Post by olegrand on Mar 6, 2020 10:33:56 GMT
Hello to all!
In these troubled times of post-season 12 finale shock
, I thought it would be a good idea to indulge in some unabashed nostalgia and share our stories of how we first discovered Doctor Who.
I'll start with my own TARDIS jump to the past. Before I begin: I'm French, I'll turn 52 in exactly one week. This provides a bit of historical context: in France, DW was largely unheard of until the 2005 reboot. Back in the late 80s, there was a short-lived attempt to bring the show to French TV audiences, starting with some Tom Baker episodes. But I didn't watch it then - in fact, back then, I didn't even know those episodes had been broadcast because they were part of a children's programme (the infamous "Club Dorothée") and, well, I was in my early 20s at the time... Some time after 1996 (I can't recall the specific year), the TV movie WAS broadcast on late-night French TV and I did watch it- but let's jump back in time.
My own "DW discovery" story actually started way back before this, during my childhood years.
Chapter One
In 1979 or 1980 (I was 11-12 years-old back then) I received as a gift an extraordinary book: L'Encyclopédie Visuelle de la Science-Fiction, the French version of this book. I read it from start to finish, in a state of constant fascination. I still have this book and still consider it a wonderful work of reference. I learned so many things in these pages... anyway, in the (rather short) section on "Science-Fiction on TV", there were a few paragraphs on this weird british TV show, DOCTOR WHO, featuring two images which immediately captured my imagination: a grinning Tom Baker and strange, ragged humanoids dancing around a burning Dalek - I didn't know what it all meant, back then... but it really piqued my interest.
Chapter Two
In 1980 (I was already into RPGs back then), in the window of the shop where I bought my RPG stuff (everything was in English back then so I was already used to reading gaming material in English), I saw the DOCTOR WHO boardgame - and I immediately recognized Tom Baker and the Daleks on the box! I asked my parents to buy it and they did. I never played the game but reading the rules provided me with some extra (but quite meager) knowledge about what the show was all about...
Chapter Three
23 February 1982. Yes, here I can pinpoint the date exactly, thanks to the wonderful TARDIS wikia database. I'm 13, soon to be 14. I'm staying for 12 days in England, in a small village called Hailsham (I think it was in Sussex), with other pupils from my school (the usual "séjour linguistique en Angleterre"). The family I'm staying with have a TV set and I discover that an episode of Doctor Who will actually be broadcast during my stay. I insist that they let me watch it - they were not too keen on TV in general and DW in particular. Anyway, I do get to watch it - it was (as I gathered much, much later - in fact just a few years ago) the final episode of "The Visitation" (I still recall the burning Terrileptils). Of course, I understood almost NOTHING - reading RPG books or comic books in English was one thing, actually following English TV with no subtitles was another thing entirely). I think I even dozed off during the episode. And I was dumbfounded because the Doctor was obviously NOT the Doctor : where was the curly-haired, grinning man I was expecting? Why had he been replaced by this guy in a white suit ? Back then, I didn't really know about regeneration (although the S.F. Encyclopedia did mention something about "actor changes" and "metamorphoses") nor about cricket clothing, for that matter. But hey, I had finally SEEN an episode (no mean feat in itself for a French boy back then)!
Chapter Four
In the late 90s, on the wake of seeing the TV movie, I renewed my interest in the series - and when it came back, I was ready for it. I remember buying the first DVDs of the Eccleston season, without really knowing whether I would be delighted, disappointed or horrified. But my wife and I had seen several films with Eccleston (such as Shallow Grave) and we knew how a great actor he was. I can still recall this conversation with Sylvie : "Do you remember this TV movie we saw some years ago, about the Time Lord with the blue box et al?" She vaguely did. "Well, they have relaunched the series in Britain and I've bought the first DVD... " We watched "Rose" and then "The End of the World" and then "The Unquiet Dead". We were hooked.
Chapter Five
I bought the first edition of DWAITAS - and we embarked on Lady Penelope's Odyssey... but that's another story.
I sincerely hope the above was not too self-indulgent or boring. Writing it certainly me made all nostalgic (but hey I'm in my 50s). Come on and share your first experience of the show!
