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Paul MC Smith

@wonderfulbooks.co.uk

Design, data and Doctor Who. http://www.wonderfulbook.co.uk

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Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 18h ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1979: Actually published on the 11th (the cover date was to tell newsagents when to take it off the shelf ahead of a new issue), now-Doctor Who Magazine, and its comic strip, are still going…

October 10 1979 The Doctor gets a magazine wholly devoted to his adventures after years of being just the star of comic strips. Doctor Who Weekly, the brain-child of Dez Skinn, one of the most innovative comic men in Britain, is launched by Marvel Comics and offers a mixture of feature articles and comic strips. The publication is to run for 43 issues as a weekly and then become the Doctor Who Monthly in September 1980. The magazine has appeared in a constantly developing format to this day, and the continuation of the Doctor Who comic strip gives it the world record for being the longest-running strip adaptation of a film/TV concept.Cover of the first issue of Doctor Who Weekly featuring Fourth Doctor Tom Baker with a DalekDoctor Who Magazine's latest issue, 634, features an interview Anneke Wills who played 60s companion PollyDoctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 18h ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1979: Actually published on the 11th (the cover date was to tell newsagents when to take it off the shelf ahead of a new issue), now-Doctor Who Magazine, and its comic strip, are still going…

October 10 1979 The Doctor gets a magazine wholly devoted to his adventures after years of being just the star of comic strips. Doctor Who Weekly, the brain-child of Dez Skinn, one of the most innovative comic men in Britain, is launched by Marvel Comics and offers a mixture of feature articles and comic strips. The publication is to run for 43 issues as a weekly and then become the Doctor Who Monthly in September 1980. The magazine has appeared in a constantly developing format to this day, and the continuation of the Doctor Who comic strip gives it the world record for being the longest-running strip adaptation of a film/TV concept.Cover of the first issue of Doctor Who Weekly featuring Fourth Doctor Tom Baker with a DalekDoctor Who Magazine's latest issue, 634, features an interview Anneke Wills who played 60s companion PollyDoctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 2d ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1965: The absence of the regular cast was not due to their unavailability but to avoid extending their contracts for a week. The extra episode is because ‘Planet of Giants’ was edited down from four to three…

October 9 1965 The most curious of all Doctor Who stories is screened – a complete-in-one adventure, ‘Mission to the Unknown’, written by Terry Nation, in which neither the Doctor nor the companions appear! It is not, though, some fiendish plot by Nation to get rid of the Doctor, but rather a prelude to what will be (and still remains) the longest Doctor Who story ever, ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’, which is to bridge Christmas and the New Year in twelve episodes. This prelude, which is known by the BBC title, ‘Dalek Cut-away’, has come about as a direct result of instructions from Sir Huw Weldon, Director General of the BBC, to Verity Lambert’s team to produce a ‘monster length’ Dalek story, because – said later newspaper stories – his mother was a great fan of the Daleks! As well as this unprecedented move, the programme is granted an extra episode for the season, and Verity Lambert decides on using it as a trailer for the Dalek special. The only trouble is that the regular cast are on holiday during the only recording dates­ – the first week of August! The situation is resolved with the story of Dalek activity on the planet Kembel, where they are planning an invasion of Earth.The assembled delegates of the Dalek alliance. No, I can’t remember which is which, and nor can youDoctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 2d ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1965: The absence of the regular cast was not due to their unavailability but to avoid extending their contracts for a week. The extra episode is because ‘Planet of Giants’ was edited down from four to three…

October 9 1965 The most curious of all Doctor Who stories is screened – a complete-in-one adventure, ‘Mission to the Unknown’, written by Terry Nation, in which neither the Doctor nor the companions appear! It is not, though, some fiendish plot by Nation to get rid of the Doctor, but rather a prelude to what will be (and still remains) the longest Doctor Who story ever, ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’, which is to bridge Christmas and the New Year in twelve episodes. This prelude, which is known by the BBC title, ‘Dalek Cut-away’, has come about as a direct result of instructions from Sir Huw Weldon, Director General of the BBC, to Verity Lambert’s team to produce a ‘monster length’ Dalek story, because – said later newspaper stories – his mother was a great fan of the Daleks! As well as this unprecedented move, the programme is granted an extra episode for the season, and Verity Lambert decides on using it as a trailer for the Dalek special. The only trouble is that the regular cast are on holiday during the only recording dates­ – the first week of August! The situation is resolved with the story of Dalek activity on the planet Kembel, where they are planning an invasion of Earth.The assembled delegates of the Dalek alliance. No, I can’t remember which is which, and nor can youDoctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 3d ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1980: Three years to the day after K9’s first appearance in episode two of ‘The Invisible Enemy’. His last scenes had already been recorded the previous Saturday. K9 Mark III would get his day, though…

