Total number of episodes = 712 = 17940 minutes = 299 hours = 12.4 solid days.

Average length of stories = 112 minutes (or four and a half episodes).

110 episodes currently missing = 15.4% of entire series lost.*

Average viewing figure of 26 years of Doctor Who = 7.42 million.

1995 Teletext Poll Results for Favourite Doctor:
1 Pertwee 36%; 2 T Baker 21%; 3 McCoy 11%; 4 Troughton 10%; 5 Davison 8%; 6 Hartnell/C Baker 7%

Newsround Poll circa after TV Movie screening:
Should Doctor Who continue?

Yes 96%
No 4%

* Not taking The Lion into account

---------------------

That's right, this board is for obscure facts and statisitics you may have heard or picked up and which you feel the typical fan may not be aware of. The above stats were all my own doing a few years back after a particularly dull night with a calculator and some numbers and I thought I'd share my eye-popping findings. Supytwist!

Supytwist? Do I detect "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" fan in our midst?

Pertwee is more popular than Tom Baker????? Life is just full of suprises.

You have to bear in mind that the majority of people who phone in on a Teletext poll are, how shall we say? Aged? And Pertwee is the octenegerian's choice. Tom Baker gets the under-45 vote. :)

Not good enough. Tom Baker should get EVERYONE'S vote. Why don't the octogenarians vote for William Hartnell if they're THAT desperate for an old, hobbling, lines-fluffing, senile Doctor?

299 hours! That's heartbreaking. Why oh why oh why can't we get it up to 300?

Does that figure take into account Shada or the telemovie?

Telemovie, yes; Shada, no. I think that the footage would just about rack up an hour's worth. So, a nice round 300 hours! Wow!

Pertwee has curly white hair, a throaty voice, a tendency to use other means to get about, (as an old person might use a stairlift or one of those nippy bubble car things you sometimes see), and was restricted to Earth in the same way an old 'un might be restricted to a rest home or chair. The similarities are endless! I mean, he admonishes the Brigadier as your aunt might. In his first story, he escapes from a hospital in a tartan blanket, (a sure sign), and... I'm rambling once more. But in the same way Tom Baker endears himself to the youthfully-minded bohemian/outsider, Pertwee engenders himself to the stout, stern, independent and elderly. If your elders had their way, that's how they'd have the young people of today - dressed in creaseless velvet and a nice shirt and working in a nice government job.

And I'm sure the dematerialisation circuit is a metaphor for an artificial heart or something. :-)

I had just watched a Who documentary (The Who, not Doctor Who, you know - Townshend, Daltrey, Moon, and Entwistle) and when they first started they were wearing frilly shirts and tight pants and waistcoats and whatever. This was supposededly the Mod style back in the late sixties.

So, the question is, is the third Doc a Mod? When he is not driving around in Betsy, is he on a Skoda motorscooter? Are those that voted for Pertwee aging Mods?

Why did the Who call themselves the Who. Were they watching Dr. Who at the time? Why do I have a passion for anything that has Who in the name or title. Why am I asking all these questions? Am I rambling? Why does the toast always land buttered side down?

Okay, I am going to lie down for a bit.

The Mods flourished from 1962 to about 1966. They gradually mutated into the "Summer of Love"/hippie look you see the Who wearing at Woodstock. The Beatles outfits on "Sgt. Pepper" were a last-gasp Mod look.

The 3rd Doctor is more of a Carnaby Street look.

The Who were originally called the High Numbers, then the Dotours. In 1964 they changed their name to the Who after a friend of Pete Townshend's suggested it. I think they picked it because it sounded cool ("Who's playing tonight?" "Yes, they are.").

This reminds me of a Shooting Stars sketch in which comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimor combined The Who and Doctor Who. As they usually do, they marker pen lines all over their faces to denote ageing, don wigs and prance about a lot. So you had a Patrick Troughton look-a-like leaping about on bass guitar, for example. This brief sketch took place on a TARDIS control room set-cum-rock stage, so you had plumes of smoke and crazy angles.

