"Dog's Arse Bay"- a stifling new work by

Re Fiona Reid's eloquent comment on "Dog's Head Bay".Grievance One: When is the Emeritus Williamson going to realise that no-one speaks like the characters from a lesser Oscar Wilde farce?Grievance Two: When is the Emeritus Williamson going to realise that there are other states in this country other than New South Wales?Grievance Three: When is the ABC going to cease doing shows on the cheap? By the same token, when is someone going to give Aunty some money to do something decent?Grievance Four: When will someone tell Gary Sweet that there are more than two theatrical gestures in the world?Grievance Five: How many more times must we be subjected to the same sequence of theme tune by that blasted Stephane-Grappelli-rip-off violin??Grievance Six: As opposed to getting an actress that does a convincing Angela Punch-McGregor impersonation, why not simply get Angela Punch-McGregor?Grievance Seven: And what's the story with that piss-weak blue screen car effect at the end of episode 1?!? That sort of sheningans went out with Dr Who.Seven grievances borne out of 30 minutes. Not bad for one episode. If you have any more grievances about this bucket of bile that passes as TV Entertainment, get posting!El

Ok, so The Removalists is of a quality he's found hard to duplicate, but i'm not sure that i share your sentiments regarding Williamson. Australia has a not undeserved reputation for the manner in which it treats its tall poppies - a category DW is well qualified for.> Grievance Three: When is the ABC going to cease doing shows on> the cheap?Seachange?> By the same token, when is someone going to give Aunty> some money to do something decent?erm.. that would be us taxpayers, i suppose> Grievance Four: When will someone tell Gary Sweet that there> are more than two theatrical gestures in the world?i didn't catch the show and saw the sum total of 5 seconds of Sweet's performance as i passed through the lounge on the way to the kitchen. I didn't bother to look back, but called from the kitchen that i'd never realised how dismal he could be!> Grievance Seven: And what's the story with that piss-weak blue> screen car effect at the end of episode 1?!? That sort of sheningans> went out with Dr Who.woah! now you are treading on sacred ground. blasphemous comments about the golden hey-day of Dr Who? pistols at dawn if you don't retract that one;)CheersGrant

EMAILNOTICES>noYou shouldn't knock Doctor Who. That should be on instead of this show.

> You shouldn't knock Doctor Who. That should be on instead of> this show.I knock the Doc not! (say THAT when you're drunk!)I too agree that Doctor Who should replace this execrable piece of meretricious codswallop.El (doing his best Adric impersoination)

> Australia has a not undeserved reputation for the manner in which> it treats its tall poppies - a category DW is well qualified for.Bang on! My point (and I know I'm in for a rough time with this one!) is what was all the fuss about in the first place?> Seachange?Doesn't count. It's shot on location with something more than a home video camera, and isn't exactly an ensemble piece.> erm.. that would be us taxpayers, i supposeThat's right, and this is why we should jump up and down about this waste of our money!!! You're right though; when's that ever done any good before??> woah! now you are treading on sacred ground. blasphemous comments> about the golden hey-day of Dr Who? pistols at dawn if you don't retract> that oneThere is a theory called "Death By Nostalgia" first postulated by Frank Zappa, the crux of which is cultural audiences have nostalgic feelings for art (theatre, music etc) which has passed before. Look at the pop charts today and you'll see your old faves re-appearing in new guises. This cycle gets smaller every decade or so. Soon will come a time when we won't be able to take one step forward with out feeling nostalgic for the one we just took. At that point everything stops. Death by Nostalgia.This applies to fond remeniscences of Dr Who as well! God, you're as bad as trekkies. (I'll proboably cop flak for that too!) :-PEl

EMAILNOTICES>noDoctor Who was a constant for 26 years - 1963-1989 and then a spark of life in 1996. Not really retroactive nostalgia.

