Sources

Sources: What Did People Think About Doctor Who in 1964?

/ Zach / Leave a comment
An interesting summary to start with. This article feels like not only has the reviewer not watched the episode, but the author also seems to think Ian Chesterton is the focal character. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/A_new_adventure_on_a_strange_planet_begins_today
The news really was pushing at the time that the Voords would be more popular than the Daleks. As you can tell by the fact that you almost never hear about the Voords, they were wrong. They also barely appear in the serial that was their debut, and as yet their only, onscreen appearance. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/New_TV_monsters_will_rival_the_Daleks , https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/After_the_Daleks_a_new_horror%E2%80%94_VOORDS
Here are some promotional pictures of Carole Ann Ford with a Voord. This monster was pushed quite hard for being just someone in a modified wetsuit. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/In_the_grip_of_a_Voord! , https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/My_word%E2%80%94it%27s_a_Voord
An interesting background piece on William Hartnell, especially for us nowadays who may not know that he was often typecast as a military actor. The Doctor was very much outside the normal roles that he got, and in my opinion he did it amazingly. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/The_Man_Who%27s_Who
And so pretty much from the start the legend of Dr. Who causing kids to watch from behind the sofa even hits some newspapers. It may not seem like it with today’s eyes but back in the 1960s this really was frightening but engaging for children. https://wordpress.com/post/daleksarentrobots.com/552
This one is more tangential; however it addresses an important issue then and now — representation in all aspects of any business but particularly women in entertainment. And none of these writers interviewed here seem particularly bothered by their attitude and of course none of the writers are women. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Why_can%27t_they_write_for_women%3F
A nice picture of the main cast of the first season with Verity Lambert. It’s a sign of how worldwide the show would end up going, to Canada and Australia even then. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/The_cast_of_BBC-1%27s_Dr._Who
To end on for now, an odd one loosely tied to “The Sensorites” by the Daily Mail. It’s about scientists developing a “thought machine.” I have searched and this is the only record I could find of it; still, it illustrates the show’s influence in that the go-to in 1964 for a telepathy comparison was Dr. Who. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Scientists_invent_a_thought_machine#tab=Description

Sources: When Steven Spielberg Didn’t Direct Doctor Who, and the 1996 TV Movie

/ Zach / Leave a comment

An article from December 1993 when Steven Spielberg was still potentially looking to get involved in a Dr. Who production. This is where the animation of a spider Dalek comes from, because they did get into early production before the whole project fell through. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Spielberg_resurrects_%27Dr._Who%27, https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Spider_Dalek_(TV_story)

In 1994, a female Doctor was a possibility being considered. As we know, this did not pan out, but it would have been interesting to see what they did. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who%27s_sex_change#tab=Citations
What was Steven Spielberg thinking about doing for Doctor Who? Well, it seems he was intending to stick to classic storylines, though we do not know exactly what that means or what it would have looked like. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who_gets_Spielberg_call_to_Hollywood
And of course here we see how long the idea of a female-led Dr. Who movie in the 1990s lasted. Which is unsurprising and this iteration of a Doctor Who movie never got made anyway. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Python_Eric_is_Dr_Who
And here we see the end of Steven Spielberg’s version of Doctor Who, which as previously stated would have starred Eric Idle and also Pamela Anderson. Though it does come with an introduction to the idea of a cheaper TV movie… https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who_travels_back_to_his_TV_future
An announcement of the budget and some of the actors who were being considered for the role of the Doctor for the TV movie that did end up getting made… with Paul McGann in the starring role. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Gay_actor_set_to_play_Doctor_Who, https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Doctor_Who_returns_with_a_hi-tech_Tardis
Fans lost it over a kiss, I can’t imagine their reaction if this had happened! As we know there were still multiple kisses, and a lot of subtext with Eric Roberts’ Master.

We still have never had even an implied sex scene to my knowledge on screen with any Doctor.

