A Girl from Traken (Nyssa1968)

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 25

2013-06-17T19:20:00.003+01:00

I have a confession to make. I haven't re-watched a lot of the stories in the new series of Doctor Who. I have enjoyed most of them, but I just don't feel the same urge to watch and watch and watch, not like some very well loved old favourites in the original series. It's an age thing rather than any comment on the new.

I watched Smith and Jones over the weekend with intentions of watching the Shakespeare Code. I was going to see the Tempest at the Globe and sneakily take a photo of the Globe for that story. Problem was I got ill and had to miss it. But, instead, I quite enjoyed Smith and Jones.

It's a daft little tale of the Doctor on his lonesome since Rose had gone. He's spotted an anomaly and checks himself into hospital to investigate. The hospital is stolen and taken to the moon. Brilliant. Then the rhinoceros-like Judoon are introduced. Interstellar police for hire. Fantastic.

It kicks off with a wonderful bit of character establishment for Martha Jones, trainee doctor at the Royal Hope Hospital on the banks of the Thames opposite Westminster, and her family. I know Martha isn't a favourite of some fans, but I like her. I just didn't like all the stories she got. But, her intro is pretty neat. And I love the way she and the Doctor hit it off pretty much immediately.

Okay, I'm into the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and Jungian theory of personality (which isn't to say I think it's perfect, or explains everything). I find it all rather fascinating. Some of what's online is a bit of a giggle, including this Tumblr that argues Martha is an INTP. I'm an INTP. Neat.

The photo is of St Thomas' Hospital in London. It's a real hospital on the site where the Royal Hope is located. The production filmed most of the hospital scenes in some Cardiff locations, but put them on top of where St Thomas' is. So, this photo, which I took on Sunday morning this weekend just gone, is of a fictional place but in a real location. I love Doctor Who for this stuff.

Gosh. Twenty-five photos done. Twenty-five to go. This year is rocketing past.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 24

2013-06-10T20:54:00.000+01:00

I've been amazed by how many Doctor Who stories I've re-watched as part of this little project of mine that weren't shown as part of my childhood run of (not quite) endless repeats for various reasons.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs was another one and all because one episode was in black and white.

I was surprised when I first saw it. Sarah Jane Smith is such a good character in it. She drives the story along, even though she gets caught up in the rather naff plot.

Yes, the models of the dinosaurs are pretty woeful. Yet, there is a certain charm about them. I'm reminded of a wonderful fan video made by a mate many years ago when the first Jurassic Park was about to be released. Using one of the ads for Jurassic Park when all the characters are looking amazed at the dinosaurs, but it cuts to the models from this Doctor Who four-part serial. Brilliant stuff.

The photo is not of those models, but other dinosaurs that are endearing. These ones are Victorian models of what they thought dinosaurs looked like. They can be found in Crystal Palace park quite close to the railway station. I quite like to bring visitors from Sydney there - not usually on the beaten track.

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Addendum posted 13 June 2013

The lovely 0tralala tweeted me to point out his blog post of a few years ago to do with the Crystal Palace dinosaurs and the fact that so far they've appeared on the cover of Doctor Who Magazine twice. Twice! Marvellous stuff.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 23

2013-06-03T19:16:00.002+01:00

If there's one thing I'm really enjoying about this little project of mine it's the opportunity to watch Doctor Who stories I haven't seen in, oh, ages.

Like Attack of the Cybermen.

I can't actually remember watching it, which is odd when I consider just how much of a mega-fan I had been when seasons 18 to 21 were on. I just wasn't that excited by Colin Baker's Doctor. Not anti it, exactly (not like some Australian Doctor Who fans), just interested in other stuff...

Anyway, I decided to watch the DVD because it was set in London and I wanted to check out locations for it that might still be around. I've been indebted to a website of the details of locations. That and the knowledge of mates of mine who know this stuff.

Attack of the Cybermen is a strange little tale. In many ways, exactly the sort of stuff I now like of the show. But the body count is high. And quite a bit of it doesn't entirely make sense. But there is a bit of interesting character development (I'm thinking Lytton rather than Peri) and the Cryons are interesting. I watched the extras, too, which were interesting. Especially how they reveal the truth about who wrote the story - not the one who was credited. Yes, yes. I know most of you know that already.

I think I may have said something before about my thoughts on Cybermen. I love the idea of them. Really creepy and scary, especially since it's kind of like they mean well but then it all goes horribly wrong. I'm just not convinced the TV show captures that horror too well. Instead, the Cybermen are unsubtle brute force monsters. At least Attack of the Cybermen has a bash at showing what that creeping horror of transformation might be.

