With the next series of Doctor Who approaching, author Clive Young presented a program titled The What, Where and How of Dr. WHO at the Larchmont Public Library this past weekend.
Young, author of Homemade Hollywood: Fans behind the Camera, held a nearly-two hour presentation covering the last 50 years of the ever-popular science fiction series, starting with the show’s inception in 1963.
The presentation, while certainly informing the audience about the plot and happenings of the show over the last half century, lent equal time to what happened off-camera and behind the scenes that makes Doctor Who the show that it is today. Young managed to impress die-hard fans in attendance with extensive knowledge of each Doctor and character on the show and the actors who played them, while refraining from spoiling any real major details of the show. Whether attending to celebrate and learn more about the series they know and love, or finding out more about a show they know nothing about, Young provided something informative for everyone present.
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Even true Whovians (a name given to fans of the show) in attendance were bound to learn something about the show they weren’t aware of before. Revelations like Paramount’s intent to cast either Michael Jackson or Bill Cosby as The Doctor for a Doctor Who movie in the late 80’s that never came to be were met by a mixture of laughs and gasps from the audience. Finding out that the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood is actually an anagram for Doctor Who was a blatant realization that some attendees couldn’t believe they hadn’t noticed before.
“I thought it was great,” said Frank O’Rourke, long-time fan of the series. “I’ve been watching since it was introduced to the US. My son and wife became aficionados.”
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The topic on everyone’s mind, however, was the casting of Peter Capaldi as the next Doctor. Capaldi is one of the oldest Doctors ever cast, which has been met with some concern from fans. Young’s personal belief, based off of the roughly 35 seconds Capaldi has been seen as the Doctor so far, is that Capaldi’s Doctor will be similar to the franticness of Christopher Lloyd’s part as Doc Brown in “Back to the Future”.
“The 12th doctor (Capaldi) is an excellent choice, but Tom Baker is still my favorite,” said O’Rourke.
Super fan Peter Lawless, who showed his love for the show by arriving in a fez akin to that of the seventh, eighth, and eleventh Doctors, is also optimistic about Capaldi’s upcoming role as The Doctor.
“I think he’s got a chance at becoming a favorite. He’s the same age as the first doctor, so it could be a callback to the past,” said Lawless.
Series 8 of Doctor Who is rumored to premiere sometime between late Summer and Fall of 2014.
