Tony Cross

Dear all, When we were thinking of a title for the book Across Time and Space we loved it not just because it is a play on Tony’s name (Anthony Cross = A Cross) but also because Time and Space is a phrase forever linked to the show. And this got me wondering about when the association started. This in turn led me to the Radio Times (a weekly TV listings magazine that was part of everyone’s childhood in the UK). When the show launched in November 1963 it was announced in the listings page as, ‘an adventure in space and time’ whilst on the front cover, ‘time and space’ is used. I presume it was just something thought up the press office? Or can someone illuminate me otherwise? The cover I have used is part of a project by Clayton Hickman (brilliant ex editor of Doctor Who magazine) who has done an amazing job colourising all the old Radio Times Doctor Who covers and is offering them as a free download for the next few days here in return he asks you buy him a virtual coffee here. Thanks for your support so far, if you were able to share details of the project on social media or with any friends that love Doctor Who we would really appreciate it. Thanks, Mathew (Head of Publishing at Unbound). P. S. I was also amused to see the show being referred to as Dr. Who not Doctor Who. When I was the editor of the official books in the RTD era it was a crime punishable by death to refer to the show that way even in an email. When did this change I wonder?

Dear all, 
 
When we were thinking of a title for the book Across Time and Space we loved it not just because it is a play on Tony’s name (Anthony Cross = A Cross) but also because Time and Space is a phrase forever linked to the show. And this got me wondering about when the association started. This in turn led me to the Radio Times (a weekly TV listings magazine that was part of everyone’s childhood in the UK). 

 


 <img alt class="doksoft_image_img" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/Radiotimesguide2000-2.gif?v=1690916085" width="500" height="321">


When the show launched in November 1963 it was announced in the listings page as, ‘an adventure in space and time’ whilst on the front cover, ‘time and space’ is used. I presume it was just something thought up the press office? Or can someone illuminate me otherwise?

 


 <img alt class="doksoft_image_img" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/RADIO_TIMES_COVER_small_size.jpg?v=1690916085" width="406" height="500">


The cover I have used is part of a project by Clayton Hickman (brilliant ex editor of Doctor Who magazine) who has done an amazing job colourising all the old Radio Times Doctor Who covers and is offering them as a free download for the next few days <a href="https://wetransfer.com/downloads/61ba93f87728753f588104f3d4a6b31820210918181240/3adc72">here</a> in return he asks you buy him a virtual coffee <a href="https://ko-fi.com/claytonhickman">here</a>.

Thanks for your support so far, if you were able to share details of the project on social media or with any friends that love Doctor Who we would really appreciate it. 

Thanks,

Mathew (Head of Publishing at Unbound).

P. S. I was also amused to see the show being referred to as Dr. Who not Doctor Who. When I was the editor of the official books in the RTD era it was a crime punishable by death to refer to the show that way even in an email. When did this change I wonder?

Choosing the title "Across Time and Space"...

Hello all, Another update! This one is to point you in the direction of a new documentary, Doctor Who Am I, directed by Matthew Jacobs and Vanessa Yuille. Some of you may recognise Matthew Jacobs' name. He wrote the script for the 1996 TV Movie. That isn't his only Doctor Who connection. His father, Anthony Jacobs was an actor who played Doc Holliday in The Gunfighters, alongside William Hartnell. As a ten-year-old Matthew was taken to the studio and watched some of the filming. This documentary is Matthew's entry into the world of Doctor Who fandom as he attends his first convention. He is slightly afraid that Doctor Who fans hate him because The TV Movie includes the first Doctor - Companion kiss and the 'half-human' thing. He turns this into a quest to understand fandom and his place in it. I wrote a full review on The Dreamcage - https://www.thedreamcage.com/2022/10/documentary-doctor-who-am-i.html - which you are welcome to read but to cut a long story short I think it is worth a watch if you're a Doctor Who fan. It is North American focused and there are - in my opinion - still some differences between the two but not as much as I think there used to be. My thoughts on the TV Movie have changed over time. I mostly enjoyed it on broadcast, but found it a bit too American for my taste. I did think Paul McGann would have made a superb Doctor, which his appearances on Big Finish and his occassional small appearances in New Doctor Who have proved that to be correct. However, as time goes by I have enjoyed it a little more each time. I have particularly grown to enjoy Eric Roberts's take on the Master. It has flaws, but it is fun. I was lucky to see it on the big screen at the BFI during the 50th Anniversary celebrations, which made it feel particularly cinematic. So, I thought - if you didn't already know about it - I'd flag it up. Have a lovely weekend all. Tony

Hello all, 

Another update! 

This one is to point you in the direction of a new documentary, Doctor Who Am I, directed by Matthew Jacobs and Vanessa Yuille. Some of you may recognise Matthew Jacobs' name. He wrote the script for the 1996 TV Movie. That isn't his only Doctor Who connection. His father, Anthony Jacobs was an actor who played Doc Holliday in The Gunfighters, alongside William Hartnell. As a ten-year-old Matthew was taken to the studio and watched some of the filming.

This documentary is Matthew's entry into the world of Doctor Who fandom as he attends his first convention. He is slightly afraid that Doctor Who fans hate him because The TV Movie includes the first Doctor - Companion kiss and the 'half-human' thing. He turns this into a quest to understand fandom and his place in it. 

I wrote a full review on The Dreamcage -  https://www.thedreamcage.com/2022/10/documentary-doctor-who-am-i.html - which you are welcome to read but to cut a long story short I think it is worth a watch if you're a Doctor Who fan. It is North American focused and there are - in my opinion - still some differences between the two but not as much as I think there used to be.

My thoughts on the TV Movie have changed over time. I mostly enjoyed it on broadcast, but found it a bit too American for my taste. I did think Paul McGann would have made a superb Doctor, which his appearances on Big Finish and his occassional small appearances in New Doctor Who have proved that to be correct. However, as time goes by I have enjoyed it a little more each time. I have particularly grown to enjoy Eric Roberts's take on the Master. It has flaws, but it is fun.

I was lucky to see it on the big screen at the BFI during the 50th Anniversary celebrations, which made it feel particularly cinematic. 

So, I thought - if you didn't already know about it - I'd flag it up. 

Have a lovely weekend all.

Tony

Doctor Who Am I

Hello all, Thank you for the continued support. I've attached a video of Mr. TARDIS's Doctor Who podcast on which I appear talling about Once, Upon Time and other Doctor Who related issues, including this book. I appear from about 37 minutes but listen to the whole thing if you're in the mood. Tony

Hello all, 

Thank you for the continued support. 

I've attached a video of Mr. TARDIS's Doctor Who podcast on which I appear talling about Once, Upon Time and other Doctor Who related issues, including this book. I appear from about 37 minutes but listen to the whole thing if you're in the mood.

Tony

Flux: Once, Upon Time (A Sort of Update)

Hello all, Thank you for the continued support. I've attached a video of Mr. TARDIS's Doctor Who podcast on which I appear talling about Once, Upon Time and other Doctor Who related issues, including this book. I appear from about 37 minutes but listen to the whole thing if you're in the mood. https://t.co/TRis30Y4AR?amp=1 Tony

Hello all, 

Thank you for the continued support. 

I've attached a video of Mr. TARDIS's Doctor Who podcast on which I appear talling about Once, Upon Time and other Doctor Who related issues, including this book. I appear from about 37 minutes but listen to the whole thing if you're in the mood.

https://t.co/TRis30Y4AR?amp=1

Tony

Morning all, Today is the morning after the first new Doctor Who for some time. The first part of a six part story: Flux. As you're all supporting this project I thought I'd put my first thoughts here. Now, my blogs are usual my instant reactions to stories. I'll try to avoid spoilers but if you haven't already seen this. Stop reading now. I enjoyed this a lot. Chris Chibnall packed a lot in. Threads were begun in this story that might not get all tied together until the final episode so analysing this as an episode in its own right is both tough and probably a little unfair. Ah, the Doctor and Yaz are having adventures. The implication of this episode is that they have been travelling together for a while. I like that the Doctor in this story is a little less open. She's keeping secrets from Yaz. I also like that Yaz calls her out on it. I like Jodie's version of the 13th Doctor here a trap set by the Karnavista (Craige Els). I'm going to say that the handcuffs and the bed suggests to me that Chibnall knows exactly what he's doing in terms of helping to encourage the creation of Doctor Who smut. The Karnavista is a dog-like being who sounds a bit like Christopher Eccleston (or he did to me.) Although Eccleston will be unimpressed with all the Liverpool FC references. I digress. The story introduces us to multiple characters and villains and I won't dwell on all of them here. I think some of the stories will be told in future episodes (as the series trailer hints.) The question is will those stories then be part of the whole Flux event. We shall see. The most important introductions we get are to Dan Lewis, played by John Bishop. Dan is a proud Scouser and we get some interaction with the issues of the real world here: unemployment and food banks. Dan is a good man and, as befits a character played by a comedian, quite funny. He's arranging a non-date date with Diane (Nadia Albina) who is drawn into the story towards the end. Nadia Albina is a fine actor. I've seen her in both The Merchant of Venice and Othello in Stratford-upon-Avon so I hope they give her more to do. I like Dan. I think John Bishop does a good job in his first story. We also meet The Swarm (Sam Spruell) who, it seems, will be the main villain of the Flux (although the massive indestructible Flux itself would appear to be the biggest bad of them all, but perhaps they are all linked.) The Swarm is genuinely creepy. It's nice to have a villain that I think would genuinely have scared me as a kid and it is pretty ruthless. There's an implication of battles past, which the Doctor seems not to know about. I have a theory about that but now is not the time and place to go into it. We meet Claire(Annabel Scholey), who has also already met the Doctor. She has an encounter with some Weeping Angels. Her use of the line, "the long way round" has also got everyone's attention. Whether this will mean anything or is just a red herring is something I suppose we will only find out later. Perhaps everyone in this story is a pre-Hartnell Doctor? (Sorry, I'm being silly.) Another thread introduces us to Vinder (Jacob Anderson), who has been trailed as having more involvement in further stories. Add to this the Sontarans - who are the focus of next weeks episode; the Flux itself (which at this point just seems to be an unstopable, universe ending force); Weeping Angels; Azure (Swarm's sister and, at the beginning of the story, disguised as a human living in the Artic Circle for reasons I don't entirely understand). By the end of the episode most of the pieces are in place for the ongoing story and what felt at points like a season conclusion has only just started things off. There was a lot to take in. Chibnall has given himself quite a lot to do if he's going to tie all this up and the Timeless Child. I have theories. I always have theories. Solid performances from everyone and a great start to a new season. At least in my opinion. What did you all think?

