuse to acknowledge any other Doctor besides Tom Baker. It is important to understand that change is the only constant in the show. Change has given the show its appeal to the widest variety of fans, and is solely responsible for its longevity. I think the new fans are becoming wise to this, and they're getting the idea that you can't get to David Tennant without going through William Hartnell first, and there is no John Simm without Roger Delgado.

Which leads me, finally, to some sort of point. I've always wanted to watch the series from beginning to end. I'm not sure why. I guess it seems like some sort of noble challenge to me. A quest, if you will. Sure, tons of people have already done this and talked about it, better writers than me among them, but I have a feeling I won't know why I'm doing this until I'm done. Maybe it's the ex-fan organization administrator in me wanting to make sure everyone gets a good look at the show's origins and adolescence. I really enjoy finding connections between the old series and the new. I get excited about finding new perspectives in something I've cherished since childhood.

Or, maybe it's just, "The quest is the quest."

Thank you ever so much, Jeff.

__________
[1] I'm sure lots of people have referred to Doctor Who as being "sligthly rubbish," but I believe I'm quoting Steven Moffat here, in a recent Doctor Who Confidential. Sorry, I can't remember which one. I'm not even sure I'm right about the quote, it might have been just about K9, the point is I attempted to give credit here...

[2] except, of course, one summer night in 1996. But then, for many of us, it doesn't count, does it? (That wacky change again.)