Paul MC Smith

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Design, data and Doctor Who.

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Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· 7d

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1977: DWAS’s 50th anniversary is celebrated in a new book from the Society – Doctor Who 70-79 – available now at www.dwasonline.co.uk/dw7079

August 6 1977
The world’s first Doctor Who Convention is held in the modest surroundings of a church hall in Battersea, London, run by the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. This one-day affair is attended by Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker and Louise Jameson, and several hundred fans. From this humble beginning, conventions have developed world-wide and the British Panopticon is now held annually spanning three days of discussions, screenings, star appearances and souvenir sales.

Jon Pertwee (and friend) at the first DWAS Panopticon in 1977

Doctor Who 70-79 presents essays on a range of topics related to the series through the Seventies, from the brilliance of Liz Shaw to the legacy of Doctor Who Weekly’s ‘The Iron Legion’. Edited by the Celestial Toyroom Annual’s Bruce Nicholson and designed by yours truly

Doctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· 9d

Pretty sure that TARDIS is Clayton Hickman's recreation of Skilleter's Target cover art. Hope they paid him.

Battles in Time First Doctor Collector's Edition card of the Tardis, showing the Police Box in the junkyard

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· 10d

Frank Finlay from The Four Muskateers making a cameo there.

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· 12d

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1983: No sooner is Davison’s departure announced than the rumours begin. Brian had been approached in 1966 to take over from Hartnell, but wouldn’t appear in Who until 1986… (Article from cuttingsarchive.org)

August 1 1983
Brian Blessed is to be the new Doctor according to a rumour picked up by newspapers as far flung as the Yorkshire Telegraph & Argus and the Australian Sydney Morning Herald and given front‑page prominence. Several television reporters are convinced the hugely entertaining character-actor is destined to be the sixth Doctor, and from London the Morning Herald’s correspondent tells his readers on the other side of the world: ‘Older men are walking a little straighter this week with the news that the prized role of Doctor Who is to go to Brian Blessed, forty-five, who has enjoyed great success on both stage and screen since he won acclaim as PC Fancy Smith in the long‑running BBC series Z-Cars.’ Listing some of his other triumphs, the paper goes on: ‘But it was as the rumbustious but lovable winged man in Flash Gordon that Blessed showed his likely Doctor Who personage – noisier and more irascible than recent inhabitants of the role, but with a flashing, warming smile which will surely charm even Daleks away from extermination. Aficionados are already saying Blessed can be the best Doctor Who since the redoubtable Jon Pertwee . . .’ Brian Blessed, however, is saying nothing of the sort, the rumour having apparently originated from the Doctor Who Exhibition in Blackpool! And so the speculation goes on . . .

Daily Express, 1 August 1983
Who’s Who? Brian’s Doctor No. 6
By Peter Mason
The secret of who’s Who was out last night. Actor Brian Blessed is taking over the role of television’s time-travelling doctor from Peter Davison.
Command of the Tardis—Dr Who’s multi-dimensional spaceship—should pose few problems for Blessed. For the 45-year-old actor started his TV career as Pc Fancy Smith in Z-Cars.
And as everyone knows, the Tardis is disguised as an old-fashioned blue police telephone box.
Since Z-Cars, Brian has popped up on stage, films and television playing such diverse roles as Banquo, opposite Peter O’Toole’s Macbeth; Augustus Caesar in I, Claudius; and, more recently as comedian Rowan Atkinson’s father, Richard IV, in The Black Adder.
He also played Deuteronomy in the West End hit musical Cats.
Blessed’s elevation to the role of Time Lord quashes reports that the next Dr Who was to be a woman.
BBC chiefs had even described the kind of woman they were looking for.
Blessed, will take over from 31-year-old Davison when the next series, due to start screening in January, finishes. He will be the 6th Dr Who since the programme started nearly 20 years ago.

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· 16d

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1983: On the BBC Evening News, Davison spoke to Kate Adie about his departure. His record for shortest Doctor would not be retained for long…

July 28 1983
Another era in the history of Doctor Who comes to an end with Peter Davison’s announcement that he is giving up the role of the Doctor at the end of the twenty-first season next March. The news is broken on the BBC lunchtime News and Peter says: ‘I decided when I took the part it would only be for three years and that will be up next January. There is a danger, I feel, of actors becoming stereotyped if they stay in a series too long. And I’ve always done three years of everything else. It’s a nice round figure. But it has still been a most enjoyable role.’ (To date, Peter’s is the shortest run as the Doctor – just 74 episodes.)
There is immediate speculation about who will be the next Doctor, the Daily Mail declaring that the search is on for an older actor. John Nathan-Turner says, ‘We’ve tried a young one and now we’re after someone older. What I have in mind is an actor with the magic of the early, eccentric Doctors. I think one of the strengths and successes of the programme is because of the differences between successive Doctors.’

