The 1990s<\/strong><\/p>\n Doctor Who<\/a> was dead. A deceased programme. It had ground to an ignominious halt in 1989 after a decade of turmoil and, some might say, had died a few deaths along the way. The series would always have a place in my heart, but my fount of enthusiasm was Gobi-dry. The many friendships I\u2019d made through the Doctor Who Appreciation Society drifted, though I kept in touch with one or two people such as Steve Payne and Derek Handley. Richard Marson remained a close pal, even if we rarely met. He was starting a family and his career at the BBC took off spectacularly. It led rapidly to Blue Peter and becoming an editor fit to walk in Biddy Baxter\u2019s wake. Almost in her stilettos.<\/p>\n In London, I was working hard (on tacky TV mags at IPC) and partying hard. My mid 20s were a magical time, a tangle of relationships, a carefree lifestyle, even though the threat of Aids threw its black pall over all of us, and some of my closest friends would die young.<\/p>\n I lived in Florence in the early 1990s and one day received an Air Mail letter from my mum, who was vexed about my vast collection of Doctor Who memorabilia, which my parents were storing in their loft and garage. It all had to go. Or most of it. On my return a mega-purge ensued. Fanzines, DWAS newsletters and pen-pal correspondence going back to the 1970s \u2013 all chucked. I sold off a solid run of Doctor Who Weekly and Doctor Who Monthly\/Magazine right back to the beginning, as well as loads of other toot I\u2019d accumulated. I ditched half my Target book collection, almost everything covering Tom Baker and the 1980s, which I knew I\u2019d never read again. I retained most of the first three Doctors titles and my treasured Radio Times<\/strong> anniversary specials.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve never been a completist. I\u2019ve always resisted the completist urge that several friends are beset by. I realised way back in the early 1980s, when DWAS historian Jeremy Bentham sent me a list of the missing episodes, that my Doctor Who experience would never be complete. There are dozens of 1960s episodes I\u2019ll never see, thanks to the BBC\u2019s tape-wiping policy. And for me Who has always been more about the TV programmes than anything else. So in the 90s, I kept up with the BBC releases of old stories on VHS, whereas the spin-offs, the ever-expanding range of novels, Missing Adventures, Big Finish audio dramas with stars of Who reprising their TV roles never held any interest.<\/p>\n I eventually settled in Brighton with my best female friend Judy, and my fan gene went into hibernation throughout the 1990s. Occasionally I\u2019d glance at DWM in WH Smith and once or twice I had a nasty turn when I spotted John Nathan-Turner and his partner Gary Downie on the street. The gruesome twosome of 1980s Doctor Who lived in nearby Saltdean. I gave them a wide berth, but one day I turned a corner on the seafront and saw Gary, JN-T and Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier) coming towards me, raucous with laughter and the worse for drink. Gary issued a \u201cHelloooh, how are yooouuuu\u2026?\u201d\u00a0 before they staggered on.<\/p>\n In 1992, I bumped into Gary Levy on the Western Road in Brighton. By then he\u2019d changed his name to Gary Leigh but was still running the controversial fanzine DWB (Doctor Who Bulletin that he\u2019d renamed DreamWatch Bulletin). He was almost wobbling with ecstasy as he imparted the news that long-lost film recordings of The Tomb of the Cybermen<\/a> from 1967 had been found. Gary always had a mischievous glint in his eyes so I supposed he was teasing, but he became deadly earnest and averred Tomb\u2019s discovery. My dormant Who heart skipped a beat, and I couldn\u2019t wait for it to come out on VHS.<\/p>\n Though Who was dead, the BBC marked the 30th anniversary in 1993. Fan Kevin Davies assembled an excellent documentary \u2013 30 Years in the TARDIS \u2013 with interviews, clips and reconstructions of classic scenes. A proper celebration on BBC1. Then there was Dimensions in Time, JN-T\u2019s mash-up of EastEnders and Doctor Who, which was diabolical \u2013 the best that can be said is that it was mounted in a charitable cause (Children in Need).