October 8 1980 K9 is definitely to leave the series next year, John Nathan-Turner announces.’ He is restricting our writers because he never gets anything wrong.’ The Daily Mirror headlines its report ‘K9 Gets The Boot’ and says the time-travelling dog is to go because he is too bright ‘and makes it too easy for the Doctor to get out of trouble’. In a major feature in the Daily Express, Douglas Orgill reports that ‘not since the death of Dickens’s Little Nell has the nation faced such a trauma’, and talks about the horrified reaction to the news among children. To prevent K9’s disappearance, one child suggests, ‘Couldn’t they make him a bit less clever?’, while another recommends giving him some companions: ‘I’d like a lot of them, a pack of them – they could hunt Daleks!’ Out of a class of 23 children at Wimbledon Chase Middle School in London, Orgill finds that 18 of the youngsters would rather see the Doctor and his companions leave the series than K9! He does, though, extract a promise from John Nathan-Turner: ‘There could, one day, be a Mark III K9 . . .’K9 head off into the void in his last story, ‘Warriors’ Gate’, broadcast 3-24 January 1981From http://cuttingsarchive.org Daily Express, 8 October 1980 K9 Gets the boot! Dr. who’s mechanical mongrel K9 is getting the boot from TV chiefs because he is too bright. The time-travelling dog with a built-in computer will disappear from the BBC’s long-running series in the New Year. K9 has been KO’d by producer John Nathan-Turner who said yesterday that the dog made it too easy for Dr. Who—played by Tom Baker—to get out of trouble. “He is restricting our writers because he never gets anything wrong,” said Mr. Nathan-Turner. But the Outer Space superdog won’t be going on the scrapyard. He already has a down-to-earth future lined up in a museum at either Blackpool or Longleat.Doctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 3d ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1980: Three years to the day after K9’s first appearance in episode two of ‘The Invisible Enemy’. His last scenes had already been recorded the previous Saturday. K9 Mark III would get his day, though…

October 8 1980 K9 is definitely to leave the series next year, John Nathan-Turner announces.’ He is restricting our writers because he never gets anything wrong.’ The Daily Mirror headlines its report ‘K9 Gets The Boot’ and says the time-travelling dog is to go because he is too bright ‘and makes it too easy for the Doctor to get out of trouble’. In a major feature in the Daily Express, Douglas Orgill reports that ‘not since the death of Dickens’s Little Nell has the nation faced such a trauma’, and talks about the horrified reaction to the news among children. To prevent K9’s disappearance, one child suggests, ‘Couldn’t they make him a bit less clever?’, while another recommends giving him some companions: ‘I’d like a lot of them, a pack of them – they could hunt Daleks!’ Out of a class of 23 children at Wimbledon Chase Middle School in London, Orgill finds that 18 of the youngsters would rather see the Doctor and his companions leave the series than K9! He does, though, extract a promise from John Nathan-Turner: ‘There could, one day, be a Mark III K9 . . .’K9 head off into the void in his last story, ‘Warriors’ Gate’, broadcast 3-24 January 1981From http://cuttingsarchive.org Daily Express, 8 October 1980 K9 Gets the boot! Dr. who’s mechanical mongrel K9 is getting the boot from TV chiefs because he is too bright. The time-travelling dog with a built-in computer will disappear from the BBC’s long-running series in the New Year. K9 has been KO’d by producer John Nathan-Turner who said yesterday that the dog made it too easy for Dr. Who—played by Tom Baker—to get out of trouble. “He is restricting our writers because he never gets anything wrong,” said Mr. Nathan-Turner. But the Outer Space superdog won’t be going on the scrapyard. He already has a down-to-earth future lined up in a museum at either Blackpool or Longleat.Doctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 6d ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1983: Peter’s dating for this entry, about a long-running conjecture, appears to be publication of the Doctor Who Magazine 1983 Winter Special, from which Nathan-Turner’s quotes are paraphrased…

