Who, Where & When 1

Growing up with Doctor Who in the 1980s and beyond

– REVISED EDITION –

Alex Storer

WHOWHERE AND WHEN

2 Who, Where & When

INTRODUCTIONTHERE IS SOMETHING special about being a fan of Doctor Who. Not that we deserve any kind of particular treatment, but because it feels great to be part of something which has had an astounding effect on several generations. Who would have ever thought that one television programme could achieve so much? And to us, it is so much more than just a programme.

Despite having millions of obsessed fans all around the world, for years it wasn’t particularly cool to openly exclaim your love of Who. I’ve often wondered how true those stories were, of fans sneaking their copy of Doctor Who Magazine out of the newsagent’s hidden under other publications – yet today, fans buy that same magazine with pride and excitement.

It’s easy to forget this wasn’t always the case. It is well known that Who suffered in the mid to late 1980s, with low viewing figures, an 18-month hiatus and ultimately, its cancellation. Yet this was the period in which I was enjoying the show, and just discovering it’s vast history. 1980s Who had the same impact on me that the previous two decades had had on the generations before.

I was the big Doctor Who fan in my class at school, and to our generation, Doctor Who in the 1980s was diverse, scary and by far the best thing on TV. To a young boy, it opened up a whole new universe of adventure and escape.

The most significant events of my Childhood came in 1985 – visiting the Doctor Who exhibition in Blackpool and meeting Colin Baker. It is fond memories like these which should be cherished and preserved. Special, exciting times.

Who, Where & When is a reflection of those times and beyond. You can forget all the nasty things you may have read about Who in the 80s – this is what it meant to a young impressionable fan, and an account of its lasting influence.

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EARLY MEMORIESIT FEELS LIKE Doctor Who has always been there. I don’t remember exactly when I started watching it, but my earliest vivid memory of the show dates back to the early Peter Davison era, and in particular, 1982’s Mawdryn Undead. Turlough gave me the creeps and I remember the feeling of unease whenever that crystal lit up – knowing that the dreaded Black Guardian wasn’t far away! Watching Mawdryn today, it stands out as one of the strongest Fifth Doctor adventures, but there’s an everlasting feeling of nostalgia, and the fond memory of being scared.

I have vague recollections of stories from previous Davison seasons, and some Tom Baker stories, which is probably mostly down to the two seasons of repeats on BBC2 in the early 80s. This would also explain why I already knew of the Daleks before The Five Doctors aired.

Either way, I was an avid viewer by 1983, tuning in each week to watch Peter Davison running around saving the world with his floppy hair, comfy trousers and white sneakers. I remember The Five Doctors being quite a special event. I recall watching both the original transmission and the repeat, after coming home from the local supermarket one day with wet socks, it having flooded in a storm!

Peter Davison’s Doctor fascinated me; he was young and brave, yet emotional and vulnerable. I remember my parents telling me that “the older Doctors were better”, as they had watched Doctor Who in black and white, hundreds of years ago. But I disagreed. Somehow I connected with the young Davison, and still to this day love everything about his time in the TARDIS.

I even remember realising that Davison sang the theme tune to Button Moon – was there anything he couldn’t do?!

The wobbly Myrka aside, it was really Davison’s final season that captivated me the most. While I never actually hid behind the sofa, I do remember being quite scared at times, particularly during The Awakening. Stories such as Frontios and Planet of Fire were absolutely

enthralling, but it wasn’t until 1984’s Resurrection of the Daleks that something really clicked. Forever.

Discovery of the DaleksResurrection might not be the greatest Dalek story, but it transformed me overnight into a Dalek obsessive. I became fascinated with the things – and the absence of any Dalek toy in the shops at that time, left me quite frustrated. I remember talking about the previous evening’s episode at school with a fellow fan called Tony. He would become a lifelong friend, but back then, he was the only person I had met who actually had a Dalek...

The envy was unspeakable. Where was it from? It turned out to be a 1960s Cherilea “Swappit” (which eventually made its way into my own collection years later). However, back in 1984, I was Dalekless, and even my father’s best attempts at a small fibreglass one didn’t meet my high demands.

Then one day in Doctor Who Magazine, I saw an advert announcing “the most accurate and detailed Dalek model ever produced...”, so straight away, I started filling in the form with an old felt-tip pen (which bled all over the paper), unaware that it wasn’t free and

my parents would have to pay for this thing!

So I had to wait a while, but I eventually got my big Sevans Dalek – painted by my dad, but in the wrong colours and with the gun at the wrong side! However despite my parents’ best efforts, the huge Sevans Dalek was just too big for me to play with, and

my longing still wasn’t quite fulfilled. I remember drooling over all the photographs of 1960s Dalek merchandise in that same year’s Doctor Who Magazine Summer Special.

Luckily three decaded years later, thanks to the sheer amount of Doctor Who and Dalek merchandise that emerged, I’ve been able to make up for being Dalekless in 1984!

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Time for changeChange would come with the Fifth Doctor’s final adventure, the epic Caves of Androzani, with the sinister Sharaz Jek and his squeaky leather costume. I remember being intrigued and disturbed by Jek’s own description of the “flesh hanging from the bones” of his tarnished visage, although when the mask eventually came off, it looked more like he’d suffered a Pot Noodle-related incident. Caves was another one of those stories which would leave a lasting impression, and it’s popularity today confirms that I wasn’t the only young fan being thrilled to bits at the time.

However, one of the most memorable moments was to come with the regeneration of Peter Davison into this new Colin Baker chap. I had a vague recollection of Logopolis, so I already knew about regeneration – and I remember being amazed by the whole sequence of visual effects as I waved bye-bye to ‘my’ Doctor.

Although I was incredibly sad to see Davison go, I liked Colin Baker straight away. Although at the time, I remember missing the odd episide from season 22, either through being dragged out somewhere by my parents at the expense of my viewing or the occasional nightmare moment of the VHS recording timer failing to come on, or Grandstand overruning, meaning the recorded episode would be cut short!

Missed episodes aside, I loved Colin’s first season. It was dark and different – with many moments of unease during Attack of the Cybermen or Vengeance on Varos – Sil utterly repulsed and revolted me to the point I couldn’t watch him! Every story was different and exciting – even the ridiculous Timelash was good in the eyes of a seven- year-old!

The season culminated in the highly-anticipated return of the Daleks in Revelation of the Daleks. Although it had only been a year since Resurrection of the Daleks, in “child time” that year-long wait felt like an eternity. My Sevans Dalek had been previously confiscated (what had I done to deserve that?!), but we were reunited for the broadcast of Part One.

Everything about Revelation was superb, from the visual effects to the haunting music, and one of the most heart-stopping cliffhangers I’d ever seen. Having Davros and the Daleks back was the biggest thrill for me, although the mutating head of Stengos, incubating inside a glass Dalek was absolutely harrowing!