Morning all, 

Today is the morning after the first new Doctor Who for some time. The first part of a six part story: Flux. As you're all supporting this project I thought I'd put my first thoughts here. Now, my blogs are usual my instant reactions to stories. I'll try to avoid spoilers but if you haven't already seen this. Stop reading now.

I enjoyed this a lot. Chris Chibnall packed a lot in. Threads were begun in this story that might not get all tied together until the final episode so analysing this as an episode in its own right is both tough and probably a little unfair. 

Ah, the Doctor and Yaz are having adventures. The implication of this episode is that they have been travelling together for a while. I like that the Doctor in this story is a little less open. She's keeping secrets from Yaz. I also like that Yaz calls her out on it. I like Jodie's version of the 13th Doctor here a trap set by the Karnavista (Craige Els). I'm going to say that the handcuffs and the bed suggests to me that Chibnall knows exactly what he's doing in terms of helping to encourage the creation of Doctor Who smut. 

The Karnavista is a dog-like being who sounds a bit like Christopher Eccleston (or he did to me.) Although Eccleston will be unimpressed with all the Liverpool FC references. I digress. 

The story introduces us to multiple characters and villains and I won't dwell on all of them here. I think some of the stories will be told in future episodes (as the series trailer hints.) The question is will those stories then be part of the whole Flux event. We shall see.

The most important introductions we get are to Dan Lewis, played by John Bishop. Dan is a proud Scouser and we get some interaction with the issues of the real world here: unemployment and food banks. Dan is a good man and, as befits a character played by a comedian, quite funny. He's arranging a non-date date with Diane (Nadia Albina) who is drawn into the story towards the end. Nadia Albina is a fine actor. I've seen her in both The Merchant of Venice and Othello in Stratford-upon-Avon so I hope they give her more to do. I like Dan. I think John Bishop does a good job in his first story. 

We also meet The Swarm (Sam Spruell) who, it seems, will be the main villain of the Flux (although the massive indestructible Flux itself would appear to be the biggest bad of them all, but perhaps they are all linked.) The Swarm is genuinely creepy. It's nice to have a villain that I think would genuinely have scared me as a kid and it is pretty ruthless. There's an implication of battles past, which the Doctor seems not to know about. I have a theory about that but now is not the time and place to go into it. 

We meet Claire(Annabel Scholey), who has also already met the Doctor. She has an encounter with some Weeping Angels. Her use of the line, "the long way round" has also got everyone's attention. Whether this will mean anything or is just a red herring is something I suppose we will only find out later. Perhaps everyone in this story is a pre-Hartnell Doctor? (Sorry, I'm being silly.)

Another thread introduces us to Vinder (Jacob Anderson), who has been trailed as having more involvement in further stories. Add to this the Sontarans - who are the focus of next weeks episode; the Flux itself (which at this point just seems to be an unstopable, universe ending force); Weeping Angels; Azure (Swarm's sister and, at the beginning of the story, disguised as a human living in the Artic Circle for reasons I don't entirely understand).

By the end of the episode most of the pieces are in place for the ongoing story and what felt at points like a season conclusion has only just started things off. 

There was a lot to take in. Chibnall has given himself quite a lot to do if he's going to tie all this up and the Timeless Child. I have theories. I always have theories.

Solid performances from everyone and a great start to a new season. At least in my opinion. What did you all think?

Flux: The Halloween Apocalypse

Another highly entertaining episode in Part 2 of Doctor Who: Flux aka War of the Sontarans. This episode has slightly less threads to it as the focus is on the battle with the Sontarans it still has more to it than just one simple storyline. The story starts with a black and white 'dream' sequence where we see an enormous, wooden wreck of a house and the Doctor reaching up to it. This is a beautiful shot. If you saw it in isolation you'd think it was from a film. Obviously what this house is we don't discover. A favoured theory is that it is Lungbarrow (from the Virgin New Adventures series), which is the ancestral home of the Doctor's family, but in reality who knows? Since Chibnall make the Morbius Doctor's canon I suspect there is no part of the extended Doctor Who multiverse that he might not pull into the end of his era as showrunner. We then find ourselves on a battlefield. The Doctor, Yaz and Dan arrive outside the TARDIS, but the TARDIS is there. But the TARDIS is not well, which I think is the consequence of what is happening elsewhere in this story. Again, I suspect what is happening here will be revealed later on. It turns out we are in the Crimea. During the Crimean War. Except, as we find out when we meet Mary Seacole, played superbly by Sara Powell. Mary Seacole is a real historical figure whose story is worth studying. Obviously we get the Doctor Who version of Seacole, but hopefully that will encourage some people to look up more about the real person. Interesting Seacole gets to be the defacto companion to the Doctor in this story, because Dan is whipped forward to 2021 Liverpool and Yaz ends up...well...later. The British Army isn't fighting the Russians in the Crimea though. Oh, no. It's the Sontarans. Russia is gone. Indeed neither Mary nor General Logan have heard of Russia, although there is a faint echo there. That suggests timey wimey shenanigans and it turns out that the Sontarans are planning to conquor the Earth throughout its timeline via a series of time ships it is building in Liverpool docks. I like the Sontarans in this story. The balance of nasty and pompous jingoist potatoes is perfect. Jonathan Watson does a fine job as Skaak and Dan Starkey more than ably supports him as Svild. They both get good comedy to do, but Watson gets more of the serious and nasty stuff. General Logan, played by Gerald Kyd, is a bit of a cliche. The closed-minded military officer that Doctor Who is fond of. The new series more so than the old (although they are there too.) My view is Logan is a bit too much of a two-dimensional character but his arc within the story doesn't hurt it too much. Dan gets to play his part in defeating the Sontarans with the help of his parents, played by Sue Jenkins and Paul Broughton. Both familiar British TV faces. They get the bulk of the episodes comedy. There's also the reappearance of Karnavista. Dan's role is more convential companion one in this story. Yaz meanwhile has found herself in a mysterious set of tunnels. These are the same tunnels that Vinder (Jacob Anderson) has found himself in earlier. This turns out to be the thread of the story that involves the big season wide baddies the most. This is the planet Time. A concept that I've still not got my head around but I'm sure at some point it'll all be explained. As will the Morai (who have a role to play in keeping Time in check.) They talk about Time as though it is a person. Time is evil. All of this is an interesting development in Doctor Who mythology. I'm tempted to say though that Time will turn out to be someone we already know. Time is a character (briefly glimpsed) in the Virgin New Adventures. The Doctor in those books is refered to as 'Time's Champion.' Swarm and Azure, who always drezz for the occasion are on Time too. Their plan seems to be to break the Morai and unleash messy Time upon the Universe. Again, I suspect more to come on this. I love Swarm and Azure. They seem to be enjoying themselves and their work. We get another glimpse of Steve Oram as Thomas Williamson in the tunnels of Time. I'm predicting that Williamson's tunnels in Liverpool are going to play an important part in the solution to this story. They're real. Worth a Google. The Doctor and Dan are hi-jacked and find themselves on Time. Someone is in peril. Cliffhanger. The end. Doctor Who is better with cliffhangers. I really enjoyed this. The question with Flux is whether Chibnall is going to be able to land the dismount. Ending Doctor Who stories is much harder than beginning them and he is giving himself a lot to do. And there is still The Timeless Child thread untied out there somewhere. This story was also aided by strong performances all round. Jodie's Doctor in Flux so far has been a little less nice than previously. I feel slightly though like John Bishop is having to be slightly unnatural because I suspect they worried about how strong his Liverpool accent is. I still like Dan. I like that his response to most things is to be sarcastic. Mandip Gill has, at last, been given stuff to do. The smaller TARDIS crew and the longer run time really benefits this season. And it looks amazing. Considering this season was put together during lockdown the quality of the production is pretty damn high. The question is...can Chibnall keep this up? We shall see.

Another highly entertaining episode in Part 2 of Doctor Who: Flux aka War of the Sontarans. 

This episode has slightly less threads to it as the focus is on the battle with the Sontarans it still has more to it than just one simple storyline. The story starts with a black and white 'dream' sequence where we see an enormous, wooden wreck of a house and the Doctor reaching up to it. This is a beautiful shot. If you saw it in isolation you'd think it was from a film. Obviously what this house is we don't discover. A favoured theory is that it is Lungbarrow (from the Virgin New Adventures series), which is the ancestral home of the Doctor's family, but in reality who knows? Since Chibnall make the Morbius Doctor's canon I suspect there is no part of the extended Doctor Who multiverse that he might not pull into the end of his era as showrunner. 

We then find ourselves on a battlefield. The Doctor, Yaz and Dan arrive outside the TARDIS, but the TARDIS is there. But the TARDIS is not well, which I think is the consequence of what is happening elsewhere in this story. Again, I suspect what is happening here will be revealed later on. 

It turns out we are in the Crimea. During the Crimean War. Except, as we find out when we meet Mary Seacole, played superbly by Sara Powell. Mary Seacole is a real historical figure whose story is worth studying. Obviously we get the Doctor Who version of Seacole, but hopefully that will encourage some people to look up more about the real person. Interesting Seacole gets to be the defacto companion to the Doctor in this story, because Dan is whipped forward to 2021 Liverpool and Yaz ends up...well...later.

The British Army isn't fighting the Russians in the Crimea though. Oh, no. It's the Sontarans. Russia is gone. Indeed neither Mary nor General Logan have heard of Russia, although there is a faint echo there. That suggests timey wimey shenanigans and it turns out that the Sontarans are planning to conquor the Earth throughout its timeline via a series of time ships it is building in Liverpool docks. 