October 5 1983 The making of a full-length Doctor Who film is raised again. The project, known as Doctor Who – the Motion Picture, has been several times discussed, John Nathan-Turner reveals. ‘The possibility of a film has come up on a number of occasions in the past four years,’ he says, ‘but each time the idea has fallen through. The BBC were never very happy with the Doctor Who films made in the Sixties and would want to be very closely involved with any such new project. They would also want whoever was playing the Doctor on television to star in the film. I myself wouldn’t want Robert Redford or someone like that as the Doctor! I am determined that it will happen sooner rather than later.’Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special 1983Extract from the Special’s interview with John Nathan-Turner: “The possibility of a film has several times over the last four years reared its head but has so far fallen through. I think one of the problems is that because the BBC got its fingers burned with the Doctor Who films in the Sixties, which the corporation was not, as I understand it, artistically happy with, my head of department is very keen that if there is ever a movie I am to be very closely involved, to the point where I would be an Associate Producer. As well, before parting with the option of a film one of my main reservations is they would have to have whoever is playing the current Doctor on television – even if it is American money that is financing it or not. I don’t want Robert Redford as the Doctor, it must be the current actor. Inevitably this has put some people off, but it is a thing I am determined will happen sooner rather than later.”Doctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 6d ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1983: Peter’s dating for this entry, about a long-running conjecture, appears to be publication of the Doctor Who Magazine 1983 Winter Special, from which Nathan-Turner’s quotes are paraphrased…

October 5 1983 The making of a full-length Doctor Who film is raised again. The project, known as Doctor Who – the Motion Picture, has been several times discussed, John Nathan-Turner reveals. ‘The possibility of a film has come up on a number of occasions in the past four years,’ he says, ‘but each time the idea has fallen through. The BBC were never very happy with the Doctor Who films made in the Sixties and would want to be very closely involved with any such new project. They would also want whoever was playing the Doctor on television to star in the film. I myself wouldn’t want Robert Redford or someone like that as the Doctor! I am determined that it will happen sooner rather than later.’Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special 1983Extract from the Special’s interview with John Nathan-Turner: “The possibility of a film has several times over the last four years reared its head but has so far fallen through. I think one of the problems is that because the BBC got its fingers burned with the Doctor Who films in the Sixties, which the corporation was not, as I understand it, artistically happy with, my head of department is very keen that if there is ever a movie I am to be very closely involved, to the point where I would be an Associate Producer. As well, before parting with the option of a film one of my main reservations is they would have to have whoever is playing the current Doctor on television – even if it is American money that is financing it or not. I don’t want Robert Redford as the Doctor, it must be the current actor. Inevitably this has put some people off, but it is a thing I am determined will happen sooner rather than later.”Doctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 7d ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1963: Thanks to subsequent access to production documentation, we now know Newman viewed the ‘pilot’ on 1 October, with changes made by story editor David Whitaker, not Webber…

October 4 1963 The pilot for Doctor Who is screened for Sydney Newman and Donald Wilson – but both have immediate reservations. There are several flaws in the actual production, and the two men are agreed that the character of the Doctor must be ‘softened’. Because Anthony Coburn is not available to amend his script, David Whitaker brings in a BBC staff writer, C. E. Webber, to revise certain scenes and change some of the dialogue. Satisfied that these changes will make Doctor Who a workable series, Newman and Wilson approve the almost unparalleled action of remounting the production for ‘another go’. As Verity Lambert is later to recall of this time, ‘We were all very nervous because we were doing things that had rarely been done before, and certainly not by the BBC.’The countdown clock for the first recording of ‘An Unearthly Child’ on 27 September 1963The Doctor and Susan in the first go at recording ‘An Unearthly Child’. Their characters would be adjusted slightly for the remount on 18 October 1963David Brunt’s Production Diary is the definitive history of the series’ production. Buy volumes 1 and 2 now at https://telos.co.uk/product-category/doctor-who/
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 7d ago