Sorry to nitpick you Mike. They started out as the Detours, then before picking up Keith Moon and Daltrey goes from lead guitar to vocals, they become The Who in Feb '64. Later that month their new manager changes their name to The High Numbers. They release a couple of singles under the Fontana label in Jul '64, then rejected by EMI in Oct '64. Then in Nov '64 they renamed themselves The Who.

Facts and info courtesy of The Who Thirty Years of Maximum R&B box set.

Interesting concept, PJW. Though I would rather see Pertwee on Lead Guitar, Troughton on drums (same hair as Moon), Tom Baker on base, and Colin Baker (with his wild sense of fashion) as lead vocal. Hartnell would be manager, Davison would do the press, and McCoy would play the role of Kit Lambert type of muse for Pertwee. Paul McGann would play drums to replace Troughton when he kicks the bucket, though not as well.

I am only slightly insane.

I can just hear their big hits: "My Regeneration", "Planet of Boris the Spider", "Pictures of Leela" and "The Magic Box."

Sorry Emily, but Troughton gets my vote. I like Tom Baker too, but Troughton has a trait that endears him to me that Baker just can't duplicate.

Wow, Mike, you're almost as crazy as I am.

Now I remember, Troughton was on drums. (I never thought I'd say that!)

Gordon, I'm a Troughton nut too for similar reasons. But Tom Baker has always been there - lurking, waiting - and over time I have come to regard him as the best, with Troughton a very close second. The gap between him and Third Place is a lot bigger, however. In fact, I'm not sure who is in third place...

And now, if we bastardize the Beatles:

John Lennon = Major Ian Warne
Paul McCartney = The Second Doctor
George Harrison = Shura
Ringo Starr = Monoid 77

Ooh, ooh, I've just thought of some of the hits they could've recorded:

I Am The Horus
Lucy In The Sky With Dymond
When I'm Seven Hundred and Fifty-Four

I suppose Help! is a little obvious?

What? No Sergeant Benton's Lonely Hearts Club Band as a hit?

Nice one.

Peri Lane?
Draw Peri Please Forever?

Magical Mystery Bor.

With a Little Help From My Companions

Also...
Eight Regerations A Week
Ticket To Ride The TARDIS
You're Gonna Lose That Girl Companion
I Wanna Hold Your Dalek Eye Stalk

I Wanna Hold Your Hand of Rassilon

Mike Yates A Week

A Century In The Life

A Dalek In The Life

Years ago, I had an idea for a musical comedy sketch, and since it seems highly unlikely that I'd ever get a chance to do it. I guess I'll post it here.

Davros & The Daleks
(2 Daleks, wearing gold chains & Run DMC style hats come out on stage and start rapping)
EX-TER-MI-NATE! EX-TER-MI-NATE!
WE THINK IT'S GREAT TO EX-TER-MI-NATE!

(sound of record scratching, Davros appears as DJ)
I'm Rap Master Davros and I'm here to say,
"A Dalek a day keeps the Doctor away!"

(Hear the TARDIS materialization sound affect done in a record scratching effect while the TARDIS partly demarterializes in sync)

Should that be "Hand of Omega" ?

What about "Ace Slays 'Em Weak" ?

"Rill Love"?

The Beatles: "For the Benefit of Mr Kane"

Roy Orbison: "Pretty Wirrn"

The Waterboys: "You Saw The Base on the Moon"

T'Pau: "Spectrox in your Hands"

Madonna: "Wainwright Don't Preach"

The Clash: Safe Gallifreyan Home

Bob Marley: No Companion No Cry

Genesis: Me and Sarah Jane Smith

Jethro Tull: Living in the Past

King Crimson: The Whatever Century Schizoid Man

Well, this board has now reached a grand total of 1,000 sections (with 24,536 posts, in case anyone's interested...well, that'll be 24,537 now). Here's to the next 1,000...

Am I miscounting or is The Crimson Horror going to be our ONE HUNDREDTH New Who episode? That's MODERATELY eye-popping, not to mention heart-warming, though of course if Moffat wasn't such a slacker we'd've passed this Happy Milestone EONS ago.

