Doesn't seem like a few years ago this all began.
Ah well, share your memories, etc.
Ah well, share your memories, etc.
Happy 47th anniversary everyone!
- Thread starter Candlelight
- Start date
I was nearly six years old in 1978. I remember very little except the very paisley and corduroy fashion sense of the era. However, one memory sticks out quite vividly.
It was after 6pm (but before 6:30pm) and I had recently finished dinner. My favorite children's show of the time was Sesame Street on PBS/ETV. In hindsight, I know that it ran from 5:30-6pm every weekday evening. At the time, though, I just knew I might be able to catch some of the episode I had left for said eating. Dismissed from the dinner table, I ran into the den and flipped on the tv, ready to see the bright yellow giant of Big Bird doing something amusing.
Instead, my eyes focused in on a damp, dark cave setting. A young woman...brunette...was (obviously) scared of something. She was running away. Cut to what was chasing her. Weird-looking mole-men-type figures, trampling silently through the dimly lit caverns. She came to a body of underground water, her voice stammering as she attempted to get away.
....what??? (my little brain wondered)
Next memory, same moment in time, a sharp, clean-cut looking man in a naval-blue outfit was speaking to other freaky little mole men, their faces barely moving, but the mouths chattering away nonetheless. This must be "the hero", I thought. The "good guy", this man in blue. He had to be. He had all the quality traits I recognized in standard heroic figure.
But the voice....the words! What were they saying? Why were they talking like that? How.....weird! Moments after I ran to ask my mother, I came to learn of something called "England" and "accents".
Back to the den, I'm suddenly confronted with an entirely different show. A tall man...super-curly brown hair taking up most of his head...is talking very quickly to a group of...what I can only guess....are silver robots! Robots?! What happened to the mole men? What about the girl? Where was the hero in blue? And why did this funny looking man have such a long scarf?
But wait....they've now gone back to the mole men and hero in blue. It's the same show! They have robots AND mole men?! AWESOME!
And suddenly, I have no idea what happened, but an unearthly scream ripped through the tv, and credits appeared over a scary-looking tunnel. And the music! It sent a shiver up my spine. Was this a horror show? What is it? What is it about? What is it called? Will I see it again?
I didn't understand. There are good guys and bad guys on tv. There are superheroes and regular people. And they were never in the same show. But, this show...this weird sounding, scary-looking, odd-talking show...it had robots AND mole men AND scary music! The hero looked dashing, the girl was pretty, and the weird scarf man had the biggest smile I had ever seen.
I made a plan for the next day. I had to watch tv the same time as before. I made an effort the next day to watch after Sesame Street. Dinner was later for that night, so I'm there and suddenly met with THE SCARY MUSIC! A SCARY TUNNEL! THE FUNNY GUY WITH THE SCARF'S SCARY FACE! And the title of the show......
Now, I didn't utter my first curse-word until I was twelve. But, to put it in modern perspective, my brain went: 'What the fuck?!?!?!?'
This weird show, This weird music. These weird accents. And now, the hero in blue ("Harry Something") isn't a hero at all, and the funny guy with the scarf (a doctor? was this a show about a hospital?) isn't just funny. He's the star of the show. He's the hero. He's "Dr. Who". But, wait, if he's the hero....superhero?....where is his gun? Captain Kirk always had a gun. How is "Dr. Who" going to beat the bad guys without a weapon to shoot them? Who was he? Why did he have such an odd name? Was the pretty woman ("Sarah") his girlfriend? Did they have a space ship?
What is that blue box that appears at the end? Why did they all go into it? It makes a crazy-weird sound I have never heard.....IT'S DISAPPEARING!
I.
Was.
Hooked.
I had never seen a television show that posed so many seemingly random and unanswerable questions to my five-year-old southern American brain. I had never watched something where I wasn't certain the good guys would win. Or live. I'd never seen a hero without a weapon. He was so smart. So funny. So reassuring.
Revenge of the Cybermen, starring Tom Baker as The Doctor, Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah-Jane Smith, and Ian Marter as Dr. Harry Sullivan.
I've never looked back since. Happy Birthday, Doctor.
