Seriously to you older viewers how did you do this back in the day, how did you hold out before it was brought back in 2005?
The Great Doctor Who Drought of 2016
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Compared to Pre 2005, this is no great drought, it's just a short lived pause! 
I think for me, during the 90's when the show wasn't on at all, it coincided with all the stories coming out on video for the first time. It's what kept the interest going and there were also the spin off stories too like Downtime, etc and those non Who but related stuff like The Airzone solution etc
You also had the special releases like The Hartnell/Troughton Years Etc. (Oh, what a shame they never did a 'The Davison Years'
)
The 30th and 40th annversaries helped keep the show in the public eye and then there were the repeats of stories not yet released on BBC 2 and some of those had fab mini-documentaries like those that preceded Planet Of The Daleks. The Resistance is Useless Documentary was a bit weird though, hosted by some chap in an anorak.
There was also a season of stories featuring each Doctor up until that point. Again, some stories that hadn't been released at that time were featured as well.
So all in all there was plenty of who stuff to keep us going. Off course, it didn't make up for the lack of new episodes, was always pining for that but really, the so-called drought we have now is a picnic compared to the 16 years we had before. (TV Movie aside)
Just trying to think back to the 18 month hiatus back in 86 as well. Don't remember much about that at the time but at least after a while we knew the show was coming back even if it was over a year away(A bit like now) In the 90's we didn't have that luxury, we thought the show was probably gone for good.
I think for me, during the 90's when the show wasn't on at all, it coincided with all the stories coming out on video for the first time. It's what kept the interest going and there were also the spin off stories too like Downtime, etc and those non Who but related stuff like The Airzone solution etc
You also had the special releases like The Hartnell/Troughton Years Etc. (Oh, what a shame they never did a 'The Davison Years'
)The 30th and 40th annversaries helped keep the show in the public eye and then there were the repeats of stories not yet released on BBC 2 and some of those had fab mini-documentaries like those that preceded Planet Of The Daleks. The Resistance is Useless Documentary was a bit weird though, hosted by some chap in an anorak.
There was also a season of stories featuring each Doctor up until that point. Again, some stories that hadn't been released at that time were featured as well.
So all in all there was plenty of who stuff to keep us going. Off course, it didn't make up for the lack of new episodes, was always pining for that but really, the so-called drought we have now is a picnic compared to the 16 years we had before. (TV Movie aside)
Just trying to think back to the 18 month hiatus back in 86 as well. Don't remember much about that at the time but at least after a while we knew the show was coming back even if it was over a year away(A bit like now) In the 90's we didn't have that luxury, we thought the show was probably gone for good.
Originally Posted by daveyboy7472:
“Just trying to think back to the 18 month hiatus back in 86 as well. Don't remember much about that at the time but at least after a while we knew the show was coming back even if it was over a year away(A bit like now) In the 90's we didn't have that luxury, we thought the show was probably gone for good.
”
“Just trying to think back to the 18 month hiatus back in 86 as well. Don't remember much about that at the time but at least after a while we knew the show was coming back even if it was over a year away(A bit like now) In the 90's we didn't have that luxury, we thought the show was probably gone for good.
”
I can't believe I bought the 12 inch extended version of Doctor In Distress on vinyl off John Fitton back in '85.
I really don't know what I did to deserve such self-punishment.
Still, the 'Save The Doctor' sticker was nice.
Originally Posted by Brandon_Smith:
“Seriously to you older viewers how did you do this back in the day, how did you hold out before it was brought back in 2005?”
“Seriously to you older viewers how did you do this back in the day, how did you hold out before it was brought back in 2005?”
Originally Posted by daveyboy7472:
“Compared to Pre 2005, this is no great drought, it's just a short lived pause!”
“Compared to Pre 2005, this is no great drought, it's just a short lived pause!
”
I agree with Daveyboy this is just a temporary blip only four months until more new stuff comes along
.
You could always watch the huge back catalogue of classic Who or invest in Big Finish audios. Watch the Avengers, Blakes 7, Space 1999 if you need a fix of British sci-fi / fantasy.
I found a great podcast website http://www.bigblueboxpodcast.co.uk/ to get a weekly dose of Doctor Who love. Worth a listen
Originally Posted by Daniel Dare:
“I can't believe I bought the 12 inch extended version of Doctor In Distress on vinyl off John Fitton back in '85.
I really don't know what I did to deserve such self-punishment.
Still, the 'Save The Doctor' sticker was nice.”
“I can't believe I bought the 12 inch extended version of Doctor In Distress on vinyl off John Fitton back in '85.
I really don't know what I did to deserve such self-punishment.
Still, the 'Save The Doctor' sticker was nice.”