I'm sure it will be as profound and memorable as 'Escape Switch', the 100th broadcast episode of the original series. (The 100th episode to be made was 'The Feast of Steven', so Hartnell could have done a double toast at the end.)

Ah, dear old Escape Switch...er...which one was that, again?

The one a) with the Daleks and the Monk that b) they didn't burn.

If various posts on my FB newsfeed are to be believed, today is the 50th anniversary of Susan's farewell and the 40th of Tom Baker's premiere.

There's only TEN YEARS between SUSAN and TOM?!

From the sublime to the ridiculous.....

Ah, bless! I knew that SOMEWHERE in the cosmos there must be SOMEONE who regarded poor screaming sex-mad half-wit Susan as 'sublime'...

Susan sex mad... bwuh?

Captain Jack, sure, River Song, yeah, the Paternoster Gang... maybe, but Susan?

It's not like she threw Ian (or Barbara) onto the TARDIS console and screamed, "Take me! Take me now!" or appeared to be getting kinky with any old alien they came across.

Okay, she slapped fish with David, but that was presented as a monogamous thing in one story and she only, apparently, went through with it because she got locked out of the TARDIS. Hardly a defining characteristic.

Technically Tom first appeared on-screen on 8th June 1974

*takes off pedant hat*

As mentioned elsewhere it's Lord Cribbins' 86th birthday today. But it's also the 98th Birthday of Edward Burnham (professors Watkins (Invasion) and Kettlewell(Robot)) who's believed to be the second eldest surviving Who actor after Olaf Pooley.

One of those (admittedly many) times when I didn't realize the same actor played two characters: Watkins and Kettlewell. (Granted, by time I saw any of Invasion, at least 20 years had passed since I first saw Robot.)

I recently read a Doctor Who book that listed the birthdays of Doctors and companions, so here goes...

Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred were both born on August 20. He's 1943 and she's 1962.

Matthew Waterhouse and Sarah Sutton were born one week apart. She's December 12, 1961 and he's December 19, which means Nyssa and Adric are now 53 years old!

John Barrowman and Alex Kingston were both born March 11. She's 1963 and he's 1967.

Carole Ann Ford and Colin Baker share June 8. She's 1940 and he's 1943.

Matt Smith and Ian Marter share October 28. Ian was born in 1944 and Matt was 1982.

Frazier Hines and Billie Piper share a birthday on September 22. He's from 1944 and she's 1982.

Nicholas Courtney was born December 16, 1929. The very next day, Jacqueline Hill was born.

If William Hartnell was still alive, he'd shortly turn 107 years old - January 8, 1908.

Tom Baker (1934) will turn 81 on January 20! Send him a birthday card NOW!!!!!!!!

I never knew I shared a birthday with Nyssa.

If Time could post, he'd remind us that he shares the birthday with Ian Marter and Matt Smith.

Oh, and today is the 45th anniversary of John Pertwee's debut. And this time, you can't say it actually happened in the previous season's regeneration story.

*Time = Tim
An understandable mistake here.

today is the 45th anniversary of John Pertwee's debut

...and it was such a flop, he was quickly replaced by Jon Pertwee!

Got me again, Judi. *sigh*

Shoukldn't that be Ms.Jeffreys?

We also have three Doctors born in April;

Peter Davison - April 13, 1951

Peter Capaldi - April 14, 1958

David Tennant - April 18, 1971

More birthday stuff;

William Hartnell shares a January 8 birthday with David Bowie, Stephen Hawking, Graham Chapman, and Elvis.

Patrick Troughton shares March 25 with Elton John and Aretha Franklin.

Jon Pertwee shares July 7 with Ringo Starr.

Tom Baker shares January 20 with Paul Stanley, Buzz Aldrin, and Deforest Kelley.

Peter Davison shares April 13 with Don Adams and Tony Dow.

Colin Baker shares June 8 with Joan Rivers.

Sylvester McCoy shares August 20 with Robert Plant, H.P.Lovecraft.