Around that time, I also saw both of the 1960s big screen movies with Peter Cushing playing the inappropriately moustached “Doctor Whooo”. Watching these feature-length Dalek stories was a real thrill, and at the time, having never seen William Hartnell’s original portrayal of the First Doctor, this was the earliest Who that I’d seen.

Lasting influence1982-85 were perhaps the most the formative years for me. I had been propelled into another world with which I became obsessed. I’d make comics, do drawings during in rainy playtimes at school, and usually think about the show whilst my teachers were attempting in vain to educate me. My imagination was lost in a constant Doctor Who daydream.

My interest in electronic music is probably also attributed to Doctor Who. Peter Howell’s theme tune arrangement (still my favourite) and incidental music played a big part in the atmosphere and mood of those early episodes, and it was also around this time that I first heard The Human League and Jean-Michel Jarre’s Oxygène – music that I’ll always associate with watching early 80s Who.

I was at that young age where the school summer holidays of a mere six weeks, seemed to last forever. Those Peter Davison stories I had enjoyed so much seemed like such a long time ago. Although my parents bought Doctor Who Magazine for me each month, I was still at the age where I would prefer to look at the pictures and read the odd bit of interesting information here and there, rather than scrutinise every last detail. That did lead to missing out on certain important bits of news, like the fact that Doctor Who was about to be suspended for six months...

NEVER TOO LATE: Resurrection of the Daleks got it’s own model set in 2011!

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“I’LL TAKE YOU TO...”COLIN BAKER’S CLOSING words left viewers in a state of intrigue at the end of 1985’s season closer, Revelation of the Daleks. However, just after the end titles had finished, a short advert for the Doctor Who exhibitions in Blackpool and Longleat was shown. I had to go – my parents weren’t given any choice! So a family holiday in Blackpool was in order that summer.

Finally, the big day came. I remember leaving the pier and as we approached the Golden Mile, the comforting sound of the Peter Howell theme tune was already floating through the air. It was even exciting to hear “new” parts of the music, which you didn’t get to hear on TV!

And there it was – a wall adorned with the faces of all six Doctors, Bessie basking in the sun and most exciting of all, my first sighting of a ‘real’ Dalek, fresh from Revelation. As if this wasn’t exciting enough, there was a TARDIS which was actually the entrance to the exhibition, which led down some stairs into darkness...

As I stood at the top of the staircase I remember already glimpsing the two Daleks that awaited me down there – and once in this exciting underworld, I remember being scared by a Gundan Warrior, freaked out by the Malus and fascinated with the Sontarans from The Two Doctors. However, I was so eager to get to the main exhibit, I paid little attention to many of the displays (which I now regret...) as I hurried down that corridor to find the TARDIS console room, the exhibition’s centrepiece.

For a young boy who’s world evolved around Doctor

Who, this was a sight to behold. The six Doctors’ faces were inset into various roundels on the walls, along with a moving Dalek “brain” with the colourful, working console in the centre. Huge windows opened out into the display areas where I could see Cybermen, Zygons, K9, Tractators, the glass ‘incubating’ Dalek, the blood-stained statue of the Sixth Doctor, Marsh Men, and the corner which kept my attention for the longest – Davros and the Daleks. It was exciting enough to be able to press a button and make the Dalek talk and flash its lights, but lurking at the back, straight from Resurrection was a destroyed Dalek with its mutant on display!

DREAM COME TRUE: (Top) That’s me zipped up in the Parker, probably in the middle of summer.

(Left): The exciting console room!

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The shop was in a small corridor leading to the exit. I remember drooling over the amount of Who merchandise on sale. I left with the Radio Times 20th Anniversary Special, a badge of the ‘neon tube’ logo, some Fine Art Castings Daleks and a TARDIS, a Target Dalek ‘anatomy’ poster, a Dalek t-shirt and a Dalek pencil case for Tony.

I dragged my parents back to the exhibition for one more visit later that same week, and it was during that time that I met a ‘real’ Cyberman...

The strange thing is, on both occasions I don’t remember there being many other people at the exhibition – it seemed that I had it all to myself, which felt rather special. And looking at the few photos I have, indeed we were alone. That was until a towering Cyberman came marching through the door!

This huge metallic form approached me, and spoke in the cyber-voice, grasped me with his large cyber-gloves and lifted me up, as I trembled with fear and delight. Despite the fact I knew it was really some poor bloke sweating away inside a cyber-suit, just for a moment, it was real. Sadly all the photographs of the exhibition came out quite dark, and the photo of my encounter with the cyberman (above) was blurred! Frustrating, but still, a lasting record of two amazing days.

The whole experience was simply magical, and out of everything I have ever enjoyed about Doctor Who, that visit to the Blackpool exhibition in 1985, will forever remain my single most treasured memory. My few, dark photos from those two mind-blowing

visits to the Blackpool exhibition remain treasured.

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Thanks for the Picture!One morning in the autumn of 1985, my mum came into my bedroom and told me to get up, as we were going to go and meet Colin Baker. Was I dreaming? I’m not sure I quite believed it – in a few hours, was I really going to be talking to The Doctor?! In no time at all, we were on our way into Sheffield, where Baker would be opening a new furniture and DIY store, Texas Homecare.

Despite our early arrival, the queue was already quite big. Eventually, after waiting impatiently for what felt like hours, the familiar curly hair of Colin Baker emerged above the sea of heads in front of me! Finally, the queue started moving, as I slowly but surely made my way towards my first encounter with the Doctor.

“Alexander the Great?” Baker jested, having asked my name. I remember being in awe of how tall he was and I clearly recall the strong smell of the marker pen with which he signed his photos for us. I remember noticing odd little things like the fact he had stubble, which you couldn’t see on the telly! It was hard to imagine the Doctor shaving in the TARDIS bathroom, but he clearly did!

Baker was amused when I presented him with a drawing that I’d done for him, which included a certain emphasis on Peri’s chest! I remember him saying he was going to show it to Nicola! I was standing talking to the Doctor. If going to the Blackpool exhibition was a dream come true for me, then what was this? I felt on top of the world.

The 50p DalekA monumental thing happened during 1986, and that was finding a 1975 Palitoy talking Dalek in the school jumble sale – for just 50p!

I remember walking into the school hall armed with my fifty pence piece, and as I looked along the tables lined with unwanted books and toys, I suddenly saw it, and could barely believe my eyes. I froze on the spot for a moment, before heading straight for it, to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. I shook with excitement as I handed over my coin, and got my hands on this sacred item. I got it home to find out that it still spoke! It might have been missing it’s guns and eye-stalk, but here, at long last, was my first toy Dalek!

