In the Seventies select
BBC programmes would merit a Radio Times Special, a separate glossy magazine
going into the production in far more detail than the weekly listings magazine
was able. Mostly these were for historical dramas like the BBC’s 1972 adaptation
of War and Peace. In 1973 to celebrate its tenth anniversary Doctor Who was
awarded such a Special and it definitely lived up to its name. Covering the
entire history of the show it was, for fans, a wonderful gift in those pre
Internet, pre Doctor Who Magazine times. Older fans would be able to wallow in
the nostalgia of the early days while younger ones would be seeing information
and photos about Sixties Doctor Who for the very first time. The previous
year’s excellent Making of Doctor Who had listed story titles but for some fans
their first knowledge of what those old stories were actually about came from
the Special.
What the magazine also
does is show the care and attention the BBC gave it’s programmes back then. The
1973 Special comes complete with a specially shot iconic gatefold cover image
featuring Jon Pertwee’s Doctor in heroic red, blue and crimson on the front.
Facing him on the back cover are a Sea Devil, a Cyberman and a Dalek plus a couple
of smaller Daleks in the distance. It is an interesting choice for many reasons
not least because the big Dalek is only half visible and pride of place goes to
the Sea Devil. They really liked the Sea Devils in the 70s as the Making Of
book also had them sharing the cover with the third Doctor. The setting for
this photo is an alien planet with a surface that looks like a lumpy pancake.
The whole thing is like an album cover. It is such a great picture that the
editors avoid covering it in text, instead restricting that to the bottom right
hand corner of the cover. It describes Doctor Who as “BBC1’s great adventure
series”. The cover price is 30p!
Opening it up in 1973 was
astonishing because the inside cover contains small frames of the title
sequence. And not just any title sequence but the re-jigged third Doctor one
that we had not yet seen! In terms of colouring and style this is my favourite
ever Doctor Who title sequence and ended up only being used for the 1974
season. Spread across the best part of two pages it looks gorgeous.
Over the next page the
classic `Three Doctors` photo is reproduced ahead of brief interviews with each
of the actors. I’m not sure when the William Hartnell one was done as he sounds
chatty and lucid whereas by 1973 was apparently ailing. Perhaps they got him on
a good day. He says he always knew the series would be a great success, mentions the
letters he’d receive asking him to solve complex questions and how the role was
“a test for any actor”. His favourite memory of the show is an off screen fete
he opened in costume. “I’ll never forget the moment we arrived. The children
just converged on the car cheering and shouting, their faces all lit up. I knew
then just how much Doctor Who really meant to them.”
Patrick Troughton tells
how he was very reluctant to play the role to the point where the idea of him
doing it as “a windjammer Captain” was seriously mooted. Thankfully for
everyone he went for “the cosmic hobo” based on Charlie Chaplin. The Yeti were his favourites and he speaks
fondly of his co-stars. “Doctor Who was a jolly fellow and I just bubbled
along,” he says. Current incumbent Jon Pertwee is depicted as very much the
Seventies star interviewed in a hammock by a swimming pool at his vila in
Ibiza. The interview includes another preview- this time of the Whomobile car –
while he too talks of the process of selecting a way to play the role. He talks
of having fun in the studio –“my main concern is to make people feel at home”.
He finds the Daleks “boring” (he’s going to love the story later in the
magazine!) and the Draconians are his favourite. Of the series he says, “Its
got to be scary” because he reckons children like to be scared.