2026 is the 21st anniversary of Doctor Who’s revival. When the Classic Series was 21, WH Allen published The Key To Time: A Year-by-Year Record by Peter Haining, in which he “explored the history of the series through key dates in its many life-cycles”. Let’s revisit what OCTOBER dates he picked…

Doctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 2w ago

Let's hope the projector plays ball on the day! Target artists didn't always draw from the obvious imagery for the stories they were illustrating. wegottickets.com/f/23441/

Target Book Club

The Third Target Book Club Compendium! Another day of talks (some academic, some fun, many both) bombarding attendees with new information, questionable theories, rampant speculation and jaw-dropping...

wegottickets.com

James Goss@gossjam.bsky.social · 2w ago

Drawing Inspiration - Paul Smith (@wonderfulbooks.co.uk) has unearthed some surprising reference material used for the #DoctorWho book covers. Bet you're thinking "I know what this will cover" but, believe me, unless you're Paul, you're in for a treat. #TargetBookClub bit.ly/smallbluebox

Drawing Inspiration - Paul Smith - Unusual Reference Materials Used in the Target Covers
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 2w ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1968: More special effects, this time a well-worn but time-consuming technique. It was more extensively used for the Skarasen in ‘Terror of the Zygons’ (1975)…

September 28 1968 Stop motion animation is used for the Medusa scenes in part three of ‘The Mind Robber.’ Although this is not the first time animation has been used in the series – hand animation being used for the map sequences in ‘Marco Polo’, and rostrum camera animation for ‘The Moonbase’ – this marks the first utilisation of the technique more commonly employed by Ray Harryhausen in films such as Jason and the Argonauts. The short sequence of animation in ‘The Mind Robber’ – short due to the time and expense involved in using such a technique – focuses on the Medusa’s hair, a nest of snakes which gradually come to life to menace Zoe and the Doctor. The frame‑by‑frame shooting of the Medusa’s hair was, for reasons of controllability, shot on film at the BBC’s film studios in Ealing. To match this film footage of the Medusa to the studio-recorded scenes involving the Doctor and his companion requires the skills of the inlay operator, whose desk, up in the control gallery, has a bank of switches and buttons that can mix two separate pictures to achieve a composite third.The snakes of the Medusa are brought to life through stop-motion animationDoctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 2w ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1980: The full story of Scene Sync can be seen in John Kelly’s short documentary on the ‘Meglos’ DVD/Season 18 Blu-ray Collection…

September 27 1980 Another new special effects process is tried out on Doctor Who, this time the scene-sync equipment which will later be used to even grander effect in the major BBC production of The Borgias. Developed by an outside company, Scene-Sync is a control system allowing a slave camera to follow exactly the movements of a master camera. In the case of ‘Meglos,’ the master camera is a studio camera trained on a group of actors walking about on a totally blue set. The slave camera is set up to shoot a much smaller model stage where the set of the Zolpha-Thura screens has been built. Up in the gallery the two scenes are merged together using CSO. The scene-sync process is thus employed to match the movements of the actors on the big set that have been captured by the master camera, with corresponding camera angles on the model stage shot by the slave camera. Due to the expense of hiring the scene-sync equipment, ‘Meglos’ is the only Doctor Who story to date to make use of this technique.Setting up the model of the Zolfa-Thuran screensGeneral Grugger (Bill Fraser) and Lieutenant Brotodac (Frederick Treves) on a blue-screen background and combined with a model shot of the screens, in episode one of ‘Meglos’Doctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 2w ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1980: The full story of Scene Sync can be seen in John Kelly’s short documentary on the ‘Meglos’ DVD/Season 18 Blu-ray Collection…

September 27 1980 Another new special effects process is tried out on Doctor Who, this time the scene-sync equipment which will later be used to even grander effect in the major BBC production of The Borgias. Developed by an outside company, Scene-Sync is a control system allowing a slave camera to follow exactly the movements of a master camera. In the case of ‘Meglos,’ the master camera is a studio camera trained on a group of actors walking about on a totally blue set. The slave camera is set up to shoot a much smaller model stage where the set of the Zolpha-Thura screens has been built. Up in the gallery the two scenes are merged together using CSO. The scene-sync process is thus employed to match the movements of the actors on the big set that have been captured by the master camera, with corresponding camera angles on the model stage shot by the slave camera. Due to the expense of hiring the scene-sync equipment, ‘Meglos’ is the only Doctor Who story to date to make use of this technique.Setting up the model of the Zolfa-Thuran screensGeneral Grugger (Bill Fraser) and Lieutenant Brotodac (Frederick Treves) on a blue-screen background and combined with a model shot of the screens, in episode one of ‘Meglos’Doctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 2w ago