I like the Sontarans in this story. The balance of nasty and pompous jingoist potatoes is perfect. Jonathan Watson does a fine job as Skaak and Dan Starkey more than ably supports him as Svild. They both get good comedy to do, but Watson gets more of the serious and nasty stuff. 

General Logan, played by Gerald Kyd, is a bit of a cliche. The closed-minded military officer that Doctor Who is fond of. The new series more so than the old (although they are there too.) My view is Logan is a bit too much of a two-dimensional character but his arc within the story doesn't hurt it too much. 

Dan gets to play his part in defeating the Sontarans with the help of his parents, played by Sue Jenkins and Paul Broughton. Both familiar British TV faces. They get the bulk of the episodes comedy. There's also the reappearance of Karnavista. Dan's role is more convential companion one in this story.

Yaz meanwhile has found herself in a mysterious set of tunnels. These are the same tunnels that Vinder (Jacob Anderson) has found himself in earlier. This turns out to be the thread of the story that involves the big season wide baddies the most. This is the planet Time. A concept that I've still not got my head around but I'm sure at some point it'll all be explained. As will the Morai (who have a role to play in keeping Time in check.) They talk about Time as though it is a person. Time is evil. All of this is an interesting development in Doctor Who mythology. I'm tempted to say though that Time will turn out to be someone we already know. Time is a character (briefly glimpsed) in the Virgin New Adventures. The Doctor in those books is refered to as 'Time's Champion.' 

Swarm and Azure, who always drezz for the occasion are on Time too. Their plan seems to be to break the Morai and unleash messy Time upon the Universe. Again, I suspect more to come on this. I love Swarm and Azure. They seem to be enjoying themselves and their work.

We get another glimpse of Steve Oram as Thomas Williamson in the tunnels of Time. I'm predicting that Williamson's tunnels in Liverpool are going to play an important part in the solution to this story. They're real. Worth a Google. 

The Doctor and Dan are hi-jacked and find themselves on Time. Someone is in peril. Cliffhanger. The end. 

Doctor Who is better with cliffhangers. 

I really enjoyed this. The question with Flux is whether Chibnall is going to be able to land the dismount. Ending Doctor Who stories is much harder than beginning them and he is giving himself a lot to do. And there is still The Timeless Child thread untied out there somewhere. 

This story was also aided by strong performances all round. Jodie's Doctor in Flux so far has been a little less nice than previously. I feel slightly though like John Bishop is having to be slightly unnatural because I suspect they worried about how strong his Liverpool accent is. I still like Dan. I like that his response to most things is to be sarcastic. Mandip Gill has, at last, been given stuff to do. The smaller TARDIS crew and the longer run time really benefits this season. 

And it looks amazing. Considering this season was put together during lockdown the quality of the production is pretty damn high. 

The question is...can Chibnall keep this up? We shall see.

Flux: War of the Sontarans

I originally wrote this for a friend of mine, Katie, and I've edited here to help as a guide to getting into Classic Doctor Who if you've never dipped in before. I have put them in order of Doctor and broadcast. You do not have to watch them in that order. As you almost certainly know Classic Doctor Who stories usually consist of multiple 25-minute episodes. There is a bit of a blip during the Colin Baker era when they go to 45-minutes for a season. * They vary from 2-12** episodes in length. I have focused mainly on four part stories. These are meant to be testers so that you can decide what you like. Television is a very different beast during the Classic era than now, particularly the 60s, so there will be that to get used to, although I sometimes think I worry about this too much. I should also include a note on Missing Episodes. The BBC junked a lot of its film content in the 1970s to re-use the film. That means there are a number of 60s Doctor Who stories that are entirely or partially missing from the archive. Some of these have been animated. Others have not. All of them are available in audio. If, after you've watched the suggested examples here, you decide to watch all the Patrick Troughton era you'll find a lot of missing episodes. How you navigate those is up to you. I'd pick animations if they are available, then audio and then, if you can find them, reconstructions. Reconstructions are fan made versions of the episodes pulled together from surviving footage, photos and audio. But detail on both missing episodes and reconstructions are for another time and another blog. The William Hartnell Era The Romans (4), The Time Meddler (4), The War Machines (4) I have picked these three because they are only 4 episodes long and they are all fun. The War Machines in the nearest Hartnell gets to doing a New Doctor Who story. If you enjoy those then go back to the first thirteen episodes, which if The Daleks had not been such a success might have been all the Doctor Who that was ever made. They are: An Unearthly Child (4), The Daleks (7), The Edge of Destruction (2) The first episode of An Unearthly Child is magical. The Daleks is long at 7 episodes but essential Doctor Who mythology and genuinely rather good. There is also a film version of this with Peter Cushing as Doctor Who. That is fun to watch when you get a moment but is totally different. If you still like Hartnell after that everything else is your oyster, but I’d hold off The Web Planet for a while because, although I love it there is a lot of weird shit to overlook. The Patrick Troughton Era The Troughton era has two problems for the newbie. There are not many 4-part stories and a lot of it is missing because the BBC wiped the films to re-use it and they have not been recovered so only 7 out of 21 Troughton stories exist in full. There are animated versions of some of them. The Tomb of the Cybermen (4), The Enemy of the World (6), The Mind Robber (5) If you like those then for a bigger challenge The Invasion (8), The War Games (10) Both of which are long, but great. If you then want to dip into an animation The Macra Terror (4) The Jon Pertwee Era Doctor Who in colour for the first time. Spearhead from Space (4) ***, The Curse of Peladon (4), The Three Doctors (4), Carnival of Monsters (4) If you like those then pretty much any other story will be enjoyable. The Tom Baker Era I am slightly biased here so I could pick loads. I would almost recommend starting Classic Doctor Who here. The Ark in Space (4), Genesis of the Daleks (6), Terror of the Zygons (4), The Robots of Death (4), Horror of Fang Rock (4) If you like all those then Season 16, The Key to Time, is worth watching from the beginning. It is unusual in Classic Doctor Who terms for having a season long arc. But pretty much any Tom Baker is fun to watch. The Peter Davison Era Kinda (4),Snakedance (4) ****, The Five Doctors (1 x 90 Special), The Caves of Androzani (4) If you like those then the whole Davison era is pretty good. The Colin Baker Era Poor Colin does not have a long era and one whole season is The Trial of a Time Lord, which is four separate stories within a courtroom element. Mark of the Rani (2 x 45mins), Vengeance on Varos (2 x 45mins), Revelation of the Daleks (2 x 45mins) If you like those then Trial of a Time Lord is yours to enjoy. By that point you would have watched a huge chunk of Colin’s era so you should watch the rest. The Sylvester McCoy Era Again, Sylvester’s era is a short one, which is a shame as after an initial blip the series started to get its act together again. If you like these then go back to Time and The Rani and watch the whole McCoy era. It is over Remembrance of the Daleks (4), The Happiness Patrol (3), The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (4), The Curse of Fenric (4) Paul McGann You have got the TV Movie and that is it. You could listen to Big Finish, where he is fab, but that is a whole other kettle of worms. There you go. There are my suggestions. *The Peter Davison story Resurrection of the Daleks was a blip as it was broadcast as two 45-minute episodes because of The Olympics. ** There is a single episode story called Mission to the Unknown, which is a prequal episode to the epic 12-part story, The Dalek’s Master Plan. It features none of the main cast or the TARDIS. It feels like a pilot episode for a spin-off, which it was in a way. ***Spearhead from Space will remind you a lot of Rose. It is basically the same story doing the same thing, but with less focus on the companion. ****Kinda/Snakedance are linked so you want to watch them in that order.

I originally wrote this for a friend of mine, Katie, and I've edited here to help as a guide to getting into Classic Doctor Who if you've never dipped in before. I have put them in order of Doctor and broadcast. You do not have to watch them in that order. 

As you almost certainly know Classic Doctor Who stories usually consist of multiple 25-minute episodes. There is a bit of a blip during the Colin Baker era when they go to 45-minutes for a season. * They vary from 2-12** episodes in length.

I have focused mainly on four part stories. These are meant to be testers so that you can decide what you like. Television is a very different beast during the Classic era than now, particularly the 60s, so there will be that to get used to, although I sometimes think I worry about this too much.

I should also include a note on Missing Episodes. The BBC junked a lot of its film content in the 1970s to re-use the film. That means there are a number of 60s Doctor Who stories that are entirely or partially missing from the archive. Some of these have been animated. Others have not. All of them are available in audio. If, after you've watched the suggested examples here, you decide to watch all the Patrick Troughton era you'll find a lot of missing episodes. How you navigate those is up to you. I'd pick animations if they are available, then audio and then, if you can find them, reconstructions. Reconstructions are fan made versions of the episodes pulled together from surviving footage, photos and audio. But detail on both missing episodes and reconstructions are for another time and another blog.


 The William Hartnell Era



 The Romans (4), The Time Meddler (4), The War Machines (4)


I have picked these three because they are only 4 episodes long and they are all fun. The War Machines in the nearest Hartnell gets to doing a New Doctor Who story. 

If you enjoy those then go back to the first thirteen episodes, which if The Daleks had not been such a success might have been all the Doctor Who that was ever made. They are: 


 An Unearthly Child (4), The Daleks (7), The Edge of Destruction (2)


The first episode of An Unearthly Child is magical. The Daleks is long at 7 episodes but essential Doctor Who mythology and genuinely rather good. There is also a film version of this with Peter Cushing as Doctor Who. That is fun to watch when you get a moment but is totally different. 

If you still like Hartnell after that everything else is your oyster, but I’d hold off The Web Planet for a while because, although I love it there is a lot of weird shit to overlook. 


 The Patrick Troughton Era


The Troughton era has two problems for the newbie. There are not many 4-part stories and a lot of it is missing because the BBC wiped the films to re-use it and they have not been recovered so only 7 out of 21 Troughton stories exist in full. There are animated versions of some of them.


