User:Phrankenstign

I'm Tony.

I've been a Doctor Who fan since the mid-70s. I remember seeing Doctor Who in the TV Guide channel listings. I thought it looked interesting, but I missed it when it was broadcast. I recall seeing a listing for an episode featuring something called the "Daleks". I remember thinking "Dale'-ecks"? That was a strange word! However I missed watching the show again! I later caught the end of an episode from The Pyramids of Mars that showed a couple of mummies walking around. However it ended within a couple of minutes. I recollect I finally caught the beginning of an episode as I was changing channels one day. Leela, wearing her initial leather outfit, appeared with a yo-yo. I stopped surfing. As she conversed with the Doctor, she learned how the inside of the TARDIS was bigger than the outside due to "trans-dimensional engineering". Both Leela's outfit and the Doctor's explanation intrigued me enough to continue watching. It wasn't until I checked the TV Guide later, that I realised I'd been watching Doctor Who. I was hooked.

The Robots of Death was the first complete story I'd ever watched, but it was difficult for me to continue watching the show. I hated the episodic format, because I kept missing episodes. I think it was on every week night at 6:30pm. It wasn't until they changed the way it was broadcast that I was able to watch complete stories again. Channel 11 (WTTW - Chicago) started editing 4-part stories into 1 1/2 hour "movies" and 6-part stories into 2-part (1-hour each) "movies" every Sunday night at 11:00pm. The day and lateness of the hour made it very easy for me to watch (and record on VHS) nearly every story from then on.

Channel 11 found their compilations helped create a sizable audience for Doctor Who in the Chicago area. Numerous fan clubs sprang up, and I joined one too. It was run a a high school girl who scheduled meetings in her parents' home every Friday night. She produced a weekly newsletter (called the Celestial Intervention Agency), had patches made with the newsletter's logo, and held trivia contests. After discussing Doctor Who news, we'd watch a Doctor Who story. She'd previously made contacts with fans in England who'd send her new episodes that hadn't been shown in the USA. She'd get the Pal standard episodes which she'd then get converted to our American NTSC standard. She also had Canadian contacts that supplied many of the Pertwee stories that hadn't been shown in the USA for quite a few years. If I remember correctly, we even watched a Pertwee story in color that was listed by the BBC as only existing in black & white. The 2nd generation VHS quality wasn't great, but who cared? We got to see new Who!!! I won many of the trivia contests, because I'd read all ten of the Pinnacle Doctor Who books (reprints of the Target books) and most of the other stories from the Target paperbacks one of the local comic shops imported. I kept all of the newsletters and the CIA patch that she passed out to members. My collection isn't complete, because I didn't attend every meeting. I imagine there aren't too many other members who still have their stuff from way back then.

When I joined the United States Air Force in April 1986, I talked my girlfriend into recording many of the Hartnell stories being broadcast at the time. These compilations featured newly created credits which differed significantly from what was issued on DVDs years later. I never got to see any Troughton episodes, because the USAF sent me to England for three years. All of a sudden, I was able to watch NEW, 1st-run Who episodes for the first time! After hurriedly signing a rent -to-buy contract for a Pal VHS recorder, I was able to watch and record the newest episode at the time:  The Trial of a Time Lord Part 7. I recorded all subsequent episodes until Battlefield Part 3. I was unable to see the end of that story nor any of Ghost Light, The Curse of Fenric, and Survival until years later when they were released on DVD. The USAF stationed me at Langley AFB in Hampton, Virginia where Doctor Who was nowhere to be found over the air nor on any of the many cable TV channels.

In the intervening years, I was able to buy a few VHS copies of stories I'd never watched before. I acquired the VHS box set of The Trial of a Time Lord to find out how that whole story started out. My biggest surprise came one day at one of the USA's video retail chain stores called the Suncoast Motion Picture Company. There it was: The Tomb of the Cyberman!!! As far as I'd known from reading Doctor Who Weekly/Monthly/Magazine since issue #1, that was a lost Troughton story! How? What? Where? Who?!!! That was followed by The Daemons in FULL COLOR!!!.....and later by The Web Planet. My girlfriend had missed recording that one! And Shada?!!! Shada was for sale? Really? Curse of the Fatal Death? No way!!!