> Doctor Who was a constant for 26 years - 1963-1989 and then a> spark of life in 1996. Not really retroactive nostalgia.Parry & Riposte.The most popular Doctor? Tom Baker 1974-83. How popular was Sylvester McCoy, or Colin Baker, Peter Davison, John Pertwee, Patrick Troughton or William Hartnell in comparison? Eh??????The "Golden Age", as referred by Grant, is 1974-83. No Argument.You win a prize if you can tell me the name AND transmission date of the very first Dr Who episode. Jamie Cant is excluded from this as he is a fanatic.El

EMAILNOTICES>noHi El, Here's my tuppence worth (at last we're on to a subject I can offer someinput to) Tom baker was the most popular, but surely Jon Pertwee was thebest ! He best managed the that dark/light shading of the docs character.Tom Baker, imho, always came across as a little too flippant....btw, you can buy a real Dalek at: http://www.thisplanetearth.co.uk(how sad is that ! but I'm still gonna get one)Ray 'sausage side' Galloway...>> Parry & Riposte.> The most popular Doctor? Tom Baker 1974-83. How popular was Sylvester> McCoy, or Colin Baker, Peter Davison, John Pertwee, Patrick Troughton> or William Hartnell in comparison? Eh??????> The "Golden Age", as referred by Grant, is 1974-83.> No Argument.> You win a prize if you can tell me the name AND transmission> date of the very first Dr Who episode. Jamie Cant is excluded from> this as he is a fanatic.> El

did someone mention a TARDIS?> The most popular Doctor? Tom Baker 1974-83. How popular was Sylvester> McCoy, or Colin Baker, Peter Davison, John Pertwee, Patrick Troughton> or William Hartnell in comparison? Eh??????and popularity is an accurate measure of .....? Remember the popular view used to be that the earth was round! ;)Tom was wonderful, yes. Jon was great too. But don't pass over Patrick Troughton. Maybe it is just mother-duck-syndrome, but he was the first Doctor i ever knew and i'm still rather fond of him. You can certainly see the genesis of Tom's quirky interpretation more clearly in Patrick than William Hartnell.> The "Golden Age", as referred by Grant, is 1974-83.> No Argument.agreed.> You win a prize if you can tell me the name AND transmission> date of the very first Dr Who episode. Jamie Cant is excluded from> this as he is a fanatic.An Unearthly Child, 23/11/63 at 5.15pm?dang! does that me a fanatic too?or just a cheater who's cousin was the secretary of the local fan club for 20+ years? ;)CheersGrant

EMAILNOTICES>noTransmission date in the UK or Australia? The episode was An Unearthly Child, first transmitted in the UK on November 23, 1963. It was first transmitted in Australia in Perth on February 15, 1965.It's Jon, not John, Pertwee. And Tom Baker was 1974-1981. And your forgot Paul McGann in your list of Doctors.

Various producers, director and writers worked on Tom Baker's era.And you missed David Banks, who stepped into the Doctor's stage role for a couple of performances in The Ultimate Adventure.

We're not comparing Doctor Who to other programs are we? Different genres, different time periods, different creative approaches, different budgets, different technology et al? Not much stable ground on which to form an intelligent debate...Are we really going to get ourselves into the 'popular Doctor' debate on this site...Well, if you must...You will find that access to all Doctors on VCR has changed the way in which popularity is working in the Whoniverse...And let us not forget that Tom Baker had probably the most successful writer/ script editor/ co-star/ producer/ director combination during his time on the series (and the most experienced and highly regarded professionally) than any other lead before or after...Tom was definitely a collective creation...Not the bloody messiah...No offence, because I liked the Doctor (meaning the collective creation that the character has always been, not simply an actor reading lines) at that time as much as I like him regardless of exterior appearance.It was just a question of time before I materialised in this strange, naive dimension that you tellurians inhabit, and pass judgement on forces beyond your comprehension... Now, whose in for a real Gallifreyan jousting?The MasterPS Add Michael Jayston, Peter Cushing, Trevor Martin, David Banks, Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Broadbent, Richard E. Grant, David Sands, Joanna Lumley & Lennie Henry to that list of visual medium Doctors (for starters)...Let's not get into the literary ones, for your soul's sake...

The things the 'Dr W' did not find out, was the true meanings of:-"Green Room", "Teaser & Tormentor", "Gobo", "did shakespear write all of those works - or was he just the entrepreneur/producer promoter?" and more importantly - was the first lighting technicain realy the Apparaler?I wonder if the Tardis is still on Blackpool's Golen Mile, though it probably costs more then a 2 quid a trip now?Or was it just another illumination?

