Friday 22 November 2013

Exterminez!


THE DEGAULLEK

Cartoon by Leslie Gilbert Illingworth from the Daily Mail newspaper
16th Deccember, 1964



Illingworth created the “Degaullek”
(a Dalek with the head of General de Gaulle)
to mock the intransigence of the then French president’s dealings with his international partners.






Wednesday 13 November 2013

Tuesday 12 November 2013

Wednesday 6 November 2013

David Tennant and the actors from 'Who.






"Weren't you in Doctor Who? "

Arthur Darvill as Reverend Paul Coates,
Olivia Colman as Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller, 
and David Tennant as Detective Inspector Alec Hardy


When the crime drama: 'Broadchurch' aired earlier this year, a great many people commented on how, in addition to David Tennant, the cast list also included Doctor Who actors Arthur Darvill, Olivia Colman; and David Bradley.


Arthur Darvill of course played 'Rory'


Olivia Colman played an unnamed woman in a coma in the Royal Leadworth Hospital in: The Eleventh Hour.


David Bradley played 'Solomon' in: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
He was also the voice of the Shansheeth in The Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor.
(And portrays William Hartnell in the docudrama: An Adventure in Space and Time )


However, the Broadchurch cast list also included several other actors who have had roles in Doctor Who stories: 

Sanchia McCormack played
'The Housing Officer' in: Turn Left
 

Simon Ludders
A patient in the New New York Hospital in: New Earth.


Matthew Gravelle
A Doctor in: End of Days
A security guard in the audio drama: Asylum
'Bob' in
the audio drama: The Dead Line.


Carolyn Pickles
'Lady Meera'
in the audio drama: Army of Death.



Susan Brown 
'Bridget Spears': Children of Earth
The midwife in the audio drama: 100 BC
'Mary' in the audio drama: Bedtime Story,
'Eleanor Harvey' in the audio drama: Return of the Krotons
'Maud the Withered' in the audio drama: Castle of Fear,
'Alice Withers' in the audio drama: The Eternal Summer,
'Mrs Withers/Mrs Sowerby/Computer Voice' in the audio drama: Plague of the Daleks,
'The Chief Engineer/Chanel' in the audio drama: The Song of Megaptera. 

Tracey Childs
'Metella': The Fires of Pompeii.

'Elizabeth Klein' in the audio dramas:
Colditz
A Thousand Tiny Wings
Klein's Story
The Architects of History
Dominion
Persuasion
Starlight Robbery
Daleks Among Us
'The Figurehead' in the audio drama: Time Works.


Simon Rouse
'Hindle' in: Kinda
'Master John Kincaid' in the audio drama: The Witch from the Well. 

David Sibley
'Pralix' in: The Pirate Planet
'The Eminence' in the audio drama: The Seeds of War
'Kurt Schalk' in the audio drama: Persuasion.
 



Of course, several people might be wondering if there is some kind of "Whovian Nepotism" at work here.

Though in reality it's probably all a matter of pure coincidence that this collection of Who-related actors ended up working in the same series with David Tennant ...



Well, isn't it?

Then, more recently,  I saw this publicity shot for 'The Escape Artist' – the new three-part BBC drama, starring David Tennant – and I thought:
"I recognise that woman, it's Sophie Okonedo..."




Sophie played companion 'Alison Cheney' in the animated webcast serial: Scream of the Shalka.
She also played 'Liz 10' in The Beast Below and The Pandorica Opens


So, just out of interest, I took a closer look at the cast list for The Escape Artist, and found:

 
Brid Brennan
Time Lady 'The Visionary' in: The End of Time.
 
Patrick Ryecart
'Crozier' in: Mindwarp. 


Jeany Spark
'Florence Nightingale' in the audio drama: The Angel of Scutari
'Jelena' in the audio drama: Prisoner of the Sun. 


Tony Gardner
'Stapleton Petherbridge' in the audio drama: The Wrong Doctors. 


Roy Marsden
'Mr. Stoker' in Smith and Jones.
'Hulbert' in the audio drama: Human Resources. 


Michael Cochrane
'Charles Cranleigh' in Black Orchid
'Redvers Fenn-Cooper' in Ghost Light
'Lieutenant-Colonel Brook' in the audio drama: No Man's Land
'Murgat' in the audio drama: Brotherhood of the Daleks
'Colonel Hugh Spindleton' in the audio dramas :
Trail of the White Worm
The Oseidon Adventure. 


Geoffrey Leesley
'Mortund' in the audio drama: Arrangements for War.



And going back to 2010, the cast list for the four-part BBC drama: 'Single Father' - starring David Tennant - includes:


Isla Blair
'Isabella Fitzwilliam' in: The King's Demons.
'Paula Taylor' in the audio drama: Exotron.

Suranne Jones
Suranne had already played 'Mona Lisa' in: Mona Lisa's Revenge (Sarah Jane Adventures)
and would later play 'Idris' / the Doctor's TARDIS in: The Doctor's Wife.

Neve McIntosh
Neve had already played the Silurians 'Alaya' and 'Restac': The Hungry Earth/ Cold Blood.
And would later play 'Madame Vastra' 


Rupert Graves Rupert would later play
'John Riddell' in: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.


Warren Brown
Warren would later play
'Stephen Gibson' in the audio drama: Industrial Evolution
'Johnny Skipton' in the audio drama: Dead Men's Tales.



Even the latest movie starring David Tennant: 'What We Did On Our Holiday'
(expected release 2014), has, amongst it's cast:


Celia Imrie
'Miss Kizlet' in: The Bells of Saint John.

and

Emilia Jones
'Merry Gejelh' in: The Rings of Akhaten



 It seems as if there might be a pattern emerging:

 "David Tennant and the actors from 'Who"


So I have to ask

Who's next?