Curiously this book was released a month before the Target and Wingate editions of Planet of the Daleks, likely why there are some different edits beyond its abridgement. My essay on the variations can be downloaded here: www.wonderfulbook.co.uk/basedon/

Wonderful Books - Based On The Popular BBC Television Serial

wonderfulbook.co.uk

Alex Will Resurrect That Werewolf Pic 🔸🏳️‍🌈@alexwilcock.bsky.social · 2w ago

OTD* 1976: Doctor Who and the Daleks Omnibus Fifty years of the huge, exciting hardback from St Michael (Marks & Spencer) and Terry Nation (the work by who knows?) This was one of little me’s most thrilling possessions, packed with amazing illustrations, Dalek facts and theories…

Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 2w ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1967: This edition of Talkback only survives as an audio clip, included on the CD release ‘Doctor Who at the BBC volume 2’ (transcript at tinyurl.com/2knc57xa). The Daily Express had a follow-up the next day…

September 26 1967 The BBC screens the first Talkback programme, hosted by David Coleman. The show goes out live and features a debate with the audience on Doctor Who. Talkback is designed to be a programme wherein the public can come into the studio and give their views, on air, about BBC Television, so Doctor Who is almost a mandatory topic for inclusion in the opening show insofar that it is currently attracting a lot of criticism over the horror elements in the series. This has happened especially following the Visual Effects Department’s discovery of foam‑generating equipment. By mixing the foamable chemicals with various other ingredients – cocoa powder, wood chippings, paint, etc – different textures of the foam can be achieved. This has, so far, resulted in the slime of the Macra crabs, the fizzing brains of the Dalek creatures and, most recently, the disembowelled innards of a Cyberman. All three of these effects have, apparently, been exceptionally disturbing to younger minds and, for the Talkback prosecution, several mothers are invited by Coleman to give their views on Doctor Who’s content and to suggest solutions to the problem. Acting for the defence is the series’ unofficial scientific adviser Kit Pedler – co-creator of the Cybermen, and a medical doctor in his own right. However, the programme is not at all well handled by its presenters, with many of Pedler’s comments either being shouted down or chopped in mid-sentence by Coleman. One suggestion put forward for further debate, though, is that Doctor Who, and other programmes of similar ilk, should carry certificates similar to those awarded to cinema films. This is later to be objected to by the Corporation Directors who feel that to impose such classifications would lessen the public’s own right to discern what makes good and bad television.Talkback presenter David ColemanFrom http://cuttingsarchive.org Daily Express, 27 September 1967 Reviewing the programme where viewers get a voice My grouse? It’s Mr. Coleman B.B.C.1: Talkback By James Thomas Was James Mossman rude to the Prime Minister on Monday’s Panorama? NO, said nine viewers out of 10 in a snap studio opinion poll last night. Is Simon Dee a symptom of the decline of B.B.C. standards? NO, said another 90 per cent of the 100-strong panel. Does “Dr. Who” have a harmful effect on children? This split the panel 50—50. I do not doubt that the B.B.C. has a splendid idea in this forum where viewers air their grouses—it is about time the licensed payers were allowed some voice. But on this first showing, this somewhat complicated programme revealed (a) it had a long way to go to achieve real impact, and (b) that the voice which is going to be heard most is that of Mr. David Coleman, who as chairman talked “Talkback” off its feet. The viewers lashed out in a big way at Mr. Mossman (“The country is not yet governed by TV interviewers”) and Mr. Dee (“You are guilty of moral hooliganism”), and “Dr. Who” (“Disgusting, revolting and unsuitable for children.”) Mossman, Dee, and the “Dr. Who” scriptwriter seemed to be less wary of the viewers than of Mr. Coleman, who reduced the most erudite protagonist to the lowest common denominator by condensing each reasoned argument thus: “What you are really saying is this.…” Half the time, they weren’t at all. A more irritating performance I cannot remember, one which at once lowered the stature of the whole idea to the level of “Juke Box Jury.” As it stands, altogether the show is too slow and involved, and the viewers are not getting as much value from this elaborate 40-minute show as they did from the slick five minutes of “Points of View.” It needs time to shakedown, forget a lot of its gimmicks and realise its basic value will be in immediate confrontation of the public with producers and performers.Doctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining
Paul MC Smith@wonderfulbooks.co.uk · 2w ago