And that was just for the delay between Season 22 and 23!
I thought it was pretty tatty at the time, really, coming off Live Aid and the like so didn't purchase it. As for 1990-2004, I just assumed Who was an ex-series, False dawn McGann pilot aside. I'd drifted out of fandom and wasn't buying the magazine, so the Eccleston announcement came completely out of the blue for me! I was amazed and delighted. And now we've had Christopher, David, Matt, Peter C...and John effing Hurt. If you'd predicted that in the 90's, I'd have reached for my butterfly net.
Any delays these days? Ha. Luxury.
Originally Posted by Daniel Dare:
“I can't believe I bought the 12 inch extended version of Doctor In Distress on vinyl off John Fitton back in '85.
I really don't know what I did to deserve such self-punishment.
Still, the 'Save The Doctor' sticker was nice.”
“I can't believe I bought the 12 inch extended version of Doctor In Distress on vinyl off John Fitton back in '85.
I really don't know what I did to deserve such self-punishment.
Still, the 'Save The Doctor' sticker was nice.”
Well, just for the curious, here's a link for the above topic.
Watch at your peril!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phl5R-Ttj1w
Originally Posted by daveyboy7472:
“Just trying to think back to the 18 month hiatus back in 86 as well. Don't remember much about that at the time but at least after a while we knew the show was coming back even if it was over a year away(A bit like now)”
“Just trying to think back to the 18 month hiatus back in 86 as well. Don't remember much about that at the time but at least after a while we knew the show was coming back even if it was over a year away(A bit like now)”
Still, at least it came back completely refreshed and recovered all its lost viewers, instead of returning as the same-old-same-old from the same old producer and dying a death...
At least we know now it is coming back, and fairly soon.
When it was cancelled, we had to deal with what we thought was it's complete demise.
The movie was like an oasis in the desert - no wonder I love the Eighth Doctor so much.
When it was cancelled, we had to deal with what we thought was it's complete demise.
The movie was like an oasis in the desert - no wonder I love the Eighth Doctor so much.
Originally Posted by Michael_Eve:
“
Any delays these days? Ha. Luxury.”
“
Any delays these days? Ha. Luxury.”
I can imagine we bunch of classic series fans lounging, smoking cigars and rolling off our comparisons of yesteryear to today's concerns with this slight blip, just like the 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch.
"Luxury. We used to have to warm up telly's valves at three o'clock in the morning with hot coals, using our bare hands, clean the screen with our tongues, forced to listen to Mary Whitehouse whining down y'earhole, constant knocking from the TV Licence people at front door demanding tuppence every minute, then once the episode had finished, sent to an already sodden bed from the night before, where Dad would read us a horror story before beating us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were LUCKY!"
After seasons 8 and 9, I'm actually enjoying the break.
The Wikipedia page for season 9 is interesting - there's a whole section about critical acclaim and nothing about the decline in viewers. The season 8 page has a whole section about critical acclaim and a section about how the viewing figures were maintained.
The Wikipedia page for season 9 is interesting - there's a whole section about critical acclaim and nothing about the decline in viewers. The season 8 page has a whole section about critical acclaim and a section about how the viewing figures were maintained.
Originally Posted by Mulett:
“After seasons 8 and 9, I'm actually enjoying the break.”
“After seasons 8 and 9, I'm actually enjoying the break.”
The only problem being that, like after the last 18-month hiatus, the same old cast, producers and writers will return to make, "the same old same old."
Originally Posted by Isambard Brunel:
“The only problem being that, like after the last 18-month hiatus, the same old cast, producers and writers will return to make, "the same old same old."”
“The only problem being that, like after the last 18-month hiatus, the same old cast, producers and writers will return to make, "the same old same old."”
Yes, very true - although we do at least have a new companion to look forward to.
The 12th Doctor and Clara . . dear lord
It did'nt feel like a who drought during the 90s for me as we had the uk gold repeats and VHS releases to keep the intrest in the series
Originally Posted by Daniel Dare:
“I can imagine we bunch of classic series fans lounging, smoking cigars and rolling off our comparisons of yesteryear to today's concerns with this slight blip, just like the 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch.
"Luxury. We used to have to warm up telly's valves at three o'clock in the morning with hot coals, using our bare hands, clean the screen with our tongues, forced to listen to Mary Whitehouse whining down y'earhole, constant knocking from the TV Licence people at front door demanding tuppence every minute, then once the episode had finished, sent to an already sodden bed from the night before, where Dad would read us a horror story before beating us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were LUCKY!"”
“I can imagine we bunch of classic series fans lounging, smoking cigars and rolling off our comparisons of yesteryear to today's concerns with this slight blip, just like the 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch.