 The Tomb of the Cybermen (4), The Enemy of the World (6), The Mind Robber (5)


If you like those then for a bigger challenge


 The Invasion (8), The War Games (10)


Both of which are long, but great. 

If you then want to dip into an animation 


 The Macra Terror (4)



 The Jon Pertwee Era


Doctor Who in colour for the first time. 


 Spearhead from Space (4) ***, The Curse of Peladon (4), The Three Doctors (4), Carnival of Monsters (4)


If you like those then pretty much any other story will be enjoyable. 


 The Tom Baker Era


I am slightly biased here so I could pick loads. I would almost recommend starting Classic Doctor Who here. 


 The Ark in Space (4), Genesis of the Daleks (6), Terror of the Zygons (4), The Robots of Death (4), Horror of Fang Rock (4)


If you like all those then Season 16, The Key to Time, is worth watching from the beginning. It is unusual in Classic Doctor Who terms for having a season long arc. But pretty much any Tom Baker is fun to watch.


 The Peter Davison Era



 Kinda (4),Snakedance (4) ****, The Five Doctors (1 x 90 Special), The Caves of Androzani (4)


If you like those then the whole Davison era is pretty good.


 The Colin Baker Era


Poor Colin does not have a long era and one whole season is The Trial of a Time Lord, which is four separate stories within a courtroom element. 


 Mark of the Rani (2 x 45mins), Vengeance on Varos (2 x 45mins), Revelation of the Daleks (2 x 45mins)


If you like those then Trial of a Time Lord is yours to enjoy. By that point you would have watched a huge chunk of Colin’s era so you should watch the rest.  


 The Sylvester McCoy Era


Again, Sylvester’s era is a short one, which is a shame as after an initial blip the series started to get its act together again. If you like these then go back to Time and The Rani and watch the whole McCoy era. It is over


 Remembrance of the Daleks (4), The Happiness Patrol (3), The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (4), The Curse of Fenric (4)



 Paul McGann


You have got the TV Movie and that is it. You could listen to Big Finish, where he is fab, but that is a whole other kettle of worms. 

There you go. There are my suggestions.

*The Peter Davison story Resurrection of the Daleks was a blip as it was broadcast as two 45-minute episodes because of The Olympics.

** There is a single episode story called Mission to the Unknown, which is a prequal episode to the epic 12-part story, The Dalek’s Master Plan. It features none of the main cast or the TARDIS. It feels like a pilot episode for a spin-off, which it was in a way. 

***Spearhead from Space will remind you a lot of Rose. It is basically the same story doing the same thing, but with less focus on the companion.

****Kinda/Snakedance are linked so you want to watch them in that order.

Guide to Watching Classic Doctor Who . . .

I thought I'd drop you all an update. We're ticking along on the fundraising, but probably a tad slower than I would like. Please help me get the message out there to as many people as possible (especially if you know Paul McCartney or Joe Biden etc.) Here though is a little blog. My Classic Doctor Who recommendations for Halloween. Because October is the spooky month. Season of ghosts and distant screams. I thought a list of the Classic Doctor Who stories most appropriate for that season. I've picked nice. They're Doctor Who-ish takes on ghost stories, vampires, folk horror and those things that go bump in the night. This isn't the same as my list of Doctor Who stories that terrified me the most. That would be entirely Tom Baker because of my age and low fear levels at 4-9. I may put that list up later. Let's just say Image of the Fendahl (which almost made this list) gave me nightmares. 1. The Edge of Destruction: this two part story ends the original 13 episode block of the first season of Doctor Who. If things had gone badly this might have been the last Doctor Who story ever. It's weird, it's creepy and it only features the main cast: the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan. Something is inside the spaceship...or is it? The TARDIS crew under the pressure of events start to distrust one another. If you think of it as a haunted house story then I think it makes for a good spooky watch. 2. Fury from the Deep: the Patrick Troughton base under siege story par excellence. Lost, but now available fully animated on DVD, I remember that the first time I encountered this story was as a pirated copy on cassette. The copying of the copying of it hide much of the dialogue behind a layer of hiss like an aural fog. But somehow the creepiness of the story broke through and I like to think of this as the Doctor Who equivalent of John Carpenter's "The Fog." Let's call it "The Foam". In the words of Van Lutyens : "It's down there. In the darkness. In the pipeline. Waiting." 3. The Daemons: This feels like a classic British horror film, but perhaps without the more gory aspects that a film might bring. An English village with its pub and Church becomes the centre of something strange and occult. There's an eccentric white witch and an existentialist Vicar, Mr. Magister. It's folk horror for tea-time telly. It is fondly remembered by the cast and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. You could imagine this as a big screen Hammer film: Peter Cushing as The Doctor, Christopher Lee as Mr. Magister; Caroline Munro as Jo Grant and Andrew Keir as the Brigadier. 4. Pyramids of Mars: This era of Doctor Who is well-known for taking concepts from film and giving them a Doctor Who take. Robot gives us King Kong and the Brain of Morbius Frankenstein (and the Brain of Morbius could have very easily made this list, along with Terror of the Zygons.) I chose the Pyramids of Mars, which is Doctor Who taking on the tropes of The Mummy. It features one of the great vocal performances in Doctor Who history when Gabriel Woolf's take on Sutekh. The faux-Egyptian trapping and English country house setting give it all the right vibe for a spooky night's viewing. It is, at points, generally horrifying and brutal. 5. The Horror of Fang Rock: This would be my number one choice. We find ourselves trapped on a rocky island off the English coast in a lighthouse. Outside stalks a faceless killer. Or is it outside? Have we let it in? It's a slasher movie, but with a glowing green blob as the Freddy or Jason. The claustrophobic location, the gradually increasing body count and the quality of the performances make this one of my favourite stories. Tom is great in it, although apparently he was an utter pain in the arse on set, but Louise Jameson is the highlight for me. Plus, and here one has to admit to the effect of nostalgia, this story terrified me as a child. But seriously put this on, turn off the lights and it is, possibly, the perfect Halloween story. 6. State of Decay: Doctor Who does classic Vampires. But with added SF. I love this story. It has all the trappings of a Hammer Vampire film (something Lalla Ward would have been familiar with). The Three Who Rule are a joy. It has spooky castles, baroque clad Vampires, villages filled with wary peasants and blood. Yes, the Great Vampire isn't quite the sequence you'd like it to be but where else but Doctor Who would you see a giant Vampire staked through the heart by a space ship? 7. Frontios: This one might be the oddest choice but the centre of this story is dark. The atmosphere is fearful and frightening. It's played dead straight, which means in some ways it feels like Alien. The novelization makes more of the body horror at the centre of the story and yes, giant Woodlice are not the scariest of creations but it is a disturbing story. A planet that eats the dead. 8. Ghost Light: The Doctor Who haunted house story. The Doctor and Ace arrive at Gabriel Chase and something is not quite right. The atmosphere that pervades this story is perfect for Halloween. Of course, being Doctor Who what is going on isn't supernatural but extra-terrestrial. That still doesn't stop this having a proper Victorian ghost story feel about it. 9. The Curse of Fenric: Doctor Who takes another run at Vampires. Again, like Ghost Light this story is built on a foundation of creepiness. We have a base under siege. We have an isolated English location. We have a fog. We have Viking runes. We have a threat from the sea. The Fenric vampires are not the Hammer style Vampires of State of Decay, even if they draw on vampire mythology and superstition. For Halloween purposes it is perfect. So, there you are. Nine classic Doctor Who stories to watch over Halloween.

I thought I'd drop you all an update. We're ticking along on the fundraising, but probably a tad slower than I would like. Please help me get the message out there to as many people as possible (especially if you know Paul McCartney or Joe Biden etc.) 

Here though is a little blog. My Classic Doctor Who recommendations for Halloween. Because October is the spooky month. Season of ghosts and distant screams. I thought a list of the Classic Doctor Who stories most appropriate for that season. I've picked nice. They're Doctor Who-ish takes on ghost stories, vampires, folk horror and those things that go bump in the night.

This isn't the same as my list of Doctor Who stories that terrified me the most. That would be entirely Tom Baker because of my age and low fear levels at 4-9. I may put that list up later. Let's just say Image of the Fendahl (which almost made this list) gave me nightmares.

1. The Edge of Destruction: this two part story ends the original 13 episode block of the first season of Doctor Who. If things had gone badly this might have been the last Doctor Who story ever. It's weird, it's creepy and it only features the main cast: the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan. Something is inside the spaceship...or is it? The TARDIS crew under the pressure of events start to distrust one another. If you think of it as a haunted house story then I think it makes for a good spooky watch. 

2. Fury from the Deep: the Patrick Troughton base under siege story par excellence. Lost, but now available fully animated on DVD, I remember that the first time I encountered this story was as a pirated copy on cassette. The copying of the copying of it hide much of the dialogue behind a layer of hiss like an aural fog. But somehow the creepiness of the story broke through and I like to think of this as the Doctor Who equivalent of John Carpenter's "The Fog." Let's call it "The Foam". In the words of Van Lutyens : "It's down there. In the darkness. In the pipeline. Waiting."

3. The Daemons: This feels like a classic British horror film, but perhaps without the more gory aspects that a film might bring. An English village with its pub and Church becomes the centre of something strange and occult. There's an eccentric white witch and an existentialist Vicar, Mr. Magister. It's folk horror for tea-time telly. It is fondly remembered by the cast and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. You could imagine this as a big screen Hammer film: Peter Cushing as The Doctor, Christopher Lee as Mr. Magister; Caroline Munro as Jo Grant and Andrew Keir as the Brigadier. 

4. Pyramids of Mars: This era of Doctor Who is well-known for taking concepts from film and giving them a Doctor Who take. Robot gives us King Kong and the Brain of Morbius Frankenstein (and the Brain of Morbius could have very easily made this list, along with Terror of the Zygons.) I chose the Pyramids of Mars, which is Doctor Who taking on the tropes of The Mummy. It features one of the great vocal performances in Doctor Who history when Gabriel Woolf's take on Sutekh. The faux-Egyptian trapping and English country house setting give it all the right vibe for a spooky night's viewing. It is, at points, generally horrifying and brutal. 

