Fan Scene- CT82 #2

The world of Doctor Who in 1982 as seen by the DWAS newsletter Celestial Toyroom (aka CT)
Something that made a comeback in 1982 was the coloured paper which used to be a regular feature of CT. Last issue had a pink cover but for March a sort of lime green was used which had Ref Dept Announcement -Page Two emblazoned across the top even though the actual announcement isn’t really very exciting. They’re going to stop doing detailed synposes as these are now being done in DWM and there is also the Programme Guide.  Elsewhere on the cover comes news of the 1983 Annual which will include some behind the scenes material (Annuals usually confined themselves to new fiction). Those Dalek films posters keep showing up; this time around the rather splendidly named Powerpulse Productions are selling them. There’s even a mention of a Human League concert recently where slides of the Doctor were included in the show; well they did have a song called `Tom Baker`. 

Planet of Evil@45

I remember finding this the least impressive story of the season when I first saw it but back then I suppose I wanted it to have more monsters than it does. It just seemed very talky especially at first. Oddly re-watching now I prefer the first half to the second as it contains some interesting ideas whereas parts 3 and 4 seem to become more of a standard base (or in this case spaceship) under siege.  Less outwardly showy than it’s season counterparts, `Planet of Evil` takes its cues from both Forbidden Planet and Jekyll and Hyde. It shows just how effectively Messrs Hinchcliffe and Holmes- here with writer Louis Marks- were able to filter and splice elements of classic stories into something fresh.

 

Fan Scene - CT82 #1

The world of Doctor Who as seen by the DWAS newsletter Celestial Toyroom (aka CT)

While accounts often cite the Seventies as the original programme’s most successful period, ratings in the early Eighties were high driven partly by the popularity of Peter Davison. 1982 seems as if it will be a busy Doctor Who year and the January issue is testament to that activity with a variety of snippets relating to the programme. Though much of it resides in a column called Trivia it provides an interesting snapshot of just how much attention the series was receiving at this time. So there’s a piece about the uncovering of a sixteen year old poster for the Doctor Who and the Daleks film during the redecoration of Southgate Underground station (it’s a shame the photo looks rather like a flash of white light). There’s something about Madame Tussauds advertising their Doctor Who Experience with a `Guess Who’s at Madame Tussauds` campaign. The Five Faces of Doctor Who repeats on BBC2 are getting good ratings with the first episode `An Unearthly Child` placing tenth in the channel’s ratings that week. `Carnival of Monsters` is also reported as faring well beating Grange Hill. Even the Society’s own event DWASocial 2 held in Edinburgh in November 1981 was reported in `The Scotsman` newspaper. Target have published a quiz book which Gary Russell reports is more accurate than their Programme Guide though not entirely correct. It is selling for £1.25. Also the 70s play Doctor Who and the Seven Keys to Doomsday has been staged for the first time since 1974 by the Buxton Drama League.