<\/p>\n The Paul McGann TV movie<\/a> raised my spirits in 1996. He was the most promising Doctor since Tom Baker, but the reboot was misconceived and I wasn\u2019t devastated that it didn\u2019t lead to a series. A week before its transmission, Jon Pertwee died. I heard the news in Budapest and it made me very sad indeed. William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton had predeceased him, but Pertwee had been very much my Doctor.<\/p>\n I was in Pertwee\u2019s presence many times and, of course, it would have been lovely to meet him properly, but I was wary. A friend once told me he\u2019d gone backstage to see Pertwee in his theatre dressing room, and found the star in a tetchy mood, wiping off greasepaint and wearing nothing but a pair of grey polyester Y-fronts. Illusion shattered. I wanted my childhood hero preserved \u2013 frilly and cloaked in velvet.<\/p>\n The early 2000s<\/strong><\/p>\n As the 21st century dawned, Doctor Who was an ebbing fantasy world. In 2001, my wonderful grandfather Pampa, who\u2019d been like a real-life Doctor to me and sat me on his knee in the 60s to brave the Yeti, died at the grand old age of 93. But the Time Lord\u2019s fortunes were<\/em> regenerating. To my astonishment, in 2003 wild rumours eventually solidified into press announcements that Doctor Who would gain another incarnation under Russell T Davies, whose Queer as Folk (C4) I had so admired.<\/p>\n In the early 2000s, the internet was finally fulfilling its initial promise with boundless fansites and discussion forums. I was a latecomer to Outpost Gallifrey (forerunner of Gallifrey Base) and enjoyed the online banter, reminiscing with old associates. In a similar vein, in 2004 DWM was celebrating its 25th anniversary with a series of articles on its own evolution, written by Marcus Hearn (later the editor). I offered fond recollections of my few years on the title in the 1980s.<\/p>\n This led to a date in the diary. On 6th November 2004, DWM was holding a birthday bash in central London. Richard and I were invited but in two minds about showing our faces. We met beforehand at Pizza Express in Charing Cross and chewed over whether we actually needed to go. The event would be full of people we hadn\u2019t seen for 15 or 20 years, maybe for good reason. Steeling ourselves, we walked down to the Embankment. It was worth it.<\/p>\n The DWM25 do was in a packed, funky club venue by the river and, yes, we saw loads of familiar faces, including my old friends Steve Payne and Jan Vincent-Rudzki, who I\u2019d lost touch with, and our laid-back former art editor, Steve Cook. I wished our 1980s editor Sheila Cranna were there, but she\u2019d made a new life for herself in the wilds of Scotland. I did meet for the first time the then editor Clayton Hickman, and Tom Spilsbury, his deputy and successor. Both great guys. Nicholas Courtney was guest of honour. \u201cDo excuse me, old chap,\u201d he said, as he squeezed through the crowd, brushing his beer belly past mine, to mount a plinth and deliver a tribute to the magazine.<\/p>\n My enthusiasm was building again. This was helped in no small measure by Judy\u2019s son Carl, aged nine, who was getting into Doctor Who. He was being \u201cin-Doctor-inated\u201d by me and another family friend. Didn\u2019t stand a chance. Carl sampled all eras of Who but preferred Pertwee and Troughton. One happy afternoon in Brighton I gave him Troughton\u2019s final story, The War Games<\/a>. He couldn\u2019t believe there was a ten-part adventure. We watched a few episodes and broke for lunch, then he insisted on going to the end. That (then) 36-year-old TV serial still worked its magic; he was gripped by the storytelling, the gathering pace, and was jumping around the room with excitement during the flurry of denouements in the final three episodes. He was primed for Russell T\u2019s revival with Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper.<\/p>\n 2005<\/strong><\/p>\n All roads seem to lead back to DWM and Radio Times<\/strong> for me eventually. In April 2005, I returned to the DWM fold for the first time in 17 years to contribute a piece for The Complete Seventh Doctor Special. After a similar interval, I was back freelancing at RT. Many old chums were still there from my four-year stint in the 1980s, including art editor Paul Smith and commissioning editor Anne Jowett. They were now a married couple. And if you appreciated RT<\/strong>\u2019s extensive weekly coverage of Doctor Who during the 2005\u20132010 period, you have them to thank because it was all down to their drive and innovation, supported by the editor, Gill Hudson. I started contributing in minor ways to the features and hooked up with Mark Braxton, the deputy chief sub-editor and a very fine writer, who adores Doctor Who as well as many other classic shows. Over the years he\u2019s become a treasured friend and colleague.