Articles by:
The 23rd of November 1963 holds particular significance for Doctor Who fans as the date of its first transmission. The previous day is etched into history, far more significantly, by the assassination of American President John F. Kennedy and this globally resonant event frequently comes up when discussing the start of the show.
Doctor Who has been through many forms on the television screen over the past 50 years, from the black and white adventure serial of the 1960s to the bold primary colours of the 1980s. We recently asked you to tell us which era has been your favourite. Here’s how you voted…
‘The Festival of Death’ is a highly ambitious tale for the Fourth Doctor and represents Tom Baker’s take on the Time Lord for BBC Books’ 50th Anniversary Collection.
The wonderful thing about the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary is the upsurge in unofficial publications.
Companions by Andy Frankham-Allen takes an in-depth look at the brave souls who have battled at the Doctor’s side, endured the excitement of time travel and crucially, asked the questions on our behalf.
Written and read by voice of the Daleks and Big Finish exec Nicholas Briggs, ‘The Dalek Generation’ features the Doctor travelling solo, presumably post-Ponds and prior to ‘The Snowmen’.
Over the years, Doctor Who has handled the physical transition of its lead actor in a variety of ways. Peter Davison bowed out in technicolour nightmare of floating faces while Patrick Troughton exited into a visual effect, with his successor not actually glimpsed onscreen until the following story. In fact, only recently has the process become a standardised, upright affair with the Time Lord suffering a volcanic eruption of golden light.
Terry Nation’s script for the ‘Planet of the Daleks’ was a slice of traditional Doctor Who even in the early 1970s.
Reliant on many of his favourite elements such as inhospitable plant life, biological weapons and people hiding in Dalek casings, it acts as a sequel to his original Dalek tale and has been accused of being little more than a rewrite. We prefer to see it as a homage to those early days of black and white adventure serials.
June’s entry in Doctor Who‘s Destiny of the Doctor series brings us to the Sixth Doctor and ‘Trouble in Paradise’ sees the Time Lord’s most colourful incarnation given a mission by the Eleventh; to collect something called an ‘omni-paradox’ and store its energy for later use. He is also after a coat and seems to regard the Sixth’s outfit as the height of sartorial elegance.
Who-ology is fundamentally a giant book of lists and, as such, is ideally suited to the Doctor Who fan market. Face it guys, this is what we do.
‘Last of the Gaderene’ represents the Third Doctor adventure in BBC Books’ Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Collection. Written by Mark Gatiss in 2000, before his career as a screenwriter for the new series, it remains his most recent Who story in prose.