"Luxury. We used to have to warm up telly's valves at three o'clock in the morning with hot coals, using our bare hands, clean the screen with our tongues, forced to listen to Mary Whitehouse whining down y'earhole, constant knocking from the TV Licence people at front door demanding tuppence every minute, then once the episode had finished, sent to an already sodden bed from the night before, where Dad would read us a horror story before beating us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were LUCKY!"”
You had a telly?! Luxury. We'd have to go down to the local Radio Rentals in our rags and the nice lady in there who felt sorry for us would put it on with the Ceefax subtitles and we'd watch with our noses pressed to the window. Sometimes in Winter our noses got stuck and would have to stay there until a kind person came along and wrenched us free.
You tell the young fans that....they don't believe you.
Not missed it one bit tbh. Enjoying the break. Maybe by the spring will be looking forward to it but not feeling I am missing out at all.
Wouldn't have been on yet anyway - plenty of other TV shows about, thankfully.
*obligatory comment about how the show is rubbish*
*obligatory comment about how the show is rubbish*
I was saying earlier, the best show on the telly box. I have the theme tune as a ring tone. Be glad when it's back. I think it may watch a DVD boxset of it tomorrow
Originally Posted by Brandon_Smith:
“Seriously to you older viewers how did you do this back in the day, how did you hold out before it was brought back in 2005?”
“Seriously to you older viewers how did you do this back in the day, how did you hold out before it was brought back in 2005?”
For those of us around the 30s-mid 40s age range, the Wilderness Years part 1 was actually pretty "ace"
. There was a large part of Doctor Who's history that we'd never seen. Repeats were rare and home video was very new. So at the start of the 90s when the BBC were releasing stories on a bi-monthly then monthly basis we were getting "new" Doctor Who - we'd never seen these stories before. Then UK Gold got into the act and we had even more stories we'd never seen.Then we had an excellent book range in the New Adventures. I know there's a modern book range but the NA's, to me, are the pinnacle of non-TV Doctor Who creativity. After all, there were the breeding ground for New Who.
We had the two radio stories with Jon Pertwee - rare at the time and very exciting. And, for the more technical minded of us, there was this new thing called "The Internet" where we would moan about things
We had an annual pilgrimage to Longleat at the start of August where far too many people dressed up as the 4th Doctor in blistering heat. The fandom of the show during that era simply never let the show die.
I've such fond memories of the first wilderness years and it never felt like the show had gone away. The second wilderness years were different and by 1998 I think we'd accepted that it was the end and the moment hadn't been prepared for.
Originally Posted by Mulett:
“After seasons 8 and 9, I'm actually enjoying the break.
The Wikipedia page for season 9 is interesting - there's a whole section about critical acclaim and nothing about the decline in viewers. The season 8 page has a whole section about critical acclaim and a section about how the viewing figures were maintained.”
“After seasons 8 and 9, I'm actually enjoying the break.
The Wikipedia page for season 9 is interesting - there's a whole section about critical acclaim and nothing about the decline in viewers. The season 8 page has a whole section about critical acclaim and a section about how the viewing figures were maintained.”
Wikipedia is, when not being messed around with, a fact site, not a confirmation bias site. Sources are needed for such claims, yet the viewing figures don't suggest much when this is a pattern increasing in TV viewing in general. It would be nice if all the series' pages were updated with figures for completion's sake, but it's nothing particularly noteworthy. I don't doubt viewing figures are a little lower, but other factors come into too.
Originally Posted by Daniel Dare:
“I can't believe I bought the 12 inch extended version of Doctor In Distress on vinyl off John Fitton back in '85.
I really don't know what I did to deserve such self-punishment.
Still, the 'Save The Doctor' sticker was nice.”
“I can't believe I bought the 12 inch extended version of Doctor In Distress on vinyl off John Fitton back in '85.
I really don't know what I did to deserve such self-punishment.
Still, the 'Save The Doctor' sticker was nice.”
I've never met you and I can't believe you bought it either...
Originally Posted by Brandon_Smith:
“Seriously to you older viewers how did you do this back in the day, how did you hold out before it was brought back in 2005?”
“Seriously to you older viewers how did you do this back in the day, how did you hold out before it was brought back in 2005?”
Well dont forget we had lots and I mean lots of VHS releases that hadent had old episodes seen in years so it was great every month to pick up old Doctor Who stories Id either not seen in years ie 5 - 7 or ones Id never seen before ie 1 - 4.
The 18-month hiatus in 1985/86 wasn't all bad. We had Slipback and that wonderful 'Save The Doctor' record.
Oh, wait . . . .
Oh, wait . . . .
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