5. The Horror of Fang Rock: This would be my number one choice. We find ourselves trapped on a rocky island off the English coast in a lighthouse. Outside stalks a faceless killer. Or is it outside? Have we let it in? It's a slasher movie, but with a glowing green blob as the Freddy or Jason. The claustrophobic location, the gradually increasing body count and the quality of the performances make this one of my favourite stories. Tom is great in it, although apparently he was an utter pain in the arse on set, but Louise Jameson is the highlight for me. Plus, and here one has to admit to the effect of nostalgia, this story terrified me as a child. But seriously put this on, turn off the lights and it is, possibly, the perfect Halloween story. 

6. State of Decay: Doctor Who does classic Vampires. But with added SF. I love this story. It has all the trappings of a Hammer Vampire film (something Lalla Ward would have been familiar with). The Three Who Rule are a joy. It has spooky castles, baroque clad Vampires, villages filled with wary peasants and blood. Yes, the Great Vampire isn't quite the sequence you'd like it to be but where else but Doctor Who would you see a giant Vampire staked through the heart by a space ship? 

7. Frontios: This one might be the oddest choice but the centre of this story is dark. The atmosphere is fearful and frightening. It's played dead straight, which means in some ways it feels like Alien. The novelization makes more of the body horror at the centre of the story and yes, giant Woodlice are not the scariest of creations but it is a disturbing story. A planet that eats the dead. 

8. Ghost Light: The Doctor Who haunted house story. The Doctor and Ace arrive at Gabriel Chase and something is not quite right. The atmosphere that pervades this story is perfect for Halloween. Of course, being Doctor Who what is going on isn't supernatural but extra-terrestrial. That still doesn't stop this having a proper Victorian ghost story feel about it.  

9. The Curse of Fenric: Doctor Who takes another run at Vampires. Again, like Ghost Light this story is built on a foundation of creepiness. We have a base under siege. We have an isolated English location.  We have a fog. We have Viking runes. We have a threat from the sea. The Fenric vampires are not the Hammer style Vampires of State of Decay, even if they draw on vampire mythology and superstition. For Halloween purposes it is perfect.

So, there you are. Nine classic Doctor Who stories to watch over Halloween.

Halloween Who

Hello all, Firstly an apology for the lack of updates. A combination of my actual job and various health related issues - which are ongoing but being managed - put a spanner in the preverbial works. Thank you all for you patience. Next up - Did you all watch The Power of the Doctor? What did you think? I mostly loved it. There are a couple of issues and a number of nitpicks but nothing that didn't make me annoyed enough not to enjoy it. I cried a couple of times, which seems to happen more often as I creep into old age. So, farewell Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill and Chris Chibnall. Hello (again) to David Tennant for three episodes coming to us in November 2023 for the 60th Anniversary. And hello to Ncuti Gatwa who will take over after that. I look forward to seeing RTD 2.0 explain what we just saw and why it happened. RTD has stated that David Tennant is the 14th Doctor and Ncuti Gatwa will be the 15th but, as we know, RTD lies. Also announced a little while ago was the Season 2 Blu-Ray Box Set. Season 2 is my favourite William Hartnell season so I'm excited for this one. It sounds like there's the usual fabulous extras, including an interview with William Russell. I was delighted to see him in The Power of the Doctor btw alongside other old companions. A link to that very first episode of Doctor Who nearly 60 years ago. I'll be making an attempt to re-watch all Doctor Who and spin-off series between tomorrow and November 23rd 2023 and will be posting notes and thoughts on my Twitter feed, which is @Lokster71. I'm probably going to do some other bits and bobs around the re-watch so keep your eyes peeled here. I will - health depending - be updating this site a little more regularly so I'll speak to you soon. Be seeing you. Tony

Hello all,

Firstly an apology for the lack of updates. A combination of my actual job and various health related issues - which are ongoing but being managed - put a spanner in the preverbial works. Thank you all for you patience.

Next up - Did you all watch The Power of the Doctor? What did you think? I mostly loved it. There are a couple of issues and a number of nitpicks but nothing that didn't make me annoyed enough not to enjoy it. I cried a couple of times, which seems to happen more often as I creep into old age. 

So, farewell Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill and Chris Chibnall. Hello (again) to David Tennant for three episodes coming to us in November 2023 for the 60th Anniversary. And hello to Ncuti Gatwa who will take over after that. I look forward to seeing RTD 2.0 explain what we just saw and why it happened. RTD has stated that David Tennant is the 14th Doctor and Ncuti Gatwa will be the 15th but, as we know, RTD lies. 

Also announced a little while ago was the Season 2 Blu-Ray Box Set. Season 2 is my favourite William Hartnell season so I'm excited for this one. It sounds like there's the usual fabulous extras, including an interview with William Russell. I was delighted to see him in The Power of the Doctor btw alongside other old companions. A link to that very first episode of Doctor Who nearly 60 years ago. 

I'll be making an attempt to re-watch all Doctor Who and spin-off series between tomorrow and November 23rd 2023 and will be posting notes and thoughts on my Twitter feed, which is @Lokster71. I'm probably going to do some other bits and bobs around the re-watch so keep your eyes peeled here.

I will - health depending - be updating this site a little more regularly so I'll speak to you soon.

Be seeing you. 

Tony

Old Doctors, New Doctors and an Update

Hi everyone, we thought you might enjoy reading Dan's wonderful (and very funny) introduction to the book. Dan has also agreed to a joint signed book level with Tony. If you felt like sharing details of this project on your social media that would be ace. Have a great weekend. Best Mathew (Across Time and Space editor) INTRODUCTION TO ACROSS TIME AND SPACE Doctor Who is my absolute favourite thing, which makes it a right bugger that it was originally cancelled the year I was born. Aside from an incredibly fuzzy, scanline-filled memory of a bloke in sunglasses riding a motorbike on the telly in 1996, and a whole bunch of Comic Relief sketches that referenced some big, shouty pepper pots, Doctor Who didn’t exist for me until a few days after my sixteenth birthday. There I sat, all zits and cynicism, and watched as shop dummies came to life, a man got eaten by a wheelie bin and an alien with a strong northern accent [1] fought a vat of slime before flying away in a phone box. There’s no other way to explain it: it was love at first sight. The remaining twelve episodes of that series flew by. The Earth exploded, Charles Dickens ran away from ghosts, farting aliens took over Number 10, the Doctor’s war ended, a big slug controlled the news, winged monsters ruined a wedding, Victor Meldrew gave me nightmares for years and a lady got turned into an egg. Doctor Who very quickly established itself to me as a show with massive, rollicking ideas and, as the finale wrapped up with a million Daleks bursting into light in the background, Doctor Who pulled out its biggest idea yet. The Doctor died. Nowadays, regeneration is known about years in advance. You’ll have the poster of the new Doctor up on your wall while the old one still has a series to go. But back then, in that quiet, June evening, I had no idea regeneration was even a thing. I watched between my fingers, tears in my eyes, as Christopher Eccleston’s cheeky smile burned away, leaving behind a new man. Gone was my Doctor, and in his place was the wide-eyed face of… Richard Hammond! I almost kicked the telly in, until my dad explained that it was actually David Tennant, that bloke I really liked in Casanova earlier that year. I never was any good at faces. That Christmas, I slightly sulkily watched this new man call himself the Doctor, until he got himself into a sword fight on a spaceship’s roof while wearing a dressing gown. That’s when it really sunk in for me. This was the same Doctor. The same two hearts beating blood through the same web of veins and arteries, into a brain of heroism and kindness. David Tennant was the Doctor. The second Doctor. DAD: ‘Tenth Doctor.’ ME: ‘Huh?’ DAD: ‘He’s the tenth Doctor.’ ME: ‘You having another episode?’ DAD: ‘Grumpy, Silly, Karate, Scarf, Cricket, Smug, Sneaky, Snogs and Northern. This new fella is number ten.’ ME: ‘Snogs? Hang on, are you serious?’ DAD: ‘The show’s been running since I was a kid… where are you going?’ ME: ‘Mum! Get off the phone! I have to Ask Jeeves something!’ There’s nothing like Doctor Who in the world, possibly the universe, although I haven’t done that much polling to be honest. It’s almost mythic, a patchwork quilt handed down from writer to writer, actor to actor, for over half a century. It’s the story of a single person who looked up at the sparkling night sky, fell in love with a universe, and vowed to protect it. It’s about romance triumphing, evil faltering and, occasionally, shouty pepper pots. The summer after that first series aired, I fell down the Doctor Who rabbit hole, bouncing between slow-to-load fan sites, absorbing every scrap of information I could find. Worlds like ‘Gallifrey’, ‘Daleks’ and ‘TARDIS’ took up permanent residence in my head, with ‘Dalek’ going so far as to set up residence in my actual house. A full-size, khaki-green Dalek, specifically one of Winston Churchill’s Ironsides from the cracking Matt Smith episode ‘Victory of the Daleks’, lives in my hall and terrorises visitors with screams of ‘Exterminate!’. I’ll tell you what, the temptation to get inside it and ride it down the high street is mighty. I’ve abstained so far, but I’m going to break one of these days, I tell you, and woe betide whoever is working the fruit and veg stall on that day. Right, I’ve blathered on enough – it’s time to hand you over to Tony Cross, a man who has done the impossible. Watching 852 episodes of a show is one impossible thing, but reviewing them all as well? Madness. Watching that much Doctor Who, as wonderful as it is, can utterly break a man. You see, when you watch TV, your brain will automatically try to organise it for later reference. That’s impossible with Doctor Who, a show that takes the idea of a canon, puts it into a box marked ‘Blinovitch Limitation Effect’ and gets its past self to punt-kick it into a black hole. Doctor Who is a show where years at a time can stop mattering because the latest story needed them to, and that’s exactly why I love it. The only canon is that there isn’t one. It’s also the reason why so much of it is brilliant, and so much of it is awful. The very best episode of TV I ever saw was Doctor Who, as was the worst. It’s a show about experimentation, and sometimes experiments blow up in your face and singe your eyebrows off. [2] For the next eight hundred pages, Tony is going to tell you what he thought was top-tier, what he thought was dreadful, and whatever you can even think about episodes like ‘Love and Monsters’.[3] You never know, maybe Tony’s eyebrows are wildly out of control and in need of a good singeing? What works for one doesn’t always work for the other, but as long as an episode follows the two main rules of Doctor Who, it’ll probably be well regarded. It must be kind, and it must never, ever be boring. If Doctor Who keeps those rules to heart, it’ll last longer than the universe itself, and the universe will be all the better for having it. Take care, Daniel Hardcastle Parts Unknown, UK PS: If Tony hates ‘Victory of the Daleks’, I’m doubling my fee. [1] I’m from the south of England, so anyone born north of the M25 basically spoke a different language. [2] Looking at you, ‘In the Forest of the Night’. [3] I adore it, but then again I’m a sucker for both Marc Warren and ELO.