I took the photo on Saturday morning. It's of a building that would have been modern back in the 1980s when it was filmed. Certainly, in the scene it features in - at the start of episode one - there are far fewer trees out the front! The building hasn't changed that much otherwise. It's a background shot as seen from the car in which Lytton and his crook mates plan out the bank job. One of the odd things about the story are its locations - most of it was filmed in London's west (this location very close to Hammersmith tube - the Hammersmith & City Line one) but I get the impression it was set in London's east. There are the odd references to Totter's Lane.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 22

2013-05-27T19:08:00.000+01:00

Doctor Who and the Silurians is another of those stories that I first knew via the Target novelisations. In Australia we didn't get it until years after it was first broadcast in the UK. I can't remember off hand why that was but it might have been to do with not all of it being in colour. It was part of the first full season of Doctor Who in colour, but not all of them survive in the archives as such. More recently the re-colourisation process has improved immensely. The story at the time was also famous for being the first to have what the BBC called colour separation overlay (CSO) but the rest of the world called chromakey.

The story is the second to star Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and Caroline John as Dr Liz Shaw. It's the first real story with UNIT as the Doctor's base during the time of his banishment by the Time Lords to Earth. The story introduces the noble reptile Silurians as the past masters of Earth plotting to take their Earth back.

It's fascinating the way the Silurians as a 'monster' have been among those who have returned more than once - not only in the old series but the twenty-first century series as well. There was also the 'spin off' Sea Devils, who the Pertwee Doctor also encounters. The 1984 story Warriors of the Deep feature both. Some of the more recent Doctor Who stories have the wonderful Silurian Madam Vastra and her wife Jenny solving crime with a derring-do worthy of Holmes and Watson, or Steed and Mrs Gale (yes, more Cathy Gale than Emma Peel despite the wonderful joke in the The Crimson Horror that starred Diana Rigg who played Mrs Peel).

The photo I took on a gorgeously sunny Bank Holiday Monday (today). It's of Marylebone Station, London, roughly where the ticket barriers were in 1969 when the serial was filmed. This particular place appears in episode 5 when Masters passes through and people start to collapse ill with the virus the Silurians have unleashed. The station has changed a lot from when Doctor Who filmed there.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 21

2013-05-19T21:34:00.000+01:00

The Dalek Invasion of Earth is one of my favourite Doctor Who stories, especially of the old run. I first knew of it through the Peter Cushing movie. The one that also starred Bernard Cribbens who would return in the twenty-first century version of the series. The movie has comic moments, which is quite different from the original six part serial, although that was not devoid of humour. It's that that helps make it work.

The story is the second time we see the Daleks. This time their threat is much closer to home because they have successfully invaded Earth.

The photo is of one of the places that Barbara, Jenny and Dortmun desperately run through while trying to escape the Daleks.

Later the story says farewell to the first companion to leave the TARDIS crew. Susan. The enigmatic grand-daughter of the Doctor. She leaves to stay with resistance hero David Campbell (in the novelisation the character is called David Cameron).

I took it on Sunday morning, not too early. Patience can reward a photographer wanting to take a photo of a place without people. The lack of people in a place normally swarming with tourists and joggers lends it the similar creepy air that the Dalek Invasion of Earth conjures - a quiet, deserted London.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 20

2013-05-13T19:50:00.003+01:00

I remember the twentieth anniversary of Doctor Who almost as though it was yesterday. I remember the evening of 25 November 1983 when we could see the anniversary story so close to the actual anniversary. Thunderstorms raged around Sydney, the electrical discharges from the lightning affecting our little colour television. We had a video recorder, and my brother and I eagerly and carefully waited for it to start. We cursed every electronic stutter, but at least there was no black out.

Twenty years for a television program. That was some achievement back then in the 1980s, and it still is today. I remember a fanzine at roughly that time talking about how cool it was Blake's 7 had lasted four series when Star Trek had limped to an end after two and a half. That particular fanzine didn't mention that Doctor Who was turning twenty that year, and still in production thank you very much.

The Five Doctors is a strange old tale, really. Eminently quotable and wonderfully daft. A celebration of all that is... camp? ... about Doctor Who. So many old friends coming together to defeat a bunch of old enemies.

All Doctor Who fans know that not all the actors who played the Doctor could be there. Hartnell because he had passed away. But they showed a clip of him as the Doctor, and Richard Hurndall did a decent job of recreating the role. Tom Baker, too, didn't make it, so cleverly they used some clips of him and Lalla Ward as Romana from the never screened Shada. It's so cool that's been released on DVD now, along with a top notch novelisation by Gareth Roberts.

