Happy Birthday to Who!!

Oh my goodness! I've been so busy yet again and bogged down with things I almost forgot that today - 23 November - is a VERY special day. For today, some 44 years ago, a certain science fiction programme - all about a Time Lord who travels through time and space in a police box - made it's debut on BBC1! And what a wonderful plethora of Drs we've had since then! See above for proof...

In which case ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOCTOR WHO!!

Sadly the day is marred by some sad news - Dr Who producer Verity Lambert has just passed away - yesterday to be precise. At the risk of sounding a bit sick (and honestly, I'm not trying to be) this news is also kind of fitting, as she was the very first person to produce Dr Who when it debuted in 1963. How odd that the lady who helped get such an iconic, ground-breaking, classic programme off the ground should leave us so close to its anniversary. RIP Verity, we'll never forget you.

And...what about "Time Crash"? Yep all those Peter Davison rumours came true and he did indeed return as the Fifth Dr albeit in a brief but enjoyable episode, penned by Steven Moffat, showing as part of the Beeb's "Children in Need" night last Friday. And guess what...this Old Cheeser actually MISSED the broadcast as he was out shopping for lights with his hubbie in Homebase! Shameful. Still that's what happens when you buy a flat and you STILL have to get things to furnish it. Anyway thanks to the likes of fellow bloggers like TimeWarden and Paul I was able to catch up on it via the net later anyway. Thank the (Time) Lord for that! And in case YOU missed it (does this mean you have a life too?) here it is:



And the verdict? As I said it was enjoyable but the overall shortness of the piece was a shame - 7-8 minutes is very brief for sufficient exposition and a “story” - and that doesn’t count the Martha/Titanic bits that topped and tailed it (quite cleverly edited in though I felt). We Who fans do seem to get short shrift sometimes - particularly seeing as it’s the 44th anniversary - it doesn’t seem that the Beeb have planned anything else. Anyway it was a nice enough “tribute” and I agree with what the others say about the affectionate quality of the piece - just not massively substantial.

As for Peter D, good to see him back although dare I say he seemed very pompous and shrill, rather more overwrought than his original Fifth Dr persona! Then again, David T was back to his flippant, hyper-active self and one could kind of sympathise with the Fifth Doc’s annoyance with him! Should have kicked him out of the TARDIS doors and taken over the reins again, heh heh...