Dr Who

I'm old enough to have seen the second ever episode of Doctor Who. I don't know why I missed the first, but I think it had something to do with rehearsing a play at Church.

My favourite Doctor is Patrick Troughton. He was fey, comedic, otherworldly- a magician and trickster, part Pied Piper, part Wizard of Oz.

He became my role model.

By the time Tom Baker arrived I had stopped being a regular viewer. I guess I was away at boarding school.

The Colin Baker episodes were the worst. His Doctor was a roaring bully and there was too much sadistic violence. I wasn't sorry the show got cancelled.
It had gone off.

I liked Sylvester McCoy. I was watching with my kids by now.

The TV film with Paul McGann was utterly misconceived- a poor stab at a Hollywood action movie. Dr Who isn't about freeway chases, it's about magic and wonder and anything being possible.

The new series with Christopher Eccleston is a miraculous return to form.
It has witty and imaginative scripts, great effects, expensive actors, fascinating aliens. Last night's episode gave us a tree woman (several billion years into the future) who said she was descended from the rain forests.

You'll believe a Dalek can fly!