Part I, Chapter VII: "Getting Up to Speed"
“When looking at the lead up to the ‘Golden Age of Sci-Fi’, it’s easy to get lost in everything that happened with Doctor Who in the early days. In reality, there was so much more happening in the world of popular culture.”
- Joss Whedon on the events that began the “Golden Age of Sci-Fi”, taken from
Where None Had Gone Before, a documentary on the prevalence of science fiction in popular culture. [1]
1983
1983 saw the end of one large science fiction story, and the seeming beginning of the end for another. In May 1983,
Revenge of the Jedi was released, seemingly finishing the saga. There was hope among many fans that this would not be the end, especially as the opening crawl had titled it as “Episode VI”. They would however, remain empty handed for a long while.
1983 saw
Doctor Who’s 20th anniversary, and with it, the special
The Five Doctors. It followed the penultimate season of the “classic” series, and saw all of the previous Doctors making an appearance, though the First Doctor was portrayed by Richard Hurndall, as William Hartnell had passed away. Tom Baker, who did not want to come back to film new scenes, was shown through footage taken from the unproduced story
Shada.
In 1983, the
Eurovision Song Contest was held in Munich, West Germany. The contest was won by Corrine Hermes, representing Luxembourg, with the song “Si la vie est cadeau”. [2]
1984
For
Doctor Who, 1984 is one of the most pivotal years. With the departure of Peter Davison, the classic series came to an end, and the future was mostly uncertain. While the rights would soon be bought up by Amblin Entertainment, it seemed to most fans at the time that it would be the end for their beloved franchise.
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock was released in 1984, and was met with mostly positive reviews, though less so than the previous entry.
The
Eurovision Song Contest was held in Luxembourg. It was won by The Herreys, representing Sweden, with their song “Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley”.
1985
1985 was a year of firsts and lasts. It saw the first American produced
Doctor Who film, with
Doctor Who: Back to the Future. It also saw the release of Norwegian group a-ha’s debut album,
Hunting High and Low.
Roger Moore retired from the role of James Bond with
A View to a Kill, citing age. Moore was 58 at the time of the film’s release, and holds the joint record of most films as James Bond, with Sean Connery.
In 1985, the Eurovision Song Contest was held in Gothenburg, Sweden. It marked a rare occasion in the contest, where the hosting country won. The winner was Kikki Danielson, representing Sweden, with the song “Bra vibrationer”. Despite their win, Sweden would pull out of hosting the following contest, citing financial concerns. As a result, the hosts would be the United Kingdom, who had, by this point, become the go-to host when the winning country pulled out. [3]
1986
In 1986, the Electric Light Orchestra released their final studio album,
Balance of Power. Balance of Power received mixed reviews, with many seeing it as too much of a deviation from their earlier works. Following this, ELO would disband, though Jeff Lynne would soon find work in producing. [4]
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was released in 1986, and soon after, Paramount would announce their intent to produce a new
Star Trek television series, set after the events of the films, following a new crew. The cast would not be announced until May 1987.
Doctor Who: The Cyber Invasion was also released in late 1986, marking the first time that
Doctor Who and
Star Trek had gone “head to head” with releases. Following the poor reception to the film, Amblin sold the rights to produce
Doctor Who media, and it seemed as though the franchise was in jeopardy once more.
Also in 1986, Timothy Dalton was announced as the new actor to portray James Bond. He was to debut in 1987’s
The Living Daylights, with the theme to be produced by A-ha.
In 1986, the
Eurovision Song Contest was held in Brighton, United Kingdom. Belgium would initially win the contest, with the song “J’aime la vie”, performed by Sandra Kim. At the time, it was believed that she was 15, but after the win, it was revealed that she was 13. In response, multiple countries appealed for her to be disqualified. The appeals were successful, and the win was given to Switzerland, who finished second with the song “Pas pour moi”, performed by Daniela Simmons. Following this, Belgium would not participate in protest for the next five years. [5]
[1] We'll start to see some more familiar names as the series goes on. I'll try not to give too much away in advance, but some things are inevitable without just lying to you in these updates, and I won't do that.
[2] I'm a big Eurovision fan. I won't give it its own updates, at least not for a while, but I figured that I might as well have a bit of fun it. No actual change in 1983, just establishing the format.
[3] First real change to Eurovision. It was a close one in 1985, so I've changed it a bit to make things interesting.
[4] As I've said before, Jeff Lynne will have a part to play in all of this, albeit a peripheral one. Also, I can't help but to include my favourite band ever, even if it is ending them here, with no reunion.
[5] Nearly happened in OTL. Switzerland appealed, but was rejected. Here, more counties feel that Belgium has circumvented the rules, even if it gave them no advantage. Belgium, understandably, are none too happy with this outcome.