<\/p>\n 2006<\/strong><\/p>\n The 2005 season was a huge hit and everyone I knew loved it. Come 2006, and Carl and I had encounters with two fabulous Doctor Who legends. In April, I dragged him all the way from Brighton to East London \u2013 all stations to Barking! \u2013 for a signing in a Doctor Who shop. Katy Manning! She was a delight, of course, skilled at dealing with fans of all degrees of shyness and boldness, and happy to pose for pictures.<\/p>\n As we hugged, she said, \u201cWe\u2019ve met before, haven\u2019t we?\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d I said, though I felt like I\u2019d known her since I was six. She held me at arms\u2019 length to stare right at me. \u201cI\u2019m sure we\u2019ve met somewhere before\u2026\u201d \u201cI think I would\u2019ve remembered that,\u201d I laughed. She reckons now it was a premonition of a great friendship to come.<\/p>\n A few weeks later, Richard invited Carl and me to Television Centre to see Elisabeth Sladen\u2019s guest spot on Blue Peter. Though polite and pleasant, she was anxious about appearing on the show to promote Sarah Jane Smith\u2019s return to Doctor Who in School Reunion<\/a>.<\/p>\n K\u20229 and his voice artist John Leeson were also present. I had zero interest in them, and it was evident that Lis was cool towards the robot dog too. She was respectful but didn\u2019t want her character forever saddled with K\u20229, and indeed ultimately a delicate way was found for him to be sent into limbo when Sarah gained her own CBBC series. Lis also graciously signed my Radio Times<\/strong> cover but told me she wasn\u2019t bowled over by the concept or the inelegant pose she\u2019d been captured in. That was my sole meeting with Elisabeth Sladen.<\/p>\n 2007<\/strong><\/p>\n This period of the revival with David Tennant in the lead saw some truly excellent Doctor Who, mostly penned by Russell T Davies, although the apex had to be Steven Moffat\u2019s Blink<\/a>. A stunning episode. I jumped out of my skin at the first snarling close-up of a Weeping Angel. A decent Doctor Who scare for the first time in decades. Blink also gave us a proto-female Doctor in the form of Carey Mulligan as Sally Sparrow. It led to my very first contact with Steven, whose writing I much admired. I liked his heroine\u2019s name but wondered why \u201cSparrow\u201d was omitted from all the publicity. He emailed back that he\u2019d adapted Blink from a story in a recent Doctor Who Annual, and her surname would be a giveaway.<\/p>\n Summer 2007 and I was halfway across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2, sunbathing on deck when two strapping lads pulled up chairs next to me and started nattering. I peered through the sunlight and clocked Clayton Hickman, who had only just quit as DWM editor. His travelling companion was Gareth Roberts, the witty writer of Doctor Who and many other shows who, coincidentally, had been in my sister\u2019s class at Chesham High School in the 1980s. Gareth always laments how I ruined for him the surprise return of the Cybermen in Earthshock back in 1982. We spent a lot of the rest of that QM2 crossing to New York in each other\u2019s company, gossiping and having a right old laugh. Happy times.<\/p>\n As you go through life, you look back fondly on certain dates that you couldn\u2019t have known would be significant. One such is 20th December 2007. Via Outpost Gallifrey, I had re-engaged with the extraordinary character that is Ian Levine. He is zealous and confrontational and has made a few enemies over the years, but I\u2019ve always seen Ian\u2019s generosity and good heart. And I am forever grateful that he saved so many classic episodes from oblivion. He was hosting a curry night at a restaurant in Ealing and insistent that I come along. \u201cLots of great people will be there.\u201d<\/p>\n The prospect filled me with dread, but, as with the DWM25 bash, I steeled myself and it was a productive night in many ways. It turned into a wake for Verity Lambert, Doctor Who\u2019s first producer, who had died recently of cancer, and many of her friends and associates were in attendance. Actors familiar from Who were there: Jeremy Young, who\u2019d played the very first villain, caveman Kal in 1963, as well as Peter Miles, most famous as Nyder in Genesis of the Daleks<\/a>. I would see Peter Miles several times at Ian\u2019s dos, where the host would insist, \u201cDo the line. Do the line!