TV Thursday

~ tidalscribe.com

Happy Birthday Doctor Who. Many of us, including the media are indulging in nostalgia as it is sixty years since BBC children’s drama series Doctor Who appeared on our screens. I was always rather resentful that I missed the first episode as we got stuck in traffic on the way home. In those days if you missed a programme that was IT, no recording on your video player, or catching up on iPlayer. It was not until 1990 when we bought a boxed set of videos of the first four episodes for a relative, that I discovered why the Time Lord travelled in a police phone box. The Tardis was meant to change its appearance to fit the surroundings wherever and whenever it landed. It landed in 1960’s London, but due to a technical fault ( or perhaps the BBC budget ) the Tardis remained a police box forever.

It was the second series that introduced the iconic Daleks. With sink plungers their only weapons and unable to climb up stairs, they still struck terror in our hearts. I only have to hear the word EXTERMINATE and a chill goes down my spine. I only have to hear the words Radiophonic Workshop and the electronic theme music fills my head.

Urban myth has it that children used to hide behind the sofa when the Daleks were on and I know this to be true. My aunt and uncle for many years recalled my friend hiding behind the sofa at my 11th birthday party and this same friend today recalled that she did indeed hide behind the sofa.

Doctor Who is wandering round my local area at this very moment, his police box is parked in the middle of Boscombe.

Back to adult television in 2023 and at last there is a drama with Janet as the lead character. Unfortunately she has her fingers chopped off in the first few minutes… well only one hand. Boat Story is a black comedy drama and there were more scenes I couldn’t watch! Not sure if I can face the second episode…

For proper adult drama I am really enjoying the second series from Australia of The Newsreader, set in the 1980s.

Were you a Doctor Who fan?

I know not all bloggers watch television, no doubt having better things to do like reading our blogs and writing their blogs. If you are a viewer have you found a favourite programme lately?

31 thoughts on “TV Thursday”

  1. I stopped enjoying Dr Who when I reached the age that was too old for it – around 15. I don’t get how and why it now seems to be regarded as adult tv. And I’m getting thoroughly fed up with all the ‘celebrations’ for it!

    Best programme I’ve seen in recent years is Ted Lasso, on Apple TV+. On Freeview channels, I like a lot of the BBC4 Saturday evening series, and the Walter Presents offerings on More 4.

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    1. Hello Clive, the voice of reason speaks. We started watching again when it was revived with Christopher Eccleston, who brought the pathos of the lonely Time Lord, the last of his race…Oh Oh, now I’m talking as if it was real! I haven’t watched if for years.
      I haven’t got Apple TV, but I would have loved to have seen Ted Lasso. I watch most of the Saturday BBC4 series.

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      1. A lot of people seem to think that tv shows are real, judging by the way they get really uptight about things like Strictly or I’m A Nonentity. I can get engaged with the characters in dramas but I’m never likely to complain to the channel if they kill off a favourite!

        I’ve watched loads on BBC4 over the years – all the Scandi ones, Montalbano etc. If you sign up for a trial of Apple One, their bundled service, they give you a month free – plenty of time to watch all 34 episodes of Ted Lasso then cancel before they charge you!

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  2. I have been a Doctor Who fan since the mid-80s. I own quite a few DVDs of the resurrected version. I’m excited to see the new Doctor! Tom Baker was my favourite with David Tennant as a close second.

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  6. Oh, my friends and I definitely hid behind the sofa – head bobbing up and down to catch some of the program! My first doctor was Tom Baker and coming from Sweden as a child where children’s TV was pretty dire I thought I’d ended up in TV heaven! The daleks were so scary and even felt a sense of trepidation when I ‘interviewed’ one in Hastings sea front in the 1990s! Happy 60th indeed to this iconic show – and the theme music will never age!

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  7. I watched the first series starring Willaim Hartnell. He brough sme dignity and gravitas to the role. After that, it all got far too silly for me, so I haven’t watched it since a couple of episodes with Patrick Troughton in 1966. Like Clive, I find adult super-fans of the series to be very childish, but if it makes them happy…
    Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. Well, I guess it sums me up that I don’t often watch because it goes so far north of the top of my head that there is no hope of understanding. Nevertheless, I can see that it is great TV, and if for nothing else, I will watch for the glorious Catherine Tate

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  11. Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman will always be MY Doctor Who and Companion. I came late to the “Who” Universe and started watching it when they were starring. I love watching all their episodes, as well as all the Doctor Who Christmas Specials. Great entertainment!

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