As far as I remember, the arrival of Peter Davison’s Doctor was met with some bewilderment in my house. My dad shook his head, expressing the view that “Doctor Who should be an old man”, while I was preoccupied by the strange idea of watching anyone other than Tom Baker in my favourite show.
It wasn’t just Davison’s relative youth that prompted this anxiety. In 1982 he was ubiquitous on grown-up telly, starring in BBC and ITV sitcoms, not to mention his signature role as Tristan Farnon in the teatime favourite All Creatures Great and Small. He was no stranger to children’s television, either – each instalment of Button Moon was accompanied by a gentle theme tune composed and performed by Davison and his then wife Sandra Dickinson.
While he wasn’t exactly typecast, Davison’s screen persona suggested that he had become the go-to actor for naive, some would say ineffectual, characters. Would his Doctor continue this mild-mannered trend?
When Castrovalva was broadcast in January 1982, any concerns about Davison’s fresh-faced appearance were banished by his evocations of the Doctor’s previous incarnations. He hit the ground running with a detailed performance, introducing the concept of a time-worn traveller who only superficially resembled a much younger man. Doctor Who would pick up where it had left off . Or so we thought.
The evening of 8 March 1982 is etched in my memory. As the aptly named Earthshock reached the end of its first episode, I was left speechless by the return of the Cybermen. I’m sure I knew this marked their first appearance in the show for seven years, and I’m equally certain I had no memory of ever having seen them in Doctor Who. Eight days later, I was one of the nearly ten million viewers who watched Adric meet his demise at the serial’s conclusion.
Earthshock – written by Eric Saward and directed by Peter Grimwade – ushered in new possibilities for Doctor Who, dispelling the ghosts of slow-moving studio drama and reinventing Peter Davison as an action hero. Davison’s first season was a turning point in the show’s evolution, and that’s why we’re celebrating its 40th anniversary in the following pages. Earthshock hasn’t won our World Cup of the Fifth Doctor, but that’s only because its success galvanised the early 1980s’ production team to aim for something even more dynamic.
Other highlights of this issue include a look at the similarly game-changing episode The Waters of Mars, the second part of our interview with executive producer Matt Strevens, a tribute to designer Spencer Chapman, CG recreations of the sets from The Wheel in Space and details of a website with the potential to unearth countless treasures from the BBC archive.
If treasure chests are more your thing, then you’ll have had your swash buckled by the recent trailer for Legend of the Sea Devils. In the next issue we’ll have the inside story on this forthcoming Doctor Who Special, including interviews with some of the key players. DWM 576 will also feature some exclusive bonus items. All will be revealed on 31 March…
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