Sunday 3 November 2013

“Good Night ... Rose?”












The 'Jon Pertwee Recipe Book'




Back in 1973, the Co-op
(a.k.a. Co-operative Wholesale Society)
produced a paperback recipe book entitled:

Baking Your Cake and Eating It


Due to the endorsement on the back cover,
over the years this book has come to be known in certain circles as:
The 'Jon Pertwee Recipe Book'





'Hat' Smith...



(A young Matt Smith in a school production of The Pirates of Penzance)




Friday 1 November 2013

BBC TV Special Effects Exhibition, February 1973


From December 1972 to May 1973, the Science Museum
- in South Kensington, London  -
hosted the
BBC TV Special Effects Exhibition.

Part of this exhibition featured Doctor Who.
(Apparently, Jon Pertwee, Nicholas Courtney, and Katy Manning
 had made an appearance for the launch in December)


There was a walk-through mock-up of the TARDIS console room,
a couple of Daleks, a Sea Devil, and some other Doctor Who 'monsters',
and a display comprising a few models of spacecraft from episodes of the programme.


This  pin badge is the last surviving souvenir of my visit to the Science Museum in February '73










Sarah Jane ...


Thursday 31 October 2013

Monday 28 October 2013

Dr. Who and the Walls 'Sky Ray' Space Raiders



A 1967 TV commercial for the Walls 'Sky Ray' ice lolly


This promotion offered a set of 36 picture-cards featuring a 'Troughton-esque'
Doctor working with the 'Sky Ray Space Raiders' to battle the Daleks.

There was also an album to collect the cards in :
the Dr Who's Space Adventure Book.


This 28 page album contained some colouring-in pages, games,
and diagrams in addition to its central feature - a short story: Daleks Invade Zaos.
The 36 cards helped to illustrate the story,
and could also be used to play a simplistic
'Space Raiders Battle' game.

Prime ...


Tom Baker and Lalla Ward in a series of 1980s ads for Prime Computers



Friday 25 October 2013

The REAL 'Fish Custard' ...



Episode: THE ELEVENTH HOUR:

“… Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of the box, man eats Fish Custard ...”



To prepare 'Fish Custard', 11th Doctor style:

Take one packet of Fish Fingers [frozen]
(Likely ingredients: Cod Fillet, Breadcrumb, Vegetable Oil, Wheat Flour, Water, Paprika, Salt, Yeast, Turmeric, Potato Starch, Salt.)

Fry or grill fish fingers until golden.

Take one carton of ready-to-serve Custard
(Likely ingredients: Sugar, Skimmed Milk, Modified Maize Starch, Whey Powder, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Flavourings, Colours: Beta Carotene & Annatto, Stabiliser: Sodium Tripolyhosphate).

Pour custard into bowl and heat in microwave.

Eat.


Alternatively,
to prepare
SCOTTISH Fish Custard
 try this recipe
by a Miss M. Barrowman* (from Glasgow)
 
as printed in

GOOD THINGS IN ENGLAND:


Click image to enlarge



[* The question has to be asked: Any relation to John - a great, great aunt, perhaps?]



The Other 12th...


Thursday 24 October 2013

The Five Doctors

                                                                                                    

When they were young:   


Capaldi in Wonderland




JENNA:
"I know, Peter - I know.
But if Steven Moffat says you have to play the 12th as a cat, you'll just have to accept it.
By the way, how good are you at doing a Cheshire accent?"


Overspend ...


Monday 21 October 2013

The DWFC badge


'The Doctor' - not 'Doctor Who'?





It is interesting to see just how many Whovians become irate
when someone refers to the Time Lord as:
'Doctor Who'.


Yet having watched the series from the late 60's, I - like a great many others - grew up with the understanding that there was no problem referring to the character as 'Doctor Who' - particularly as, for the first eighteen years of the original series (and then again in the first year of the modern series), as well as being called 'The Doctor', the Time Lord was very widely referred to as "Doctor Who" (or: Dr. Who") by the BBC themselves.

It is how he was identified in the programme's end-credits.
It is also
how he was identified by:

The shows original creators,

Several of its Producers (including the sainted Verity Lambert),

Script writers,

Production-paperwork compilers,

Actors who played Classic-era incarnations of the Time Lord,

The BBC Radio Times listings guide editors and feature writers,

The editors of the classic-era Who Annuals,

The editors of Classic-era who Novelisations,
and so on.

And, contrary to what many would have us believe, for the majority of the 'Classic Era' and beyond, the Time Lord was also commonly referred to as 'Doctor Who' by the general public, by the British press, and more importantly, by many fans:




Some 'Whovian Social History':
Numerous press clippings etc,
which include reference (however brief) to the Time Lord as 'Doctor Who'
can be viewed
HERE





"TV Choice" Awards, 2013





At the recent "TV Choice" Awards
- held at London's Dorchester Hotel on Monday, 9th September -
Doctor Who won not only the Best Drama Series award,
but also a special Outstanding Contribution Award in honour of the show’s 50th anniversary.

Simply the Best ...


Robin ...


Outside ...





CLARA:
"Doctor, when I said: 'Think outside the box', this wasn't quite what I had in mind..."



Sunday 20 October 2013

Peter Capaldi: DWIFC Magazine


An article by Peter Capaldi in issue 2 of the
Doctor Who International Fan Club magazine.
May, 1976

Peter Capaldi: Radio Times, February 1974