A Most Unusual Choice: Another Dr Who Timeline.

[Nezza 001]

"I agreed to do the third series but it was a truly miserable time. Nicola had gone, John had gone thankfully and I was going too. I would show up on set feeling pretty rotten over what had happened and my mood reflected that. Dear Bonnie was so sweet and caring and I only got through some days because of her. When the director called cut on my very last scene I simply walked off the set, got changed, thanked everyone and apologised for being such a miserable sod, went how and got blind drunk"

"You were hurting?"

"Yes I was hurting. Not for myself as such but professionally it was a blow but for the fans. They'd been let down and as the lead I felt responsible...there were days I struggled to get out of bed and I was drinking so much. One night my wife Marion snapped and threatened to walk out unless I got my act together. I knew then that I needed help"

"What did you do?"

"I stopped drinking and started seeing a counsellor. For 8 months I unburdened myself. It was draining on me and my family but I got through it and I give thanks for every day"

(Colin Baker talking to Matthew Sweet 2020)

 

[kirbopher15]

"I agreed to do the third series but it was a truly miserable time. Nicola had gone, John had gone thankfully and I was going too. I would show up on set feeling pretty rotten over what had happened and my mood reflected that. Dear Bonnie was so sweet and caring and I only got through some days because of her. When the director called cut on my very last scene I simply walked off the set, got changed, thanked everyone and apologised for being such a miserable sod, went how and got blind drunk"

"You were hurting?"

"Yes I was hurting. Not for myself as such but professionally it was a blow but for the fans. They'd been let down and as the lead I felt responsible...there were days I struggled to get out of bed and I was drinking so much. One night my wife Marion snapped and threatened to walk out unless I got my act together. I knew then that I needed help"

"What did you do?"

"I stopped drinking and started seeing a counsellor. For 8 months I unburdened myself. It was draining on me and my family but I got through it and I give thanks for every day"

(Colin Baker talking to Matthew Sweet 2020)

*wonders who his successor as the doctor will be

 

[Nezza 001]

"Colin's last series was odd. It was almost like winding up a bankrupt company. The remaining staff were simply going through the motions and you can tell. The spark that lit up "The Mark Of The Rani" in terms of the interaction between six and The Rani is missing in "Time And The Rani" Colin's performance in some ways similar to Tom Baker's last series.

Paradise Towers....Yeesh! Widely regarded as the worst DW story of all time and with some reason. The plotting was a mess and the normally reliable Richard Briers is reduced to scenery chewing. If you've never seen it only watch the segment with Ken Dodd.

Delta and The Bannermen is the best of a bad bunch. It doesn't feel like a standard DW story and Colin is able to inject a bit of much needed levity.

Finally we get to Colin's finale. "Blood of The Daleks" is slow, uninspiring and seems twice as long than its 4 parts suggest. Colin's performance is similarly bland. His sacrifice to save Mel from Davros is the only high point"

All in all Colin Baker's last hurrah is more like a deflated balloon

(Stardust Magazine 2013)

 

[Nezza 001]

"I'd heard of KP but he was more a comedy guy and one thing Dr Who wasn't was a comedy. He was on set during Colin's last series and while he was charming and efficient he seemed the wrong guy for the role. Turner was a megalomaniac but at least he knew the ins and outs of the show. KP didn't to me seem to know anything"

(Bonnie Langford talking to Matthew Sweet 2020)

 

[Nezza 001]

"My last day was so awful. I just wanted to get it done and KP decided that we'd do the regeneration scene last"

"Really? It wasn't just slotted in somewhere"

"No. It was about 4.30 in the afternoon and initially I wanted just the team members there that were important to the scene but KP asked everyone to come down which was very nice but I was just so depressed and you can see that on my face"

"Let's talk about the regeneration itself. Who's idea was it to have the Doctor standing up instead of lying on the TARDIS floor?"

"KP's. He wanted the 6th doctor and me to go out head held high which again was very magnanimous but....I was just so miserable. I wanted to emulate Tom Baker in terms of length but alas"

"You've spoken very movingly about your struggles after leaving. It's 32 years since then. How do you feel now about the show?"

(Sighs). Mixed feelings to be honest. I said to Marion that I wanted nothing to do with the show again but I started going to the conventions and listening to what the fans had to say. Yes there was some negativity but many said that I was part of their childhood. That meant a lot to me and the fact I'm talking to you now is another sign of my recuperation but it did affect me and still does

(Baker talking to Sweet 2020)

 

[Nezza 001]

 

[farmerted555]

Oh, smeg.

 

[Nezza 001]

Oh, smeg.

To Be Continued...

 

[Nezza 001]

"Red Dwarf was a non-starter. There were so many problems on set especially the animosity between Craig and Chris. The audiences didn't get it. The BBC shunted it to a pre-NewsNight slot. When it ended I remember Craig walking off set and saying 'Thank Fuck for that'. My career was in the shit until I got a phonecall'

(Paul Jackson AKA KP, Executive Producer Dr Who 1988-1993)

 

[Nezza 001]

(Note: AI used for the suit)

 

[Nezza 001]

"When Red Dwarf ended after only 1 series I thought that's my career down the pan. I had such high hopes for the show. I was at home feeling sorry for myself when Paul rang. I thought he was either high or taking the piss but I realised quickly he was telling the truth. I went to a top secret meeting with Paul a few days later and when I saw Bonnie was there as well as Colin I though 'shit this is for real"

(Craig Charles 2009)

 

[Nezza 001]

From 2009

 

[Nezza 001]

 

[Nezza 001]

"When I worked with Craig on Red Dwarf I grasped that despite his jovial exterior he was deep down a man of passion and principle. His beat poetry was brim full of outrage and despair over the state in the country in the 1980's and I thought that he could bring back the political edge that the show had in the 1970's"

(Paul Jackson)

 

[Nezza 001]

NB AI Used:

 

[Nezza 001]

4x 75 Minute Stories

1. Lost Haven
Recovering from his regeneration the Doctor and Mel arrive at the Eye Of Orion only to find a Sontaran expedition force attempting to harness the planet's energy to boost the resilience of their soldiers

2. The Empty Child
Condensed version of the OTL 9th Doctor Story

3. Start Your Engines
The Doctor and Mel enter a futuristic spaceship race but find a saboteur is willing to do whatever it takes to win...even kill

4. The Nightmare Fair
Landing in Victorian Blackpool The Doctor and Mel encounter the Celestial Toymaker (Michael Gough) who is determined to exact revenge. Its explained at the end that the Toymaker is a Time Lord and the Doctor exposed his activities to the High Council. The ramifications of this caused the Doctor and Susan to leave Gallifrey,

 

[Some Bloke]

Holy Smeg!

 

[Nezza 001]

There’s Always been the mystery of what led the Doctor to leave Gallifrey. Two and six rallied against the machinations of the high council but the roots were in one’s exposure of the Toymaker’s activities.
One knew that he and Susan would not be safe so they left their home world and did what they could to avoid any time lords. Two encountered the Warlord and Three onwards tangled with the master but it was the toymaker that was the catalyst

(Jackson)