That Christmas I also got Mat Irvine’s Doctor Who Visual Effects book, which proved to be a fascinating read, learning how all these things were created, especially Davros and the Daleks.

On TrialIt seemed like forever had passed when Who returned to our screens in late 1986, although I had been preoccupied with the BBC’s adaptation of The Tripods.

I still remember the day, as I had no idea whatsoever that it was coming back. I had just finished recording Roland Rat: The Series (really), when the familiar starfield titles suddenly came on, but with music that I barely recognised! I immediately pressed play and record back in on the video recorder, and sat there in amazement at an unexpected new series of Doctor Who!

However, Trial of a Timelord took the show in a very unexpected new direction – everything felt different, darker and somehow sad (perhaps a reflection of the problems behind the scenes). And indeed it turned out to be, with the departure of Peri and a premature end for Colin Baker’s Doctor.

Colin Baker’s signed photo (left); the 50p Palitoy talking Dalek (top)

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“CHANGE, MY DEAR...”BIG CHANGES WERE afoot, following the end of season 23, but despite all the tumult, my love for the show kept increasing. 1987 and 1988 were good years. First of all, I had discovered the John Fitton’s Doctor Who Mail Order Service. Among various things was my first BBC Video – Death to the Daleks – which was not only a ‘new’ Dalek story for me to digest but also my first Jon Pertwee story.

The Autumn came, and there was a new face in the TARDIS – Sylvester McCoy. The new Doctor had been announced earlier in the year, and it also turned out that McCoy used to be in Jigsaw, a show, which had utterly freaked me out when I was little! Despite being met with hostility from many fans, I warmed to McCoy straight away, and although Time and the Rani isn’t very well regarded, I think there have been worse stories, before and since. To a nine-year-old at the time, it felt fresh and new. Who had entered a new, colourful era and made a clear break from the dark, depressing trial that had gone before.

Although the new season was a mixed bag, the show was moving with the times, with make-up and visual effects ever on the increase. The show even had it’s first computer-generated title sequence – all of which was a big step forward, culminating in the climax of Dragonfire, which featured the most gruesome spectacle in the show’s history – the horrific melting of Mr Kane. I spent the following weeks making my own Mr Kane heads out of plasticine, and peeling back the layers, recreating his demise.

BBC VideoIn 1988, I got my second BBC Video, Pyramids of Mars, and finally got to see Tom Baker, in action as the Doctor (I had already seen Baker ‘in action’ during The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, but the less said about that, the better).

I was also one of the lucky winners of a DWM competition, and won a brand new copy of the Third Doctor’s debut adventure, Spearhead from Space. Being one of the winners was exciting enough, but I also got to see my name printed in the magazine! I took the video into school, and my teacher even let our class watch it over a couple of afternoons. Watching Doctor Who in school was completely unheard of!

It was also around this time that I held a Doctor Who convention at home, whereby friends came round

in some form of costume, ate lots of cake, watched my new videos and gazed upon my ever-expanding collection!

I had also befriended a lad called James. He was a bit older than me, and had just about everything imaginable to do with Doctor Who! I remember staring in awe at his collection on a regular basis and watching shaky VHS recordings of old stories and a even fragmented clip of Patrick Troughton’s opening titles.

The first thing James did for me, was made me a copy of The Five Doctors, which was a tremendous thrill to watch again. We soon started to trade various bits of merchandise – I would often donate something (which I would later regret) to his collection in return for a copy of a story I had never seen, or a short snippet of the Doctor running down a corridor.

ABOVE & LEFT: The first (and last) Dronfield Doctor Who Convention! Hats and long scarves were an entry requirement.

BELOW: Fame! I make my first appearance in Doctor Who Magazine.

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ScenesI also became fascinated with the programme’s opening titles. Or “scenes” as I elected to call them (for some reason). I was fascinated with each Doctor’s “scenes”, and how they matched their era and theme music arrangement. Drawing my own Who “scenes” became a regular pastime, and to this day, the inner covers of my Doctor Who Technical Manual are covered in my own black felt-tip drawings!

Daleks – new and oldAnother Dalek toy would come into my possession. Rumour had it that somebody I knew at school had a Dalek – and he was willing to swap it for a selection of Corgi cars that he could crash. One swap later and I had myself an original 1960s Marx Dalek, in black. Unfortunately, I was so fascinated with the thing, I ended up sawing the dome off and making a monster to go in it. If only I’d known how much it had been worth...

That same year, a new range of figures and toys were announced by Welsh toy company Dapol. Finally, I would have my own Dalek army, Doctor, TARDIS and fully articulated Bonnie Langford. I still remember the thrill of seeing that first Dapol advert in DWM.

In the summer, a photograph appeared in DWM, showing a newly-designed white Dalek. It felt like a lifetime since Revelation, so the prospect of a new Dalek adventure was a really exciting, and with the recent Doctorin’ the Tardis single topping the charts, there was a great vibe surrounding this colourful new era of my favourite show.

Remembrance of the Daleks did not disappoint. The BBC1 trailers had sufficiently whet my appetite, and finally, at 7:35pm on a Wednesday evening, the time came. Right from the impressive intro sequence, I knew this was going to be a special story – and with the brand new Daleks looking fantastic with amazing new visual effects, it certainly was quite unlike any story I had seen before.

The end of an eraSeason 26 in 1989 may have been one of the most original seasons for a few years, but it would also be the last for a long time. Just as the show was going in a thrilling new direction and was about to enter a new decade, it was brutally exterminated.

As the Doctor and Ace walked off into the distance in the closing scene of Survival, I remember feeling sad, and the absence of any announcements for a new

series the following year, didn’t help. The show I had adored and grown up with, was no more. Even today, when I hear those sombre guitar chords from Survival, it still evokes that deflated feeling of disbelief.

Fortunately by the age of 12, other things such as computers and going to a “big” school took my mind off the cancellation. I always preferred to watch Doctor Who rather than read the novels, so I continued to buy the video releases and a season of repeats on BBC2 kept the show alive briefly, introducing me to stories such as The Mind Robber. However one day in 1992, the interest seemed to finally fade away.

A glimmer of re-interest emerged in a different form, in 1993, when a new computer game, Dalek Attack, came out. That same year, I also recall tuning in to watch the Children In Need “special” Dimensions in Time, which just about cemented the show as being dead and buried. Maybe it was worth watching purely to see the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors on screen together (sort of) for the only time, but there and then, I sadly consigned Doctor Who to be a thing of the past.

INVADERS FROM WALES: Dapol’s toy range was a highlight of the late 1980s, including their infamous 5-sided console and range of Daleks.

MORE FAME: My second appearance in DWM!

