It’s a 45th anniversary! Or was! And we’ve a mixed bag in Fast Return this month, so let’s at least start with a song – an anniversary song, naturally, found by Travelling Dave on your tube.

But what, as the cereal packet goes, are we really celebrating here? Ahem:

45 UP
There comes a time in one’s life when the marking of anniversaries and significant birthdays becomes more gradual and perhaps less cause for genuine celebration. Forty years after 1963 Doctor Who was still an historic programme, its extended life contained within non-television media. Two years after that and fandom started talking seriously about ‘legacies’ and ‘kisses to the past’ in ways they hadn’t done for nearly ten years.  In the time since the TV Movie new fans had been conceived and born, and discovered what we know as the ‘new’ series at just the right age. Perhaps they are the children of former fans themselves – it doesn’t really matter, and for them the idea of a series with a 41 year-old backstory was moot. Four years on and this blogger ask himself whether this anniversary, along with every other one since 1989 is a marking of, say, 45 years at all, or just 26 years plus a few more to be counted on the day. Perhaps 2008 is merely just the fourth anniversary, and the big party will be next year, in the fifth year of a new series? Can you really see the join after the return of so many villains and companions from episodes of yesteryear? Does it matter?

THE SILENCE OF THE FANS
All of which angstiness just goes to ask – why so quiet this year? Are we satiated with a series back and a safe regeneration of production hands ahead that we don’t feel the need to draw attention to the show’s long toothiness? Or are we scared to? Or have we politely left the stage to allow the young ‘uns to say their piece, only to discover the sum of their wisdom to date to be ‘OMG squee! Lols!’ or the like? Yours please, below.

In the mean-time…

IT WAS NEARLY A YEAR AGO TODAY…
We have a local anniversary coming up of course – happy first birthday soon, latest issue of TSV!

RODNEY’S A LOVELY NAME FOR A FIELD MARSHALL
Spotted this week on Public Address. More politics, sorry folks…

(Click on the pic to biggen it up)

A DUDE TO BE THE NEXT DOCTOR, MAYBE
We’re none of us fooled by the Christmas atrocity special this year, naturally, but oh yes: some rocking in the squee world to the news that David Tennant’s career will not be determined by one role alone. We covered that last month of course, but to date no replacement has been confirmed aside from the odd slip of the tongue (or not). So there’s little fun to be had for the moment, except perhaps in ringing the doorbell at Kasterborous.com and shouting “James Nesbitt!” until they come to the door all red-faced and cross. Ah, fan sites. So easy to wind up.

We’ll know when we know (as we all know). Remarkably, the regular viewing audience has far from imploded with the suspense. 

SOMEONE’S GETTING A SMACK FOR THIS
Oh, TV Guide – will you ever win?

 

 

 

 

 

They must do their research using the Guinness Book of Records or something.

BACK IN OUR DAY WE CALLED IT “FILKING”. AND WE KEPT IT TO OURSELVES.
When they’re not ruining our niche cult series by making it all popular and profitable, the younger generation still have a lot to answer for. Why only this month they claimed (in the pages of DWM, no less) to have invented the art form of “Trocking” – that is, Time Lord Rocking; writing songs about Doctor Who. Big yawn, you might think – when we were mere scraps we not only had “Frocking,” but we also had “Gunning” as well and we were grateful, you can keep your “Trocking” well away from me and my children, et cetera. But truth to tell, some of it isn’t half bad. Take a look at this talented little shite fan and tell me you don’t have an earworm infestation.

Yes, very good young man. Now get to bed.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 7th, 2008 at 6:47 pm and is filed under FAST RETURN. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.