The picture is of Clare Bridge over the River Cam in Cambridge. It's in the area known as the Backs. I took it this Sunday just gone, a cool and (occasionally) sunny spring day. Tourists were out in force, and here are some on the punts punted by students. No sign of any time scoops today.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 19

2013-05-06T10:34:00.005+01:00

The Talons of Weng-Chiang is one of my favourite Doctor Who stories. It's part of a long run of stories more horror than science fiction, but with a bit of a sense of humour. At six parts, it doesn't flag either. I love the unstated weaving of the fact that the Ripper killings at around the same time and around the same general location were part of a pretty nasty wave of murders of women. Fog-shrouded London is one of the characters, too, which works.

Mr Sin, the Peking Homunculus, is one of my all-time favourite Doctor Who monsters.

Jago and Litefoot are wonderful characters, too, but there are a surprisingly large number of additional speaking parts for characters who only appear once or twice. Quite a few of them women, but unfortunately it doesn't quite pass the Bechdel Test.

Even though it's Leela's third story, the character is still developing as part of that Pygmalion transformation project the Doctor's embarked on. Watching it again last night (the first time in a long time - I don't actually usually watch much Doctor Who these days) I was struck by how similar it was to the Cartmel project ten years or so later with the Doctor trying to 'tame' Ace. I see themes resonate between the scenes with Professor Litefoot and Leela in Talons, and particularly Control in Ghostlight.

But, the thing that mars it horribly is the dreadful racism. The casting of John Bennett as Li H'sen Chang is questionable given the number of good Chinese actors available in the UK at the time it was filmed. He does do a memorable job, though, and most of the credited other Chinese are played by Chinese actors. The comments by Jago, the police, other incidental characters, even Leela, are okay in the context of the time and their characterisation. Leela has apparently never seen any non-white human so some of her terminology, especially if she's picking up the casual racism of the Londoners, is explainable. It's the Doctor's language that is jaw-dropping.

I was also surprised by just how cavalier the Doctor is about his time and space travel.

The photograph is of a small row of houses between the Tate Modern art gallery and the reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. It's seen briefly in Talons part two when the Doctor leaves Litefoot and Leela to return to Litefoot's house. The sharp among you will realise that this spot is over the other side of the river from where the story is set (mostly in the Limehouse area of East London) and where most of the other exteriors were filmed (the Wapping area). Another location for Talons are the railway tunnels heading east from here towards London Bridge.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 18

2013-04-28T20:02:00.001+01:00

Forty-five years ago, when I was gestating in my mother's womb, Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Deborah Watling and the crew were recording scenes of the 1968 Doctor Who story Fury from the Deep on the Kent coast in and around Botany Bay.

Sadly, Fury from the Deep is one of those stories that's not available on DVD or video. Some photos exist, though. The audio exists and was released commercially, and Victor Pemberton wrote the novelisation for Target back in the day.

The story is notable for being Victoria's last as well as the sonic screwdriver's first.

It's also the one in which Victoria's screams turn out to be the thing that saves the world.

I've just realised how many times Doctor Who has featured the sea as someone from where monstrous things live and emerge. In this one, it's the seaweed, which is neat. One of those winning things about Doctor Who is when it takes something fairly every day and ordinary and makes it terrifying.

The picture I took today on a gorgeously cool but sunny day. I got the train from London to Broadstairs (if you're a Dickens fan then that's a great place to go, but be warned that on sunny days it gets packed quickly) and walked north along the beach to Botany Bay. I remember a few years ago walking the other way from Margate and seeing Botany Bay and going, 'Eh? What's that doing here?' Turns out it's named for the place in Australia because of the affiliation with smugglers and people being sent to the penal colony. I had no idea a Doctor Who story was partially filmed there, too. Anyway, I had the beach pretty much to myself for most of the way until I got to Margate. Margate seems to have had a little injection of new money since when I was last there. But it's still one of those English coastal towns that might have seen better days.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 17

2013-04-22T19:33:00.002+01:00

The Curse of Fenric is one of my favourite Doctor Who stories. It's not perfect. Some of the lines are barmy (like, what is with the chatting up between Ace and the British Marine?) and some of the fights are plainly staged. Of course, production did suffer from the weather being uncooperative. If I remember correctly, the day they filmed most of the storm scenes was gorgeously sunny.

What I love about the story is that it's the first time in Doctor Who's long history even then (26 years) that they visit the second World War. Not only that, they do it from the point of view of Britain's secret war (Judson's work is based very heavily on the true story of Alan Turing at Bletchley Park. The novelisation of Curse of Fenric included that Millington and Judson had a relationship. Turing was, of course, gay. I would have been happy with just that, but of course they also threw in vampires (neatly called haemovores, geddit?), Viking settlement in Britain, the meaning of faith and the tension of the Soviet Union being an ally when people must have known the pre-war enmity must resume once the Nazis were defeated.