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FULL CIRCLERUMOURS OF A Doctor Who movie had previously come to nothing. However, it was eventually confirmed that a new TV movie was being made... in America. At that point, thousands of fans’ hearts around the world simultaneously stopped beating.

Despite my reservations, I watched the movie on its night of transmission in 1996. I was angry seeing Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor get shot, but it was encouraging to see what a fantastic and modern Doctor Paul McGann made. But sadly, the TV movie was at best, average, feeling more like an over-Americanised spin-off. So while it didn’t really feel like proper Who, I eventually concluded that it was a much better way to ‘end’ the programme, rather than with an overdubbed walk into the sunset.

RediscoveryA couple of years had elapsed without the slightest thought of Who, but during a trip to Nottingham for a Gary Numan concert, Tony and I came across a comic shop selling a new range of small metal Doctor Who figurines. The goth working behind the counter overheard our conversation of how good it would be to have a Nyder figurine, and a conversation sparked up. The items on sale hinted at there being some kind of renewed interest in the show, and even the BBC Video range had undergone a facelift. Something was happening...

Thinking perhaps the time was right for a nostalgia trip, the following week I bought the recently released Planet of Fire, a story I hadn’t seen since it’s original broadcast in 1984 – and it was fantastic! Watching it again was almost like discovering the series for the first time. The menace of the Master... the cool Fifth Doctor... the bizarre Kamelion... Peri in a microscopic bikini... and Turlough in impossibly tight trunks.

Trunks aside, that day, it felt like I had gone full circle, as something clicked firmly back into place.

A trip to Galaxy FourIt seemed there was no escaping Who after all.

I had soon bought the latest issue of DWM to catch up with what was happening, and saw an advert for a Sheffield-based Doctor Who specialist shop, Galaxy Four. A dedicated Who shop in my home town was too good to be true!

So off I went, in search of Galaxy Four, and found what could only be described as an Aladdin’s cave of Doctor Who treasures. I got my hands on a VHS copy of Resurrection of the Daleks, in order to re-live that all-important story.

Trips to Galaxy Four became weekly, each one usually resulting in a new video to watch or book to read, combined with great conversations about the series with the shop’s owners.

The following year, toy manufacturer Product Enterprise announced that they were to reproduce the classic 1960s “Rolykin” Dalek. However since they made them in several

colours, I couldn’t be content with just one! And as if that wasn’t enough, a range of large talking Daleks came out, soon followed by sets of “Roll-a-matic” Daleks in various story-themed colours. Only 16 years late, I was the proud owner of accurate, detailed Dalek models.

The buzz surrounding the show continued as the Crich Tramway Museum in Derbyshire hosted a “Dalek day” in the summer of 2000, and the next big thing was the range of audio adventures from Big Finish, and a couple of animated online adventures. Both Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy reprised their roles as the Doctor for the Big Finish audio adventures, finally allowing their Doctors to mature and realise their potential.

Rediscovering Who was like reuniting with an old friend, or picking up a great book just where you left off. That passionate interest in the series was still there after all the time that had passed and despite the show having been off-air for a decade, a lot seemed to be happening.

A Dalek and a Police Box at Crich Tramway Museum (above); Product Enterprise Daleks (below)

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CONVENTION CAPERSFOR YEARS, I had read about these legendary Doctor Who conventions, looked at various photos and read reports, never thinking I would ever have the privilege to attend one of these special events. But, in September 2001, that all changed.

When the “Resurrection” convention was announced (with its strangely appropriate title), it seemed like a long overdue opportunity. So, next stop: Stoke-On-Trent.

Meeting heroesThe immediate thing that strikes you about these events, is the diverse range of people, of all ages, shapes, sizes, gender and levels of fanaticism. It was good to see younger kids there too – teenagers and young children in particular, which proved that the series – even though it wasn’t on at the time – was still attracting new, young fans somehow, even though these kids didn’t have “a Doctor” on TV to grow up with.

Many hardcore fans had gone all the way and come out in full costume, determined to survive the weekend without suffocation or hyperventilation. While Tony and I were roasting away in our t-shirts, other folk were wandering round in duffle coats and six-foot long scarfs, Cyberman costumes or even full military attire. In contrast, one female fan’s homemade Leela costume left very little to the imagination!

The guests included Paul Darrow, Nicholas Courtney, Anneke Wills, Deborah Watling, Barry Letts and Sophie Aldred. Meeting people I’d watched for years on TV or putting faces to names behind the scenes quite special, and it was delightful just how friendly and down to earth everybody was. There wasn’t just a mutual appreciation of Doctor Who between the guests and convention-goers, there was a genuine love.

Just a week after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre, the mood of the convention was somewhat sombre at the start, but soon everybody had temporarily escaped the headlines and were enjoying the day’s events. After a heavy-going Saturday evening, I started the second day of Resurrection in a somewhat fragile state. This wasn’t helped by interrogation from a Star Trek fan with bad breath and one of those naff replica question-mark pullovers, who had chosen to sit next to me. However, thanks to the efficient autograph queuing system, I was soon in another room and about to meet one of my childhood heroes – Sylvester McCoy.

Having recently re-watched Season 26, to have both Sophie and Sylvester at this event was quite significant for me, but it also took me back to the thrill of meeting Colin Baker all those years before. RESURRECTION 2001: Guests included

Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant.

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McCoy looked great and was in good humour, giving my camera a typically grumpy Seventh Doctor style frown. Next up was Nicola Bryant (I wonder if Colin Baker ever showed her my drawing...), followed by Baker himself – our first encounter since that day in Sheffield. Colin is the sort of person who talks to you like you’ve known each other for years.

The highlight of the afternoon was Sylvester McCoy’s talk, for which he was greeted with a huge cheer and standing ovation – he was still the Doctor! He spent the next hour running around the conference hall like an over-excited Labrador, attacking the convention Dalek in the process. But in no time at all, it was all over. The event left me on a high which lasted for days, and having been handed a flyer for another event, “Battlefield”, just six months later, I knew the fun just had to continue.

Battlefield, Coventry, 2002We arrived in Coventry late on Friday night. My immediate impression of the hotel was that all the doors opened the wrong way, something my nose would have to get used to. We were in for a few early surprises, as some guests were turning up too. My first sighting was the silver hair of Peter Purves, shining at me from across the room, followed by Sylvester McCoy – who was confined to a wheelchair after a leg operation, although it didn’t stop him tearing round the place at high speeds!

Saturday was a day of talks, signings and lots of queuing. Unfortunately long-time stuntman Terry Walsh was too ill to participate, and eventually went home, sadly passing away just a week or so later. Louise Jameson was in much demand for the duration she was there, and it was great to see familiar faces, in particular, Terry Molloy – I finally got to meet Davros!