\u201d and Peter obliged with Nyder\u2019s crisp, Nazi-like \u201cThank you. That\u2019s what I wanted to know.\u201d I also spoke to 1960s script editor Donald Tosh and actor Ian Fairbairn, who\u2019d spooked me as a Primord in 1970\u2019s Inferno<\/a>.<\/p>\n During the long meet-and-greet, I found myself standing next to Ralph Montagu. Heir to the Beaulieu estate, he was also Head of Heritage at Radio Times<\/strong> but strangely our paths had never crossed. He had a bookish air and a genial nature and I liked him immediately. We were in a huddle with Nicholas Courtney, Dalek designer Ray Cusick and a few fans including my chum Derek Handley and the directors Christopher Barry and Waris Hussein. When it came to the meal, I sat with Waris, Chris Barry and his wife Venice. Chris complained volubly about the state of the BBC, loud music on dramas and the disrespectful scrunching of credits. Waris, however, was ebullient \u2013 until the moment came for him to stand up at our table and deliver a fond eulogy to Verity. Everyone was delightful, but I especially hit it off with Waris. For some reason we amused each other greatly. And we vowed to stay in touch.<\/p>\n Anneke Wills (1960s companion Polly) was table-hopping and came to sit next to Waris towards the end of the meal. A radiant, gorgeous woman. She had a little table set up to sell signed copies of her first excellent volume of autobiography. I\u2019d been captivated by Anneke since seeing her picture in the Radio Times<\/strong> 1973 special, and she\u2019d featured in my vague earliest memories of Doctor Who, and here she was, talking to me like a long-term friend. Just as I was heading off into the night, she embraced me and planted a kiss on my lips.<\/p>\n These brief encounters with Ralph, Waris and Anneke would be just the start of three beautiful friendships.<\/p>\n 2008<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2008, the online Radio Times<\/strong> Doctor Who Story Guide was born. Not quite overnight. There was a gestation period before it emerged into the world. Back then, RadioTimes.com<\/a> was in its infancy and run by a handful of people, headed by Helen Hackworthy, who remains a reassuring presence on the team today. They were on the lookout for ideas so I mooted a complete Doctor Who compendium. Story by story it would comprise essential info, brand-new reviews and showcase RT\u2019s coverage from the very beginning in 1963. Helen greenlit the project immediately.<\/p>\n I could think of no one I\u2019d rather share this mission with than Mark Braxton. It became a monumental undertaking, worked on in our spare time over several years, with a fresh entry released roughly once a week. From 2010, I also published a sort of review\/blog after each new episode had aired on BBC1 and later modified those for the Story Guide. Thus, it has continued to grow over 15 years and covers every story to date.<\/p>\n BBC1 was broadcasting Tennant\u2019s final full season in 2008, an excellent run of episodes co-starring Catherine Tate. The Time Lord\u2019s old military allies Unit (now an acronym for Unified Intelligence Taskforce) were featuring more significantly. Time moves on, but I thought it poor form that Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, a favourite character of mine, had been overlooked. The actor Nicholas Courtney<\/a> was in his late 70s but hale and hearty. Via RadioTimes.com<\/strong> I decided to give him a moment in the sun and, what the hell \u2013 I just really wanted to interview a childhood hero.<\/p>\n Nicholas (\u201cNick\u201d to everyone) lived in Crouch End, a village-y enclave in north London festooned with actors, and he suggested we convene for lunch in All Bar One on the Broadway. At the appointed hour on 11th April 2008 there was more than an April shower. As I rode across north London on my Vespa, a lightning storm struck and I had to duck into a doorway till the downpour subsided. I had only ever seen Nick dapper before, but he turned up windswept and soggy in casual comfy clothes. Warming ourselves over pies and pints for a couple of hours, we nattered about Who and I tried to steer him away from timeworn anecdotes. He was terrific company. It was like having lunch with your favourite uncle. Afterwards, out in the now dazzling sunshine, Nick posed for photographs by Crouch End\u2019s clock tower and town hall, without a care for his dishevelment.