Hi everyone, we thought you might enjoy reading Dan's wonderful (and very funny) introduction to the book. Dan has also agreed to a joint signed book level with Tony. If you felt like sharing details of this project on your social media that would be ace.

Have a great weekend.

Best

Mathew (Across Time and Space editor)


 INTRODUCTION TO ACROSS TIME AND SPACE


Doctor Who is my absolute favourite thing, which makes it a right bugger that it was originally cancelled the year I was born. Aside from an incredibly fuzzy, scanline-filled memory of a bloke in sunglasses riding a motorbike on the telly in 1996, and a whole bunch of Comic Relief sketches that referenced some big, shouty pepper pots, Doctor Who didn’t exist for me until a few days after my sixteenth birthday. There I sat, all zits and cynicism, and watched as shop dummies came to life, a man got eaten by a wheelie bin and an alien with a strong northern accent [1] fought a vat of slime before flying away in a phone box. There’s no other way to explain it: it was love at first sight.

The remaining twelve episodes of that series flew by. The Earth exploded, Charles Dickens ran away from ghosts, farting aliens took over Number 10, the Doctor’s war ended, a big slug controlled the news, winged monsters ruined a wedding, Victor Meldrew gave me nightmares for years and a lady got turned into an egg. Doctor Who very quickly established itself to me as a show with massive, rollicking ideas and, as the finale wrapped up with a million Daleks bursting into light in the background, Doctor Who pulled out its biggest idea yet. 

The Doctor died. 

Nowadays, regeneration is known about years in advance. You’ll have the poster of the new Doctor up on your wall while the old one still has a series to go. But back then, in that quiet, June evening, I had no idea regeneration was even a thing. I watched between my fingers, tears in my eyes, as Christopher Eccleston’s cheeky smile burned away, leaving behind a new man. Gone was my Doctor, and in his place was the wide-eyed face of… Richard Hammond! I almost kicked the telly in, until my dad explained that it was actually David Tennant, that bloke I really liked in Casanova earlier that year. I never was any good at faces.

That Christmas, I slightly sulkily watched this new man call himself the Doctor, until he got himself into a sword fight on a spaceship’s roof while wearing a dressing gown. That’s when it really sunk in for me. This was the same Doctor. The same two hearts beating blood through the same web of veins and arteries, into a brain of heroism and kindness. David Tennant was the Doctor. The second Doctor.

DAD: ‘Tenth Doctor.’

ME: ‘Huh?’

DAD: ‘He’s the tenth Doctor.’

ME: ‘You having another episode?’

DAD: ‘Grumpy, Silly, Karate, Scarf, Cricket, Smug, Sneaky, Snogs and Northern. This new fella is number ten.’

ME: ‘Snogs? Hang on, are you serious?’

DAD: ‘The show’s been running since I was a kid… where are you going?’

ME: ‘Mum! Get off the phone! I have to Ask Jeeves something!’

There’s nothing like Doctor Who in the world, possibly the universe, although I haven’t done that much polling to be honest. It’s almost mythic, a patchwork quilt handed down from writer to writer, actor to actor, for over half a century. It’s the story of a single person who looked up at the sparkling night sky, fell in love with a universe, and vowed to protect it. It’s about romance triumphing, evil faltering and, occasionally, shouty pepper pots. 

The summer after that first series aired, I fell down the Doctor Who rabbit hole, bouncing between slow-to-load fan sites, absorbing every scrap of information I could find. Worlds like ‘Gallifrey’, ‘Daleks’ and ‘TARDIS’ took up permanent residence in my head, with ‘Dalek’ going so far as to set up residence in my actual house. A full-size, khaki-green Dalek, specifically one of Winston Churchill’s Ironsides from the cracking Matt Smith episode ‘Victory of the Daleks’, lives in my hall and terrorises visitors with screams of ‘Exterminate!’. I’ll tell you what, the temptation to get inside it and ride it down the high street is mighty. I’ve abstained so far, but I’m going to break one of these days, I tell you, and woe betide whoever is working the fruit and veg stall on that day.

Right, I’ve blathered on enough – it’s time to hand you over to Tony Cross, a man who has done the impossible. Watching 852 episodes of a show is one impossible thing, but reviewing them all as well? Madness. Watching that much Doctor Who, as wonderful as it is, can utterly break a man. You see, when you watch TV, your brain will automatically try to organise it for later reference. That’s impossible with Doctor Who, a show that takes the idea of a canon, puts it into a box marked ‘Blinovitch Limitation Effect’ and gets its past self to punt-kick it into a black hole.

Doctor Who is a show where years at a time can stop mattering because the latest story needed them to, and that’s exactly why I love it. The only canon is that there isn’t one. It’s also the reason why so much of it is brilliant, and so much of it is awful. The very best episode of TV I ever saw was Doctor Who, as was the worst. It’s a show about experimentation, and sometimes experiments blow up in your face and singe your eyebrows off. [2] For the next eight hundred pages, Tony is going to tell you what he thought was top-tier, what he thought was dreadful, and whatever you can even think about episodes like ‘Love and Monsters’.[3] You never know, maybe Tony’s eyebrows are wildly out of control and in need of a good singeing? What works for one doesn’t always work for the other, but as long as an episode follows the two main rules of Doctor Who, it’ll probably be well regarded. It must be kind, and it must never, ever be boring. If Doctor Who keeps those rules to heart, it’ll last longer than the universe itself, and the universe will be all the better for having it.

Take care,

 

Daniel Hardcastle

Parts Unknown, UK

 

PS: If Tony hates ‘Victory of the Daleks’, I’m doubling my fee.

 

[1] I’m from the south of England, so anyone born north of the M25 basically spoke a different language.  

[2] Looking at you, ‘In the Forest of the Night’.

[3] I adore it, but then again I’m a sucker for both Marc Warren and ELO.

Read DAN NERDCUBED's introduction plus new SIGNED LEVEL

Tony chose his Top Ten New Doctor Who Stories and featured them on his blog, and we thought you'd enjoy having a read here too... This was an interesting exercise. Partly because I realised that it screwed with my perceptions. I often think that the David Tennant era is my least favourite of New Doctor Who and yet three of my Top Ten come from that era. I'm not sure my choices here as unusual - if that's the right word - as those of my Purely Personal Top Ten Classic Doctor Who stories. This is probably because I am not as immersed in New Doctor Who as Classic Doctor Who. The number of times I've re-watched New Doctor Who stories is usually a lot less than the number of times I've watched Classic Doctor Who. These are not in broadcast order not 'worst to best' by the way… Dalek - by the time we reached this story Russell T Davies had already re-established Doctor Who as a TV hit. What Rob Shearman does with Dalek is make Daleks terrifying again. That on its own would probably have given it a place in this Top 10. What Dalek also does though is establish how damaged The Doctor has been by The Time War. There's a lot of talk about wanting to see what happened in the Time War, but we didn't need to because Dalek shows us all we need to know. It also plays to Christopher Eccleston's strengths. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances - One of my favourite things about Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who is how it manages to balance fear and humour. I think one of the most divisive elements of Doctor Who is humour. Or, should I say, how seriously things are being taken, especially performances. It is one of the criticisms of my favourite ever season of Classic Doctor Who, Season 17. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances manages to be scary and funny. "Are you my Mummy?" becomes the new series' first catch phrase and the moment with the tape recorder genuinely freaked me out. Packed with great performances and with a proper happy ending. Plus it introduces us to Captain Jack. Fantastic! Gridlock - This I love because it is basically a brilliant tribute to The Doctor as a character and a TV series. The Doctor's refusal to give up when all seems lost is wonderful. Whether the fundamental premise makes sense or not I don't know but there's something majestic about the whole thing. The singing of Abide with Me makes me cry every time. The story also manages to nudge that season's arc along in a subtle way. Human Nature/Family of Blood - This is probably the Doctor Who story that made me cry the most. I cry a lot but there is more than one scene in this story that reduces me to tears. I'd read Paul Cornell's New Adventure that this story is based on, but he managed to take that foundation and build on it. Packed with great guest performances and great speeches. It's creepy. It gives Freema Agyeman a chance to shine. David Tennant is astonishingly good as is Jessica Hynes. This is a story that shows you the downside of the Doctor's life. It's a story about love, loss and grief. The battle for the school foreshadows the horror of the real War that is on the horizon. Midnight - I was listening to Emmy Award winning actor and comedian Brett Goldstein's podcast Films to Be Buried With. He was talking to Russell T. Davies and Brett Goldstein talks about how fantastic Midnight is. You should listen to it. A story without much in the way of special effects it manages to be terrifying. Not just because of the monster that we never see but experience but what is shows us of human nature. Packed full of superb performances but kudos must go to Lesley Sharp. If you want proof of how brilliant a writer Russell T. Davies is - and if you don't know that by now anyway where have you been - this is the story to watch. The Day of the Doctor - Weirdly though I love Matt Smith's take on the Doctor this was the only Matt Smith era story to make my Top 10 and even then it is a multi-Doctor story. There's a lot hovering near the Top 10. I might work out why that is one day. But back to The Day of the Doctor. This was an excellent way of marking the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who without getting swamped by all the elements that Steven Moffat was trying to juggle. It managed to pay tribute to what had gone before whilst adding to The War Doctor to the mythos. It's not without some flaws. But what isn't? Matt Smith manages to hold everything together but the whole thing is a joy. Plus when the Caretaker appeared I might have cried. Robot of Sherwood - Here's the first story I've chosen that people reading this will be thinking: What!? What!!? I enjoyed Robot of Sherwood immensely. It was fun and it was funny. Yet it still managed to make a couple of interesting points about heroes and heroism. Yes, it isn't the most subtle of stories, but I loved it. And I've probably re-watched this more than almost any other New Doctor Who story because it brings me joy. And if that isn't the best reason to love a Doctor Who story I don't know what is. Plus Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman are great in it. The Husbands of River Song - A lot of why I enjoy this story is similar to why I like Robot of Sherwood. It's fun. Peter Capaldi and Alex Kingston are glorious in it. It's the perfect ending to the story of River Song. That last speech Peter Capaldi makes is brilliant and Capaldi plays it perfectly. I cried. It has the best "Hello Sweetie" of the entire series. We get introduced to Nardole for the first time. It's fun. For a while this was my favourite Doctor Who story of all time. Even thinking about it now makes me smile. I might even watch it tonight. Heaven Sent - A glorious piece of Doctor Who and a glorious piece of television full stop. Clever, creepy, moving and centred on a great performance by Peter Capaldi I watched this on broadcast, waited a short while and then watched it again on BBC iPlayer. Tom Baker is - and probably always will be - my favourite Doctor because there is a part of me that is always that 6 year-old kid but Capaldi is (possibly) his closest rival. This seems to be Steven Moffat's meditation on grief, which as you'll see when you read some of my other blogs is something Doctor Who often avoids talking about despite death being absolutely central to almost every single episode of Doctor Who. The Haunting of Villa Diodati - This is almost a Doctor Who story made purely to my specifications. I am a massive Mary Shelley fanboy.* I've been fascinated by that stay at the Villa Diodati ever since I first heard about it. I love Byron and Shelley's work even as I know that they were problematic men. Add a genuinely terrifying Cyberman - and I've been wanting that for years and years - we have a story that I adore. Jodie Whittaker is great. I've watched this a couple of times since. It even has Polidori in it, who often gets forgotten about in stories about the Villa Diodati. So, there you have it. My Purely Personal Top 10 New Doctor Who stories. These lists have a habit of changing over time, but I think there's a few of these that will always be there or thereabouts. Who agrees? *I recommend Fiona Sampson's "In Search of Mary Shelley" if you want a good introduction to her life and the many, many men who behave badly to her and around her. As featured on The Patient Centurion.