Producer John Nathan-Turner was present, but also wheelchair-bound due to illness. Sadly, this would turn out to be Turner’s last convention appearance, as he died only weeks later, at the age of 54. Here was the man behind ‘my’ era of the show – I felt I owed him a “thank you”, but unfortunately he was perhaps the only guest that I didn’t get to meet over the weekend.

A night to rememberDuring the Saturday evening, me and Tony made friends with Yee Jee Tso (Chang Lee from the 1996 TV movie) and it was like we’d known each other for years! As we were similar ages, we had a lot in common and plenty to talk about.

After a pint with Davros, we headed downstairs to the hotel bar. As we got down to the bottom of the stairs, the lift doors opened, and Colin Baker appeared. Before I knew it, we found ourselves seated at a table alongside Sylvester McCoy, a couple of other fans and a guy from ITV who bought everybody a pint. At the first opportunity I demanded an apology from McCoy for freaking me out in Jigsaw! Then Colin Baker joined us. Could things get any better? If I could have gone back in time and told the 10-year-old me that one day, I would be socialising with my heroes, I would never have believed me!

I later encountered McCoy in the gents – although I couldn’t bring myself to take a pee next to ‘the Doctor’, so I opted for a cubicle. As I finished, I heard all manner of crashes and complaints and found him back in his chair, attempting to get out of the toilets, exclaiming that all the doors opened the wrong way – so it wasn’t just me with this problem. I gave him a hand through the doors and chatted as we trundled back to our table, where we remained for the rest of the evening. It was interesting to talk with these actors about things other than Who.

DALEK ATTACK: McCoy in action

I AM DAVROS: Terry Molloy

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K9 & CambdenI spent most of the second day in the various talks. The late Gary Downey showed a selection of his personal photographs from the filming of The Two Doctors, and gave an interesting insight into the production side of the series in the mid-1980s. One particular highlight was the following panel by assistant K9 operator Steve Cambden. Behind-the-scenes footage is always something of interest, and it was inspiring to watch Steve present a collection of his personal film footage from his time working on the show in the late 70s, as he gave an insightful talk about this childhood dream come true.

I met Steve later that afternoon, and we chatted about all sorts of things. He kindly offered to disrupt his own display (right) for me to photograph, but sadly my camera film had just ended. Within days of meeting Steve, I had bought both of his books, which I read with great fascination. I found his journey from childhood ambitions of working on Doctor Who to finally realising that dream, in his late teens, very inspirational. I’ve been fortunate to keep in touch with him, in an unusual but very rewarding friendship.

A fitting endGary Downey and Terry Molloy hosted the memorabilia auction, doing their best to get good prices on the stuff up for grabs. All kind of things were going under the hammer, including a lot of items from John Nathan-Turner’s personal collection. Items such as 1960s scripts and signed photos of William Hartnell fetched the most money, and somebody also went home with JNT’s own Cybermat. “Battlefield” ended on a high note, with an entertaining talk from John Nathan-Turner, Gary Downey, Nick Courtney, Sylvester McCoy and Colin Baker all sharing the stage. It was a great way to end an amazing weekend, and one which I’ll never forget.

Destiny and PanopticonIn late 2002, I attended one of the legendary “Panopticon” events – which would turn out to be the final one. Again, it was a pleasure to meet so many actors from all eras of the show, such as Elisabeth Sladen, Bonnie Langford and Carole Ann Ford. The only frustration came at the realisation that Peter Davison had been a guest on the previous day, so I

was very sad to have missed the opportunity to meet “my” Doctor.

I also attended “Destiny” in 2003, where I was lucky enough to meet Anthony Ainley (right) – who had done a great job of scaring me as a child as the Master. Sadly, Ainley passed away the following year, which left me feeling very privileged to have met him. I also finally got my photo taken with Colin Baker, who was like a big teddy bear.

The Valiant arrives in SheffieldSeptember 2010, saw Sheffield’s first Who convention, “Valiant”, organised by Fantom Films. With a limited audience of just 100, it certainly felt exciting, exclusive and long overdue.

It was a pleasure to meet John Leeson (right), the long-time voice of K9, as well as a variety of other guests. However best of all for me, was meeting both Nicola Bryant and Sylvester McCoy again, as it was almost nine years to the day when I met them both for the first time back at “Resurrection”.

“Valiant” was also the first convention for me where classic met modern Who, with the stars of the original series proving to be just as popular as ever, if not more so, in the light of the show’s success today. How many other shows make the actors (and even the monsters) so available? The time and dedication these people put into conventions and events, and the willingness to interact with their fans, simply demonstrated the mutual love of, and longevity of Doctor Who.

COMPANIONS: Carole Ann Ford, Elisabeth Sladen and Bonnie Langford

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BATTLEFIELD (above): Guests included Sylvester McCoy, Nicholas Courtney, Louise Jameson and Yee Jee Tso. RIGHT: Steve Cambden’s display of props and costumes.

TOGETHER ONE LAST TIME (below): John Nathan-Turner (far left) and Gary Downey (also no longer with us) reunited with two of the Doctors of the 1980s, Sylvester McCoy and Colin Baker, plus Nicholas Courtney for the Battlefield 2002 finalé.

ABOARD THE VALIANT (below): With Sylvester McCoy and Nicola Bryant at “Valiant”, 2010.

DESTINY: Meeting Colin Baker in 2003

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THE WEB PLANET

a doctor who fan site

Sevenzero.net... an alternative website devoted

to the world of Doctor Who, featuring:

- Original and inspiring artwork [as seen on BBCiÕs TARDIScam]

- An exclusive online graphic adventure

- A great variety of convention photographs

- A selection of exclusive interviews

Artwork can be commissioned or created for your own Doctor Who

publications. To find out more, please e-mail me...

E-mail: alex@sevenzero.net

http://www.sevenzero.net

WITH THE RISE of the Internet in the late 90s, and BBC’s online animated adventures, it was all too clear that Doctor Who was – back then – being survived via the Internet. My rediscovery of the show and recent convention experiences inspired me to make my own Doctor Who-themed website.

Sevenzero.net was launched in August 2002. Although not a direct Who reference, I felt the name was memorable, sounding not unlike some space co-ordinates (it does actually turn up in The Armageddon Factor!). The site featured my own reviews, artwork, interviews with Steve Cambden and comic strip artist Lee Sullivan, and an online comic. Tea Time featured the seventh Doctor pitted against the Daleks (of course). It was fun to produce, having not made a Who comic since childhood. The storyline was poor and the dialogue even worse, but for me it was all about the creative process and having fun.

Comic book artwork was always something I enjoyed doing as a child. Outside (and often during) school, I would always have a half-drawn comic strip on the go, either of my own original characters, or Doctor Who. I probably made comics featuring every Doctor, nearly always fighting the Daleks, usually with illustrated opening titles at the front (just like in the Radio Times 20th Anniversary Special!). I had some copies of Tea Time printed. A few went on sale at Galaxy Four, and I also had the pleasure of presenting copies to Steve Cambden, Sylvester McCoy and Anthony Ainley.

