Hi everyone, Roo here from the UK, and I’m really, really old…
In fact, I’m a year older than Doctor Who, but was busy being a baby during the Hartnell era (I like to imagine my cot or pram was parked in the corner of the room while those episodes were playing). My awareness of Doctor Who begins midway through Evil of the Daleks. I can still remember my first impressions of that story all these years later. For a start, even though there was a character called ‘The Doctor’ involved, I thought Jamie (Frazer Hines) was the star of the series as he spent the episode heroically surviving various tests and ordeals in order to rescue a girl called Victoria. The whole thing seemed to be set in a spooky old house where strange robotic creatures would glide out of the walls and bark threats/orders at everyone. Thankfully, at the beginning of the next story, The Tomb of the Cybermen, Patrick Troughton’s Doctor gave an explanation of the TARDIS to a bewildered Victoria that also allowed this then very young viewer to understand what was going on. From then on I somehow managed not to miss an episode until episode four of Meglos in 1980 (I still feel the pain, but thankfully a friend recorded the audio on his cassette player for me).
I hope it’s okay for me to mention some of the other Sci-Fi shows I’m passionate about? Being a child of the Space Age, I would watch pretty much anything with a spaceship in it. This was in the days before Star Wars came along and popularised the genre. Before that, being a fan of sci-fi got me bullied mercilessly at school. Still, I was there when Star Trek arrived on these shores and I’m a passionate Trekkie (I met my wife at a Trek convention, and never stop telling my son that he owes his life to James T. Kirk). I like to think of myself as the world’s greatest fan of The Time Tunnel, and will happily discuss that show until the cows come home. I also adored Irwin Allen’s Land of the Giants too, which I will always credit with getting me through some very dark days during my childhood (I’ll maybe save that for another time). I loved all of the Gerry Anderson puppet shows and bought TV21 comic every week. In the 1970s, I was a big fan of Space: 1999, Planet of the Apes, The Fantastic Journey, Logan’s Run, Battlestar Galactica… okay, okay, back to Doctor Who.
FAVOURITE TV DOCTOR: Patrick Troughton
FAVOURITE AUDIO DOCTOR: Peter Davison
FAVOURITE TV COMPANION: Jamie McCrimmon, Jo Grant and Sarah Jane Smith (don’t make me choose).
FAVOURITE AUDIO COMPANION: Nyssa. On television I always felt she was unfairly overshadowed by Tegan, so I particularly enjoy the Big Finish audio adventures featuring the 5th Doctor and Nyssa (set between Time Flight and Arc of Infinity).
FAVOURITE STORY: Tomb of the Cybermen - quite simply, it’s the perfect Doctor Who story.
Whew, hope that wasn’t too long winded. Now I’m getting old I tend to ramble on a bit. I’ll wind up by saying this - some of you were there from the very beginning (lucky you!), while others joined the Doctor’s travels in the 21st century (lucky you again, as you’ll likely be watching his/her adventures long after I’m gone). Whoever you are and whenever or wherever you discovered the Doctor, it’s a pleasure to meet you.
)