Michael Buerk on the BBC Evening News announce’s Peter Davison is to leave Doctor Who, while Kate Adie talks to the man himself

Daily Mail, 29 July 1983
Time runs out for the Doctor
By Moira Petty
The BBC’s galactic warrior, Dr Who, is too young and too sexy – and now producers are searching for an older model.
Blond Peter Davison, the 33-year-old fifth Doctor who broke a successful mould, is quitting after the next series in January.
Despite a twice-week screening at peak hours, viewing figures for the Time Lord’s aoventures [sic] have slumped from a one-time high of 20 million to 8½ million. And producer John Nathan - Turner yesterday revealed that he is looking for an actor with the magic of the early, eccentric Doctors.
Yesterday Mr Davison, who found fame as the gentle vet Tristan in All Creatures Great And Small, insisted he jumped, and wasn’t pushed. But his youthful, prep-school approach is thought to have gone down well with viewers.
Mr Davison will be one of the Doctors celebrating 20 years of time travel in November when an anniversary 90-minute special is screened. But the sixth Dr Who will be appointed within two months, and seen by viewers next March.

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· 17d

Coming soon from @dwasonline.bsky.social

Cover for the upcoming Doctor Who Appreciation Society special 'Doctor Who: 70-79'. Artwork showing the Third and Fourth Doctors with, below, a Sea Devil, Sontaran and Davros, by Andy Lambert @and-e-roo.bsky.social

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· 20d

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1965: Most scenes of 60s Who were recorded in ‘one take’ but fights were often pre-filmed for snappier editing. This one is performed in studio during the episode’s recording, cuttting between different camera shots…

July 24 1965
After the big-budget film, the last story of the second season of television programmes ends with the low-budget production of Dennis Spooner’s ‘The Time Meddler’. Despite the necessary cost‑cutting, director Douglas Camfield produces a stylish four-parter with a dramatic fight between Saxons and Vikings all done in one long, continuous take which has to be painstakingly choreographed to avoid accidents. Aside from establishing the new companion, Steven, the story also introduces for the first time another Time Lord apart from the Doctor – the Meddling Monk, played by veteran comedy-actor, Peter Butterworth.

‘The Time Meddler’ episode two, ‘The Meddling Monk’: Saxons fight a Viking raiding party that has earlier attacked a villagewoman

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· 22d

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1963: Peter’s sources let him down here. Whitaker joined the show on 24 June, and two scripts from Anthony Coburn were already underway (although still needed a lot of work)…

July 22 1963
BBC staff writer David Whitaker is the first person recruited by Sydney Newman as script editor for his embryo team to create Doctor Who. With the concept for the new series outlined in a memo, Whitaker is asked to commission a pilot script. He gives the job to Australian-born Anthony Coburn, a versatile writer with a particular interest in science and history. David Whitaker later recalls his brief: ‘Sydney Newman wanted to use the format to combine the latest ideas about space-travel with a way of educating viewers about the past. If stories went into the future or onto other planets we also had to stick to what was known or generally accepted to be true.’

Simon Guerrier’s biography of David Whitaker is available from Ten Acre Books - https://tenacrefilms.bigcartel.com/product/david-whitaker-in-an-exciting-adventure-with-television

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· 26d

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1977: The movie, devised by Tom Baker and Ian Marter, never got made. But Baker worked with James Goss on a novelisation of the script in 2019… (Article from cuttingsarchive.org)

July 18 1977
Tom Baker’s chance remark last November suggesting fans might like to contribute to the projected feature-length movie, Doctor Who Meets Scratchman, has had a remarkable sequel, the London Evening Standard reports. ‘Doctor Who has received sacks of mail from his fans,’ says the newspaper, ‘and all the letters contained money. But sadly for Tom Baker he has had to send all the money back. This extension of his superior powers from merely travelling through time to magnetically drawing pound notes towards him arose through a misquote in a newspaper.’ The Standard describes Tom Baker’s attempt to set up the film and the offer of half of what he needed from the British Board of Film Finance. ‘Baker mentioned this in an interview, but the remark came across as an appeal to his fans for funds. They quickly proved what a loyal bunch they are and he received eight thousand letters containing varying amounts. They have come from children, from parents, from grandparents. Baker was amazed, but when he inquired into the legitimacy of raising money, even inadvertently in this way, he was told he would have to send the lot back. He was advised that he should have started a company, advertised shares, and promised a dividend.’ The Standard adds that the eight-thousand contributions are now going back, and although Baker has received an approach from a City bank, they are only interested in backing a package of three films rather than just one.