My website, though different from the hundreds of other fan-made Who sites on the net, turned out to be a surprise success and put me in touch with fans from all over the world. Sevenzero.net remains online, though seldom updated in later years, as there came

a time following the show’s return, where I simply felt it had done its job. Sevenzero.net also hosts Steve Cambden’s only presence on the internet, with a few pages dedicated to his books, The Doctor’s Affect and The Doctor’s Effects.

Doctor Who and SheffieldI always felt there was a Who-ish vibe about my home town of Sheffield. While the city has undergone a serious transformation over the last 20 years, in the 80s and early 90s, it was still pretty much a concrete-clad grey mass with echoes of it’s industrial heritage all around. Perhaps this made it very easy to suddenly imagine a Dalek trundling out from the doorway of one of the old factory units! There’s even an old Police Box in Sheffield (right), albeit a later design style and it’s green.

The main Who connection to the city is perhaps the fact that over the years, many Who actors have been spotted out and about during theatre stints. In recent years, I’ve encountered Sylvester McCoy on numerous occasions.

In the 80s the place to go for your Who stuff was the Sheffield Space Centre (I remember buying Doctor Who - The Music II from there), and then in the 90s, specialist shop Galaxy Four opened its doors, and also put on various guest talks and signings in the city. However it wasn’t until 2010 that the city held it’s first full Who convention, with the aforementioned Valiant event from Fantom Films.

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DALEKS!EXACTLY WHAT IT was about the Daleks which first grabbed my imagination remains to be determined, but I have remained as obsessed and fascinated with them as much as the show itself, if not more.

Iconic designThe iconic 60s design made the Dalek perhaps the most recognisable and memorable creature ever associated with science-fiction. Such a distinctive shape, and what a design – robust and robotic, mechanical and malevolent. The fact that they are alien; part robotic, part organic and utterly relentless was enough to capture my imagination.

One of my many childhood fascinations with the Daleks was about what was inside. Descriptions in the series of the mutations inside the casing and occasional glimpses were already tantalising, but it wasn’t until The Five Doctors in 1983, that we finally got to clearly see the bubbling lump of hate encased inside a Dalek. Without doubt one of the show’s most memorable moments.

The variations in design over the years, from the colour schemes to the actual design updates (many intentional, some due to prop restoration) keep the Daleks fresh and progressive. Everybody has a favourite colour scheme, whether it be the gun-metal grey Daleks of Genesis, or the cream and gold livery of the Imperial Daleks. Even the name – DALEK – instantly brings to mind that distinctive shape, and of course, that voice.

Every generation knows the Daleks – even those who grew up in the 90s when the show was off air. Following the success of the new series, high street shop shelves were soon lined with Dalek toys, proving that almost 50 years after their creation, the Daleks still have the power to completely captivate.

I remember the thrill of finding a Dalek ‘ride’, possibly at Mablethorpe, when I was five or six. The joy of being able to get inside the thing and press buttons, combined with the smell of warm fiberglass, was just superb!

FatSadly, in the 2010 series of Doctor Who, the production and design team took things one step too far with an unnecessary design overhaul for Victory of the Daleks, which left thousands of fans in a state of fury. The oversized,

hunchback “Teletubbie” Daleks, proved that such a classic design should not be tampered with.

With their bright colours, hunched backs, the fat new Daleks waddled into Sheffield train station one April morning, to promote the official BBC computer game, much to the confusion of many commuters!

Day of the DaleksIn 2008, I attended “Exterminate 45” in Leicester, featuring dozens of Dalek props, in all colours and design from the show’s history. Davros actors Terry Molloy and David Gooderson were in attendance, as was visual effects guru, Mat Irvine. If only I’d taken my old Visual Effects book for him to sign!

EXTERMINATE 45: Dalek props from every era of Doctor Who invaded the National Space Centre, Leicester, 2008.

CHUNKY (below): The Daleks tackle the issue of obesity in modern day Doctor Who.

ONE MAN & HIS DOG: Mat Irvine with the original K9.

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RESURRECTIONBRITISH TELEVISION HAD never been the same without Doctor Who. During the 90s, I was among the many fans who lived in the eternal hope that one day, someone would come to their senses – and in late 2003, fourteen years of desperation and optimism paid off, when the BBC announced – on the eve of the show’s 40th anniversary – that a new series of Doctor Who had been commissioned. Thud.

The waitIt was hard to avoid spoilers. But great relief came when Christopher Eccleston was cast – a northerner too! And despite reservations about Billie Piper as Rose, she also turned out to be an ideal choice for a modern, streetwise companion.

The estate of Dalek creator, Terry Nation, had previously denied use of his famous creations, but they eventually changed their minds, and it wouldn’t be too long until leaked photographs of the newly designed Daleks would hit the news. To the relief of every fan, their iconic shape and design had been retained, looking only more robust and metallic than before. Finished entirely in bronze, the new Daleks looked tough and heavy. Machine lines, bolts and

other intricate details brought the Daleks up to date, without losing any impact.

The returnAnd so the day came in early 2005. The return of the Doctor, back on Saturday evenings. I sat transfixed, as all-new Who came on. There was of course the great fear – would it be the same show? Will they have ruined it? The same thoughts probably crossed the mind of every fan in the country as we anxiously waited for those titles to roll.

Rose introduced the new series, with its slick, glossy look, state-of-the-art visual effects and fast-paced 45-minute format. Christopher Eccleston made the perfect 21st Century Time Lord, and the series was absolutely brilliant (farting Slitheen aside) – and despite everything being crammed into a single episode for most stories, to the relief of millions, it was still Doctor Who!

Dalek was the story that I had been especially looking forward to, and it exceeded all expectations. For me it remains the single most thrilling story of “new” Who, with outstanding performance from Eccleston.

With exhibitions soon popping up all over the country, merchandise in the shops and kids playing “Daleks” in the streets for the first time in decades, it was clear that Doctor Who was still very much a crucial element of British entertainment culture, and was here to stay. It almost felt like it had never been away.

The return of the Daleks for the Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways finalé was tremendously exciting, and I dare say I’m not the only fan who felt particularly emotional during the Ninth Doctor’s final moments before his unexpected regeneration into David Tennant.

For me, the 2005 series of Who remains the best to date since it’s revival, and the closest in spirit to the original. Everything from 2006 onwards is perhaps a little too recent to reflect upon, and sadly, I feel that the last two or three seasons have drifted too far away from the Who I grew up with, neither reaching their potential or living up to expectations. But with Who, change is the one constant; from leading actor to cast, crew and music, change has continually driven it forwards (and reverse on a few occasions), and that is what has given it such a wide and everlasting appeal.

