hobbit@sunybcs.UUCP (Thomas Pellitieri) (12/23/83)
This is in response to Dave Lukes' question as to what is being shown in
the states, and I feel it is also of general interest.
Most of us American viewers have only seen the first four seasons of Tom
Baker (from "Robot" to "The Invasion of Time"). Now, I am happy to report,
we have a chance to see even more!!
Lionheart Productions, which is the distributor of Doctor Who for the states,
has released three new packages of serials. The first is the rest of the
Bakers (many of you have seen these) from "The Ribos Operation" to "Logopolis".
The second is all of the Peter Davison episodes of his first two (three?)
seasons: "Castrovalva" (the rest of the Master story involving the Doctor's
regeneration) to "The King's Daemons", which introduces yet another companion:
a robot named Kamelion, who is able to assume the likeness of any humanoid.
The third is a collection of the Jon Pertwee episodes, including "Day of the
Daleks", "The Three Doctors" (a must), "Death to the Daleks", "The Monster of
Peladon", and "The Planet of Spiders". I don't remember the rest of the title
involved, but it is not the complete set of Pertwee episodes.
The above information comes from the February 1984 issue of Fantasy Empire,
issue #8, an American Fanzine produced by fans (most notably, Jean Airey and
John Peel) about British Science Fiction/Fantasy in all media. (Mainly the
Doctor, but also The Prisoner, Blake's 7, and other items...)
Our British friends are still quite ahead of us, as they are seeing the
current Doctor with his current companions, and will get to see the sixth
Doctor probably before many here in the States and Canada see the Fifth!
(Yes, there is a mild hint of jealosy there.....8-) )
However, some of us did get a jump on the Britans this summer: at a
convention in Ohio (and possibly elsewhere) producer John Nathan-Turner
showed "Snakedance", which was suppose to air this season in England.
Happy Times and Places,
-The Parker Hobbit
a.k.a. Thomas R. Pellitieri
UUCP: {allegra, seismo}!rochester!rocksvax!sunybcs!hobbitbch@unc.UUCP (12/27/83)
I think Tom Pellitieri's source is a little out of date. We, in North Carolina are now on the "Key to Time" sequence for at least the third time round. (This is the series which includes "The Ribos Operation, The Pirate Planet, etc.) WUNC first started showing these about two to 2 1/2 years ago. The episode in which Tom Baker regenerates into Peter Davison was shown well over a year ago, and caused a bit of anguish until the Davison episodes which completed the series were shown at the beginning of this fall. Given that we have also been seeing the John Pertwee episodes this fall and some inside knowledge, I think the Lionheart Dr. Who package was actually sold about a year ago. Incidentally, we have seen "Snakedance" as well, this last November, so I suspect it is included in the Lionheart Package. As we have seen most, if not all, of the Tom Baker episodes in one way or another in this area over the last four or five years, I doubt that they were part of the Lionheart Package, though there may be renegotiation of old contracts. -- Byron Howes UNC - Chapel Hill (decvax!duke!unc!bch)