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Scrapbook

By Murray Jackson

Hmm!! Apologies for there being no Scrapbook last issue. I (to my shame) totally missed the deadline for issue 30. C'est la vie and on with the show.

My thanks go to Ian Davies who very kindly photocopied several articles from the NZ TV Times Weekly including one or two that I didn't already have. Nice one, Ian, I hope to display these in coming issues.

Please, please, if any of you out there have any articles (especially from your regional newspapers), send them in and we'll print 'em.

This issue we look at an array of clippings from the Auckland Star that appealed to me. The first introduces what, at first glance, appears to be Doctor Who's first spin-off series. No marks to the Auckland Star who didn't check their facts before going to print!

The second set highlights the agony some viewers endured when the NZBC dropped the programme from their schedules for months on end. Presented are three letters from people who couldn't wait to find out what had made the giant footprint at the end of The Edge of Destruction when it screened in Auckland in January 1965. Little did they realise that they'd be waiting one year and nine months before they got their answer when Marco Polo was finally aired. After a brief return of seven episodes they then had to wait one and a half years for the next story! Makes you wonder when The Claws of Axos will screen - next century, perhaps?

Just out of interest the other science fiction programmes mentioned in the letter signed "12-year-old Fan" have the following Doctor Who connections: I Can Destroy the Sun: produced by Sydney Newman (creator of Doctor Who); The Big Pull: produced by Terence Dudley (director of Meglos and writer of Four to Doomsday, Black Orchid and The King's Demons); A For Andromeda: co-produced by Michael Hayes (director of The Androids of Tara, The Armageddon Factor and City of Death). All of the above programmes featured actors who at one time or another appeared in Doctor Who.

See ya next issue...

[clipping: text at right]

Auckland Star, 18 February 1966:
Voords fail me
The Greeks may have had a word for it. But the BBC has Voord. Or more accurately Voords - the name of a new horror series for children.
Our picture (above) shows a Voord attacking actress Carole Ann Ford in "The Keys of Marinus."
The Voords come from outer space, have hands like giant claws, heads like king-sized beetles and wear thick rubber costumes.
Kiddies' horror serials are good business for the BBC. Remember the Dalek robots in Dr Who?

Auckland Star, 8 May 1965:
Where's Who?
Sir, - When are we going to get back "Dr Who"? In my opinion this was one of the best science fiction programmes ever shown on AKTV2, along with "I Can Destroy The Sun," "The Big Pull" and "Andromeda." Better still, it catered for children of my age group and up, as well as for adults. We were left just as Barbara and Susan had found a huge footprint, and many of us want to know what happens.
12-YEAR-OLD FAN
New Lynn

Auckland Star, 19 June 1965:
Where's Who?
Sir, - When are we getting more Dr Who? It is exciting, fantastic and imaginative, and was far too short a series. I am in the 50s age group and I loved it. So did my grandchildren. We have waited patiently for long enough so, AKTV2, get cracking! We want to see what made the giant footprint.
WITH IT
Mt Albert

Auckland Star, 29 June 1965:
Science fiction
Sir, - I agree wholeheartedly with "With It" of Mt Albert - where is "Dr Who"? Nearly every kind of drama is presented on Tv, but absolutely no science fiction. It is nothing to be ashamed of, so why hide it under the mat? So-called science fiction situations are happening right here and now, as shown by America's and Russia's space exploits.
S. HART
Mt Albert

This item appeared in TSV 31 (November 1992).

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