Disney Time (TV story)

Disney Time 1975 was a special edition of the yearly Disney Time programme, a holiday schedule filler produced by the Walt Disney Company, in which clips from both new releases and re-releases of various animated and live-action Disney films were linked by new footage from celebrities.

For this particular edition, it was presented by Tom Baker, not as himself but in costume and in character as the Fourth Doctor.

Synopsis
The Fourth Doctor, frolicking in London's Disney Odeon cinema, tells a series of stories which introduce clips from various Disney films.

Plot
The TARDIS materialises outside the Disney Odeon cinema in St. Martin's Lane, London. The Fourth Doctor emerges and asks a passer-by if he knows Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse or Goofy. After some prompting, the man recalls that those are all "Disney toons". The Doctor then explains that, as he was passing by the planet Mars in the TARDIS, he realised he hadn't seen Mickey and the gang in a long time. He cites this as the reason for his arrival in London, "just in time for Clock Cleaners" — Clock Cleaners being a Mickey Mouse cartoon which is then shown.

After the cartoon concludes, the Doctor observes passers-by and muses that it would be "fun" to have a friend who was invisible to all but oneself. As he fleshes out this fantasy, it becomes clear that he is introducing a clip from the movie Blackbeard's Ghost, about a man who is the only man in the world able to see the rambunctious ghost of the pirate. The camera then cuts to a scene of that movie playing in a cinema.

After the scene concludes, the Doctor is shown manning the ticket booth. He lets in a little girl for free, stating that he is "not without influence", and then begins to tell the story of Mowgli, a little boy lost in a jungle and raised by wolves, who met a snake called Kaa; this introduces a segment from Disney's The Jungle Book. After the segment wraps up, the Doctor admits that real wolves, tigers and snakes are "rather different" than what is shown in Disney's fantasy, introducing a sequence from the documentary African Lion.

The Doctor then sums up the stories of The Apple Dumpling Gang and Escape to Witch Mountain (introducing clips of both these features). Afterwards, standing on a stairway in the cinema, he tells his audience that fantasy can include such whimsy as talking fish and people breathing underwater, and argues that if they do not believe this, then they have obviously never seen the film Bedknobs and Broomsticks, from which a sequence is soon shown.

The Doctor then announces that Disney is making a new film, entitled Return of the Big Cat, set to come out at Christmas. No-one has seen it yet, but the Doctor, being a traveller in time and space, is able to show an extract from it. Following this, the Doctor muses on the life of dogs (who, he points out, rarely sing) before reminding his audience that all of this is null and void to Disney, at least as far as their film Lady and the Tramp is concerned. This leads directly into a scene from that picture.

The camera then cuts to the Doctor, alone in the cinema as the screening concludes. Even as he prepares to tell one more story, an anonymous hand rises from between the rows, holding a piece of paper. After reading this, the Doctor explains that it is a message from the Brigadier, who is "in trouble again", and needs his scientific advisor's help. The Doctor hurriedly returns to the TARDIS, telling his audience "And now it's time to say goodbye to all of you. But I'll be seeing you again soon. Next Saturday, in fact. Goodbye!" He enters the TARDIS, which dematerialises.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Tom Baker

Crew

 * Presenter - Richard Evans

Story notes

 * The ending of the programme, where the Doctor receives a message from the Brigadier about some urgent business, was meant to tie-in with the following regular Doctor Who serial which started broadcasting just a few days after the broadcast of this special, namely TV: Terror of the Zygon. Indeed, the Doctor and his companions begin that story hurrying to the Brigadier because of a message he sent them during TV: Revenge of the Cybermen.
 * The episode include clips from the real-life films Clock Cleaners, Blackbeard's Ghost, The Jungle Book, African Lion, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Return of the Big Cat, Escape to Witch Mountain and Lady and the Tramp.
 * The Radio Times programme listing read as follows: "Fantasy, adventure and comedy are all included in our summer holiday look at Walt Disney films. Introduced by Tom Baker from the Disney Odeon, St. Martin's Lane / Including Jungle Book; The Apple Dumpling Gang; Lady and the Tramp; Bedknobs and Broomsticks; Blackbeard's Ghost; Clock Cleaners and Escape to Witch Mountain". (original published text) This was accompanied by a black-and-white publicity photograph of the Doctor standing next to a large plastic model of Mickey Mouse, with the accompanying caption "Who's your friend, Mickey? Who? Dr. Who? Of course that's who: 5.15".
 * Interestingly, two years earlier, previous editions of the Disney Time programmed had been hosted by Roy Castle (Ian Chesterton in Dr. Who and the Daleks) and Jon Pertwee (the Third Doctor), though not as their Doctor Who characters; Castle returned in 1976, followed in short order by Bernard Cribbins (Tom Campbell in Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. and, later, Wilfred Mott in Series 4).

Home media releases

 * The end sequence of the Doctor receiving the Brigadier's message and returning to the TARDIS where he says goodbye to his audience was released on VHS alongside Terror of the Zygons. This also appeared as an Easter egg on the DVD release.