There is a reference in the story that the coastal area where it's set is where in the stories Dracula came to the British Isles. Knowing Bram Stoker's Dracula, that's actually Whitby, a place I've also visited (and love). It wasn't filmed there, though. The production team made a trip to the Dorset coast and focussed some of the scenes on Lulworth Cove near Durdle Door. They filmed from 18 to 20 April 1989.

I was absolutely delighted when I saw that a walking group for women had as one of their holidays a weekend trip to Lulworth Cove. A few years ago I tried to book, but it was full. Then the scheduled holidays conflicted with my diary. Finally, this year, a match. I booked before I set on doing this series of blogs. I'm not really a believer in synchronicity (what about all the times things don't go together?), but given that I managed to actually book the anniversary of when they filmed there as well!!

The picture I took on Friday, 19 April 2013. We had gone for a two-hour walk from the fields that surround Lulworth, skirting the army camp (closed this weekend just gone; it was not where the army camp scenes of Fenric were filmed) and heading down to the cove.

This is the second Walking Women holiday I've done, and I'll happily promote them to women who'd like to check out group holidays in the UK and around the world. Both I've really enjoyed. Of course it depends on the groups that come together, and maybe I've been lucky. But listening to the other women - who have ranged in age from their twenties to their eighties - it seems that good groups tend to be the norm. Maybe it's because the type of British women who like walking tend to be fairly easy going and naturally polite, with nothing to prove but just wanting to have a relaxing weekend (often taking a break from caring responsibilities). Both groups I've been on have been mixed gay/straight and no one seems to care either way. Everyone has been so accommodating and interesting. So lovely. (This is a genuine recommendation, by the way. I'm not being paid or anything.)

Things I have learned since posting a few pictures to Twitter:

JNT was referred to by some as Lana Turner and the scene when East End evacuees Jean and Phyllis name their favourite stars their homage to Lana Turner was apparently about JNT.

The sea in this part of the Dorset Coast is the beautiful azure it is because of the chalk.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 16

2013-04-15T20:16:00.002+01:00

Apparently, quite a few fans didn't like the story Fear Her.

I did.

There. Said it.

I have only watched it the once, back when it was first aired in London on 24 June 2006, about six years before the actual Olympics were to be held in London. I remember it being fun, and a bit scary, and the climactic scene was clearly allegorical. A bit of fun. Uplifting fun.

The Olympics came, and went, and were fun. Complicated, which I've blogged about before.

On Saturday a friend got tickets to see the progress on the Olympic Park site. It was interesting to see how those buildings that were only ever meant to have been temporary had either gone, or were the scaffolding skeletons of what they had been. The stadium - pictured - was losing its seats. The Aquatic Centre losing many, many seats. It'll be interesting to see how it develops by next year when things start to open up for the public again.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 15

2013-04-08T20:57:00.002+01:00

It had been five years since the Daleks had properly appeared in Doctor Who when script writer Eric Saward and producer John Nathan Turner brought them back in Resurrection of the Daleks. The tale aired in the UK for the first time in February 1984 and was Tegan's last story. It was written as four 25 minute parts but aired in two 45 minute slots.

The story is set simultaneously in contemporary London and on a prison space ship with one prisoner - Davros. The story involves time travel, battles, murder by people dressed as police officers, torture (with flashback), maniacal cloning plans and Daleks in London.

No wonder Tegan wanted to give up travelling with the Doctor with all that violence. Frankly, it was a miracle it was aired intact in her native Australia (the Caves of Androzani, also from that season, infamously was cut).

Part of the tale was shot and set near Tower Bridge, on the south side of the Thames. The place was extensively done up and gentrified (perhaps yuppified is a better term) during the 1980s shortly after Doctor Who had filmed there. While some of the external buildings of Butler's Wharf remain similar to what was, stairs down to the beach (yes, the Thames at low tide does have beaches!) have gone.

I took this photo this evening from Tower Bridge.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 14

2013-04-02T13:01:00.003+01:00

Doctor Who is, as Andrew Smith pointed out on Twitter this weekend, very good at using the everyday but new to good effect. They used the then new Post Office Tower in the The War Machines, which I blogged about earlier this year.

Saturday's episode, the Bells of St John's (dyswtdt?), was set partially in the Shard. In fact, part of it involves the Doctor driving a Triumph motorbike up its side (from the road where I took this photo, in fact). Great fun. The Shard is a new addition to London's skyline. It's smack bang on London Bridge station and while visible from much of London it strangely doesn't dominate the cityscape. In part I think that's because while it's among the tallest buildings in the world it isn't surrounded by other tall buildings. I find the way one can play with perspective around it really fascinating.