London Evening Standard, 18 July 1977
Londoner’s Diary
Tardis trip to future film meets setback
Dr Who has received sacks of mail from his fans, and all the letters contained money. But sadly for Tom Baker, who plays the Doctor in the television series, he has had to send all the money back.
This extension of his superior powers from merely travelling through time to magnetically drawing pound notes towards him arose through a misquote in a newspaper. Baker, who has taken the Dr Who audience past the 13 million mark, decided he would like to make a Dr Who film.
There have been two previous films, both starring Peter Cushing, but Baker wanted to do one himself. He has written his own screenplay and called it Dr Who Meets Scratchman.
He set out to get finance for the film. and the British Board of Film Finance promised £250,000 half the amount he needed. Baker mentioned this in an interview, but the remark came across as an appeal to his fans for funds.
They quickly proved what a loyal bunch they are. Baker has received 8000 letters containing varying amounts. They have come from children, from parents, from grandparents.
Baker was amazed, but when he inquired into the legitimacy of raising money, even inadvertently, in this way, he was told he would have to send the lot back. He was advised that he should have started a company, advertised shares, and promised a dividend.
So 8000 contributions are being returned to the donors. And Baker is looking for one backer prepared to provide the full £250,000 required. He has already had an approach from a City bank. But they were interested in doing three films rather than one.

Cover of ‘Doctor Who – Scratchman’ by Tom Baker (with James Goss). “In his first-ever Doctor Who novel, Tom Baker’s incredible imagination is given free rein. A story so epic it was originally intended for the big screen, Scratchman is a gripping, white-knuckle thriller almost forty years in the making.”

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· 27d

Happened across this image by the legendary cover artist Chris Foss and thought, "That looks familiar"…

Exploding spaceship painted by Chris Foss

A copy of the same spaceship exploding in background of cover for K9 and the Time Trap, artist unknown

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· 28d

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1982: This was the second Panopticon West convention, held over three days by the North American branch of DWAS, this year alongside the established Chicago Comicon. Doctor Who Monthly reported on it in issue 70…

July 16 1982
What is to prove the world’s largest Doctor Who convention opens at the Americana Congress Hotel in Chicago attracting over 10,000 US fans for the two-day event. Another 3,000 without tickets have to be turned away. Attending the gathering are Sarah Sutton, Anthony Ainley, Terry Nation and John Nathan-Turner, who says later: ‘The hotel was absolutely besieged. There were Doctor Who look-alikes everywhere, and people had travelled from all over America. Some were very upset at being turned away.’
Such is the media interest in the convention that two television documentaries are made, as well as innumerable radio interviews and major feature articles in many papers. The Chicago Tribune writes that Doctor Who has become ‘the focus of a cult known as Who-ites’ who are devoted to watching and promoting the programme in America as well as collecting the ever-growing mountain of memorabilia. The Doctor Who theme tune, it reports, has become a disco and jukebox hit, and has already given rise to a New Wave band called the Daleks. Diane Mermigas of the Chicago Daily Herald adds that such is the appeal of the show ‘it has turned several million American adults into fanatic followers’. It is just what Yankee sci-fi enthusiasts who have been searching for a new fixation since Star Trek was cancelled by NBC in 1969 have been wanting, she says.

Part of Denver PBS station KRMA’s documentary on the convention, ‘Once Upon a Time Lord’ can be viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=k_LVEZ97c6A&t=2s

Report on the convention from Doctor Who Monthly issue 70 (published 14 October 1982)

Thousands Flock to Con in America
Although the concept of a Doctor Who Convention is new to the BBC, to Doctor Who fandom such events have been commonplace since 1977.
However, even to seasoned convention veterans, the attendance figures for this year's PanoptiCon West Convention in Chicago, USA were staggering.
Over a period of three days no less than six and a half thousand Doctor Who fans were accomodated [sic] into the Americana Congress Hotel with somewhere in the region of three thousand having to be turned away at the door for fear of over-stepping the hotel's safety regulations.
Guests at this, the world's largest, Doctor Who Convention to date included Sarah Sutton and Anthony Ainley – Nyssa and the Master from the series—producer John Nathan-Turner, and, making a rare public appearance, the creator of the Daleks, Terry Nation.
Among the comprehensive list of Doctor Who stories shown were Castrovalva, Black Orchid and Earthshock the former of which caused some distress to the legions of Tom Baker-only fans who had to witness, in the opening moments, the "death" of their hero and his regeneration into the body of Peter Davison.
A full report on this Convention and others will be carried in the Doctor Who Winter Special due out in November.

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· 29d

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1975: The Short-lived World of Horror featured photos of Doctor Who monsters regularly. Issues are undated but number 7 was probably published in April 1975. Keith Miller’s account of his club is available from lulu.com…

July 15 1975
Issue 7 of the science fiction/horror magazine World of Horror is published, bringing with it the first public advertisement for a Doctor Who fan club. In the wake of mounting interest, the editors on World of Horror have for some time found their Doctor Who photo features to be exceptionally popular with readers, even more so with the advent of Tom Baker’s Doctor.
Although the Doctor Who Fan Club has been running for some time, it is not until now that it gains sufficient public recognition to start drawing together the large number of uncoordinated fans eager for some body to represent and express their interests. Response to the advertisement is good – so good that the office running the club is quickly snowed under by requests for information, membership and collectables. Nevertheless, from the nucleus drawn to this early organisation will eventually spring the Doctor Who Appreciation Society (DWAS) and, subsequently, many of the related overseas bodies that would lead to the vast network of international fandom currently in existence in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Italy and elsewhere.