TIME LORDS REBELLIOUS!
In these troubled times of post-season 12 finale shock
, I thought it would be a good idea to indulge in some unabashed nostalgia and share our stories of how we first discovered Doctor Who.I'll start with my own TARDIS jump to the past. Before I begin: I'm French, I'll turn 52 in exactly one week. This provides a bit of historical context: in France, DW was largely unheard of until the 2005 reboot. Back in the late 80s, there was a short-lived attempt to bring the show to French TV audiences, starting with some Tom Baker episodes. But I didn't watch it then - in fact, back then, I didn't even know those episodes had been broadcast because they were part of a children's programme (the infamous "Club Dorothée") and, well, I was in my early 20s at the time... Some time after 1996 (I can't recall the specific year), the TV movie WAS broadcast on late-night French TV and I did watch it- but let's jump back in time.
My own "DW discovery" story actually started way back before this, during my childhood years.
Chapter One
In 1979 or 1980 (I was 11-12 years-old back then) I received as a gift an extraordinary book: L'Encyclopédie Visuelle de la Science-Fiction, the French version of this book. I read it from start to finish, in a state of constant fascination. I still have this book and still consider it a wonderful work of reference. I learned so many things in these pages... anyway, in the (rather short) section on "Science-Fiction on TV", there were a few paragraphs on this weird british TV show, DOCTOR WHO, featuring two images which immediately captured my imagination: a grinning Tom Baker and strange, ragged humanoids dancing around a burning Dalek - I didn't know what it all meant, back then... but it really piqued my interest.
Chapter Two
In 1980 (I was already into RPGs back then), in the window of the shop where I bought my RPG stuff (everything was in English back then so I was already used to reading gaming material in English), I saw the DOCTOR WHO boardgame - and I immediately recognized Tom Baker and the Daleks on the box! I asked my parents to buy it and they did. I never played the game but reading the rules provided me with some extra (but quite meager) knowledge about what the show was all about...
Chapter Three
23 February 1982. Yes, here I can pinpoint the date exactly, thanks to the wonderful TARDIS wikia database. I'm 13, soon to be 14. I'm staying for 12 days in England, in a small village called Hailsham (I think it was in Sussex), with other pupils from my school (the usual "séjour linguistique en Angleterre"). The family I'm staying with have a TV set and I discover that an episode of Doctor Who will actually be broadcast during my stay. I insist that they let me watch it - they were not too keen on TV in general and DW in particular. Anyway, I do get to watch it - it was (as I gathered much, much later - in fact just a few years ago) the final episode of "The Visitation" (I still recall the burning Terrileptils). Of course, I understood almost NOTHING - reading RPG books or comic books in English was one thing, actually following English TV with no subtitles was another thing entirely). I think I even dozed off during the episode. And I was dumbfounded because the Doctor was obviously NOT the Doctor : where was the curly-haired, grinning man I was expecting? Why had he been replaced by this guy in a white suit ? Back then, I didn't really know about regeneration (although the S.F. Encyclopedia did mention something about "actor changes" and "metamorphoses") nor about cricket clothing, for that matter. But hey, I had finally SEEN an episode (no mean feat in itself for a French boy back then)!
Chapter Four
In the late 90s, on the wake of seeing the TV movie, I renewed my interest in the series - and when it came back, I was ready for it. I remember buying the first DVDs of the Eccleston season, without really knowing whether I would be delighted, disappointed or horrified. But my wife and I had seen several films with Eccleston (such as Shallow Grave) and we knew how a great actor he was. I can still recall this conversation with Sylvie : "Do you remember this TV movie we saw some years ago, about the Time Lord with the blue box et al?" She vaguely did. "Well, they have relaunched the series in Britain and I've bought the first DVD... " We watched "Rose" and then "The End of the World" and then "The Unquiet Dead". We were hooked.
Chapter Five
I bought the first edition of DWAITAS - and we embarked on Lady Penelope's Odyssey... but that's another story.
I sincerely hope the above was not too self-indulgent or boring. Writing it certainly me made all nostalgic (but hey I'm in my 50s). Come on and share your first experience of the show!
TIME LORDS REBELLIOUS!