And here’s a quote from The Mirror’s interview with Jon Pertwee (who played the Third Doctor) a couple months before the TV movie came out, on the Doctor having sex: “It goes against the spirit of the original series but it was obvious when they cast a handsome young man they would involve him in romance. I don’t know what kids will make of it. It’s a sign of the times I guess,” sighs 76 -year-old Jon Pertwee. .https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Look_Who_Gets_A_Bonk! https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/My_Dr_Who_Had_No_Time_For_Sex#tab=Text
An article about Paul McGann that was published 3 months before the movie aired. Tt again hints at a romantic relationship, and has Mcgann drop the half-human line well before the movie came out. McGann also mentions how he was initially reluctant to take the role. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/So_Who%27s_a_pretty_boy_then,_Doctor%3F
One more pre-release article. This one covers a lot of the same ground but does specifically discuss how fans might react to the slick look and better sets. In the future, we’ll post some reviews and articles about the fan response to the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/A_blast_from_the_past_and_the_future_-_it%27s_Doctor_Who

Sources: Dalekmania Strikes in 1964 Britain!

/ Zach / Leave a comment
So to start, here we have one of the guest stars of The Daleks, who really did not get that much screen time and many people probably do not remember. She would later get bit roles appearing in some Hammer films, but Wetherell is most well-known a small role in “A Clockwork Orange.” https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/A_Down-to-Earth_pose_for_a_TV_Space_girl, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923145/
Here’s a nice touch– the BBC donated two of the Daleks to a children’s home so children could, I guess, roll around pretending to be Daleks. It’s great that they didn’t just dispose of them, though the production probably regretted it when they did indeed bring the Daleks back. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/TV_Daleks_go_to_the_orphans
One of the donated Daleks is shown being played with by some of the children at one of the homes. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Picture_parade
Here, the BBC publicly started realizing they could market the Daleks. It’s interesting that they come right out and claim that they completely own the design of said monster. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/If_you_want_to_buy_a_Dalek_try_the_BBC
As you can see, it was no time at all before people started making their own versions of Daleks or Darlek in this case, This one was even useful! Also neat that this article also thinks that Daleks are Robots. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Robot_to_sell_rag_magazine
A rather rare thing–a picture of Carole Ann Ford with her daughter, paired with a nice story about having her daughter watch the show. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Guess_Who_..
As is seen here, the public demand was so intense that Verity Lambert agreed to bring the Daleks back. For the first monsters to appear in the show, they made an impressive impact on the British public. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Coming_Back_–_The_Daleks!

Sources: What Did People Think of Doctor Who in 1963?

/ Zach / Leave a comment
Here’s an example of an article written before Doctor Who came out, detailing the setup and the people behind the show. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/ITV_can_expect_a_jolt_when_the_BBC_launches_its_%27Dr._Who%27
The reaction to JFK’s death led to the first episode of an Unearthly Child being aired again the following weekend. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Circumstances_were_hardly_favorable_for_the_An_Unearthly_Child_of_the_B.B.C.%27s_space_satellite_Dr._Who
A brief but interesting scientific-minded comment on the first episode of Doctor who, referencing an educational show hosted by Professor Hermann Bondi of E=mc2. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/High_camp_for_kiddies , https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/cb5a826e73d749e68cd46bd51642f05e
Here’s a rather amusing review from Variety where the writer messes up the relationship between Susan and the Doctor, referring to her as his daughter. This reviewer certainly does not seem impressed by the first episode. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr._Who_(Variety)

A discussion of the very iconic Doctor Who theme and how it was made! Of course it would be decades before Delia Derbyshire would get the public acknowledgement she deserved for her work on the theme. It wouldn’t really get widespread attention till after her death in the early 2000s. https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Verity%27s_tune_is_way_out_of_this_world! , https://www.openculture.com/2016/01/the-fascinating-story-of-how-delia-derbyshire-created-the-original-doctor-who-theme.html