Cover of World of Horror issue 7 featuring a skull with eyeballs in a black cowl against a blood-red background

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jul 12

My take on this from The TARDIS Chronicles:

Because it’s said Professor Emil Keller installed his mind-purifying device at Stangmoor Prison “nearly a year” ago and the Master is now posing as Keller, it’s often assumed he has been stuck on Earth for a year or more since the events of Terror of the Autons. This adds tension to the already taut timeline for unit stories, so it’s more likely Keller was a real person whose identity the Master stole. How Keller came to be in possession of the mind parasite is open to speculation – perhaps it was spontaneously created from the “negative impulses” extracted by the Keller process – but the Master, trapped on Earth, would surely have been looking for opportunities to gain power and recognised the potential in using the parasite. It would be easy for him to take Keller’s place and hypnotise anyone who knew the professor into accepting him.

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jul 12

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1980: K9’s fate was already sealed though his departure wouldn’t be officially announced until October. The Sun’s ‘success’ was merely confirmation he’d be in the next season… (Articles from cuttingsarchive.org)

July 12 1980
‘Doctor Who’s dog will still have his day’ the Sun reports, revealing that K9 is not to leave Doctor Who following letters from thousands of young viewers who write to the newspaper in protest at the very idea. John Nathan-Turner says: ‘K9 will appear in 20 of the next 28 episodes. Originally it was difficult to use him on bumpy terrain. But we now have a tracking system he runs on so that he can appear in many more scenes.’ Among the many young readers who respond to the Sun’s appeal is Roseanne Serrelli, aged nine, who says; ‘I wrote to the Queen to ask her to save K9 because she is a dog-lover herself. And I got a very nice letter back.’ There are also petitions from schools, and twelve-year-old Gary Milton sums up what the newspaper believes are the feelings of thousands of children when he writes: ‘If the producer decides to exterminate K9, I hope K9 exterminates him first.’ The tremendous publicity which John Nathan-Turner has generated for Doctor Who even before his first production creates a wave of interest in the autumn season after all the disappointment of the New Year . . .

The Sun’s original report on K9’s fate from 7 June 1980
Will the cruel Beeb really kill off K9?
By Hilary Bonner
Dr Who’s mechanical mongrel K9—scourge of the Daleks—is facing the KO.
The canine computer has been axed from key episodes in the next series.
And last night the BBC was believed to have put the bite on for good.
K9, the super pooch with an IQ of 300, could bow out in the New Year.
The heroic hound has become a great favourite since he was collared by Dr Who three years ago.
Changes
New Dr Who producer John Nathan-Turner has already made changes in the top children’s show about the zany time traveller.
Dr Who’s dishy assistant Lalla Ward is being exterminated.
And teenage unknown Matthew Waterhouse is joining the cast to be the doctor’s first male assistant.
Last night Mr Nathan-Turner refused to confirm whether K9 would be KO’d for good.
He said: “It is true that K9 will be rested from some episodes.
But the scripts for the final programmes have yet to be written.”
New boy Matthew, 17, who will play a mischievous alien called Adrid [sic], said yesterday: “If K9 is dropped I shall miss him.
He is a great little character.”
Dog expert Mrs Barbara Woodhouse met K9 last week on Terry Wogan’s new chat show, What’s On Wogan?
She said: “I thought K9 was extremely well-behaved.”
SAVE HIM!
Save K9 from the beastly Beeb! Help the superdog who has seen off the Daleks and Ice Warriors win his toughest-ever battle.
Send your protest to K9, The Sun, 30 Bouverie Street, London EC4.

The Sun, 12 July 1980
K9 Lives!
Dr Who’s dog will still have his day
Dr Who’S mechanical mutt K9 will not be killed off after all. Reports that BBC Television was about to KO K9 have proved false.
Thousands of young viewers wrote to The Sun to protest when it was reported that K9 would be cut out of key episodes in the next series.
It was feared the super pooch was headed for the scrap heap.
But now the new Dr Who producer, John Nathan-Turner. says: “This is not true. K9 will appear in 20 of the next 28 episodes.
“Originally, it was difficult to use K9 on bumpy terrain.
“But we now have a tracking system he runs on so that he can appear in many more scenes.”
Roseanne Serrelli, aged nine, of Ilford, Essex. took her protest right to the top.
She wrote to the Queen to ask her to save K9.
“I wrote to the Queen because she is a dog lover herself,” Roseanne says. “And I got a very nice letter back.”
Saved
More than 60 children in two classes at the Herbert Shiner School, in Petworth, Sussex, added their names to the Save-K9-Campaign.
Janet Harding, 12, who organised the school’s petition, says: “It is wonderful news to know that K9 has been saved.”
David Stew, 14, of Longford, Coventry, has been watching Dr Who since he was a toddler.
“I want to be a TV special effects man when I leave school, and I have visited the BBC to see how K9 works,” he says.
“He is the best thing that ever happened to the series.”
Gary Milton, 12, of Ilford, Essex, summed up the feelings of thousands of other Dr Who fans in his letter: “If the producer decides to exterminate K9, I hope K9 exterminates him first.”
Letters
The BBC has also received many letters of protest following reports that Lalla Ward, who plays Dr Who’s assistant, was to be axed from the next series.
Producer Nathan-Turner says: “She will also be seen in 20 of the next episodes.
“And although she is leaving the series, she is not going to be killed off.”

