I Love... 1973

By Wayne Jefferies

1973 was the 10th anniversary of Dr.Who, & also a wonderful & important year for me as far as the program is concerned. Although, I'd watched virtually every episode of Who since Season 7, I think 1973 was the year I became a real fan.

I'd been getting the Dr.Who annual every Christmas since 1971, & had previously had a toy Dalek & 'inherited' my Uncle's original 1964 Dalek Book, (my Uncle being only 8 years older than me), this was the year when I started taking an interest in past Dr.Who & amassing a 'collection' of sorts. It was mainly down to these things:

The Three Doctors & Planet of the Daleks, The Radio Times 10th Anniversary Special, & the publication of the first Target Novelizations in 1973.

Season 10's: 'The Three Doctors' gave me a tantalizing introduction to Patrick Troughton & William Hartnell, & I was especially fascinated by Hartnell. This was solidified by reading the first Target books: 'Dr.Who & The Daleks', & 'Dr.Who & The Zarbi'. For some reason I don't remember 'Dr.Who & The Crusade' very well. Perhaps the fact there were no monsters, or spaceships or alien planets in it. Right from that tender age, it was Science Fiction that captured my imagination, & I've always struggled to appreciate the historical stories. I'd always managed to get an early Dr.Who annual from the Hartnell days from my aforementioned uncle. There was something about that white haired old man who depicted in that old annual that really appealed to me. I also remember being totally fascinated in the character when I read the 'Dr.Who & the Zarbi' book. Of course, the 'Dr.Who & the Daleks' novel fuelled by interest in the Daleks, & 'Dr.Who & the Cybermen' gave me my first proper introduction to the silver giants. How fondly I remember those original issues with that big, bold, black font on the front!

One of my favourite characters from Who as a boy was The Master. I think i loved Delgado's Master almost as much as the Doctor, & if Season Ten's: 'Frontier In Space' wasn't exciting enough by bringing The Master together with my beloved Daleks, then the following story: 'Planet of the Daleks' really excited me & got me really into the Daleks. Although I'd first encountered them on screen in the previous season in 'Day of the 'Daleks', this was the story that sealed the Daleks in the highest echelons of my Dr.Who consciousness, Far more than 'Day of the Daleks' did. For a start there's quite a few more of them, which helps!....& the voices provided by Roy Skelton & Michael Wisher are about ten times more effective than the one in 'Day of the Daleks'. I was utterly enthralled by them! They are so much more manic & animated in 'Planet of the Daleks', & we see much more of the Dalek hierarchy from the Dalek Supreme, to the Section Leader & so on down. Also, the use of the trans-solar disc seemed to solidify the links between Dr.Who on tv, to the early Dalek mythos that I already knew from the 'TV Comic strips & 'Terry Nation's Dalek Book'.

In 1973 at the age of 10, my Mum & Dad took my sister & I to London for the first time. Obviously I was excited about not only going to London for the first time, but also going on a train for the first time too. We went to all kinds of places from the Tower of London, to the British Museum, to Buckingham Palace, & the Imperial War Museum (to indulge my boyhood interest in Tanks & Planes etc...). However, the excitement of all these things were totally overshadowed by the fact that when we returned to Paddington station to get the train home, i spotted the 'Radio Times: Dr.Who Tenth Anniversary Special', which I bought by begging my Dad to let me have next week's pocket money in advance, as I'd already spent almost everything of the current week's allowance. (In the end, my Dad bought the mag for me anyway, bless 'im!) So totally absorbed was i in this not so much a magazine as an 'event', that I was completely silent all the way home, as I lovingly studied page after page of Who history, & new pictures of monsters I had never even seen or heard of. My interest in the programme's past was seriously fuelled by the 10th Anniversary Special, which was something really unique in it's time. In these days of fandom & myriad merchandise, it's hard for younger fans to appreciate what a thing of wonder this magazine was!

From that point on I began seek out as much other stuff as I could get my hands on, including a little metal Tardis from the '60s & all the Hartnell annuals either from my Uncle or just older kids on the street or at school. I became from 1973 on; an avid collector of all the Target Books, & indeed any merchandise that became available from badges to jigsaws to comics & annuals. Years later, in my 35th year since I first saw Dr.Who, much of my boyhood collection is sadly gone. When my passion for music eventually overcame even Doctor Who, much of it was exchanged or swapped for records or music related mags or memorabilia. But it matters not, because the fond memories are always there, & I've since re-acquired a few important items via the wonders of e-Bay, & luckily for me that 10th Anniversary Special was re-printed not so long ago, & whenever I open it's pages, I'm transported right back the magical feeling on that train in that marvellous year of 1973.