This photo is a day late in going up (gasp!). That's because I was in Bradford over Easter at the national British SF convention which has the umbrella name of EasterCon. This particular one was called EightSquared, and it was fab. A few hundred people crammed into the main hall on Saturday evening to watch Doctor Who return fresh and new to our TV screens in this, its fiftieth year. I was on a panel on the Friday evening about Doctor Who, which also had a chap who had avidly watched An Unearthly Child on its first broadcast, as well as a New Who fan. What I adored was the love our audience had for it, in all its guises. While Doctor Who fans were there at EasterCon, EasterCon is not a Doctor Who convention. It's very much about SF in all its media, with a large contingent of folk who love the written word of SF. They are not uncritical, but I think their perspective is generally more like mine. I love the series, even when I sometimes get a little annoyed at where it doesn't quite stretch to its potential. One chap in the audience for the panel said that he learned some time ago that part of the great thing about Doctor Who is is that if you don't like that particular Doctor, or companion/s, or style, it will change. Quite possibly to a combination that you like but that others won't.

I took this photo this morning with the sun shining.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 13

2013-03-25T20:05:00.001Z

Terror of the Autons was another of those Doctor Who stories that I didn't get to see during the first few runs of the Jon Pertwee era. It was one of those stories deemed too adult for us Aussie kids. So, I read of the story via the Target novelisations and Jean-Marc L'Officier's Programme Guides. When I did get to see it, I must say I was just a little bit disappointed by the plastic sofa and doll that kill.

The Master, played by Roger Delgado, was fantastic.

The story is also the one that introduces the wonderful Katy Manning as Jo Grant. Such a change in character from Liz Shaw, who is one of my favourite companions. The whole feel is very different from Season 8, in fact. A jolt, in many ways.

But, that's one of the wonderful things about Doctor Who.

Terror of the Autons brings back the Nestene consciousness, this time being used by the Master in his nefarious plans. One of the creepiest moments has to be the use of plastic daffodils in a promotional campaign. The reality is that the daffodils spit a clear plastic film over the mouth and nose of its victims, killing them. Nasty, nasty stuff, and one reason why I always feel a little bit uneasy at the anti-cancer campaign that uses daffodils... (but, yet, it is a good cause).

The photo is of a daffodil in London's Green Park. The colours bely the fact that the day I took it - this Sunday just gone - was freezing cold, with flecks of snow dancing around. Not really settling anywhere.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 12

2013-03-18T20:16:00.000Z

Ah, Doctor Who anniversary specials.

I was five when the first one happened. The Three Doctors. I don't remember the first time I saw that one. It's one I have a soft spot for.

I was fifteen when the second anniversary special aired. The wonderful Five Doctors. I remember that one very well, excitedly wishing that a spectacular thunder and lightning storm lashing Sydney wouldn't result in a power cut. It didn't, but the video recording my brother and I made did suffer from static rushes every so often. Like many Doctor Who fans of my generation, I love the story.

The thirtieth anniversary special was an odd little number. Doctor Who wasn't in regular production on TV, of course, but a story was pulled together regardless. This one for charity. It also featured new 3D technology, and linked Doctor Who with EastEnders.

As a story, Dimensions in Time does not make a helluva lot of sense. But, it is a lot of fun.

A lot of the action took place around the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, where the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) arrive. Not that long after the special was filmed, a fire all but destroyed the place. It took quite some time for the place to be rebuilt. It opened up again last year and has given a lift to the area around the river in what's now a Royal Borough.

The photo I took today in a break in the rain. It's of one of the Cutty Sark's masts.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 11

2013-03-11T19:13:00.002Z

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors. He ruled from 54 to 68 when he committed suicide.

His reputation is understood from Latin writers Tacitus and Suetonius, who may have exaggerated some of the excesses of the first Roman emperors.

During July 64 a great fire ripped through Rome destroying much of it. The story goes that Nero was responsible because he conveniently used the destruction to rebuild some amazing parts of the ancient city. The other part of the story goes that he fiddled while the city burned. As any pedantic bore will tell you, the Romans had no fiddles back then. More interesting people will state that it may have been a lyre he played.

Back in 1965 Doctor Who still oscillated between 'science fiction' and 'history' stories, give or take. The Romans, which is the collective name for episodes "The Slave Traders", "All Roads Lead to Rome", "Conspiracy" and "Inferno", was one of the "historical" stories. It was also a comedy in the vein of the Carry On... and the like. It's tops fun and one of my favourite Hartnell stories. Of course it also has some wonderful moments of romance between Ian and Barbara and also some blunt scenes to do with galley slaves.