Paul McGann shares November 14 with Prince Charles.

Christopher Eccleston shares February 16 with Levar Burton and John McEnroe.

David Tennant shares April 18 with Conan O'Brien.

Matt Smith shares October 28 with Bill Gates, Julia Roberts.

Peter Capaldi shares April 14 with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Peter Davison - April 13, 1951
David Tennant - April 18, 1971

Do you think Tennent regrets waiting those 5 days to be born and missing sharing a birthday with his favorite Doctor?

Tom Baker shares January 20 with... Deforest Kelley.

Now there's a Two Doctors story I would have loved to have seen. ;-D

John McEnroe

Anyone else imagining Quittopher Ecclesgone giving a tennis umpire a serve?

William Hartnell shares a January 8 birthday with David Bowie, Stephen Hawking, Graham Chapman, and Elvis.

....and Emily.... so happy birthday to Emily (in a couple days!)

Is Susan in AUC and Yates/Benton in The Daemons the only time we see a Dr or Companion actively listening to or watching radio and TV?

Well, leaving aside a surprisingly domestic Eccleston happy to watch an alien invasion (and Blue Peter) on his future mother-in-law's TV...

And Rose getting sucked into a television...

And then there's Troughton's cry to fetch a television set to keep the anti-matter confused (did anyone obey?).

Of course, we also have the Master watching the Clangers AND the Telebubbies...

A quick check on TARDIS Wikia also mentions Day of the Moon.

You have to give the space-time visualizer an honorable mention.

Isn't there a Pertwee scene where they're gathered around a radio listening to the news? or am I thinking of that Pertwee-voiced deleted scene?

Eight, when told he has four minutes of life ('ages') asks what if he needs a television during that time.

Oh, and there's the bit on French TV about the Mona Lisa being stolen.

And I'm sure I read somewhere that the TV/radio bulletins in War Machines were terribly novel but obviously that story's too boring to actually REMEMBER anything about.

Tennant spotted the Master (and wife!) on that big TV screen in Sound of Drums.

The Doctor's Mum (or whoever-the-hell-it-was) interrupted whatever TV programme Wilf was trying to watch.

There was much viewing of Harriet Jones on TV in The Christmas Invasion.

And doesn't Pertwee accidentally listen to a radio on the Sea Base whilst trying to convert it into an SOS signal?

that Pertwee-voiced deleted scene

Which was later restored and rightfully so. The scene happens in Inferno and Pertwee was doing his impression of Lord Haw-Haw (real name William Joyce).

Makes sense that, in that parallel world, Lord Haw-Haw would be working for that Fascist Government.

William Hartnell shares a January 8 birthday with David Bowie, Stephen Hawking, Graham Chapman, and Elvis.

The only one of those who is still alive now is Hawking.

I noticed that Who has had four basic episode titles that are frequently used, so on a boring Sunday, I put together a full list. In the interest of space, I'll give you guys an explanation and some totals, instead of every single episode title...

First type;

'THE (blank)'......

As in 'The Daleks', 'The Highlanders', 'The Daemons', 'The Caretaker'.

Second type;

'(blank) OF THE (blank)'.....

As in 'Power Of The Dakeks', 'Planet Of The Spiders', 'Terror Of The Zygons', 'Forest Of The Dead'.

Third type;

'THE (blank) OF (blank)'...

As in 'The Keys Of Marinus', 'The Curse Of Peladon', 'The Androids Of Tara', 'The Sound Of Drums'.

Fourth Type;

A single word.

As in ''Robot', 'Kinda', Survival', 'Blink'. I'm also including unusual single word combinations like 'Earthshock' and 'Timelash' because they're written as a single word, even though they're two words stuck together by the producers.

Totals;

There are 25 stories with the first type, 'THE (blank)'

There are 34 stories with the second type, '(blank) OF THE (blank)'

There are 36 stories with the third type, 'THE (blank) OF (blank)'

And there are 26 single word stories.

And now some useless facts about these titles.....