DOCTOR ON DISPLAY: The new series Daleks and other props and costumes on show at the National Space Centre in Leicester, December 2005

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The Doctor returns to Blackpool!In 2004, just prior to the start of the new series, it was announced that the famous Blackpool exhibition would re-open in bigger premises. Finally, in the summer of 2008, my wife and I visited the exhibition, which although was primarily based around the original series, some new series props were introduced to keep the continuity and bring it up to date.

The same design and layout as the original exhibition that enthralled me all those years ago, had been generally applied; the interior walls were painted black, with the illuminated exhibits set back behind glass. This time you started the journey in a smaller console room, and continued through winding corridors and various monster or costume themed rooms.

I frequently think of the magical thrill and excitement of my visit to the original exhibition back in 1985, so returning to Blackpool to visit the new exhibition was a special event for me, seeing many of those same props and costumes again, as well as many others which I’d never seen (previously displayed at Longleat and Llangollen). For me it was a special day and I savoured every moment.

Sadly, this would prove to be for the last time, since the museum closed it’s doors for good in 2009, which has left me somewhat sad. In 2010, many of those exhibits were auctioned off, probably never to be displayed in public again, only on show in some lucky collector’s room – I wonder if they know their purchase also came with a bit of my childhood, and that of every other fan who ever visited that iconic exhibition.

CHILDHOOD REVISITED: various props and costumes in the Doctor Who museum in 2008.

Who, Where & When 19

TIME FLIGHTWHAT STARTED OFF as a short, personal account of that amazing visit to Blackpool in 1985, gradually turned into something much more. I began to look back at the rest of my childhood and the impact that Doctor Who had on me. It took me on a journey as I grew up in the 1980s and provided lasting inspiration. The fact that it continued to follow me around while I was maturing and even remained there as I all but lost interest, in the early 90s, made me realise that I needed to make the most of those memories.

The daring decadeDoctor Who of the 1980s might have had its problems behind the scenes, but on-screen, had its moments, and plenty of them, too. It didn’t get the credit nor recognition it deserved for quite some time – frequently slated and unfairly criticised for many years, it was the decade to dislike. But for those of us who grew up with that era, it fondly remains exciting and inspirational – and fortunately nowadays, it gets treated with a more deserved respect, with fans of the new series turning to that most recent decade of the original to begin their journey into it’s past.

While the golden era of Who in the 70s gave us innovative, classic stories and the definitive Doctor in Tom Baker, Who of the 80s gave us ever-advancing visual effects and a production team not afraid to take risks and try something new. The show also had its first CGI work – something which makes up a significant part of the of the episodes today. This decade also gave us one of the all-time greatest stories, Caves of Androzani.

Looking back over the McCoy era, it clearly has so much in common with the new version of the series. Aside from the technological advances in visual effects, stories such as The Happiness Patrol and Paradise Towers boast the kind of ideas and writing that may have fitted perfectly into the recent Russel T Davies era. Even the preset-day urban setting of Survival connects the end of the original series with 2005’s debut story, Rose. Russel T Davies may have done a phenomenal job of kickstarting the show in 2005, but, he just couldn’t have done it without the influence of 1980s Who.

And finally...It’s the end... at least for now, for I can surely reflect on Doctor Who for as long as I continue to enjoy it, attend conventions and collect Daleks.

Few other programmes can claim such longevity and influence, nor have fans so passionately, often insanely dedicated. Yet it’s only a TV programme! Or is it? To many fans, it is so much more than just good telly. It’s escapism, it’s inspiring. The list goes on.

My heart will always lie with the original series. For all it’s wobbly sets and rubber costumes, it has something endearing and timeless; a certain atmosphere and charm, only obtainable through being made when it was, and made how it was. Above all, it has brilliant writing and progressive ideas that still stand strong today and continue to inspire generations of fans.

The great thing with Who is, there is always more to discover – old stories revamped, restored or recreated and released to BluRay or DVD, and maybe one day, more of the missing episides will be uncovered.

For Who, Where & When, I really wanted to look back over the era with which I grew up, and the effect it had on me as a fan and as a person. Had Doctor Who not caught my attention in the early 80s, I may not be writing this now. So for me, Who of the 1980s remains important and significant today – and if you’re still reading this, then I guess it does for you too.

Alex Storer Sheffield, February 2011

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REGENERATION: 2020-2021CHAT WITH ANY Doctor Who fan, and they will tell you of times when they lost interest in the show, or for one reason or another, took a break from fandom, as interests expanded, diverged or the trivialities of life and growing up (aargh!) took over.

This is certainly true to myself during the decade that has elapsed since I first published Who, Where & When. In the months following completion of the original book, it was downloaded from my website hundreds of times and Galaxy Four in Sheffield (now sadly closed) even sold a limited number of printed copies on my behalf. I even had the pleasure of giving copies to guests at conventions.

Although I began to drift from the series on television during the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi eras, my love for the classic series remained unwaivered and my obsession with Daleks – and collecting them – never went away. In the real world, my career as a science fiction cover artist had taken off, and when I wasn’t doing illustration work, I turned to my other creative passion, making music.

Despite this gradual move away from Who, I still regularly received nice messages from fellow fans who had either bought or downloaded Who, Where & When, or who had found my wesite and contacted me to get in touch with Steve Cambden who remains off-grid.

In 2016 – the day before I turned thirty-eight – I finally met ‘my’ Doctor, Peter Davison. Even though I hadn’t engaged in Doctor Who for some time, when I saw he was due to be at Leicester’s National Space Centre for that year’s “Science of the Timelords” event – it was an opportunity I simply couldn’t miss.

Meeting Peter was a major box ticked for me. I shook his hand and told him how much his era had meant to me as a child, giving him one of my last remaining printed copies of Who, Where & When. Sarah Sutton was there too, and it was an excellent day all-round.

In many ways, meeting Peter was a bit of a ‘bookend’ moment. At that time, I had pretty much completed my collection of classic series DVDs; I paid little attention to the show on TV as it was moving in a direction I found increasingly hard to recognise or identify with – something that would only worsen in the coming years.

So once again my interest in it was ‘parked’ for the time being. But – and again – as any fan will tell you, Doctor Who is never entirely off your radar...

SCIENCE OF THE TIMELORDS: Meeting Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton in January 2016

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BACK TO BLACKPOOLWHEN ORIGINALLY WRITING Who, Where & When I had another side-project on the go, which was to create a map of the original Blackpool exhibition, and document everything that was on display during 1985, when I visited.

With the help of several fans and a lot of reseach online, this gradually came together, but I knew it was incomplete, and inaccurate – but back then, I got as far as I could with it.

