Tag Archives: Peter Davison

From the Archives: Bad Wolf 2008

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Roger Pocock

Mike’s excellent convention report this week has inspired me to take a look at some of my own archived convention reports, so I have dug out the following from July 2008, included here now as a historical curiosity. The first … Continue reading →

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Doctor Who Annual (1984)

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Roger Pocock

“Get back, Doctor!” One step closer and I trigger the bomb!” That’s not a bad opening line for the first story in a Doctor Who annual, is it, but before we get to all that it’s worth mentioning that this … Continue reading →

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Doctor Who Annual (1983)

Posted on February 8, 2019 by Roger Pocock

The 1983 Doctor Who Annual might have the blurriest photographic cover ever, but there seems to be a genuine attempt to make it more appealing to fans of Doctor Who than previous annuals.  The big change is the effort that … Continue reading →

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Doctor Who Annual (1982)

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Roger Pocock

The 1982 Doctor Who Annual (undated, published in 1981) has a split personality.  It’s a Fourth Doctor annual, and it’s a Fifth Doctor annual.  There are six stories and one comic strip, with all but the final two stories featuring … Continue reading →

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Cliffhangers: Fifth Doctor

Posted on October 21, 2018 by Roger Pocock

When I wrote about the Fourth Doctor cliffhanger endings, I mentioned how the variety and inventiveness of the cliffhangers had been a diminishing process since the 1960s.  That doesn’t just continue for the Fifth Doctor era, it falls off a … Continue reading →

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Time Crash

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Roger Pocock

This was quite a treat for the fans.  Any connection to the Classic series is always welcome, but bringing back one of the original Doctors is a big moment and this was the first time it had happened since Doctor … Continue reading →

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Dimensions in Time

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Roger Pocock

Pickled in time like gherkins in a jar. It wasn’t an auspicious start, possibly the worst opening line of anything, well… ever.  The choice of villain was also a slight disappointment for the 30th Anniversary.  The Rani always was a … Continue reading →

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The Five Doctors

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Roger Pocock

Ext. The Death Zone.  IAN and BARBARA CHESTERTON are walking across a barren, rocky landscape.  BARBARA looks frightened. BARBARA: Ian, what was that strange pyramid? IAN: Presumably some kind of travel device.  We seem to have been transported somewhere. BARBARA: … Continue reading →

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Resurrection of the Daleks

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Roger Pocock

Here’s a house.  Here’s a door.  Windows: one, two, three, four.  Ready to knock?  Turn the lock.  It’s Play School!  What window are we going to go through today?  Oh look, it’s the brutal violence and death window. Sometimes less … Continue reading →

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Frontios

Posted on July 26, 2018 by Roger Pocock

Once upon a time there was a writer called Christopher H Bidmead, who thought Doctor Who should be grounded in real science.  When he became script editor he tried to squeeze Doctor Who into that pigeonhole, and even when he … Continue reading →

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Arc of Infinity

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Roger Pocock

Arc of Infinity was the beginning of the 20th season of Doctor Who, and it was decided that every story should include some element of the past of the series to make up a celebratory year.  Earthshock had gone down … Continue reading →

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Earthshock

Posted on July 24, 2018 by Roger Pocock

During the 1980s, Doctor Who started to do a couple of things over and over again, which almost certainly contributed to the eventual cancellation of the show: very violent stories, and stories which feed off the past of the show.  … Continue reading →

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Four to Doomsday

Posted on July 23, 2018 by Roger Pocock

In 1981 the Doomsday Clock was at four minutes to midnight, so Doctor Who gave us a story called Four to Doomsday, featuring a TARDIS crew of four people encountering Monarch’s spaceship four light-days from Earth, with four ethnic groups … Continue reading →

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The Caves of Androzani

Posted on June 18, 2018 by Roger Pocock

Everyone loves The Caves of Androzani, and I can understand why.  Even Peter Davison names it as his favourite, but then there is plenty of big dramatic stuff for an actor to sink his teeth into.  My own opinions about … Continue reading →

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Planet of Fire

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Roger Pocock

Peter Grimwade had a lot to accomplish with this story.  It is one of those shopping list briefs that plague the Davison era: write out Turlough, introduce Peri, reintroduce Kamelion and then write him out, fill in Turlough’s background, resolving … Continue reading →

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Castrovalva

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Roger Pocock

There are lots of Doctor Who stories that are inspired by fiction or by films, but these are not the only sources of inspiration available.  I have not exactly showered the work of Christopher H. Bidmead with praise so far, … Continue reading →

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Warriors of the Deep

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Roger Pocock

Season 21: the worst series of Doctor Who ever made starts here.  It will have its moment of brilliance very soon, but it will be fleeting and then it’s downhill all the way, and the problems have little to do … Continue reading →

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Enlightenment

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Roger Pocock

Long after the viewer has forgotten the details of a television story, the very best will leave a powerful image in the mind.  It is always something unique and special, something that a child will recall as an adult.  Many … Continue reading →

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Terminus

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Roger Pocock

When I first watched Terminus I hated it.  Subsequently I have re-watched it a few times, with a kind of nagging feeling that there is a good story in there somewhere and I must be missing something, but I still … Continue reading →

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The Awakening

Posted on February 15, 2018 by Roger Pocock

Evil lurking in a church.  A may queen for sacrifice.  According to Eric Pringle, this was entirely coincidental and he had never actually seen The Daemons.  This makes sense, as the ideas flow together naturally and were hardly original to … Continue reading →

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