Hartnell has no episode titles for the '(blank) OF THE (blank)' style. The first one was Troughton's 'Power Of The Daleks'.

Tom Baker has the most stories for the 'THE (blank) OF (blank)' style, with 12, starting with 'The Brain Of Morbius' and ending with 'The Keeper Of Traken'.

Hartnell and Troughton have no sigle word episode titles. The first was Pertwee's 'Inferno'. Davison has the most single word titles with 7, but you can add that to the other 6 stories when JN -T was producer. In fact, 13 out of 50 JN-T-produced episodes (or 26 %), were single word titles, ranging from Tom Baker's last season to the end of McCoy's third season.

Out of the 26 episodes with the 'THE (blank)' style, Hartnell has 11 out of 25 of them, starting with 'The Daleks' and ending with ''The Smugglers'. Almost every Doctor has a story title of this sort, except for Colin Baker, McCoy, and Tennant who have none each. In fact 11 out of Hartnell's total of 28 stories begin with this type of title.

The original series ended with a single word title ('Survival',) and the new series began with a single word title ('Rose').

Speaking of 'Rose', it's one of 22 stories with a specific name attached to it. (I'm not including 'The Three Doctors', 'The Five Doctors', or 'The Two Doctors', since it refers to a group of them and not a specific individual). The 22 stories include episodes like 'Marco Polo', 'The Brain Of Morbius'', Meglos', 'Amy's Choice', and 'Vincent And The Doctor'.

Nice work!

I'm not including 'The Three Doctors', 'The Five Doctors', or 'The Two Doctors', since it refers to a group of them and not a specific individual

But they're ALL THE SAME PERSON!

(Normally I have immense trouble getting my head - and, more importantly, my heart - around the notion that Colin Baker IS the same person, but luckily Troughton spends Two Docs stuffing his face and being murderous so no problems THERE.)

Posts count...

2015 was the Year Of Vince Hawkins.

2016 was the Year Of The Cybermen.

Who will 2017 belong to??

JODIE!, of course!

Yeah, the first female Doctor did warrant a LOT of discussion!

If, on the grounds that they are credited on the titles, we were to include William Hartnell and Tom Baker among the cast of The Five Doctors, even though they only appear in it via old clips, it would mean there are only eleven stories in the whole of the original run not to feature an actor from the cast of that story.

The Twin Dilemma
Vengeance on Varos
Timelash
Time and the Rani
Paradise Towers
Delta and the Bannermen
Dragonfire
The Happiness Patrol
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
Ghost Light
The Curse of Fenric

While Hartnell does not appear in Mission to the Unknown, John Scott Martin plays a Dalek in both that and The Five Doctors, so that's that one covered.

Wow. It truly is an eye-popping stat.

Of course, if you're counting old clips, Day of the Doctor must score even higher... EVERY Who story bar Mission to the Unknown, presumably.

Though that'll change, come JODIE!...

Also, to extend from that, there are only five stories not to include any actors from the Davison era.

Time and the Rani
Paradise Towers
Delta and the Bannermen
Dragonfire
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

Although there were no 'reunion' stories in the Tom Baker era there are still only ten stories not to include any actors from his either.

The Time Meddler
The Myth Makers
The Celestial Toymaker
The Smugglers
The Underwater Menace
The Space Pirates
Paradise Towers
Delta and the Bannermen
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
Ghost Light

I've not included Silver Nemesis, as Nicholas Courtney appeared in that as one of the extras.

This may be a bit on the dull statistical side for some - or 'nerdy'.

But basically it's meant to be a guide as to where the respective episodes of New and Old Who coincide in terms of being shown on the same days relative to when each series started. Or the closest approximation where necessary.