Tony chose his Top Ten New Doctor Who Stories and featured them on his blog, and we thought you'd enjoy having a read here too...


 
This was an interesting exercise. Partly because I realised that it screwed with my perceptions. I often think that the David Tennant era is my least favourite of New Doctor Who and yet three of my Top Ten come from that era. 
 
I'm not sure my choices here as unusual - if that's the right word - as those of my Purely Personal Top Ten Classic Doctor Who stories. This is probably because I am not as immersed in New Doctor Who as Classic Doctor Who. The number of times I've re-watched New Doctor Who stories is usually a lot less than the number of times I've watched Classic Doctor Who. 
 
These are not in broadcast order not 'worst to best' by the way… 
 
Dalek - by the time we reached this story Russell T Davies had already re-established Doctor Who as a TV hit. What Rob Shearman does with Dalek is make Daleks terrifying again. That on its own would probably have given it a place in this Top 10. What Dalek also does though is establish how damaged The Doctor has been by The Time War. There's a lot of talk about wanting to see what happened in the Time War, but we didn't need to because Dalek shows us all we need to know. It also plays to Christopher Eccleston's strengths. 
 
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances - One of my favourite things about Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who is how it manages to balance fear and humour. I think one of the most divisive elements of Doctor Who is humour. Or, should I say, how seriously things are being taken, especially performances. It is one of the criticisms of my favourite ever season of Classic Doctor Who, Season 17. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances manages to be scary and funny. "Are you my Mummy?" becomes the new series' first catch phrase and the moment with the tape recorder genuinely freaked me out. Packed with great performances and with a proper happy ending. Plus it introduces us to Captain Jack. Fantastic! 
 
Gridlock - This I love because it is basically a brilliant tribute to The Doctor as a character and a TV series. The Doctor's refusal to give up when all seems lost is wonderful. Whether the fundamental premise makes sense or not I don't know but there's something majestic about the whole thing. The singing of Abide with Me makes me cry every time. The story also manages to nudge that season's arc along in a subtle way. 
 
Human Nature/Family of Blood - This is probably the Doctor Who story that made me cry the most. I cry a lot but there is more than one scene in this story that reduces me to tears. I'd read Paul Cornell's New Adventure that this story is based on, but he managed to take that foundation and build on it. Packed with great guest performances and great speeches. It's creepy. It gives Freema Agyeman a chance to shine. David Tennant is astonishingly good as is Jessica Hynes. This is a story that shows you the downside of the Doctor's life. It's a story about love, loss and grief. The battle for the school foreshadows the horror of the real War that is on the horizon. 
 
Midnight - I was listening to Emmy Award winning actor and comedian Brett Goldstein's podcast Films to Be Buried With. He was talking to Russell T. Davies and Brett Goldstein talks about how fantastic Midnight is. You should listen to it. A story without much in the way of special effects it manages to be terrifying. Not just because of the monster that we never see but experience but what is shows us of human nature. Packed full of superb performances but kudos must go to Lesley Sharp. If you want proof of how brilliant a writer Russell T. Davies is - and if you don't know that by now anyway where have you been - this is the story to watch. 
 
The Day of the Doctor - Weirdly though I love Matt Smith's take on the Doctor this was the only Matt Smith era story to make my Top 10 and even then it is a multi-Doctor story. There's a lot hovering near the Top 10. I might work out why that is one day. But back to The Day of the Doctor. This was an excellent way of marking the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who without getting swamped by all the elements that Steven Moffat was trying to juggle. It managed to pay tribute to what had gone before whilst adding to The War Doctor to the mythos. It's not without some flaws. But what isn't? Matt Smith manages to hold everything together but the whole thing is a joy. Plus when the Caretaker appeared I might have cried. 
 
Robot of Sherwood - Here's the first story I've chosen that people reading this will be thinking: What!? What!!? I enjoyed Robot of Sherwood immensely. It was fun and it was funny. Yet it still managed to make a couple of interesting points about heroes and heroism. Yes, it isn't the most subtle of stories, but I loved it. And I've probably re-watched this more than almost any other New Doctor Who story because it brings me joy. And if that isn't the best reason to love a Doctor Who story I don't know what is. Plus Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman are great in it. 
 
The Husbands of River Song - A lot of why I enjoy this story is similar to why I like Robot of Sherwood. It's fun. Peter Capaldi and Alex Kingston are glorious in it. It's the perfect ending to the story of River Song. That last speech Peter Capaldi makes is brilliant and Capaldi plays it perfectly. I cried. It has the best "Hello Sweetie" of the entire series. We get introduced to Nardole for the first time. It's fun. For a while this was my favourite Doctor Who story of all time. Even thinking about it now makes me smile. I might even watch it tonight. 
 
Heaven Sent - A glorious piece of Doctor Who and a glorious piece of television full stop. Clever, creepy, moving and centred on a great performance by Peter Capaldi I watched this on broadcast, waited a short while and then watched it again on BBC iPlayer. Tom Baker is - and probably always will be - my favourite Doctor because there is a part of me that is always that 6 year-old kid but Capaldi is (possibly) his closest rival. This seems to be Steven Moffat's meditation on grief, which as you'll see when you read some of my other blogs is something Doctor Who often avoids talking about despite death being absolutely central to almost every single episode of Doctor Who. 
 
The Haunting of Villa Diodati - This is almost a Doctor Who story made purely to my specifications. I am a massive Mary Shelley fanboy.* I've been fascinated by that stay at the Villa Diodati ever since I first heard about it. I love Byron and Shelley's work even as I know that they were problematic men. Add a genuinely terrifying Cyberman - and I've been wanting that for years and years - we have a story that I adore. Jodie Whittaker is great. I've watched this a couple of times since. It even has Polidori in it, who often gets forgotten about in stories about the Villa Diodati. 
 
So, there you have it. My Purely Personal Top 10 New Doctor Who stories. These lists have a habit of changing over time, but I think there's a few of these that will always be there or thereabouts.

 
Who agrees?

 
*I recommend Fiona Sampson's "In Search of Mary Shelley" if you want a good introduction to her life and the many, many men who behave badly to her and around her.