It was after 6pm (but before 6:30pm) and I had recently finished dinner. My favorite children's show of the time was Sesame Street on PBS/ETV. In hindsight, I know that it ran from 5:30-6pm every weekday evening. At the time, though, I just knew I might be able to catch some of the episode I had left for said eating. Dismissed from the dinner table, I ran into the den and flipped on the tv, ready to see the bright yellow giant of Big Bird doing something amusing.
Instead, my eyes focused in on a damp, dark cave setting. A young woman...brunette...was (obviously) scared of something. She was running away. Cut to what was chasing her. Weird-looking mole-men-type figures, trampling silently through the dimly lit caverns. She came to a body of underground water, her voice stammering as she attempted to get away.
....what??? (my little brain wondered)
Next memory, same moment in time, a sharp, clean-cut looking man in a naval-blue outfit was speaking to other freaky little mole men, their faces barely moving, but the mouths chattering away nonetheless. This must be "the hero", I thought. The "good guy", this man in blue. He had to be. He had all the quality traits I recognized in standard heroic figure.
But the voice....the words! What were they saying? Why were they talking like that? How.....weird! Moments after I ran to ask my mother, I came to learn of something called "England" and "accents".
Back to the den, I'm suddenly confronted with an entirely different show. A tall man...super-curly brown hair taking up most of his head...is talking very quickly to a group of...what I can only guess....are silver robots! Robots?! What happened to the mole men? What about the girl? Where was the hero in blue? And why did this funny looking man have such a long scarf?
But wait....they've now gone back to the mole men and hero in blue. It's the same show! They have robots AND mole men?! AWESOME!
And suddenly, I have no idea what happened, but an unearthly scream ripped through the tv, and credits appeared over a scary-looking tunnel. And the music! It sent a shiver up my spine. Was this a horror show? What is it? What is it about? What is it called? Will I see it again?
I didn't understand. There are good guys and bad guys on tv. There are superheroes and regular people. And they were never in the same show. But, this show...this weird sounding, scary-looking, odd-talking show...it had robots AND mole men AND scary music! The hero looked dashing, the girl was pretty, and the weird scarf man had the biggest smile I had ever seen.
I made a plan for the next day. I had to watch tv the same time as before. I made an effort the next day to watch after Sesame Street. Dinner was later for that night, so I'm there and suddenly met with THE SCARY MUSIC! A SCARY TUNNEL! THE FUNNY GUY WITH THE SCARF'S SCARY FACE! And the title of the show......
Doctor Who
Now, I didn't utter my first curse-word until I was twelve. But, to put it in modern perspective, my brain went: 'What the fuck?!?!?!?'
This weird show, This weird music. These weird accents. And now, the hero in blue ("Harry Something") isn't a hero at all, and the funny guy with the scarf (a doctor? was this a show about a hospital?) isn't just funny. He's the star of the show. He's the hero. He's "Dr. Who". But, wait, if he's the hero....superhero?....where is his gun? Captain Kirk always had a gun. How is "Dr. Who" going to beat the bad guys without a weapon to shoot them? Who was he? Why did he have such an odd name? Was the pretty woman ("Sarah") his girlfriend? Did they have a space ship?
What is that blue box that appears at the end? Why did they all go into it? It makes a crazy-weird sound I have never heard.....IT'S DISAPPEARING!
I.
Was.
Hooked.
I had never seen a television show that posed so many seemingly random and unanswerable questions to my five-year-old southern American brain. I had never watched something where I wasn't certain the good guys would win. Or live. I'd never seen a hero without a weapon. He was so smart. So funny. So reassuring.
Revenge of the Cybermen, starring Tom Baker as The Doctor, Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah-Jane Smith, and Ian Marter as Dr. Harry Sullivan.
I've never looked back since. Happy Birthday, Doctor.
Though I was introduced to Doctor Who in 2005, I have recently begun working my way through Classic Who through DVDs. Just today, I watched The Space Museum and The Chase. The Space Museum was kind of dull, but The Chase was fun.
It was 1980, I was 15 and a friend said, "Hey you like all that space junk right? Well you should watch that "Who Doctor" on Channel 2"! (Our PBS) I did!