The picture is a coin of Nero displayed at the Colosseum in Rome. I took it when I was there recently. Nero was mentioned frequently during the short time I was there, but not in connection to his appearance in Doctor Who. One of the rare historical figures to appear in the series.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 10

2013-03-04T20:49:00.000Z

The Mark of the Rani is a story first aired in the UK during 1985. I must confess to taking a bit of a break from being a fan back then. I had loved seasons 18, 19 and 20 but my love of the series had started to wane a little. In part it was my fickle teen years. There was other sci-fi to consume. To read, to watch, to write.

I spent some months living in the UK during 1984. As luck would have it, I watched Planet of Fire, Caves of Androzani and Twin Dilemma on their first BBC TV transmissions. I also saw quite a bit of the fuss surrounding Colin Baker's arrival in the role. I remember he seemed quite fun and pleasant on those shows. Then the character appeared and let's just say I wasn't enamoured. But, yet, I was still a fan so I still watched it.

Mark of the Rani was enjoyable enough and it was nice to see an historical figure or two in an otherwise daft plot involving the two renegade Time Lords, the Master and the Rani. It also has that extraordinary scene of a character turning into a pantomime tree.

One of the historical figures who features is George Stephenson. In 1829 George Stephenson built the Rocket, seen in modified form at London's Science Museum. I took this photo on Sunday just gone. I love the Science Museum and could spend hours wandering about looking at the models and things they have.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 9

2013-02-25T22:41:00.002Z

Doctor Who has always been a mix of science fiction, fantasy, history and adventure. Occasionally morality is explored, such as when Barbara Wright is horrified about being part of the mass human sacrifice the Aztecs performed. She wanted to interfere in human history; the first Doctor stopped her.

The eleventh Doctor story Fires of Pompeii saw Donna Noble want to stop some Pompeians they had just met and befriended from dying in the horror of the volcanic eruption of 79 AD. I won't spoil you as to what happens... but, it's a fun story and it also has come fairly impressive monsters in it.

The photo is of Vesuvius, an active volcano in the Italian area now close to Naples (Napoli). Vesuvius is now half the size of what it was when it erupted in 79. The ruins are of one of the temples in Pompeii. I took the photo this last Sunday while on a tour of the site that also took in the museum in Naples that also houses an impressive array of mosaics, frescos and various objects of life. It also houses a little section of erotica and phallic symbols. Pompeii itself is extraordinary. Truly, a city buried and pretty much frozen in time. The few plaster casts of people caught where they died and were buried are humbling.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 8

2013-02-18T19:33:00.000Z

The Leisure Hive was the first Doctor Who story that I remember avidly looking forward to. I remember the new opening credits with the new electronic version of the theme music. The new logo. The Doctor's new outfit.

All this because of a new producer at the helm. John Nathan Turner. Little did we know then back in 1980 that he would stay with the show until 1989, and brought it back for various specials including the 1993 anniversary special.

I was a young teenager when the Leisure Hive started, slightly later, in Australia where I lived at the time. A Doctor Who fan who had started to go to fan events and read fanzines, seriously discovering fandom. That was why I was aware of change in the air with season 18; even knew there were seasons now.

The other thing was that it marked the end of a bit of a drought of Doctor Who. For years as I was growing up the ABC used to show Doctor Who quite regularly, only stopping for stories cut for being not suitable for children. Then they went on a repeat cycle of Jon Pertwee and early Tom Baker stories. So, it was with a lot of expectation that my brother and I sat in front of our little television to watch the new story.... which started with that loooooooong panning shot of Brighton's pebble beach in the winter. Of lots and lots and lots of deck chairs and the sound of snoring. Then the TARDIS, and Tom in his new outfit.

Brighton is south of London and famous for its pebble beach, piers and pavilion. It's now famous for it's yearly gay pride festival. I've only been once, but loved it.

Quite a few Doctor Who people live there, or nearby. Famously, JNT did.

I took the photo in this blog on Sunday morning, a sunny but cold winter's day. I took the first train down from London Bridge. I didn't stay (an appointment back in the smoke that evening) but grinned at the number of people heading to the sun and sea. No deck chairs. No TARDIS.

...but news of Daleks on Westminster Bridge.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 7

2013-02-11T21:10:00.004Z

The Tower of London is one of those buildings that define London to me. I loved it as a child and I still love it. I'm a member of the Royal Palaces and strongly recommend visitors to London who are staying for a little while to buy a year's membership because it will get you into the Tower, Hampton Court Palace (two palaces in one, really!), Kensington Palace and a few other fab places for a lot less than if you went without membership. (Note, though, that there may be other competitive deals, some available before you get to the UK. Okay, travel ad over. It's not like this blog is sponsored, or anything...)

The place has been mentioned in Doctor Who in passing, a still apparently used as a backdrop in the Web of Fear and been the place where a few of the audio adventures were set.

More recently it has featured as the clever hiding place for UNIT HQ. First seen in the marvellous Christmas romp, The Christmas Invasion and later in various Matt Smith stories.

