Part II, Chapter III: "Are You Sitting Comfortably?"
“For me, the experience was very strange. I’ve been a fan for all of my life, so when on that Sunday, we were all gathered around the television the moment we heard that familiar theme start. We all knew it would be different now though, well, it was being made by us Americans now, things were going to change of course. But most importantly, I would be on it.”
- Tom Hanks, taken from
An Adventure in Space and Time.
The return of
Doctor Who to the television had been greatly anticipated by its fans. Of those who were planning on watching the show, almost all would recognise one of the three principal cast members. In particular, the presence of Denise Crosby would bring many fans over from
Star Trek, which had featured her until very recently.
In contrast to
The Next Generation,
Doctor Who had a small main cast, only three to
The Next Generation’s nine for Season 1. In addition, the majority of aliens in
Doctor Who were portrayed in suits of some sort, which were more reusable, and often cheaper in the long run, than the prosthetics and make-up used on shows like
Star Trek. [1]
These factors, along with many others, would result in
Doctor Who having a noticeably greater budget per episode than its main rival. In some cases this would be spent on better effects or more convincing sets, but the majority of the time, it would be used to attract guest stars, as
Doctor Who had done during its original run with the BBC. Despite this, most small parts would be played by relative unknowns, as was common. Many actors and actresses would cite
Doctor Who as the place that they “got started”. [2]
Season 22 was to contain the 25th Anniversary special, titled
The Two Doctors, and would feature the return of the Second Doctor and Jaime McCrimmon. The first episode of the story would become notable among fan circles for featuring the song “Blowin in the Wind”, released by Bob Dylan in 1963, as the story is set in that year. Bob Dylan was reportedly a fan of the show, and allowed the song to be featured royalty-free. [3]
Season 22 of
Doctor Who first aired on Sunday May 15th 1988, and was the first season of the “revival series”, as well as the first to be broadcast by a network other than the BBC.
List of Episodes of Season 22 of Doctor Who: [4]
- New Beginnings (Part 1)
- New Beginnings (Part 2)
- Straight on Until Morning (Part 1)
- Straight on Until Morning (Part 2)
- Behind the Times (Part 1)
- Behind the Times (Part 2)
- The Mark of the Rani (Part 1)
- The Mark of the Rani (Part 2)
- That Sinking Feeling (Part 1)
- That Sinking Feeling (Part 2)
- Phobos (Part 1)
- Phobos (Part 2)
- Revelation of the Daleks (Part 1)
- Revelation of the Daleks (Part 2)
- The Rotan Game (Part 1)
- The Rotan Game (Part 2)
- Blood and Fire (Part 1)
- Blood and Fire (Part 2)
- Entropy (Part 1)
- Entropy (Part 2)
- Echoes
- The Blood of the Zygons (Part 1)
- The Blood of the Zygons (Part 2)
- The Two Doctors (Part 1)
- The Two Doctors (Part 2)
- The Two Doctors (Part 3)
Cast of Season 22 of Doctor Who:
- The Seventh Doctor – Hugh Laurie
- Ace – Denise Crosby
- Jim Baines – Tom Hanks
- The Master – Anthony Ainley
- The Rani- Madeline Kahn
Season 22 would be generally well received by fans and critics alike. While the writing of certain episodes would be met with criticism, there was little aimed at the actors themselves. Some critics felt that the longer season detracted from the quality somewhat, though most fans were happy to be receiving twice as much
Doctor Who per season than before.
Most episodes would be judged as “good, but not outstanding”. An exception to this would be
Blood and Fire, which would prove to divide fans, though not for its quality.
Blood and Fire featured the first homosexual relationship in
Doctor Who, and main stream science fiction. The episode was accompanied by a message urging viewers to become a blood donor, with the story being a thinly veiled allegory for the ongoing AIDS epidemic, in particular, the public stigma surrounding the disease. Blood donorship would increase slightly in response to the episode, and it was cited as being the first example of “the science fiction community opening itself up as a place where LGB people were welcome”. [5]
Season 22 proved to be a resounding success, with average viewing figures on par with that of
Star Trek: The Next Generation. The warm reception, coupled with the strength of the show, would see two further seasons be commissioned, with all three principal cast members signing on for the two further seasons. [6]
[1] As previously stated, while Doctor Who has seemingly always had a smaller budget, it seems to be a less expensive show to produce. Many reasons, most already given.
[2] Keep your eyes on the guest stars in updates like the next, some of them aren't big names yet, but some will become that. As in OTL, many people will appear on Doctor Who before they're big, you'd be really surprised at the people to have been on.
[3] This story may be apocryphal, but I like it regardless. A little bit of fan-content interaction that I really like.
[4] Next update will have the plot summaries as well as synopses for New Beginnings, Blood and Fire, and The Two Doctors. It's difficult enough coming up with the names for the episodes, so I'll need a day to do them, plus I don't want to clutter this update.
[5] I don't see the episode as having a huge effect on the world, but it's going to be a very important episode. Put simply, it shows Trek that they can have these sort of characters, and that it won't kill the show, even though some fans bay be pushed away.
[6] While this is a longer stay than most companions, especially given the longer seasons, this is American television now. It will still see a faster cast turnaround than something like Star Trek though. Doctor Who survives through the fact that every actor can be replaced. This will keep salaries for the main cast down too, so we probably won't see wages like those earned by the cast of TNG in the last couple seasons, for a while at least.