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jul 9

17th wasn't it?

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jul 9

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1971: Friday teatime didn’t seem as convenient as Saturdays as the repeat got less than half the number of viewers of the original broadcast. The Radio Times billing did gain a nice Frank Bellamy thumbnail though…

July 9 1971
BBC 1 elects to repeat ‘Spearhead from Space’ over four consecutive Fridays, thereby making it the first Doctor Who serial to be re-run outside the conventional Saturday slot, and featuring, somewhat against the BBC’s subsequent policies on Doctor Who, a companion other than the one involved in the current series. The choice of ‘Spearhead from Space’ for re-running is a popular one, brought on, in the main, by the exceptionally favourable response the show received on its first transmission back in January 1970.

Jon Pertwee as the Doctor in the closing shot of episode four of his debut story ‘Spearhead from Space’

Radio Times billing for the repeat of the first episode of ‘Spearhead from Space’ with a thumbnail drawing of the Doctor by Frank Bellamy.
6.20 Colour
Dr Who
starring Jon Pertwee with Caroline John and Nicholas Courtney
Spearhead from Space
by Robert Holmes
1: A swarm of 'meteorites' lands - and so does the Tardis. From it emerges a new Doctor - or is it an imposter? The new arrival is immediately a target for attack.

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jul 6

This radio production was ‘The Time Machine’, the third episode of series four of BBC Radio schools programme ‘Exploration Earth’. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 4 October 1976, having been recorded on 27 April, so who knows why Peter chose to mention it here in July!

Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen posing as the Doctor and Sarah for the Decca LP production Doctor Who and the Pescatons

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jul 6

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1976: Sportscene’s ‘TV Sci-Fi Monthly’ ran for only eight issues in 1976, with a heavy focus on Star Trek, Space: 1999 and the Bionic Man and Woman. Issue 5 had an interview with Tom Baker…

July 6 1976
Tom Baker’s undoubted success as the Doctor leads to a wide range of Tom Baker merchandise appearing in shops during the summer months. Despite the programme being off the air, these toys, games and various promotional gimmicks are very popular. Interest is also growing in what goes on behind the scenes during the making of Doctor Who and the magazine TV Sci-Fi Monthly is the first to feature regular and serious-minded stories on this aspect.
Another little piece of Who history is also made when Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen play the Doctor and Sarah Jane in a special half-hour Schools Radio production in which they conduct listeners, with the help of the TARDIS, to various periods of the Earth’s evolution. There is even an alien villain called Megron – played by John Westbrook – who opposes order and naturally requires putting in his place by the Doctor. David Little produced and Bernard Venables wrote this semi-documentary Doctor Who adventure for the radio – the only one of its kind.

Cover of TV Sci-Fi Monthly number 5. Main photo of Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen as the Doctor and Sarah crouching on the Zeta Minor jungle set from ‘Planet of Evil’. Side picture of Star Trek’s Dr McCoy, Scotty, Spock and Uhura on the Enterprise bridge (Spock in captain’s chair) headed ‘Star Trek: The Enterprise Crew!’. Other cover lines: ‘Exclusive interviews: Dr. Who, James Kirk’; ‘Six Million Dollar Special: Bionic army’; ‘Plus sci-fi movie review’; and ‘Giant Star Trek pin-up inside’.

Interview with Tom Baker from TV Sci-Fic Monthly 5. View this and other issues at https://michaelmouse1967.wixsite.com/mag-a-zone/tv-sci-fi-monthly-magazine

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jul 5

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1983: Nicola auditioned as an American, on the advice of her agent, and only revealed to her producer she was in fact British (with an American husband) after winning the part… (Article from cuttingsarchive.org)

July 5 1983
The first ‘American’ joins the cast of Doctor Who with the announcement of a new companion for the Doctor, the delightfully named Miss Perpugilliam Brown, an American student, to be played by 21‑year‑old British-born Nicola Bryant. She is transformed from the obscurity of drama school to the front pages of the national papers with the news which will make her the twenty-fifth assistant. This leap to fame is all the more amazing when Nicola tells journalists that she had predicted it to her family nine years ago. ‘We were sitting watching Doctor Who and I said I would be in it one day. They all laughed at me then, but now they are laughing because it has come true!’ And she adds: ‘I’m still a little amazed. I was crawling around in my nappies when the series started. Later my sister and I used to dare each other into watching the programme as we were so scared – particularly of the Daleks.’ Nicola’s character, Perpugilliam, – an old English name typical of a certain sort of wealthy American family, which will be shortened to Peri – is to meet the Doctor on a Mediterranean holiday – wearing only a bikini. John Nathan-Turner tells the press: ‘She’ll often be wearing leotards and bikinis. A lot of Dads watch Doctor Who and I’m sure they will like Nicola.’

