AMERICAN TARDIS: A Site Dedicated to the Legendary British Sci-Fi Series:

WELCOME TO THE DOCTOR WHO PAGE FROM THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE DOCTOR WHO FROM THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE Back in the early to mid-1980's, my cousin told my brothers and I about a British Sci-Fi show, he had taken to watching, on our local PBS station. This was Doctor Who. I have never really considered myself a science fiction fan, having only really enjoyed the sci-fi of George Lucas' Star Wars movies and Arthur C Clarke's 2001 and 2010. However I found Doctor Who appealing, because of the element of time travel and the acting, which managed to often times do very well even in the midst of cheap special effects and less than stellar scripts. I think the greatness of Doctor Who lies in the performances of the actors involved. All the actors who have played the Doctor have had stage experience and unlike the United States, Great Britain has a strong tradition of theater acting. This quality acting to me was far superior to a lot of the flash and cheese factor that accompanies sci-fi series in the U.S., such as Star Trek. Granted I was fairly young at the time I first saw Doctor Who and admittedly didn't have the attention span to follow the program completely, however one Saturday afternoon I joined my cousin in his weekly viewing of the program and that began a interest in the program which has lasted for almost twenty years. The first story I ever saw was State of Decay, starring Tom Baker in the role as the Doctor. At the time only stories featuring Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, and Peter Davison, had actually been imported to the U.S. from the BBC. I was very taken by Tom Baker's portrayl as the eccentric time traveler and was hooked then on. Later I saw Jon Pertwee and like Tom Baker, I became a great fan of his stories, particularly the adventures featurning the UNIT organization and Roger Delgado's portrayl of the Master. The next Doctor I saw was Peter Davison, who although took some getting use to, eventually really grew on me. Then the unthinkable happened. Due to funding problems, the local PBS station cancelled Doctor Who. It was not until towards the late 1980's, that my eldest brother and I were able to view Doctor Who on another PBS station via satellite. By now the BBC had began importing stories from the early part of the series with William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton. Many of these stories were unfortunately junked by the BBC in the 1970's, as the BBC did not realize their commercial potential. By this time Doctor Who was starting to appear on video and these earlier episodes were in considerable demand by American audiences who had not seen the earlier Doctors. In 1989 the BBC discontinued Doctor Who, however stories from the last two Doctors, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy had now made their way to the U.S. by that time. Yet once the series came to an end in the UK, it eventually disappeared from many PBS stations. My brother James and I did see a limited number of Tom Baker stories on the Sci-Fi Network in the mid-1990's. Yet my interest in the program had wained and it was not until about two years ago, that I had a renewed interest in the program and started a video library of Doctor Who. In 1996 Fox Television in conjunction with the BBC, created a new Doctor Who movie starring outgoing Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, and new Doctor, Paul McGann. The movie was a Americanized version of Doctor Who, being set in San Francisco, rather than the traditional British locations. The aim was to get more American audiences interested in a new Doctor Who series or series of movies. However other than several British based Radio Dramas, the eighth Doctor, Paul McGann, has unfortunately not appeared in any more stories. The biggest problem with the Doctor Who Fox TV movie, was that it tried to take a British Sci-Fi series and Americanize it. Now what appeals to American and British audiences differs considerably and I think that if you are an American you are either going to like or dislike Doctor Who, pretty much instantaneously. I did not think that veering off from some basic elements of Doctor Who did much for Paul McGann, who was trying to find his feet in a role that was in flux. The other Doctors had a better time with this, because with the exception of Hartnell, the role had already been somewhat established. With McGann, he was trying to please a audience of traditional viewers and yet bow to commerical interests in selling the program to the U.S. Throughout the series, an emphasis on commercialism over quality has in many cases made the series suffer. Such as the premature departure of Colin Baker from the series. Thematically Doctor Who was doing fine when Colin Baker had the role and his abrupt exit was rather anti-climactic in comparison with Colin Baker's exciting and unexpected tenure as the Doctor. Essentially I think that Americans view the program differently than British viewers, because we see the shows after they have been viewed in Britain and unlike long time fans of the series, who may base the Doctor off of William Hartnell, we base the Doctor often times, off of Tom Baker or Jon Pertwee, because they were the first Doctors we knew. It is also true that the program is viewed more by children in the U.K. and more by adults here. Yet to me the best Doctor Who stories are those which are timeless. I believe that for instances The Dalek Invasion Of Earth, starring William Hartnell, and made back in 1965, is still a great story for any fan of Doctor Who. The same can be said about other stories as well. Be it Troughton's "The War Games", Pertwee's "The Time Monster", T. Baker's "The Invisible Enemy", Davison's "Enlightenment, C. Baker's "Trial Of A Time Lord", or Sylvester McCoy's "Rememberance Of The Daleks. Those are some stories I would recommend to viewers, new and familiar with the program. I would also encourage anyone who visits this site and is an enthusiast of Doctor Who, to write the BBC and persuade them to release many of the fine Doctor Who stories, which have never made their way to video. THE F I R S T DOCTOR as portrayed by the late William Hartnell THE S E C O N D DOCTOR as portrayed by the late Patrick Troughton THE T H I R D DOCTOR as portrayed by the late Jon Pertwee THE F O U R T H DOCTOR as portrayed by Tom Baker THE F I F T H DOCTOR as portrayed by Peter Davison THE S I X T H DOCTOR as portrayed by Colin Baker THE S E V E N T H DOCTOR as portrayed by Sylvester McCoy THE E I G H T H DOCTOR as portrayed by Paul McGann This site is respectfully dedicated to the memory of William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, and Jon Pertwee The recognized course of events pertaining to each incarnation of the Doctor are told according to what has been seen on television solely. Plots and different turns of events from both the CD, Radio, and Books, are not integrated into the profiles of the Doctors found here. These profiles are not meant to give the story away or explain things in excrutiating detail, but hopefully to pique the willing persons interest in the legacy of Doctor Who.

Doctor Who On The Web

The Official Doctor Who Website from the BBC
Episode Guide
Doctor Who Chronology
Link To Doctor Who News Site
Profile of the first Doctor and link to William Hartnell website
Profile of the second Doctor and link to Patrick Troughton website
Profile of the third Doctor and link to Jon Pertwee website
Profile of the fourth Doctor and link to Tom Baker website
Profile on the fifth Doctor and link to Peter Davison website
Profile on the sixth Doctor and link to unofficial Colin Baker Website
Profile of the seventh Doctor and link to Sylvester McCoy website
Profile of eighth Doctor and Paul McGann website
My Personal Website: On A Road Near The Edge
The Doctor's Companions
The Doctor's Enemies
Regeneration At A Glance
The Doctor Who Train
Matt Newland's Site dedicated to Doctor Who Night, reviews and profiles of sixth and seventh Doctors
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