The photo was taken on this Sunday just past. Cold, damp and pre-snow. As I took the photo a small military procession piped past and I was delighted to see one of the very few female Chelsea Pensioners among their number.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 6

2013-02-04T21:00:00.002Z

"The Post Office Tower attempts to take over the Earth by way of about half-a-dozen armoured dustbin trucks."

That is a one sentence summary of the plot of the War Machines, the 1966 serial all about the evil computer WOTAN housed in the relatively new Post Office Tower. There's a few things that make the story stand out as an oddity.

For a start, the Doctor is referred to as "Doctor Who" by WOTAN.

Dodo disappears; Ben and Polly appear in the Inferno nightclub.

According to Howe and Walker's Doctor Who: The Television Companion this is the first story positively set in the year it was broadcast.

It's an insanely odd story but I quite enjoyed it. Hartnell is rather marvellous. So sad in an odd way to know there's not that many more episodes with him as the Doctor.

The photo is of the Post Office Tower, now known as the BT Tower. I took it this last Saturday with a bright blue sky.

Construction started on it in 1961 and it was bombed by the Provisional IRA in 1971. Public access ceased in 1981. Despite being officially secret until about 1993, it featured in numerous TV series and films including the Goodies (Kitten Kong), the film Bedazzled, Danger Mouse and the New Avengers. More recently it featured in both the graphic novel and film of V for Vendetta.

The tower is a landmark of the West End of London and was one of the tallest buildings in London for a while. I always think of it as one of those reassuring landmarks and love the way it starred in Doctor Who all those years ago.

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The opening quote is from J.R. Southall's wonderful review of The War Machines, re-published in Outside In, edited by Robert Smith? and published by ATB. The book is a collection of 160 reviews of 160 Doctor Who stories from the old series by 160 writers. I wrote one, so this is a little plug.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 5

2013-01-28T21:32:00.001Z

Every fan of the original series of Doctor Who knows all about the long cancellation that started in 1989. After the false hope the US telemovie of 1996 would lead to a new series I've got to say the constant rumours of a new series being commissioned were treated cynically. At least by me.

Until Russell T. Davies started to be mentioned in connection. Along with credible sounding deals. The sources of these rumours were the people who would know.

At the time the rumours really started to intensify I was still living in Australia but actively exploring ways to move to the UK. My decision had to do with liking the place and having made a few friends over the years. Mostly Doctor Who fans, which shouldn't surprise anyone.

In July 2004 filming started on the new series. Photos were taken by mates who managed to find where it was filming. Suddenly, it was all real.

I emigrated to the UK in October of that same year. Nice timing, huh.

On 26 March 2005 Rose premiered on BBC1. I remember watching it with friends in London. Loving it. I remember there was a slash print doing the rounds on the net, but I missed it. Pleased I had because it meant I wasn't spoiled for the great fun ride that first episode promised.

Doctor Who was back - and incredibly popular. Not only loads of people watched it, but it was critically well-regarded.

There's a scene in Rose when Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) first realises the TARDIS can actually travel in space, and starts to realise just how alien the Doctor is. In that same scene, Rose shows that she's up for the adventure by guessing that the London Eye is precisely the thing the aliens (the Nestene consciousness) are using in their nefarious plans.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 4

2013-01-21T19:28:00.000Z

Half of my family heritage hails from Utrecht and Amsterdam, both in the Netherlands. I get that from my dad, who emigrated to Australia as a young lad with his family. As I grew up I was always fascinated by my Dutch half. I was curious about the land of water, cheese, clogs and windmills. Sadly, I didn't really get to learn terribly much until years later as an adult and I had moved to live in the UK. I got to work in Amsterdam (and live in the Hague) for about six months a few years ago. It was a terrific opportunity to learn so much about that quirky little orange-loving, sea-faring land (of which so much is water). I even got to learn the language, to an extent.

I also learned about the amazing annual festival that grips most of the country at the end of April. Called Konninginnedag, it celebrates the current Queen's birthday on the birthday of her mum. It also kind of celebrates the start of the northern spring. I've gone a few years now and had a terrific time each time. I wish I could go every year.

This photo is of a garden in Amsterdam filled with tulips in bloom and with a group of young Dutch people with typical Konninginnedag headwear.

Thirty years ago Doctor Who celebrated its twentieth anniversary by bringing back old enemies for the entire season. Arc of Infinity, written by Johnny Byrne and first aired in the UK in January 1983, was the story that kicked off the season. It brought back Omega, and introduced the world to the amazing Ergon. And there was the bright yellow socks of Tegan Jovanka's cousin Colin. Or was it his friend's? I can't remember.