Nicola Bryant as her press reveal in July 1983

Daily Post, 6 July 1983
It’s time traveller Peri—that’s Who
Fans of the TV series Doctor Who will be asking “Miss Who?” when the famous time traveller’s new assistant arrives on the screens.
For she will rejoice in the name of Miss Perpugilliam Brown – and be played by American actress Nicola Bryant, (21), who has never performed a professional TV or Stage role.
Nicola becomes the Doctor’s 25th assistant in the series but the first American, and certainly the first Perpugilliam.
“It is an old-fashioned English name, typical of a certain sort of wealthy American family. We will call her Peri most of the time I expect,” said weries [sic] producer John Nathan-Turner.
The immediate transition from drama school obscurity to prominence in the BBC series is all the more remarkable for Nicola – because she predicted it to her family nine years ago.
“We were sitting round watching Dr Who and I said I would be in it one day. They all laughed at me then, but now they are laughing because it has come true,” the young American actress said yesterday.
“My sister and I used to dare each other into watching the programme as we were so scared – particularly of the Daleks,” she said.
But Nicola can breathe easily, for although Dr Who’s most venerable adversaries will be making a brief return in the series, which begins in January, her debut will come a few weeks later.
Helping the Doctor, now played by Peter Davidson [sic], against the Daleks will be his present assistant Tegan (Janet Fielding), whose eventual fate in the series is not being revealed.
Nicola, who was born in Surrey and has lived in Britain for several years will not appear in the 90-minute Dr Who special being planned for the programme’s 20th anniversary in November.

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jul 4

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1964: “Jammed switchboards” may be apocryphal as the gap during ‘The Sensorites’ was anticipated and the episode was not listed in Radio Times or newspapers that week. Roy Emerson won the Wimbledon final…

July 4 1964
Jammed switchboards at the BBC from Doctor Who viewers are to become almost commonplace over the years – but on this occasion callers are not protesting at the show’s content, but rather at the lack of it. For as a result of a marathon Singles Final on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, the producer of Grandstand wins extended coverage for his programme, and at 5.15 p.m. – with the tennis still going on – the announcement is made that the Doctor Who episode for the evening, part three of Peter Newman’s ‘The Sensorites’, is to be postponed until the following week, thereby pushing the whole season back a week. Seven and a half million of the Doctor’s fans are not amused . . .

Closing ‘Next episode: Hidden Danger’ caption from ‘The Sensorites’ episode two, ‘The Unwilling Warriors’, broadcast Saturday 27 June 1964

Australians Roy Emerson and Fred Stolle ahead of the Wimbledon men’s singles final on 4 July 1964, from a Pathé News film report

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jul 2

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1980: Empire was on general release in the UK from 21 May, though reached different areas across the summer months. Fuller list of cross-casting between Who and Star Wars at www.imdb.com/list/ls52723... …

July 2 1980
From Doctor Who to Star Wars: following the success of Dave Prowse in Star Wars, a number of other actors from the BBC series are recruited for the second film, The Empire Strikes Back when it is shot primarily in Britain. Dave, of course, returns as the evil Darth Vader, and among others appearing are regulars such as Julian Glover, playing the Commander of the AT-AT Walking Tanks, and Michael Sheard as an Empire Cruiser Admiral. Jeremy Bulloch who featured with William Hartnell in ‘The Space Museum’ plays bounty-hunter Boba Fett, while Milton Johns, a traitorous Time Lord, is an Empire Officer, and John Hollis from ‘The Mutants’ appears as Lobot, who helps rescue Princess Leia from the Imperial Storm‑Troopers. When it goes on general release, the picture becomes something of a ‘Spot the Doctor Who actor’ for fans of the series!

Actors from Doctor Who in their Empire Strikes Back roles: Dave Prowse as Darth Vader (sans helmet) with Harrison Ford (not been in Who – yet); Julian Glover as General Veers; Michael Sheard as Admiral Ozzel; Jeremy Bulloch as Boba Fett (sans helmet), with director Irvin Kershner; Milton Johns as the officer who resets the carbon freezer; and John Hollis as Lobot

Press ad for expanding distribution across the UK of The Empire Strikes Back

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jul 1

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1969: Unclear why Peter put this down for 1 July, when Pertwee had been announced as the new Doctor on 17 June, as his posing with that week’s Radio Times shows…

July 1 1969
Behind the scenes, producer Peter Bryant has lined up his new Doctor, Jon Pertwee, the radio and stage comedian, though not without some soul-searching as he is later quite ready to admit. ‘Jon wasn’t my first choice,’ he says. ‘I thought Ron Moody would have been tremendous for the part. But Jon was high up on the list and of course he could do everything – all those voices, all those mannerisms. He seemed to have everything I was looking for to give the show a more light-hearted approach. But in the end, of course, he played it straight – and what a success he was! I think it also established him as an actor in the television public’s eyes.’ Apart from being unable to get Ron Moody to play the Doctor, Peter Bryant is also to confess that he tried unsuccessfully to get actress Pauline Collins to play a companion. He himself now hands over the reins of the show to Derrick Sherwin, already well versed in the ways of the Doctor from his experiences as writer and script editor.
Sherwin makes his intentions for the show perfectly plain. ‘What I want to do’, he says, ‘is to bring Doctor Who down to Earth because the time is ripe for a change. I want to mould the programme along the lines of the old Quatermass serials, which I found so compelling. I want to establish the concept of having things happen down on Earth, with people with everyday lives coming up against the unknown.’

