…was the one that I watched every afternoon on ABC (Australian Broadcasting Network) when I was a kid.
The monsters, strange aliens (Oh My Gosh…the Daleks!), that awesome music that started every episode, the freaky electronic ‘scream’ at the end of each episode which, even when I knew it was coming, always made me jump because I was already scared silly from watching the show. When I was in primary school, the library had a great collection of the Target novelisations of the Doctor Who television series. I read them all, naturally, and they kept me company when I was in school (as I was quite the introvert), Before school, recess and lunchtimes in the library were never lonely for me with a Doctor Who book in my hand.
I can clearly remember the book covers (more so I think than the television episodes themselves).
I have had ever since a young age a long abiding love for science fiction, and I can date it back to when I was a little girl eagerly waiting to watch the next instalment of Doctor Who.
So my plan is to read the whole collection of Target Novelisations, starting at the very beginning with the first doctor. Since this year is the fiftieth anniversary of the show, I can’t see what else I would do, but watch it from the beginning and have some fun with it (I even have my vanishing TARDIS coffee mug to use while I am reading/watching… naturally that is a must!)
I don’t know him very well, this first doctor (because when I started watching the show John Pertwee was the current doctor), and after reading this first season of books (and watching the television shows), I think he was quite the arrogant jerk, but it was easy to like him despite that. Here were the beginnings of the ethics I had come to admire in other doctors when I was older, teaching a tolerance for what was new and different. His incurable curiosity and respect for the world, wherever and when ever he was, and because he would show these unexpected spurts of affection for his companions (Barbara and Ian), revealing a vulnerability that I don’t think anyone could resist. The stories themselves were quite original, and for the times were good enough to carry on for another season. I couldn’t help but laugh (a lot!) at the hokey special effects, but that just adds to the original charm. I look forward to reading and seeing what happens in season two, because even though William Hartnell wasn’t my doctor, I still care about him and his companions a great deal, and I am full of my own incurable curiosity to see how this character evolves into the doctors I am more familiar with.
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