Buying Doctor Who magazine was difficult throughout the ninetiess and early naughties in the USA. The best comic shops in my area only carried them occasionally. There were a lot of holes in my collection. However as ebay got bigger, I found I was able to find many of the issues I'd missed. It was then that I learned about the Doctor Who Restoration Team and all the work they'd done and were continuing to do. I found out about the many episodes that had been recovered over the years and how many would soon be released on DVD. I set about collecting all of the stories on DVD and I succeeded! The last and most difficult to acquire was The Two Doctors. By then, it had gone out of print, and many sellers were asking much more than I was willing to pay.

Luckily, when Doctor Who returned to our American screens in 2006---one year AFTER it returned in England---the new series became very popular! All of a sudden, Doctor Who Magazine became available in many of the biggest retail book stores. Doctor Who DVDs and later Blu-rays were featured products for the masses rather than obscure niche items. To this day, things are looking up for Doctor Who.

The changing face of the Doctor has definitely made a difference over the years. When Eccleston was the man, he provided a very strong lead. His quick departure opened the door for Tennant to take over. My oldest daughter was a teenager by then, and she LOVED him. I could tell the future for Doctor Who was assured by then. She became a huge fan as I had been---although probably not for exactly the same reasons. She'd watch the same episodes over and over, just as I'd done with the Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee episodes. When Tennant announced his imminent departure, I worried for the continued success of the show. Smith immediately quelled any doubt I'd had. Although I don't think the Moffat stories were as strong as they were when Davies was in charge, I think Matt's energy kept the show very strong. The 50th anniversary story was, to me, the all-time high for the show!....and it was in 3-D!!!....with TOM BAKER!!! Then it's announced Smith is going to leave. Oh no! When Capaldi was announced as the new Doctor, I felt a bit scared for the show. I felt the youth of the previous Doctors had been a big reason for the success of the show. Although I thought Capaldi could probably play the part as well as Pertwee, I thought the fans who considered the Doctor a heartthrob would stop watching the show. I think my assessment was correct, since the ratings did tumble a bit. I think Capaldi did an admirable job, but there was no way he'd be able to keep the 18-24 year-old girls enthralled as much as Tennant and Smith. The decision to finally have a woman Doctor seemed to me to be a bit of a gamble. However with more and more women's issues coming to the fore in recent years, I thought it was probably the best time for it. I found Whittaker's first season a bit uneven, but overall I liked it. I think Whittaker plays the part very well in giving the impression she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty. It's difficult to imagine another woman who could play the Doctor with as much enthusiasm and charisma as she has.

How do I rank the various Doctors? Like this: 4,10,11,3,1,9,8,13,12,5,2,War,6,7

How do I rank the Curse Doctors? Lumley, H. Grant, R. E. Grant, Atkinson, Broadbent

Favorite companions? Sarah Jane Smith, Rose, Jo Grant, Romana I, Romana 2, Jamie McCrimmon, Amy Pond, Ian Chesterton, Zoe, Barbara Wright, Grace Holloway, Donna Noble, Harry Sullivan, Kylie Minogue, K9.

Favorite stories (in no particular order---It's too hard!) ''Day of the Doctor, Robot, Pyramids of Mars, Resurrection of the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks, The Invasion, The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Edge of Destruction/The Brink of Disaster, The Tomb of the Cybermen, Inferno, Planet of the Spiders, Terror of the Zygons, The Seeds of Doom, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Robots of Death, The Ribos Operation, The Pirate Planet, City of Death, Warriors' Gate, Warriors of the Deep, Resurrection of the Daleks, Dalek, Father's Day, School Reunion, 42, Blink, Midnight, The Waters of Mars, The Lodger, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, Robot of Sherwood, Kill the Moon, Mummy on the Orient Express, Flatline, Under the Lake/Before the Flood, The Woman who Fell to Earth, Rosa, Demons of the Punjab. 1996 TV movie, The Night of the Doctor, The Curse of the Fatal Death.''