So is playing the Doctor a blessing? The ultimate actor’s dream? No, it hasn’t quite worked out that way for all of them. Paul McGann was given only one feature-length bite at the cherry, while Christopher Eccleston gave up after one solitary season. In contrast, there is Tom Baker, one of the most popular Doctors, who tackled the role for seven years – he even married one of his companions for a short period – and then came back to the role through the audio series. And what of David Tennant and his final words as the Doctor, ‘I don’t want to go’?
Doctor Who has been both saint and sinner to the people who have played him, and this book analyses the magnitude of the part and how it has worked its magic, or its curse, on all the Doctors.
This book is exactly what it claims to be: the real-life story of many men who have played one famous character. And that character is brilliant. One of the greatest in television history, most definitely one of the most successful and iconic to a legion of fans.
I would like to stress early on that – unlike many other books – this one is not about the history of Doctor Who. Although the opening chapter concerns the birth of the show, it only does so to explain where the main character came from and his unique personality. You won’t find chapters concerning the iconic monsters, such as the Cybermen, Daleks and Weeping Angels, or blow-by-blow story analysis and episode breakdowns. Each chapter is a mini biography about each actor who has played the Doctor, where the part fitted into his career, what effect the character – and the show – had on him and, most importantly, what else he did as an actor. Part Two of the book focuses on individual career credits for each actor in order of appearance. It also includes an essay about the programme itself, analysing the show’s great moments, in an effort to explain why the show has been so successful and why the leading actors will always be part of the Doctor Who legacy with the rest of their careers dragging behind them.
This book doesn’t try to be a definitive biography – many of the Doctors, such as Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker have done that already – this book is a clear look at where Doctor Who sits within the great scheme of each actor’s career, something I personally don’t think they can do themselves and, indeed, so far haven’t.
I’ve found this book an incredible one to write and research. Over the years I have spoken to and been in correspondence with six out of eight of the original Doctors and some of their companions, and all these people have met me with overwhelming warmth and enthusiasm. The first interview I ever did – at school no less – was with the then producer of Doctor Who, John Nathan-Turner (and indeed a photograph from that session is included in the photo section of this book), so the insights for this book literally span 30 years of my life and it has been a most interesting ride.
Doctor Who has attracted so much love and respect both inside (the cast and crew) and outside (the fans and the media) that it has become an extended family to many people. But the one thing I find strange is that nobody has overtly identified – although noticed – the thread that runs through the show, through all the Doctors; indeed, many of the Doctors naturally make the comparison themselves, and one actually played the character on stage just before becoming the Doctor… see if you can work out who it is.
Doctor Who is a fairy tale itself, and like many, it holds its own energy and level of reality.
Not convinced? Then consider this: when my son once asked me – as children inevitably do when contemplating the existence of the Tooth Fairy and Father Christmas – if the Doctor really existed, I told him, ‘If somebody categorically told me that there wasn’t a Time Lord spinning around the universe in a battered old police box constantly saving the day, my life would be so much sadder.’ And I meant it too!
‘Don’t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story.’
The Fellowship of the Ring
J R R Tolkien
Craig Cabell
Woking, September 2009
‘He wondered, then, if the others who had remained on Earth experienced the void this way.’
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Philip K. Dick
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE for creating Doctor Who?
It’s not an easy question to answer. A TV show has many people who play a major role in creating it, from its initial idea through to its first transmission, but Sydney Newman must be recognised as the catalyst, the person who laid down the fundamental building blocks for Doctor Who and, most importantly, the main character.
Sydney Cecil Newman was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1917. He was educated at Ogden Public School and the Central Technical School, Toronto, where he studied painting, stagecraft, industrial and interior design. His skills were put to work as an artist, designing posters for cinemas and theatres in Toronto, but he soon branched out.
In 1938, Newman decided to go to Hollywood, where he was offered a job by the Walt Disney Company, who were impressed by the young man’s skills as a graphic designer. Unfortunately, he couldn’t obtain a work permit and had to return to Toronto where, in 1941, he secured employment with the National Film Board of Canada as an assistant film editor.
Later, Newman returned to America to study their film techniques. He would incorporate what he learned into the ever-growing Canadian broadcasting industry. In the 1950s, he moved across to Britain and became Head of Drama at ABC (former Thames Television), where he created SF shows like Pathfinders in Space and such cult TV series as The Avengers.
One of Newman’s strengths was his ability to gather the right team of individuals together to make a quality TV series. This was quintessential to his success and, ostensibly, the individual show’s success too.
In 1962, Newman moved from ABC to the BBC. Again Head of Drama, he was given the task of trying to fill the gap between Grandstand and Juke Box Jury on a Saturday afternoon. For the time slot, the show had to be for children. Traditionally, the spot had been filled with a classic serial, such as Oliver Twist or Kidnapped, but it was time for something else. Something different.
Donald Wilson was appointed Head of Serial and Series, and began to forge the initial ideas of what would become Doctor Who with Newman; but what would the show be about?
A report concerning the development of the show, written in July 1962, stated that ‘bug-eyed monsters’ were out but time travel was in. The idea continued to be developed and, in March 1963, a second report proposed a 52-week serial featuring ‘scientific troubleshooters’, with a time machine. The characters would include a handsome young man, an attractive young woman and a ‘mature man’ somewhere between 30 and 40 years of age, with some kind of twist to him.
Sydney Newman wasn’t totally happy with the report. He didn’t like the ‘scientific troubleshooters’ bit. He wanted the show to be different and, for a SF show, educational. He also wanted to include ‘a kid’ who would get into trouble, perhaps somebody the young audience could identify with.
Newman developed the idea further himself, writing a three-page document about ‘Dr Who’