The year according to Peter Haining’s ‘Doctor Who: The Key to Time’ — Today in 1967: This edition of Talkback only survives as an audio clip, included on the CD release ‘Doctor Who at the BBC volume 2’ (transcript at tinyurl.com/2knc57xa). The Daily Express had a follow-up the next day…

September 26 1967 The BBC screens the first Talkback programme, hosted by David Coleman. The show goes out live and features a debate with the audience on Doctor Who. Talkback is designed to be a programme wherein the public can come into the studio and give their views, on air, about BBC Television, so Doctor Who is almost a mandatory topic for inclusion in the opening show insofar that it is currently attracting a lot of criticism over the horror elements in the series. This has happened especially following the Visual Effects Department’s discovery of foam‑generating equipment. By mixing the foamable chemicals with various other ingredients – cocoa powder, wood chippings, paint, etc – different textures of the foam can be achieved. This has, so far, resulted in the slime of the Macra crabs, the fizzing brains of the Dalek creatures and, most recently, the disembowelled innards of a Cyberman. All three of these effects have, apparently, been exceptionally disturbing to younger minds and, for the Talkback prosecution, several mothers are invited by Coleman to give their views on Doctor Who’s content and to suggest solutions to the problem. Acting for the defence is the series’ unofficial scientific adviser Kit Pedler – co-creator of the Cybermen, and a medical doctor in his own right. However, the programme is not at all well handled by its presenters, with many of Pedler’s comments either being shouted down or chopped in mid-sentence by Coleman. One suggestion put forward for further debate, though, is that Doctor Who, and other programmes of similar ilk, should carry certificates similar to those awarded to cinema films. This is later to be objected to by the Corporation Directors who feel that to impose such classifications would lessen the public’s own right to discern what makes good and bad television.Talkback presenter David ColemanFrom http://cuttingsarchive.org Daily Express, 27 September 1967 Reviewing the programme where viewers get a voice My grouse? It’s Mr. Coleman B.B.C.1: Talkback By James Thomas Was James Mossman rude to the Prime Minister on Monday’s Panorama? NO, said nine viewers out of 10 in a snap studio opinion poll last night. Is Simon Dee a symptom of the decline of B.B.C. standards? NO, said another 90 per cent of the 100-strong panel. Does “Dr. Who” have a harmful effect on children? This split the panel 50—50. I do not doubt that the B.B.C. has a splendid idea in this forum where viewers air their grouses—it is about time the licensed payers were allowed some voice. But on this first showing, this somewhat complicated programme revealed (a) it had a long way to go to achieve real impact, and (b) that the voice which is going to be heard most is that of Mr. David Coleman, who as chairman talked “Talkback” off its feet. The viewers lashed out in a big way at Mr. Mossman (“The country is not yet governed by TV interviewers”) and Mr. Dee (“You are guilty of moral hooliganism”), and “Dr. Who” (“Disgusting, revolting and unsuitable for children.”) Mossman, Dee, and the “Dr. Who” scriptwriter seemed to be less wary of the viewers than of Mr. Coleman, who reduced the most erudite protagonist to the lowest common denominator by condensing each reasoned argument thus: “What you are really saying is this.…” Half the time, they weren’t at all. A more irritating performance I cannot remember, one which at once lowered the stature of the whole idea to the level of “Juke Box Jury.” As it stands, altogether the show is too slow and involved, and the viewers are not getting as much value from this elaborate 40-minute show as they did from the slick five minutes of “Points of View.” It needs time to shakedown, forget a lot of its gimmicks and realise its basic value will be in immediate confrontation of the public with producers and performers.Doctor Who - The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record, by Peter Haining