The world of Doctor Who as seen by the DWAS newsletter Celestial Toyroom (aka CT)
While accounts often cite the Seventies as the original programme’s most successful period, ratings in the early Eighties were high driven partly by the popularity of Peter Davison. 1982 seems as if it will be a busy Doctor Who year and the January issue is testament to that activity with a variety of snippets relating to the programme. Though much of it resides in a column called Trivia it provides an interesting snapshot of just how much attention the series was receiving at this time. So there’s a piece about the uncovering of a sixteen year old poster for the Doctor Who and the Daleks film during the redecoration of Southgate Underground station (it’s a shame the photo looks rather like a flash of white light). There’s something about Madame Tussauds advertising their Doctor Who Experience with a `Guess Who’s at Madame Tussauds` campaign. The Five Faces of Doctor Who repeats on BBC2 are getting good ratings with the first episode `An Unearthly Child` placing tenth in the channel’s ratings that week. `Carnival of Monsters` is also reported as faring well beating Grange Hill. Even the Society’s own event DWASocial 2 held in Edinburgh in November 1981 was reported in `The Scotsman` newspaper. Target have published a quiz book which Gary Russell reports is more accurate than their Programme Guide though not entirely correct. It is selling for £1.25. Also the 70s play Doctor Who and the Seven Keys to Doomsday has been staged for the first time since 1974 by the Buxton Drama League.