Jon Pertwee posing with a Yeti for a photocall to announce his casting as the Doctor. He holds a copy of Radio Times for the week 14-20 June 1969 with Ray Alan on the cover

Daily Mail, 21 June 1969
End of time for Dr Who
TV space series gets shake-up
By Brian Dean
BBC TV’s perennial Dr Who comes to an end of his time-space travels tonight and is brought firmly down to earth after a once-and-for-all confrontation with the dreaded Daleks.
The serial is being given a completely new look—and a new Dr Who.
Comedian Jon Pertwee, star of the hit radio show The Navy Lark, will take over from 48-year-old former Shakespearean actor Patrick Troughton when the BBC1 Saturday evening serial returns in colour next January.
Mr. Troughton will make his last appearance as the absent-minded doctor tonight when the current series ends.
He has told the BBC that after nearly three years as Dr Who he wants a change.
It will also be the last appearance for Dr Who’s companions Wendy Padbury, the 21-year-old pocket-sized actress who plays Zoe, and 23-year-old Frazer Hines, who plays Jamie.
Like Mr Troughton they have told the corporation that they want to leave the serial to go on to new acting jobs.
Their decision put the BBC in a spot. Should the serial be scrapped or recast? With eight million regular viewers, the BBC decided that the programme was too popular to lose and should be given a new lease of life in colour.
But the BBC has also decided to give the serial a completely new look.
Mr Pertwee, 50, said yesterday: “It will be set on earth in the 1980s. I won’t be wearing the Victorian clothes that the other Dr Who’s have used. I will be in a modern day suit.”
The new Dr Who will have two companions — Nicholas Courtney, who will play the head of a special army unit and a scientist called Liz, who is still to be cast.
In tonight’s episode Dr Who, who will come up against his own people, the Time Lords, and will meet again all the monsters that he has faced in his Tardis travels—Cybermen, Quarks, Yetis, Ice Warriors, and the Daleks.

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jun 30

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1977: Tom was between filming and first studio recording for ‘The Sun Makers’ – although Peter may have got muddled as Pebble Mill at One appears not to have been on over the summer of 77…

June 30 1977
Tom Baker defends Doctor Who against the charges of violence and horror in an interview on BBC’s Pebble Mill at One. Talking to the presenter, Donny Macleod, a self-confessed fan of the series, Tom says: ‘I believe children enjoy being scared a little, it is a delicious sensation. The Brothers Grimm understood that, but it all depends on where it is presented. When it is in the living-room, the youngster can be swept up in the action as some awesome monster eats the world, or whatever, but he, or she, only has to turn a little bit and there is familiarity. There is Mum and Dad and fish-fingers and normality.’
Donny, who reveals his own son is also a great fan of the Doctor, says of Tom Baker: ‘He has a very rare gift – and certainly one given to very few actors. He relates to children, finds it easy to communicate with them. Indeed, he told me, ‘’I prefer their company to that of most adults. The very young ones bring me jelly babies as presents. We communicate!’’ ’

Tom Baker with Donny MacLeod on Pebble Mill in January 1979. Behind them are a Voc Robot, one of Horus’s Mummies (in gold wrappings), a deflated looking Wirrn and saggy Ice Warrior

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jun 28

Indeed

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jun 27

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1981: Was this a test to see how well a drama would play in bi-weekly slots on BBC1, as part of preparations for a planned new soap, or is that just fan myth?… (Article from cuttingsarchive.org)

June 27 1981
One of the most striking of all changes for Doctor Who is announced – the programme is to be moved from the traditional Saturday evening spot it has occupied for eighteen years to a twice‑weekly early-evening slot. When the new season begins in January 1982 the show will be seen on Tuesdays and Thursdays at around 7.00 p.m., says BBC Head of Drama, Shaun Sutton. He adds: ‘The feeling is that we have stuck in a particular pattern for a very long time and that the show might do better if we change to this new format. We will try it as an experiment and, if it does not work, we will probably revert to the old Saturday-night idea.’
It is intended that each episode will end on a cliff-hanger, but instead of the season running for six months this new twice‑weekly spot will reduce it to three. Peter Davison also tells the press he has a clearer idea of how he will play the Doctor. ‘I think he will look a bit like Tristan in All Creatures – only brave,’ he says. ‘That’s the way one child wrote and said I should play it, and I rather agree with him.’