Then I asked my buddy's about Tom Baker and Doctor Who. They already knew about him!! We rejoiced!! Jus' Sayin'
Then I asked my buddy's about Tom Baker and Doctor Who. They already knew about him!! We rejoiced!! Jus' Sayin'
The, your story brings back fond memories. Thanks for sharing.
It was fall 1982 and I was in 5th grade when I stumbled upon the good Doctor.
My parents purchased a new television and my brother and I inherited the console from the living room. During my experiments with a slinky as a UHF antenna I discovered the third episode of "The Ribos Operation". Wow!!
Some weeks later during the Horns of Nimon I was grounded and unable to watch TV in my room for two months. When I returned to watch Doctor Who, much to my surprise, the opening was different and who the hell was this blonde guy!?
Wow again!?!?
It was fall 1982 and I was in 5th grade when I stumbled upon the good Doctor.
My parents purchased a new television and my brother and I inherited the console from the living room. During my experiments with a slinky as a UHF antenna I discovered the third episode of "The Ribos Operation". Wow!!
Some weeks later during the Horns of Nimon I was grounded and unable to watch TV in my room for two months. When I returned to watch Doctor Who, much to my surprise, the opening was different and who the hell was this blonde guy!?
Wow again!?!?
Honestly can't remember my first experience. Been watching since the age of five or so.
Vividly remembered TVNZ playing the Doctor Who week for the 25th anniversary in 1988 (shit, 22 years ago!!). Especially memorable because it was the world premiere of Silver Nemesis, even before the UK!
Vividly remembered TVNZ playing the Doctor Who week for the 25th anniversary in 1988 (shit, 22 years ago!!). Especially memorable because it was the world premiere of Silver Nemesis, even before the UK!
Fall 1976--Our local PBS station started airing Dr Who M-F at 6pm. They started with the second Pertwee serial (they probably thought that showing the first one would be confusing to viewers who didn't know about regenerations, etc).
I wasn't too impressed until they started airing "Inferno." I was hooked after that.
I wasn't too impressed until they started airing "Inferno." I was hooked after that.
Old timer here. I'm pretty sure that I first saw it when Mary Tamm was playing Romana, but it was probably a year or two later that I made a conscious decision to be "into" the show so as to be interesting or something. 
Then came The Keeper Of Traken, Logopolis, and (I think prior to Davison's first season) The Five Faces Of Doctor Who. (The last one was a series of repeats on BBC2. Its name appeared to have been taken from the recently-shown movie The Seven Faces Of Doctor Lau, and it comprised An Unearthly Child, The Krotons, The Three Doctors and (if I recall correctly) Logopolis again.)
Then came The Keeper Of Traken, Logopolis, and (I think prior to Davison's first season) The Five Faces Of Doctor Who. (The last one was a series of repeats on BBC2. Its name appeared to have been taken from the recently-shown movie The Seven Faces Of Doctor Lau, and it comprised An Unearthly Child, The Krotons, The Three Doctors and (if I recall correctly) Logopolis again.)
We got a mention on the front page of Wikipedia, for the 'today in history' section. 
I was an American kid newly moved to England in the summer of 1966. There was a lot of buzz in the press about the new Post Office Tower and I was quickly captivated by a program that featured it -- Doctor Who's "The War Machines." It was the adventure that introduced Ben and Polly, who made the transition from Hartnell to Troughton. What a delight to finally see that adventure again just a few months ago, thanks to Netflix.
God help me. I'm just about 0ne year, and one month older than the show. 
My first was in 1980, Atlanta Fantasy Fair. My very first con. I went there to hopefully pick up some missing back issues of the Star Wars comic and while discovering a whole new world, wandered up to the video room to check out a show I'd read about in Starlog. It happened to be Jon Pertwee's The Green Death. The overall cool Britishness of it all got me interested, despite the fact that it seemed to go on forever (it was a six parter).
Soon after I started hanging out with a bunch of Who fans, who kept me interested until our local PBS finally picked it up around '84. Been a die-hard fan ever since.