Emily,> Various producers, director and writers worked on Tom Baker's> era.Clearly there were numerous people who were instrumental in 'constructing' the Tom Baker era over his seven year reign...I was referring specifically to the initial combination that established Tom Baker's successful career in the series, namely the team of Philip Hinchcliffe, Robert Holmes, Ian Marter & Elisabeth Sladen. This is not to take anything away from Baker's remarkably versatile acting ability, nor from the work of other team players who took over, but the cohesion of this particular team is indesputable relative to the whole series.> And you missed David Banks, who stepped into the Doctor's stage> role for a couple of performances in The Ultimate Adventure.I listed 'Cyberleader' David Banks actually...look again...but I did miss Richard Hurndall...Philip Hinchcliffe, Robert Holmes, Douglas Camfield, Graeme Harper, Robert Banks Stewart, Christopher Baker, George Gallacio and Christopher Barry all played 'still photo images' of previous Doctors in 'The Brain of Morbius', but their legitimacy can probably be disputed. Adrian Gibbs played the Doctor in his 'out-of-phase' Watcher incarnation.Nice chatting to you my dear. Must dash.The Master

Waterloo - I always thought it was Shepards Bush?

>> Waterloo - I always thought it was Shepards Bush?> I was speaking metaphorically...ugh...humans!

But the credit for casting Tom Baker has to go to producer Barry Letts, who produced most of Pertwee's era, and Baker's first story Robot.

OK, you did list David Banks, but how could forget Richard Hurndall who played the First Doctor in The Five Doctors?

Hello there Emily,> OK, you did list David Banks, but how could (you) forget Richard Hurndall> who played the First Doctor in The Five Doctors?Better late than never...About Tom Baker's casting, we have Head of Serials Bill Slater to thank for that really. He was the one that urged Barry Letts to audition him for the role of the Doctor...Letts had other irons in the fire at the time, namely Graham Crowden ('A Very Peculiar Practice' and Soldeed in 'The Horns of Nimon'). Infact if several other contenders chosen by Letts hadn't fallen through then Baker would not have been in the running. Script Editor Terrance Dicks was also involved directly in the casting - by the way I would put Dicks and Letts down as the second most successful production team combination in WHO history...Cheers,Sir Giles Estram

heheThere's a message amongst all of this for you, Emily.You wrote a while ago asking about some of the people you had worked with over the years - and received no response.Now if only your first post had proclaimed "The Gimp from Galafrey is dead! Long live the New Generation!"....:)*changes subject**shows utter ignorance of all things Who-ish"does anyone know of any stage adaptations of Doctor Who episodes?CheersGrant

> woah! now you are treading on sacred ground. blasphemous comments> about the golden hey-day of Dr Who? pistols at dawn if you don't retract> that oneAfter your defilement of Bohemian Rhapsody recently, I decided it was time to stomp on some lesser gods!! :)And look what I wrought..... oops.Signed,Lot's Midwife.

Lot's Midwife,In the beginning was the word, and the word was Sydney (followed closely by Newman), and the word became a series, and it was to be known as 'Doctor Who'. And thus the strangest of theme tunes reverberated, and a blue box appeared...Bohemian Rhapsody? A good description of 'Doctor Who' actually, conceptually and stylistically...I think Freddy would've approved of my free association.Lesser God? You have a strange, incomprehensible belief system...The Master

EMAILNOTICES>noWhat about C.E. "Bunny" Webber and a host of others who had a hand in creating it?

> What about C.E. "Bunny" Webber and a host of others> who had a hand in creating it?Good old Bunny, or 'The Bun' as Fry & Laurie would say...We must not forget Baverstock, Flood, Wilson and Lambert...All part of the inner sanctum.The Master

EMAILNOTICES>no> Good old Bunny, or 'The Bun' as Fry & Laurie would say...>> We must not forget Baverstock, Flood, Wilson and Lambert...All> part of the inner sanctum.> The Master>Hail to the Lord Cant.I respect anyone who has as much apparent knowledge of such a wonderful TV series as Dr Who.Jeff "Agog" Watkins

Hello Jeff,Power to you too.What is this word, 'apparent'? Please explain...The Master

EMAILNOTICES>no> Power to you too.Oo Ta!-I wrote;>>I respect anyone who has as much apparent knowledge of such a wonderful TV series as Dr Who.-He wrote;> What is this word, 'apparent'? Please explain...Another way of saying Virtual (as in Computers.) You display this extensive knowledge via the Faceless connection of the Internet and it's fine and great. But who can tell if have a ready reference nearby or not?Jeff "I like dis Game" Watkins

I will endeavour to cite bibliographical references for all information referred to from now on...And don't think for one nanosecond that I cannot..."a game within a game..."The Master