The Sun, 27 June 1981
Two for Who
TV Exclusive
By Margaret Forwood
Time traveller Dr Who is moving to a twice-weekly cliff-hanging format in a hid to revive the show’s flagging ratings.
The series, which has occupied the early Saturday evening slot for 18 years. will be seen on BBC 1on Tuesdays and Thursdays when it returns in the New Year.
It will follow Nationwide on BBC 1 at around 7pm. In the past, Dr Who has been a big audience-puller for viewers of all ages, although it was conceived as a children’s show.
It often appeared in the Top Twenty chart and was an early evening attraction for the BBC’s big Saturday night audiences, But the most recent series did not do so well.
Drama chief Shaun Sutton says: “The feeling is that we have stuck in a particular pattern for a very long time and that the show might do better if we change to this new format.
“We will try it as an experiment and, if it does not work, we will probably revert to the old Saturday night idea.”
There will be 28 episodes as usual in the next series. But because of the twice-weekly format it will run for only three months instead of six.

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jun 25

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1965: The movie premiered at Studio One on Oxford Street. Its place in Who canon has been debated over the years – I like the theory that on returning to London, Ian Chesterton sold a screenplay to Milton Subotsky…

June 25 1965
The Doctor and the Daleks are transported from the television screen to the cinema with the opening in London of Doctor Who and the Daleks, made by Milton Subotsky and Max J. Rosenberg, directed by Gordon Flemyng, with Hammer Films’ master of horror roles, Peter Cushing, as the Doctor. Roy Castle and Jennie Linden are cast as Ian and Barbara, and little Roberta Tovey as the Doctor’s grand-daughter, Susan. Based on Terry Nation’s original TV script for ‘The Daleks’, the story is extended to 83 minutes by Milton Subotsky aided by David Whitaker. Larger size Daleks are specially built for the film, which, of course is shot in Technicolor at Shepperton Studios. The total budget is a modest £200,000 with Terry Nation getting £500 for the use of his copyright. Audience reaction to the film is tremendous although critical reaction is mixed. Barry Norman of the Daily Mail thinks the picture has ‘all the preposterous ingredients for success’, and Alexander Walker of the Evening Standard declares that ‘it even thrilled someone like me who doesn’t give a damn who’s Who.’ Ewan Ross of the Sunday Express is in no doubt as to who the stars are: ‘The Daleks, glowing, spitting death in all directions, grinding out their ‘’destroy-the-Thals’’ lines like robots with laryngitis, are, as they ever were, one of the finest creations for children since Bambi.’

Peter Cushing as Dr Who, smiling at the camera while clutching the claw arm of a red Dalek on the control room set for ‘Dr Who and the Daleks’

The neon facade of the Studio cinema on Oxford Street in the 1960s. ‘Dr Who and the Daleks’ opened just as ‘The Chase’ was coming to a conclusion on TV, a great summer for Dalek lovers

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jun 24

Hmm, seems like diagrams from my book 'The TARDIS Chronicles' were referenced during this project (note the key numbers below the two black sliders), yet no permission sought nor credit given. The author doesn't want anyone making derivatives of *his* work, however. 🤔

Page from 'The TARDIS Chronicles' by Paul MC Smith (me) with a diagram of one of the panels of Mike Kelt's new console made in 1983

Page from Brendan Sheppard's new book 'Creating the Console Room' (from the sample on Amazon) showing my diagram being referenced alongside what I presume is the original console mould mentioned in the text

Page from the front of Brendan Sheppard's new book 'Creating the Console Room' making it clear he's against anyone taking from his publication without prior permission

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jun 24

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1972: With Yates only on film in episodes 3 and 4, all six weren’t in the studio together (at least on camera) since episode 2 was recorded on Wednesday 26 April. Prowse’s turn as the Minotaur was pre-filmed on 30 March…

June 24 1972
The final episode of Robert Sloman’s ‘The Time Monster’ is shown, the last serial – though no one realises it then – in which the complete line-up of Jon Pertwee regulars is mustered. In many subsequent interviews for television and magazines the cast involved at this period in the show’s history cite this as a very happy time in their careers; working together more as a family than a team to push forward what was becoming an increasingly popular programme. The regulars comprise Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, Katy Manning as Jo Grant, Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier, Roger Delgado as the Master, Richard Franklin as Captain Yates and John Levene as Sergeant Benton. Although Yates does not appear in the final episode of ‘The Time Monster’ – thus making episode four the last occasion when all six regulars are present – another actor who does appear is Dave Prowse, playing the Minotaur – and four years later he is destined to become world famous as the evil Darth Vader in the blockbuster film Star Wars.

John Levene as Sergeant Benton, Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Katy Manning as Jo Grant, Richard Franklin as Captain Yates and Jon Pertwee as the Doctor on set for episode two of The Time Monster

Dave Prowse in a bull mask playing the Minotaur holds Aidan Murphy playing Hippias above his head

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jun 23

Though quite why when in the reference photo he's clearly grey-haired, who knows?

Photo of Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, lit from low down, taken for the Radio Times to promote The Three Doctors

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks· Jun 23