An Appointment with The Doctor

Half a lifetime ago, in 1980 to be precise, a small Hertfordshire community service organisation called Bushey and Oxhey Round Table (BORT) received a visit from Doctor Who.

Tom Baker had been The Doctor since 1974 and was not in the habit of condescending to lesser planets let alone to a provincial Donkey Derby, but BORT had a reputation for punching above its weight, and somebody in BORT knew somebody very near the top in BBC Enterprises. So The Doctor came to our fund-raising event, complete with the pukka Tardis.

For the purpose of publicity stunts, we also acquired a number of other genuine Doctor Who props and costumes : a Dalek and a round headed monster whose name escapes me, plus a generic Time Lord outfit, which is why the young fellow in the picture - as BORT chairman - got to be a Time Lord for a day.

To be quite honest I got the impression that Mr Baker – surrounded by his BBC minders (not Dennis Waterman, the real thing) – was not best pleased to be dragged around a Donkey Derby. In the event he did a stalwart job. Great fun was had and lots of money raised for charity.

The very next year, 1981, Doctor Who regenerated again: enter Peter Davison. I do hope it wasn't anything I did.

BREAKING NEWS: So Tom Baker has another place in the 50 years of Who history – The Curator.

TIME

Look out he's behind you!

Oh, no he isn't... Is he?

Is this Oscar Windsor-Smith as he once was? Or is this his next regeneration? Be afraid… (Etc., etc)

Time. What is it? Where does it go? To be sure, it's not what we think it is.

Like countless others here in the UK, on Christmas Eve I watched the first half of the final episode of Doctor Who with David Tennant as The Doctor. That was fine. My problems began with the trailer for the second half, due to be broadcast on New Year's Day. It seems that the Time Lords are returning from the dead. In teaser shots we saw disturbing images – disturbing, that is, to me – relating as they do to a period that I refer to, in my quaint old-fashioned way, as my past. The above pic is the damning evidence.

IMPORTANT NOTES: All the items illustrated above are genuine and employed with the full knowledge and cooperation of the Gallifrey General Council. Be aware that Daleks can go down and up, as well as along. Oscar would like to thank the manufacturers of Botox in anticipation of his next regeneration. No Daleks were hurt in the making of this post.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010 *

* Year of Get Writing 2010, Verulam Writers' Circle 's greatest ever conference, GW10.

Book now, because VWC's time reversal service remains unreliable pending the next software upgrade, due in January 1942.

AND FINALLY - A time link to ease you through to the next decade, here.