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Chris Knight's avatar

It was fifty years ago today, on March 8th 1975, that the BBC transmitted part one of the Doctor Who story “Genesis of the Daleks”.

It has since gone on to be regarded as one of the very best Doctor Who tales in the history of the franchise and one of the greatest science-fiction stories ever committed to the visual medium.  “Genesis of the Daleks”, written by Terry Nation, packed a lot!  The part that I most often think about is when The Doctor (the Fourth, played by Tom Baker) is agonizing over the choice that is his to make: to either destroy the Daleks before they can become the universal menace he knows them to be, or to save them and let history run its course.  It was pretty strong stuff for a show still considered at the time to be made primarily for young audiences.

So it ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

“The Day of the Doctor” became a truly epic event: the kind of cultural milestone ranking up there with the premiere of Star Wars in 1977, Woodstock and the final episode of M*A*S*H.  The day after the fiftieth anniversary special of Doctor Who aired, Guinness certified it as the most-watched simulcast of a dramatic presentation ever.

I purchased “The Day of the Doctor” from iTunes as soon as it was made available and have watched it all the way through twice and some scenes many times.  And they were plentiful: “NO MORE”, the Moment, the tribute to past companions (including Captain Jack Harkness, and why are River Song’s red high-heels hanging there anyway??) in the Black Archive, all of those TARDISes that swooped out of nowhere, that very fleeting glimpse – with an anger and determination that would cower Hell itself – of the Twelfth Doctor’s eyes, finally seeing ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

During the first afternoon of Mysticon in Roanoke this past weekend, following the opening panel with Peter Davison there was a special treat(?) presented by the good folks at Gallifrey Pirate Radio.  This was the last time that all of the then-surviving Doctors were brought together for a story.  Although as you can see the canonicity of this is debatable (okay, pretty much null and void) and you’ll no doubt notice how William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton are resurrected with all the glorious CGI capability that the early Nineties had to offer, it’s still a fun lil’ vignette for Doctor Who fans…

Fourth Doctor: “Mayday! Mayday! This is an urgent message for all the Doctors. It’s vitally important that you listen carefully to me for once. Our whole existence is being threatened by a renegade Time Lord known only as the Rani! She hates me. She even hates children!

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