To be a true fan of the famous British TV fantasy series "Doctor Who" you need to be the equivalent of a Talmudic scholar. The show has been on for decades, since 1963, and there are some people who have seen almost every episode. And there are those who remember or chronicle the plots of almost every episode, as well as the constantly renewing character of the Doctor himself. He has had 12 "official" regenerations over the years. In fact he has been compared with the mythical "Wandering Jew" as he wanders through time and never dies. The WhoMudists can interpret, quote, evaluate, and correct the body of knowledge which by now can fill a whole wall with texts, videos, and a whole house with memorabilia.
I have only seen a few episodes of this series, the ones with the enchanting Tom Baker (the guy with the endless scarf). When I was doing illustrations for comics and TV fan magazines, my clients asked me to do pen and ink renderings of some scenes from the very earliest Dr. Who years. They wanted to publish these but the British would not allow it due to copyright. So here's one of my pen and ink Dr. Who 1960s images starring the old and cranky William Hartnell (the first Doctor, in the center near the moon). I have no idea what's going on here, some sort of moth people, I'm sure that someone out there knows exactly which Doctor, which show, when it aired, and what storyline it was. (OK, looked it up in the Talmud. A show from the mid '60s called "The Web Planet.")
Original drawing was ink on illustration board, about 6" x 5", spring 1981. Empty space is for text.
Remember folks, in 1981 there was no public Internet. No cell phones. No desktop publishing. No microwave ovens. No CD's. No digital music. No goddamn social media, except what you sent through the mail.
1 comment:
As a long time Dr. Who fan I recognized the episode from the creature. And I used to dislike Hartnel because of him being grumpy. But then they did a movie about the start of Dr. Who and how the show and actor came to be what it is. It turns out Hartnel was a "serious" actor before he became the Dr. and was not thrilled with the job at first, but then his granddaughter LOVED the Dr. and because of her loving the character he embraced the role. He only stopped being the Dr. because he was literally dying a would not stop working until he could not anymore. So I found a reason to like him and appreciate what he did to make this fantastic character what it is.
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