Fan Scene- CT 1980 Jul - Sep

 July

`Decay in Studio` is the headline this month though rather than a story of dry rot it’s actually referring to the news that the unmade story formerly known as `The Vampire Mutations` or `The Witch Lords` and more recently dubbed `The Wasting` is now to be titled `State of Decay` and broadcast fourth in the new season. The news item reminds us that this Terrance Dicks tale was originally penned three years back but pulled due to the series being instructed not to `send up` a lavish BBC2 version of Dracula. At the time this raised hopes that `Shada` might also be resurrected but it was not to be. The issue also reveals the title of the second story as `The Last Zolphathoron` and that Jacqueline Hill is returning to the series. Of course we all thought this meant Barbara was going to appear.

Fan Scene - CT 1980 Apr - Jun

 

April

This issue leads with the sad news of the death of David Whitaker who was only 51. As well as his Doctor Who work the obituary mentions his involvement in the Australian film industry and also the Writers Guild of Great Britain. Other programmes he wrote for included Paul Temple, Private Eye and Mr Rose. He had lately agreed to novelise `Enemy of the World` for Target but it remained unfinished.

Meanwhile its reported that next season will be the longest for ten years with seven 4 part stories and that K9’s role will be “considerably restructured”. There’s also talk of a new male companion “a kind of cosmic Artful Dodger”. The DWAS too is looking for new blood as Stephen Payne relinquishes control of the Society fanzine `Tardis`. Requesting volunteers who might like to take over, Chris Dunk says “Applicants should be able to type with reasonable accuracy”! There is also news of the 1981 Annual – oddly Annuals are published in August even though most people associate them with Xmas. Story titles already known include `The Voton Terror`, `Colony of Death` and `Every Dog Has His Day`. 

Fan Scene - CT1980 Jan - Mar

 

The world of Doctor Who as it was reported in the Doctor Who Appreciation Society newsletter Celestial Toyroom aka CT.
1980 was a momentous year both for the programme and the Society. By the year’s end Tom Baker’s lengthy tenure in the Tardis would be coming to a finish while some of the founder members of the DWAS would depart during the summer. CT at this time was edited by Chris Dunk who largely eschewed the personality led style and chose to present a busy, fact based edition each month reflecting the myriad of series news and fan activity that was happening.

January
41 years is a long time of course and there’s an instant reminder of that when you see a small ad for what was then the recently launched Doctor Who Weekly “on sale now.” The cost? Just 12p. A magazine for 12p!! The main news is that industrial action at the BBC has affected production of the last story of the then current season, `Shada`. The story hits a positive note given that all the location work has been filmed. The DWAS policy is not to mention plot details for at least a year in case the incoming new production team decide to re-mount it.  Other news includes Target looking for someone to write a novelisation of `Evil of the Daleks` and the fact that initial ratings for the season’s first story were poor. It then reports that `City of Death` did better though neglects to say why that was  - industrial action at ITV this time! Inside Jan Vincent-Rudzki’s President’s Column takes a school masterly tone with Doctor Who Weekly picking up on errors that it included despite being “full of good intentions”. He generously suggests that the mistakes were due to the tight schedule but can barely hide his irritation and takes a large dollop of the page to correct them.