Rose - Aliens of London / An Unearthly Child 1 - 4
World War Three - Boomtown / The Daleks 1 - 7
Bad Wolf - The Parting of the Ways / The Edge of Destruction 1 - 2
The Christmas Invasion / one day after The Reign of Terror 3

New Earth - School Reunion / The Dalek Invasion of Earth 4 - 6
The Girl in the Fireplace - Rise of the Cybermen / The Rescue 1 - 2
The Age of Steel - The Satan Pit / The Romans 1 - 4
Love & Monsters - Doomsday / The Web Planet 1 - 4
The Runaway Bride / about a month after The Time Meddler, and about two weeks before Galaxy Four

Smith and Jones - The Family of Blood/ The Daleks' Master Plan 3 - 8, 10 - 12
Blink - The Last of the Time Lords / The Massacre 1- 4
Voyage of the Damned / about a month after The War Machines, and about two weeks before The Smugglers

Partners in Crime - The Fires of Pompeii / The Power of the Daleks 5 - 6
Planet of the Ood - The Doctor's Daughter / The Highlanders 1 - 4
The Unicorn and the Wasp - Forest of the Dead / The Underwater Menace 1, 3 - 4
Midnight - Journey's End / The Moonbase 1 - 4
The Next Doctor / nearly two months after The Evil of the Daleks, and about a week before The Tomb of the Cybermen

Planet of the Dead / The Ice Warriors 5
The Waters of Mars / over a month after The Wheel in Space
The End of Time / one day respectively before The Dominators 3 - 4

The Eleventh Hour - The Time of Angels / The Invasion 5 - 8
Flesh and Stone - The Hungry Earth / The Krotons 1 - 4
Cold Blood - The Big Bang / The Seeds of Death 1 - 5
A Christmas Carol / about two months after The War Games

The Impossible Astronaut - Day of the Moon / about six months after The War Games, one - two weeks before Spearhead from Space
The Curse of the Black Spot - The Almost People / Spearhead from Space 1 - 4
A Good Man Goes to War / The Silurians 1
Let's Kill Hitler - Night Terrors / The Ambassadors of Death 6 - 7
The Girl Who Waited - The Wedding of River Song / Inferno 1 - 4
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe / about two months after Inferno

Asylum of the Daleks - A Town Called Mercy / Colony in Space 4 - 6
The Power of Three - The Angels Take Manhattan / The Daemons 1 - 2
The Snowmen - Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS / about two months after The Daemons - one week before Day of the Daleks
The Crimson Horror - The Name of the Doctor / Day of the Daleks 1 - 3
The Day of the Doctor - The Time of the Doctor / about one - two months after The Time Monster

Deep Breath - Listen / Planet of the Daleks 3 - 6
Time Heist - In the Forest of the Night / The Green Death 1 - 6
Dark Water - Last Christmas / one week - about two months after The Green Death

The Magician's Apprentice - Before the Flood / Planet of the Spiders 3 - 6
The Girl Who Died - The Husbands of River Song / one week - about two months after Planet of the Spiders
The Return of Dr Mysterio / about two and a half months after Revenge of the Cybermen, about one week before Terror of the Zygons

The Pilot / The Android Invasion 4
Smile - Thin Ice / one - two weeks after The Android Invasion
Knock Knock - The Pyramid at the End of the World / The Brain of Morbius 1 - 4
The Lie of the Land - The Doctor Falls / The Seeds of Doom 1 - 5
Twice Upon A Time / about five and half months after The Seeds of Doom and about two weeks before The Masque of Mandragora

When it was announced that we'd be getting a whole six or seven episodes from Russell T Davies, we never dreamt that we'd get so lucky for so long, did we.

I for one never even THOUGHT about how long our miracle could last...

I don't know about other countries, but the BBC mercilessly price-gouged the PBS stations in the USA in the Eighties, with not only high prices, but at that point, ridiculous rules, such as the one where a station was required to purchase a *full run of Tom Baker* every time they wanted to purchase a run of any other Doctor. This rule might have even extended to new seasons (a run of Tom with a run of *Trial* when it came out).

It's no wonder PBS stations started dropping like flies.

a station was required to purchase a *full run of Tom Baker* every time they wanted to purchase a run of any other Doctor.

How totally weird. You'd think it would be the other way round. 'You want Tom Baker? Of course you do! But you gotta buy COLIN Baker too or you don't get a SNIFF of that Scarf!'