My first was in 1980, Atlanta Fantasy Fair. My very first con. I went there to hopefully pick up some missing back issues of the Star Wars comic and while discovering a whole new world, wandered up to the video room to check out a show I'd read about in Starlog. It happened to be Jon Pertwee's The Green Death. The overall cool Britishness of it all got me interested, despite the fact that it seemed to go on forever (it was a six parter).
Soon after I started hanging out with a bunch of Who fans, who kept me interested until our local PBS finally picked it up around '84. Been a die-hard fan ever since.
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Great stories, everyone, but The wins the prize for dramatic story-telling.
Mine's pretty anti-climactic. At some point in 1979/1980, I started watching the show. I liked it. Still do.
Mine's pretty anti-climactic. At some point in 1979/1980, I started watching the show. I liked it. Still do.
I get a little kick out of the fact that my first encounter with Dr Who pins down the exact time 47 years ago when my grandad/granny took me, their 6 year old grandson, to visit their parents(my great grandparents), on a sat night, and secondly it was my first exposure to a colour TV, and with the episode being the second of The Green Death its no wonder its imprinted on my brain so vividly.
Happy B'Day Dr Who.
Happy B'Day Dr Who.
My introduction was a bit late..1978
our local PBS station didn't carry the show..but one day (when the conditions were perfect) I caught a glimpse of the Good Doctor on a San Francisco PBS station..saw most of the episode (Cybermen?) and was interested..but really couldn't get the show until I was stationed in Arkansas (1983) when the Arkansas Educational Television Network ran Doctor Who every Saturday and Sunday.. they'd run the entire show (all 5 or 6 episodes) at a time.. very nice...
our local PBS station didn't carry the show..but one day (when the conditions were perfect) I caught a glimpse of the Good Doctor on a San Francisco PBS station..saw most of the episode (Cybermen?) and was interested..but really couldn't get the show until I was stationed in Arkansas (1983) when the Arkansas Educational Television Network ran Doctor Who every Saturday and Sunday.. they'd run the entire show (all 5 or 6 episodes) at a time.. very nice...
I get a little kick out of the fact that my first encounter with Dr Who pins down the exact time 47 years ago when my grandad/granny took me, their 6 year old grandson, to visit their parents(my great grandparents), on a sat night, and secondly it was my first exposure to a colour TV, and with the episode being the second of The Green Death its no wonder its imprinted on my brain so vividly.
Happy B'Day Dr Who.
Ummm... Green Death wasn't 47 years ago. That would be An Unearthly Child. Green Death was 37+ years ago...
^^Erm ..oops. i of course mean 37 years ago in 1973, the mind is going.
I honestly can't recall the first Doctor Who serial I saw as a kid, but it was most certainly The Fourth Doctor on PBS during the late 80's from the ages 5-7. I have distinct memories watching Genesis of the Daleks, The Deadly Assassin, The Face of Evil (how can anyone not be fascinated by a cliff-side craving of The Doctor's face?), Horror of Fang Rock, The Invisible Enemy (watching the virus grow to human size was one of the few times I was scared by television as a young child), The Invasion of Time (I was completely fascinated by the endless corridors of the TARDIS...even if they were brick walls), The Ribos Operation, The Pirate Planet, Meglos, and Warrior's Gate. And although I didn't quite grasp the concept of regeneration, I understood that The Seventh Doctor was the same person and I loved his crazy antics, recalling particularly Paradise Towers (whatever was lurking in the pool was another rare moment of being scared by television), Remembrance of the Daleks, and Survival.
Another odd early memory that stands out: While I don't have any specific memories of watching The Fifth and Sixth Doctors, I was utterly perplexed when I saw a Doctor Who pinball machine (this one) and thought "who are these three old guys?!"
Happy anniversary, Doctor Who!
ETA: The, thank you for your wonderful anecdote. I wish I could recall a memory that the specific, but your whole post brought a giant grin to my face.
Another odd early memory that stands out: While I don't have any specific memories of watching The Fifth and Sixth Doctors, I was utterly perplexed when I saw a Doctor Who pinball machine (this one) and thought "who are these three old guys?!
"Happy anniversary, Doctor Who!
ETA: The, thank you for your wonderful anecdote. I wish I could recall a memory that the specific, but your whole post brought a giant grin to my face.
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