<\/p>\n In those days, Radio Times<\/strong> received advance copies of programmes on DVD so that we could preview them for the Choices pages. (Costly and an awful waste of plastic; now it\u2019s all done online.) Our TV editor covered Doctor Who because it was such a popular show, but in time she handed these duties over to Mark, and then to the two of us to share. Watching Who in advance was obviously a delicious treat. With my sub-editor hat on, I occasionally spotted a textual error in the credits and would contact brand manager Edward Russell in Cardiff. Minor mistakes might just be noted, whereas others required action. Watching Gareth Roberts\u2019s hilarious episode The Unicorn and the Wasp<\/a>, I noticed that Felicity Kendal had been misspelt with two Ls in her surname. She was the major guest star so that simply wouldn\u2019t do. The master copies had to be replaced at considerable expense. (A few years later I spotted a guest star had been accidentally omitted altogether and the name was added 11 days before transmission.)<\/p>\n 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n DWM editor Tom Spilsbury asked me to contribute to a special edition called 200 Golden Moments \u2013 marking the fact that the 200th story Planet of the Dead<\/a> was airing on BBC1. I had to select then explore one key moment from 14 different stories across all the eras. It was very enjoyable and marked the start of a renewed relationship with DWM (now owned by Panini not Marvel), where I\u2019d submit an idea or they\u2019d approach me.<\/p>\n Tom was an excellent editor, becoming the longest-serving in the post and a valued friend. He, his predecessor Clayton Hickman, successor Marcus Hearn and deputy Peter Ware have all been such pleasant men to deal with, and without their dedication DWM would not have survived. In the dicey world of publishing, and with Doctor Who off air for so many years, DWM truly is a survivor. I\u2019m proud of my association with the mag, which now spans four decades.<\/p>\n 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n Bad son time. In January 2010 I took my parents to the BFI to see the 1966 Doctor Who movie, Daleks \u2013 Invasion Earth 2150 AD. It was hardly a suitable fit for my folks and at the end I turned to my mum. \u201cWell, how was that?\u201d She looked drained and uttered, \u201cAbsolutely dire!\u201d I guffawed but couldn\u2019t disagree. The reason we\u2019d come was that the screening was followed by a Q&A with Bernard Cribbins. He\u2019d featured in the film as comedy relief and, of course, recently co-starred in the final Tennant episodes<\/a>. My dad adored Cribbins and he proved to be a highly amusing guest. Worth enduring the Daleks for.<\/p>\n Tennant\u2019s popular Doctor had bowed out on New Year\u2019s Day 2010 and to celebrate his era and Russell T Davies\u2019s excellent stewardship of the series, Radio Times<\/strong> started toiling on \u201cDoctor Who 2005\u20132010\u201d. It was a glossy bookazine showcasing our extensive coverage of the past few years, masterminded by Paul Smith and Anne Jowett. My task was to write the captions and a synopsis\/critique of each adventure. RT editor Ben Preston suggested I give star ratings to align it with the Radio Times<\/strong> Film Guide. Russell graciously wrote a glowing foreword. I hadn\u2019t met the man at that point but have in subsequent years, and we email intermittently. He is always a supportive force. And the RT Doctor Who 2005\u20132010 special was a lustrous encapsulation of that period and a tribute to Russell and his team. It was also a sell-out.<\/p>\n![\"Main](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/07\/1992-Tomb-recovery-2d1eabb.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C609\" "\\"1992")
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\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Katy](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/07\/2006-Katy-Manning-and-Carl-cbebf9e.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C465\" "\\"2006")
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\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Nicholas](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/2008-Nicholas-Courtney-f96d154.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"2008")
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