 
As featured on <a href="https://patientcenturion.blogspot.com/2021/09/my-purely-personal-top-10-new-doctor.html">The Patient Centurion.</a>

Tony's Top Ten New Doctor Who Stories

- A note from Tony Cross - So, last week the BBC announced that Russell T. Davies (hereafter RTD) would be returning to Doctor Who as showrunner. To quote the official Press Release: "Russell T. Davies will make an explosive return to screens to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who in 2023, and series beyond." This deal isn't just RTD. The BBC are working with Bad Wolf to produce these new episodes, which means the return of Julie Gardner and Jane Trantor too. This news set Twitter alight. It seemed to mostly be received with happiness. I did see one or two concerns about bringing back an old showrunner, but I think the BBC would certainly have wanted a safe pair of hands in place for the 60th Anniversary. The Chibnall era of Doctor Who has been...divisive, as with all eras of Doctor Who to some degree or another. Someone always loves the Doctor Who you don't love and someone always dislikes the Doctor Who you love. It's an unwritten rule of Doctor Who fandom. Some of that dislike of Chibnall's era is based on the casting of a female Doctor. Not all of it. But a chunk of it. My personal view of Chibnall's era is that I won't really know how I feel about it as a whole until it is over and in the past. I have, mostly, enjoyed it. I have said before you have to work very hard to make a Doctor Who story I don't like. But it isn't without its flaws. There's a little too much telling not showing. The Doctor is often a passive figure: The Timeless Children being particularly guilty of this. Not always, but perhaps a little too often. I don't have a particular issue with the idea of pre-Hartnell Doctors. I've written elsewhere about how the Doctor we know now is not the Doctor played by William Hartnell. Change is a core part of the series. But the problem is that whenever you introduce a new element of mystery to the Doctor's origins you set yourself up to fail. Because either you have to leave it in the background to keep it mysterious or you have to close it down and then it is no longer a mystery. You make a rod for your own back. I also think Chris Chibnall made a tactical error getting rid of the Christmas Day Specials. They kept Doctor Who front and centre in the British cultural calendar. I suspect Christmas Day Specials will return under RTD. Now, I can never know what happens behind the scenes at the BBC - I'm sure some people out there do - but I also think Chibnall made an error by being too secretive. A new season of Doctor Who would come and go then we'd hear almost nothing until a little before hand. I think to keep Doctor Who front of mind - and particularly if you are going to be forced to have longer gaps between seasons - you need to drip information out there. I don't know Chris Chibnall but I got the impression that he wasn't entirely comfortable with being the public face of Doctor Who. But in 2021 a showrunner of Doctor Who has to be out there selling Doctor Who. Which brings me to one of RTD's key strengths. We all know he is one of the great writers of modern TV, but his love for Doctor Who shines and his personality - or the one he presents publicly* - helps sell Doctor Who. I suspect that will be one of the key differences we see. And who better to be out there front and centre for the 60th Anniversary? The other thing is that I think RTD's Doctor Who of 2023 is not going to be a cut and paste version of his 2005 Doctor Who. TV has changed since then, Doctor Who has changed since then, British society has changed since then and RTD has changed since then. RTD is smart enough to know that. I suspect the two eras will have some things in common, but I think they will have differences too. I enjoyed RTD's era of Doctor Who a lot, but I think - to steal a joke from elsewhere - RTD2 will be different. I'm pretty confident it'll be good. And, if nothing else, it was nice to see Doctor Who fandom having fun for a day. *I have no idea what RTD is like in private. I've never met him. It's just that some people are good at projecting a personality in public that isn't what they're like in private. --- Text was first published on Tony Cross's blog, The Patient Centurion

- A note from Tony Cross -

 
So, last week the BBC announced that Russell T. Davies (hereafter RTD) would be returning to Doctor Who as showrunner. To quote the official Press Release: "Russell T. Davies will make an explosive return to screens to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who in 2023, and series beyond." This deal isn't just RTD. The BBC are working with Bad Wolf to produce these new episodes, which means the return of Julie Gardner and Jane Trantor too. 
 
This news set Twitter alight. It seemed to mostly be received with happiness. I did see one or two concerns about bringing back an old showrunner, but I think the BBC would certainly have wanted a safe pair of hands in place for the 60th Anniversary. 
 
The Chibnall era of Doctor Who has been...divisive, as with all eras of Doctor Who to some degree or another. Someone always loves the Doctor Who you don't love and someone always dislikes the Doctor Who you love. It's an unwritten rule of Doctor Who fandom. Some of that dislike of Chibnall's era is based on the casting of a female Doctor. Not all of it. But a chunk of it. 
 
My personal view of Chibnall's era is that I won't really know how I feel about it as a whole until it is over and in the past. I have, mostly, enjoyed it. I have said before you have to work very hard to make a Doctor Who story I don't like. But it isn't without its flaws. There's a little too much telling not showing. The Doctor is often a passive figure: The Timeless Children being particularly guilty of this. Not always, but perhaps a little too often. 
 
I don't have a particular issue with the idea of pre-Hartnell Doctors. I've written elsewhere about how the Doctor we know now is not the Doctor played by William Hartnell. Change is a core part of the series. But the problem is that whenever you introduce a new element of mystery to the Doctor's origins you set yourself up to fail. Because either you have to leave it in the background to keep it mysterious or you have to close it down and then it is no longer a mystery. You make a rod for your own back. 
 
I also think Chris Chibnall made a tactical error getting rid of the Christmas Day Specials. They kept Doctor Who front and centre in the British cultural calendar. I suspect Christmas Day Specials will return under RTD. 
 
Now, I can never know what happens behind the scenes at the BBC - I'm sure some people out there do - but I also think Chibnall made an error by being too secretive. A new season of Doctor Who would come and go then we'd hear almost nothing until a little before hand. I think to keep Doctor Who front of mind - and particularly if you are going to be forced to have longer gaps between seasons - you need to drip information out there. I don't know Chris Chibnall but I got the impression that he wasn't entirely comfortable with being the public face of Doctor Who. But in 2021 a showrunner of Doctor Who has to be out there selling Doctor Who. 
 
Which brings me to one of RTD's key strengths. We all know he is one of the great writers of modern TV, but his love for Doctor Who shines and his personality - or the one he presents publicly* - helps sell Doctor Who. I suspect that will be one of the key differences we see. And who better to be out there front and centre for the 60th Anniversary? 
 
The other thing is that I think RTD's Doctor Who of 2023 is not going to be a cut and paste version of his 2005 Doctor Who. TV has changed since then, Doctor Who has changed since then, British society has changed since then and RTD has changed since then. RTD is smart enough to know that. I suspect the two eras will have some things in common, but I think they will have differences too. I enjoyed RTD's era of Doctor Who a lot, but I think - to steal a joke from elsewhere - RTD2 will be different. I'm pretty confident it'll be good. 
 
And, if nothing else, it was nice to see Doctor Who fandom having fun for a day. 
 
*I have no idea what RTD is like in private. I've never met him. It's just that some people are good at projecting a personality in public that isn't what they're like in private. 
--- 
Text was first published on Tony Cross's blog, <a href="http://patientcenturion.blogspot.com/">The Patient Centurion</a>

Ushering in a new(ish) era of Doctor Who: RTD2

-An update from Tony Cross- Hello, thanks everyone who has already signed up to support 'Across Time and Space'. There's a long way to go yet, but it is lovely to see how much interest there is out there. I've been thinking of re-watching all of Classic Doctor Who between 23rd November 2021 and 22nd November 2023. Even though I have done it before - hence the book. That sets us all up nicely for the 60th Anniversary. The question, of course, is practicalities. There are 102 weeks between the 23rd November 2021 and 22nd November 2023 and there are 159 stories.* That, of course, means watching more than one story in a week. However, to add complication upon complication, watching the longer stories in a single sitting is only possible if you do it on weekends. If you split the longer stories into two (or in the case of The Daleks' Master Plan and The War Games into 4 and 3 respectively) you end up needing 168 watching sessions. So...how to do it? I'd like some of these to be watchalongs, starting with "An Unearthly Child". So, I'm working on a timetable. Would anyone be interested in joining in? Do you have any suggestions as to which stories you'd like to join as part of a watchalong? Let me know. And thanks again for all your support. Please help spread the word. Tony *I've counted "Mission to the Unknown" as 1 and “Trial of a Time Lord” as 4 separate stories for ease of counting.

-An update from Tony Cross-

Hello, thanks everyone who has already signed up to support 'Across Time and Space'. There's a long way to go yet, but it is lovely to see how much interest there is out there.

I've been thinking of re-watching all of Classic Doctor Who between 23rd November 2021 and 22nd November 2023. Even though I have done it before - hence the book. That sets us all up nicely for the 60th Anniversary. The question, of course, is practicalities. There are 102 weeks between the 23rd November 2021 and 22nd November 2023 and there are 159 stories.* That, of course, means watching more than one story in a week. However, to add complication upon complication, watching the longer stories in a single sitting is only possible if you do it on weekends. If you split the longer stories into two (or in the case of The Daleks' Master Plan and The War Games into 4 and 3 respectively) you end up needing 168 watching sessions. So...how to do it? I'd like some of these to be watchalongs, starting with "An Unearthly Child". So, I'm working on a timetable.

Would anyone be interested in joining in?

Do you have any suggestions as to which stories you'd like to join as part of a watchalong?

Let me know.

And thanks again for all your support. Please help spread the word.

Tony

*I've counted "Mission to the Unknown" as 1 and “Trial of a Time Lord” as 4 separate stories for ease of counting.

Who fancies a Classic Doctor Who watchalong?

Mathew Clayton

Hi all, First of all, thank you for your patience. I have been working on the first draft for some time but issues around my own life - both mental and physical - have meant that this has taken longer than I hoped. It seems weird to realise that I've written something that is longer than The Fellowship of the Ring but that's where we are. Thankfully I am pretty much finished, which is a great relief to me and, I'm sure, to you. Again I can only thank you all for your patience. Tony

Hi all,
<div data-mce-fragment="1"></div>
<div data-mce-fragment="1">First of all, thank you for your patience. I have been working on the first draft for some time but issues around my own life - both mental and physical - have meant that this has taken longer than I hoped. It seems weird to realise that I've written something that is longer than The Fellowship of the Ring but that's where we are. </div>
<div data-mce-fragment="1"></div>
<div data-mce-fragment="1">Thankfully I am pretty much finished, which is a great relief to me and, I'm sure, to you.</div>
<div data-mce-fragment="1"></div>
<div data-mce-fragment="1">Again I can only thank you all for your patience. </div>
<div data-mce-fragment="1"></div>
<div data-mce-fragment="1">Tony</div>

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Choosing the title "Across Time and Space"...

Doctor Who Am I

Flux: Once, Upon Time (A Sort of Update)

Flux: Once, Upon Time (A Sort of Update)

Flux: The Halloween Apocalypse

Flux: War of the Sontarans

Guide to Watching Classic Doctor Who . . .

Halloween Who

Old Doctors, New Doctors and an Update

Read DAN NERDCUBED's introduction plus new SIGNED LEVEL

Tony's Top Ten New Doctor Who Stories

Ushering in a new(ish) era of Doctor Who: RTD2

Who fancies a Classic Doctor Who watchalong?

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