During that research, I came across and downloaded a little publication called Penny Mix written by a fan called John Collier, who had also shared his own hand-drawn map of the exhibition.

Unbeknown to me, John would later download Who, Where & When – and in April 2020, shortly after the UK entered lockdown, our paths finally crossed, albeit online. John had decided to use the time to realise his long-standing dream of compiling an epic book of memories, facts and photos of the original Blackpool exhibition and got in touch to see if I would mind him including the short account of my visit and photos I had originally included here.

And just like that, the cogs began turning once again. That spark rekindled my obsession with the exhibition, and John’s project sounded fantastic – a bigger, better and vastly more detailed version of the sort of thing I had tried to do. I was fully on-board in more ways than one.

Emails were exchanged at an alarming rate, Zoom chats followed and before long, we were both hard at work on Blackpool Remembered. Thanks to the plethora of photographs

in the Blackpool & Longleat Exhibitions Facebook group, so many memories had become clear of what was on display the year I visited, and so many things I had forgotten were once again vivid. Since discovering

the group, I had revived my floor plan project, so John’s timing couldn’t have been better.

I elected to write a brand new account of my two visits to the exhibition, and this led to us comparing our own interpretations of the floor plan. As contributions to Blackpool Remembered came flooding in, soon we were amassing photographs right from 1974 to 1985 and along the way, came photographs of an actual floor plan, from Ed Salt, who had worked there back in the day. After such a long time it was exciting and rewarding to finally be working to an accurate floor plan, though the task of going

through each year and mapping out the exhibits took a lot of work, research and input from a number of people.

I had always remained in contact with Steve Cambden, so he was the obvious choice to write a forward to the book. And it was around the same time, I managed to track down Julie Jones, who had managed the exhibition –Julie’s contribution to the book was a real crowning glory. John’s long-gestating project had really come to life, and soon turned into something much bigger and more exciting than either of us ever anticipated.

John had some ideas in mind for the front cover, but I felt so inspired, I got to work on some artwork – my first serious Doctor Who artwork in well over a decade – and I proposed an illustrated cover depicting a young child entering that iconic console room. Once the illustration bug had bitten, I was soon working on more

Who, Where & When22

pieces, creating a series of illustrations for each section of the book. However, rather than just drawing monsters from Doctor Who as we know them on screen, I thought it would be great fun to actually illustrate parts of the exhibition, such as the oversized TARDIS entrance or that famous staircase.

Around the same time, I also became involved in producing several illustrations for the Unofficial Dr Who Annual 1987 from Terraqueos Distributors. Rediscovering my love of illustrating Who in a style I hadn’t worked in for many years, was particularly rewarding. I enjoyed the process so much, I created several more pieces of artwork over the coming months.

Blackpool Remembered was a huge success. Over 400 pages packed with memories, photos and all manner of nostalgia. Not only had it taken me back in time to 1985 to relive that amazing exhibition experience, but it also allowed me – and its readers – to visit the exhibition in all of its previous years. Twitter lit up with fan reaction and downloads very quickly ran into the thousands. Many websites and blogs picked up on it and John and I featured on Dan Hadley’s popular Type•40 podcast. In no time at all, Blackpool Remembered had reached all corners of the globe and seemingly everywhere except the pages of DWM – but no surprise there.

John’s vision was to create a project by fans, for the fans – and something that would be free. While the allure of creating a lavish coffee-table style book was always there, a combination of rights and astronomical costs kept us on the straight and narrow. Creating a digital publication meant the book could be as long as it needed to be, and was also easy to update or correct. As I write, our follow-up publication, Blackpool Revisited, is on the eve of release.

It is thanks to John Collier and Blackpool Remembered that my love of Doctor Who once again returned. For me, these have been dream projects as a fan. Not only have they rekindled my interest, but also reunited me with long-misplaced memories and

connected me with new friends along the way. Among these are Simon Horton, Philip Brennan and Neil Cole, who runs the Museum of Classic Sci-Fi in Northumberland – right now the future of Doctor Who exhibitions and a place I can’t wait to visit.

It’s also the small things. A badge exchange between Simon and myself led to two very happy fans. I

owned one of the original diamond logo exhibition pin badges (just like the one

Simon had bought at Longleat years ago and since parted with) and Simon had some neon tube logo badges (just like the one I had bought in Blackpool in 1985, and foolishly parted with!). So one badge-swap later and we were both revelling in nostalgia!

In April 2021, Doctor Who Magazine printed my illustration inspired by

Resurrection of the Daleks in a special fan art feature. This came as a welcome and pleasant surprise, 33 years since they had first printed one of my drawings in the magazine. Another full circle moment.

FAME! Once again featured on the pages of DWM in April 2021 (above).

Who, Where & When 23

REVISITATIONHAVING RE-WRITTEN AND expanded upon many of my own personal stories originally told here for Blackpool Remembered and Blackpool Revisited, I realised this was making my own little book obsolete. That said, I believe their ideal home remains in the Blackpool publications – so while this is a revised edition of my 2011 monograph, very little has actually been revised. The pages you are reading now are new and only a few minor factual corrections or edits have been made. Otherwise, the versions of the stories as I originally told them, have been left intact, as a snapshot of how I wrote and remembered them at the time – even if what I have written subsequently is much better.

This has also been an opportunity to include some of the recent artwork of which I’m so proud. My passion for illustration has been a driving force right from my early years, and illustrating the Blackpool books as well as new personal pieces felt like a culmination of that passion for drawing Doctor Who. As I write this, I have recently been in conversation with Andrew Skilleter, whose work inspired me growing up and some of which remains on my studio wall today. So many things have unexpectedly clicked into place over the last couple of years.

I hadn’t ever intended to revisit Who, Where & When, but now feels like the right time for an addendum, thanks to the various magical connections that make up the Whoniverse which have joined together while the UK was in lockdown and under the full force of the Covid-19 pandemic. Once again, Doctor Who provided inspiration and escape.

Things always come full circle, it seems.

Alex Storer

July 2021

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WHO, WHERE AND WHENA MIND-BLOWING VISIT to Blackpool, a winning competition entry, Colin Baker’s stubble, a cake-fuelled home convention and a hankering for toy Daleks are just a few of the things you’ll read about in Who, Where and When – one fan’s personal account of growing up in Sheffield with Doctor Who in the 1980s and beyond.

Who, Where and When looks beyond bad press and viewing figures, and celebrates the importance and inspiration of Doctor Who of the 1980s. It charts a young man’s journey from series discovery to cancellation; from re-discovery to revival, along the way detailing the excitement of exhibitions, conventions, events and encounters.

All text, photographs and artwork © Alex Storer, 2021. Doctor Who and other associated names and trademarks © BBC.