It's no wonder PBS stations started dropping like flies.

KBTC (Channel 28) in Washington state is still running Doctor Who since it started running it in the mid-eighties.

The Tenth Doctor has kissed, or is kissed by 12 people, so the most kissing of the Doctors.

Who does he think he is? Casanova?

The Second Doctor did the same thing in his first story and his last story. He pretended to be an Examiner. In Power of the Daleks it was an Examiner from earth. In The War Games, it was an Examiner from the war office.

Tom Baker should get EVERYONE'S vote. Why don't the octogenarians vote for William Hartnell if they're THAT desperate for an old, hobbling, lines-fluffing, senile Doctor?- Emily

Then surely they'd be voting for Tom Baker anyway??

Many fans are New Series fans only. They may not know who Tom Baker is.

Tom Baker should get EVERYONE'S vote. Why don't the octogenarians vote for William Hartnell if they're THAT desperate for an old, hobbling, lines-fluffing, senile Doctor?- Emily

Then surely they'd be voting for Tom Baker anyway??

Many things have changed in the nineteen years since that post but Tom is STILL NOT SENILE, thank you very much.

Many fans are New Series fans only. They may not know who Tom Baker is.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

They know.

They know

Blackadder: "Oh, yes, the tedious little turd who keeps putting on amusing voices!"

Tom: "BE QUIET!"

Many things have changed in the nineteen years since that post but Tom is STILL NOT SENILE, thank you very much.

I love the fact that you are quite happy to concede the other words apply to him though!

I'll take that as a win for common sense (and myself)

Oh, and he's not lines-fluffing EITHER.

Old and hobbling I'll grant you.

And the moment you see the old, hobbling Curator you realise that 'old and hobbling' is just what the Doctor should BE.

Oh, and he's not lines-fluffing EITHER.

The replay proves otherwise...

Show me the actor who has never fluffed a line and I'll show you a man created in a burst of lightning.

...and I'll show you a man created in a burst of lightning.

That probably smarts.

Oh, and he's not lines-fluffing EITHER.

The replay proves otherwise...

It proves NOTHING! It's non-canonical! The only Doctor who fluffs her/his lines is Hartnell...

(Yes! I maintain that 'Spack off!' is a PERFECTLY reasonable and deliberate response to a Dalek!)

Oh Troughton had a minor flub once or twice, although I can't remember where.

I'm sure they all did, but in the early years the schedule was too rushed and they couldn't do retakes as often as they could later.

Not that Hartnell didn't have a problem there.

Troughton forgot his lines but was a better ad-libber to cover it.

yes the only reason those "Hartnell flubs" exist is because of the almost live nature of the taping- same with Troughton.

BTW- pretty much EVERY actor that played either Doctor or companion in those days flubbed their lines too....

Which is why I'd never do live theatre, there is no safety nets there.

If you flub a line, or if a prop malfunctions, they can't just say "Cut!" and reshoot the scene.

And God help you if you, or someone else, gets an attack of the giggles.

Tim, all those are features of live theatre, not bugs. ;-)

Keeps the actors on their toes and boosts their creativity. Not to mention giving them great stories to tell people later on.

Happy ONE HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY to Laurie Webb! A century ago today, May 6, 1924, Laurie Webb was born in Newport, Gwent, Wales! Congraulations!

What's that you say? WHO is Laurie Webb???

He's none other than Mister Olis from 'The Three Doctors'. Waaaaay back on December 30, 1972, Olis encountered Omega's gurgling stuff, and found himself zapped into a negative universe of one.
He was only 48 back then (looks a little older than that,IMO), but the guy is still with us!

MAYBE, just MAYBE, the oldest surviving cast member? We'll have to wait until November 19, later this year, for William Russell to reach the 100-year mark.

And on July 6th, Donald Pelmear (Professor Rubeish in The Time Warrior) will turn 100 as well.

Great. My father died at sixty-three but OTIS and RUBEISH get to make it to a hundred...

...I mean, not that I'm BITTER or anything...