Nothing at the End of the Lane: 60 Years of Doctor Who

It's 60 years since Doctor Who first broadcast on 23rd November 1963. I was born during the adventures of the Second Doctor at the tail end of the Sixties, have memories of fearfully watching the Third Doctor and avidly collecting the Weetabix cards in anticipation of the Fourth Doctor's exploits. 

In some ways, I've used the different incarnations of the Doctor as a quiet yardstick of my life. While at secondary school I followed the Fifth and Sixth Doctors and found myself changing like the Doctor from one person into another. Other interests and concerns had my attention after school and I lost track of the Seventh until later in life and rediscovered the Eighth after I'd finished university and was beginning a career as an secondary school teacher when the Movie was first broadcast. I can't express the excitement that the Big Finish audios caused for me when Storm Warning was released in 2003. Or the thrilling delight of the 40th anniversay audio release, Zagreus. I'd copied it from CD to minidisc and listened to it on a visit to London. I vividly recall standing on the corner of Tottenham Court Road transfixed by the climax and Doctor's sacrifice to save his companion, Charley. I also remember running home from the pub to watch the first episode of the revival in 2005 at a time my life was altering in big ways. I've even introduced the Doctor to seemingly skeptical friends and work colleagues who've ended up far more ardent fans than me.

I'm about the same age William Hartnell was when he first became the Doctor. A fact that is quite chastening (I certainly don't feel as old as the First Doctor looks. Or at least I don't think I do.)

I'm such a Doctor Who nerd that I have copies of episode guides and criticism and, over the years, have often referred to Howe and Walker's Television Companion, Cornell, Day and Topping's Discontinuity Guide and - most of all - to the volumes of About Time by Wood and Miles. I read the Target novelisations when I was a child and a small number of the post-Movie adventures of the Eighth. I have Doctor Who fanzines and other publications. And - secretly - throughout my life have wanted to be the Doctor.

My project here is to rewatch the first season of Doctor Who in weekly installments and write about them. The idea is to post about the first episode, An Unearthly Child, on the 23rd November (which is a Thursday this year rather than Saturday),  the second episode, The Cave of Skulls, on the 30th November, the third, The Forest of Fear, on the 7th December and so on up until the end of the first season, Prisoners of Conciergerie, next September.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to write about each episode. I don't want to just want to write the usual rewatch summaries and reviews. We'll see what happens. As Barbara says in the first episode: it's "As if we're about to interfere in something that's best left alone."