Two Fousand And Firteen!

Two Fousand And Firteen!

'Planet Of The Daleks' is on t'internet tonight, which has brought back a few memories of it being shown on BBC 1 in 1993 complete with Episode Three in all its black-and-white glory.

Although 'Doctor Who' was caught in limbo between 'Survival' Part Three and the McGann TV Movie, there was enough to get excited about even if everything didn't always pan out as expected.

Although 'The Dark Dimension' came and went in the flash of an eye, the seemingly less likely 'Dimensions In Time' somehow assembled a cast of dozens on the 'Eastenders' set and managed to film them in 3-D. Even if you had to nab some special glasses thanks to 'Radio Times'.

Jon Pertwee was happy to do all sorts of publicity work, even appearing with a certain Noel Edmonds, with 'The Paradise Of Death' doing good business on the radio.

The broadcast of 'Planet Of The Daleks' even saw a series of 5-minute mini-documentaries being scheduled to bump it up to a 30-minute slot which led to all sorts of odd things.

Shaw Taylor appealing to viewers to report any sighting of the Master sticks in the mind, but so do does 'The Antique Doctor Who Show' which highlighted the increasing value of some forms of merchandise and memorabilia.

On a personal level, I remember attending the 'Blue Box' convention in Bournemouth, which was a bit closer to where I lived than previous trips to such far-flung and exotic locations like Swindon and Exeter.

I got to do a bit of acting in Nick and Paul's film 'Sutton Park - Prison In The Sun' and it was on this one that I first met Lisa, who had to pretend to drive my car in the early scenes. We were to do more of these projects and ten years later, we moved in together!

Kevin Davies provided a concentrated burst of 'Doctor Who' appreciation with his documentary '30 Years In The TARDIS' which now also stands as a tribute to so many important figures who are no longer with us.

The line about 'two fousand and firteen' in 'Dimension In Time' made this year seem such a long way in the future - there was no way we could predict what would happen along the way. We just had to cross our fingers and hope for the best.

But in the end, we didn't do too badly, did we?

(By Andrew Trowbridge)