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| The terrific trio- Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and William Hartnell- as one as DOCTOR WHO on its Tenth Anniversary in 1973. Image: BBC. |
Way back in 1973, it was quite a landmark time for DOCTOR WHO as it reached its first major anniversary: it's tenth year on television. Defying the odds- BBC hierarchy manipulation, changing small screen viewing sensibilities and critical commentary- it was even more of a surprise and nostalgic delight for both long-term and regular viewers when the celebratory story of that important decade was announced as The Three Doctors, and that its writers, Bob Baker and Dave Martin, would be crafting an ambitious scenario where the then current series TARDIS occupant, as played by white curled, flamboyant caped galactic adventurer Jon Pertwee, would be amazingly reunited with himself in his other incarnations: the recorder playing "Cosmic Hobo" Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton- truly one of Britain's supreme character actors) and the elderly but powerful "citizen of the universe" First Doctor, as played by the series originating actor William Hartnell. For older viewers, here was a chance to see these previous Doctors in colour for the first time, whilst for younger viewers, who hadn't seen them before, here was a chance to see two great actors giving exemplary performances beyond the confines of their original eras in which they appeared, as the now trio joined forces to defeat the powerful universe threatening anti-matter creature known as Omega, an exiled, revenge-fuelled Time Lord scientist.
Trailer: The Three Doctors: Doctor Who- The Three Doctors Fan Trailer.mpg - YouTube
Despite William Hartnell's unfortunate illness at the time of filming (he sadly passed away in 1975), which limited how much screen time he would eventually have with his comrades, plus a slightly twee story in its on-screen realisation, The Three Doctors remains a fun and exciting tale for fans of all ages, and would prove the successful benchmark litmus test paper for later successful Doctor reunions to come; the first being in 1983, for the shows Twentieth Anniversary: THE FIVE DOCTORS (written by stalwart writer Terrance Dicks), and in 1985, for the Patrick Troughton/ Colin Baker tale THE TWO DOCTORS (scribed by another series veteran, Robert Holmes).
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| Matt Smith as the singular Eleventh Doctor in the upcoming 2011 Xmas Special. |
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| The Doctor gets some youthful new help in The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe. |
Today, as the shows now incredibly celebrates its 48th year of televisual existence, with a viewership worldwide as popular as ever, fans can look forward to the new Matt Smith Eleventh Doctored, Steven Moffat written Xmas special, titled The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe (umm...I wonder what that's based on?!), airing on BBC ONE and BBC AMERICA on Christmas Day.
Trailer for new BBC Xmas Special: Exclusive DOCTOR WHO 2011 Xmas Special Trailer - YouTube
As to the future, and the shows soon on the horizon Fiftieth Anniversary, a special is indeed planned to celebrate the iconic event, backed up we presume with a series of classic repeats on the BBC 4 channel (if its still around by then!), but whether it will feature any further multiple Doctors team-ups (as had been successfully done with Peter Davison and David Tennant for the CHILDREN IN NEED short TIME-CRASH several years back), alongside other classic companions and monsters, is currently unknown. Though one can but hope....
Check out the KOOL TV FACEBOOK page photo section on the classic and modern series here: KOOL TV - THE DOCTOR WHO LEGACY
Multiple decades spanning DOCTOR WHO stories are available on DVD and BLU-RAY from 2ENTERTAIN.
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