Fan Scene CT 1979 Jan - Mar

 

The world of Doctor Who as it was reported in the Doctor Who Appreciation Society newsletter Celestial Toyroom aka CT.
January

As 1979 dawned the DWAS newsletter was being co-edited by David Auger and Gordon Blows and had an amateur yet well- constructed quality that gave it, appropriately enough, a news paper look. `Tony Read Quits` was the main headline in January’s edition. Anthony Read, as he was officially known is, according to the article credited with instating a policy that the Tardis is fully controllable. Arguably the more important news is that his replacement will be Douglas Adams who is described simply as “the author of this year’s Pirate Planet` showing that Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy had yet to become very widely known. `Disco Dr A Hit` CT also reports referring to the latest version of the title theme by a group called Mankind. Apparently it’s selling a thousand copies a day taking it from number 67 to number 45 in the singles charts and was featured on Top of the Pops. Bear in mind that there is a six week or so lag between things actually happening and being reported in CT so we learn that while there wasn’t time to organise a Xmas party this year people can meet in the One Tun pub on 21 December. Of course being Doctor Who fans they can just travel back in time a month! There’s an Obituary for Brian Hayles who died recently after completing The Moon Stallion.

There’s also plenty of Society news to be had with a report that the Surbiton local group had Guest Problems. Seems that both Nicholas Courtney and Roy Skelton were unable to attend at the last moment and Douglas Adams had to go “North” to tell his parents he was getting married. I don’t know, the excuses some people would give to avoid the Surbiton local group!  Meanwhile there was what is described as a `Scurry` in the Newport local group as reported by Timothy Robins. “As I arrived, I was greeted with a stream of abusive language by the boy who was holding the meeting and was thrown out.”  I suppose he could have gone to Surbiton. Tardis`, the DWAS fanzine has a new editor and he is Paul Mark Tams and this will be a significant appointment though not especially for the magazine itself…  (see the History of DWAS posts for more on this.)

President Jan Vincent Rudzki uses his column to explain the procedure for the Society obtaining prints of old episodes. These were the days before even video and the DWAS worked hard to obtain film copies of episodes to show at conventions. The process as described in this issue was indeed convoluted including obtaining consent from every person involved in the production (including behind the scenes personnel). He says it took a year to obtain the first episode, `An Unearthly Child`. Then he outlines how small the pool of available Hartnell and Troughton episodes are available, in those days of course the missing episodes figure was even higher than it is now.

Its only a four page issue but a quarter of it is devoted to a piece of fiction called `The Talking Trees` while the back page has such a list of upcoming Target Books and 1979 was a bumper year with the likes of `The Deadly Assassin`, `Seeds of Doom`, `Robots of Death`, `The War Games,` `The Sea Devils`, `Image of the Fendahl`, `Brain of Morbius` and `Pyramids of Mars1 amongst 26 titles, some reprints, others new. Gosh, did we get enough pocket money in 1979? Talking of money, there’s a review of the popular fanzine `Oracle` which made me smile when it describes the zine as “a little expensive”. It costs 36p. Different times indeed.

February

`Threat to Tim Robins` declares one of the headlines on the cover which revisits what was described last month as a “scurry” but rumbles on. This time the accused is named as Richard Morgan and it seems he is one of those local group characters who gets on everyone’s nerves. I think every local group had one and amongst his crimes outlined here were “childishly donning a pair of headphones and reading a book when Tim was trying to talk to him”. But we never find out why. What is the beef between the two? We shall never know.  Meanwhile K9 is losing his voice it seems with rumours that John Leeson is moving on. The issue also reports somewhat misleadingly `Barbara Returns`. These days such a headline would be called clickbait because it’s not Babs and her beehive that are coming back but actress Jacqueline Hill who played her.

The fanzine in focus this issue is called `21-11-63` and edited by Graeme Jenkins from Newport hopefully without input from foul mouthed Richard Morgan.  This features a bit of a scoop with an interview with Brian Hayles, who died recently. As the fanzine is available for just 12p it makes some sense about the comment last month about 36p being expensive. In a sparse issue there’s really only the Swap Shop to entertain us with one member offering a very diverse range of material including `Tight Lines 1971` which is about fishing and a magnetic chess set. Someone else is offering Star Wars bubble gum cards, Star Trek and Dad’s Army annuals and wants any Crackerjack annuals especially ones with photos of Christine Holmes. Quick Google reveals she actually wrote the song `Devil Woman` which was a hit for Cliff Richard. Who says Doctor Who fans were only interested in Doctor Who?

March

The only issue this year to use the coloured paper so beloved of 1978’s run March beings us a `New Season Shock` as `Mary Tamm Quits`. According to the story the BBC had assumed she would be carrying on but were caught out when it was announced she’d got a part in a play called Action Replay. She later told Pebble Mill she thought she’d be bored if she’d stayed on though with the season  that transpired I’m not sure she would have been. Imagine Mary Tamm versus the Nimon! But who can replace her mmm? First rumours of the return of the Daleks also appears this issue and there is news that Patrick Troughton suffered a heart attack in January. Inside we learn that the Convention is on with three organisers in the form of David Shackley, Mark Percival and Deanne Holding. Fiction continues to take a page with the Owen Tudor penned `The Where Place`.

The highlight of the issue though is a reproduced interview with Tom Baker. There’s no writers’ credit or indication where it came from but at the time it offered the sort of lively interview with Tom that we’re now more familiar with than we were then. It starts with an angry encounter with a waiter at Leeds Queens Hotel who wants to move the two whereupon Tom storms out. They trail around Leeds as Tom offers opinions like “Superb, so much character” or “I wouldn’t be seen dead in that shop” . He pops into a luncheon bar at 9.45 though only to have a look. “Its great fun being Doctor Who,” he says, “You have to stop yourself laughing. Not like those hideous American series.” He adds; “I’ll do it another year, we’ve got some good writers at the moment.”  He delivers some familiar anecdotes and then gets bored of the coffee which disappoints; “Doesn’t it always- never lives up to expectations- well perhaps it does in Turkey.”  He has a collection of two thousand books, one hundred and fifty of which are dictionaries. And he wants vandals and football hooligans to be hanged!  The interview ends at 10.50 by which time he and the journalist appear to have traversed all of Leeds!