What with the new series starting IN LESS THAN AN HOUR I thought I should write something Doctor Who themed today. Bit stream of consciousness this list:
First new TV story I saw: possibly Time and the Rani (I think can remember the giant brain) but if not then certainly something from season 25
First novelisation I read: The Daemons
First VHS I saw: probably Death to the Daleks (with Pyramids of Mars and Spearhead from Space around the same time)
First new TV story I saw as a self-defined fan: Dimensions in Time. Ho hum.
First novelisation I read: The Daemons by Barry Letts
First New Adventure I read: Nightshade by Mark Gatiss
First issue of Doctor Who Magazine I bought: don’t know the number but was probably around 1993 and had Sylvester McCoy in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy on the cover. I bought it from a small newsagent at the edge of the pedestrianised shopping precinct in Tunbridge Wells.
First VHS I bought: The Keeper of Traken, at the end of 1992. Also bought in Tunbridge Wells, in the WH Smith in the Victoria centre. What useless things we remember.
First convention I went to: Blue Box III in Southampton in 1994.
As I’ve been working my way through the House of Cards trilogy recently (what better way to get in the mood for a General Election?), this week’s list is fictional British Prime Ministers from off of the telly. Minor spoilers for old dramas follow.
From House of Cards:
Charles Henry Collingridge – Margaret Thatcher’s successor, who makes the mistake of leaving Francis Urquhart unpromoted
Francis Urquhart – F.U. himself, a ruthless right-wing PM brought brilliantly to life by Ian Richardson
Maureen Graty – the British PM who appears briefly in the sixth season of The West Wing, played by Pamela Salem – and as far as I know, fact fans, she’s the only actor from either Doctor Who or Blake’s 7 to have appeared in The West Wing
Michael Phillips – Robert Bathurst’s occupant of Number 10 in the BBC sitcom My Dad’s the Prime Minister
Tom Davis – second PM (and the first named) in The Thick of It, although he’s not seen on screen
From the Doctor Who universe:
“Jeremy” – the PM during The Green Death – assumed to be former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe
Joseph Green – MP for Hartley Dale and acting PM in World War Three, although he’s actually Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen in disguise
Harriet Jones – Penelope Wilton’s MP for Flydale North, she is Prime Minister in The Christmas Invasion
Harold Saxon – John Simm as the Master, perhaps having benefited from the Doctor’s quiet overthrowing of Harriet Jones
Brian Green – played by Nicholas Farrell (also of To Play the King), he was PM during Torchwood: Children of Earth
Kevin Pork – in Whoops Apocalypse, portrayed by Peter Jones
Ros Pritchard – Jane Horrocks’s eponymous character in The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (which prompted a lot of discussion on Lib Dem Voice)
From The Pallisers:
Joshua Monk – Liberal PM in Trollope’s The Duke’s Children, played by Bryan Pringle
The Duke of Omnium – from Trollope’s The Prime Minster, played by Philip Latham
Michael Stevens – Anthony Head’s PM in Little Britain
Harry Perkins – the star of A Very British Coup, Ray McAnally’s socialist PM is almost the diametrical opposite of Francis Urquhart (the book was by Chris Mullin, subsequently a Labour MP himself but standing down this year)
Jim Hacker – last but by no means least, Paul Eddington takes the title role in Yes, Prime Minister, one of the best sitcoms ever made
And here’s a fact I stumbled across while checking the information in this list – the replica House of Commons often seen in TV dramas since the 1980s was built for the ITV adaptation of First Among Equals and is now owned by TV writer Paul Abbott.
I was sad to hear yesterday that Barry Letts, erstwhile producer of 70s Doctor Who, has died at the age of 84. I met him once, at a convention in 1994, when he appeared on stage with Terence Dicks, the other half of their regular double act. He seemed a lovely man and was a great ambassador for the show. R.I.P., Barry – this song’s for you. I’m sorry it’s out of focus but I recorded it as live.
You can also watch it on YouTube and read the lyrics online here. You’ll notice I forgot to mention Sarah Jane Smith. Barry Letts was producer when she became the Doctor’s companion – without him, there would be no Sarah Jane Adventures.
This is what happens when I take a break from work: I make silly things and put them online.
Into my head the other day pops the phrase “Three former Doctor Whos are we.” No idea where that morsel came from, but within 24 hours I’ve recorded a song. Then I remembered Jason’s great Doctor Who cartoons and within another day had made a video.
Non-fans will find the lyrics a bit obscure, I’m afraid, but here it is anyway for your viewing pleasure:
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