I do rather enjoy Arc, despite the fact that the story is a bit all over the place and the rice crispies are a bit mad. I enjoy the bits on Gallifrey, and I remember as a teenager being flummoxed by the cliff hanger when the Doctor was shot. I remember it as brutal rather than clever, which actually still works.

I remember being excited about how Doctor Who the production had gone travelling - and to Amsterdam, no less!

Yes, this is one of my five photos I took on a previous occasion. I was ill over the weekend, and snow hit London, and, well... you don't need to know all that.

50 Photos for Doctor Who: 3

2013-01-14T18:32:00.000Z

I was born in 1968, the year the Invasion went out. I saw it first about seven years ago when it first came out on DVD. Having been slightly disappointed by many of the Doctor Who stories starring Patrick Troughton I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. It's not that I don't like Troughton - I adore his portrayal - but the actual stories I've seen just don't quite do it for me. Perhaps it's an expectation thing: too many are supposed to be classics, the perfect Doctor Who story, that when I finally watch one it just doesn't live up to what I'm expecting.

The Invasion, however, did. It's a terrific romp over eight episodes. The Cybermen are in it and terrific in it, which is another thing... I love the idea of the Cybermen, but rarely do I think: yes, that story has nailed just precisely how scary the Cybermen are. Too many times the story makes the Cybermen degenerate into the monster of the week. Perhaps that's because they're more of a literary monster - what we might become if we insist on replacing all our degenerating limbs and parts (dyswidt?)

The Cybermen do yomp about London in the Invasion, famously around where this picture was taken. It's of the modern steps leading from the Thames to St Paul's. The day I took this photo (Sunday just gone) it was cold and threatening snow. The guy at the top of the stairs is an eastern European who roasts nuts for tourists and the like. He's at the entrance to the Millennium Bridge, the building of which changed the landscape around these parts from what it was like when the Invasion was filmed here.

50 photos for Doctor Who: 2

2013-01-07T19:32:00.000Z

Back in 1996, Doctor Who had been off our TV screens for around about seven years. Rumours had circulated repeatedly about options for a new series, or a movie. Instead we had to deal with new comics in the Doctor Who Magazine and a few new novels each month or so from Virgin Books.

Yeah, life wasn't so bad, really. Some of the best stories under the label Doctor Who were published back then. Some authors were fairly well established in fan circles: Paul Cornell, Kate Orman, Gareth Roberts... Others had been involved with the series before: Terrance Dicks, Ben Aaronovitch, Marc Platt and Andrew Cartmel. Some people became fans of the books - I did - and others could take or leave them.

But, really, all of us hankered for the day when Doctor Who would return to our TV screens.

November 1996 and US TV screened a 90 minute movie called simply Doctor Who (although it was also known as The Enemy Within, or just the telemovie, or TVM). It starred Paul McGann (who later came back to voice adventures produced by Big Finish) and various American actors. In a nice touch, Sylvester McCoy returned for the regeneration.

The TVM was met with mixed feelings. I personally don't mind much of it, though I certainly recognise its flaws.

Anyways, the photograph is one of my five 'cheats'. I'm allowing myself five 'cheat' photos over the next eleven months to incorporate photos I've taken of Doctor Who related places over the years in places I'm not going to get to (again) during the course of this project. This project doesn't have a budget, so, you know. Go with me.

The photo is of China Town in San Francisco, USA. I visited in February 2010 and the place was in the throes of Chinese New Year at the time. It was a pretty cool place.

Quite a bit of the TVM was set in San Francisco's China Town although it was filmed in Canada. So, this photo is also one of those that's where a Doctor Who story was set rather than actually filmed. The opposite of the first photo.

50 photos for Doctor Who: 1

2013-01-01T18:20:00.000Z

1 January 2013

This year as most of you will know is the fiftieth anniversary of a BBC telly show called Doctor Who. You'll also know that I'm a bit of a fan of the show. I also take the odd photograph. This morning, being the first day of a new year (according to the Gregorian calendar), I was thinking about what little project I might do this year. Something different, something maybe connected to Doctor Who's birthday.

I hit upon it. Fifty photos of people and places to do with Doctor Who.

New photos, taken by me. Subjects chosen by me. Posted here with a few words about why and what they are. They'll be up every six to seven days until 23 November 2013.

First up, a snap of the Southbank Centre, which featured in the 1973 serial Frontier in Space. It was the future and the concrete place on the southern banks of the Thames worked well as a city where the Doctor and Jo end up. They meet the Master for what will turn out to be the last time. Well, for a while at least.

I knew the story from the Target novelisation. It was one of the stories that weren't shown in the repeat cycle we in Australia were treated to in the 1970s and 1980s. I quite liked it the first time I saw it although it is a bit ponderous.