It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

A D V E N T U R E S

I N  S P A C E

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

"I want to hear them scream till I'm deaf with pleasure..."

Doctor Who in 1985 was a show at the top of its game, and Vengeance on Varos, Phillip Martin's brilliant satire of the '80s "video nasty" market, is surely the season's most original entry.

More than thirty years on, it's fascinating to note how episode one's cliffhanger (one of the show's best) anticipates the reality TV swamp we now find ourselves in.

The accusations of Varos being "too violent" (particularly the Doctor himself, with the acid bath scene being JNT haters go-to example) are red herrings. It's no more so than in 1963 or 1976.

The show would be this clever, and this good, again, finding its form in the 1988/9 seasons. But after 1985 it wouldn't be the confident, "big swinging dick" it was in this vivid, thrilling year of adventures. Still high on the twentieth anniversary, Doctor Who was a show that was bigger and better than ever before - until sneering public schoolboy Michael Grade decided he didn't like it. And so, because he could, he cancelled it.

And of all the gifts Varos bequeathed us - Arak and Etta, Quillam, half-naked, beefcake bodyguards - the '80s best monster, Sil, is the most rewarding. Here he is.

Be sure to visit our friend Cathode Ray Tube for a detailed essay on Vengeance On Varos.

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

A D V E N T U R E S

I N  S P A C E

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

"Great chunks of my past, detaching themselves like melting icebergs..."

Doctor Who is over fifty years old. We expect to see its cast and crew, increasingly, in the obituary pages.

But knowing that doesn't make it suck any less, particularly when it's someone as barmy and lovely as Deborah Watling, who has passed away aged 69.

For many years, most of her episodes were lost, destroyed by the BBC. It's comforting to know that in her latter years she enjoyed the return of two entire stories, The Web of Fear and Enemy of the World, and the interest and acclaim that entailed.

She'll be missed.

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

A D V E N T U R E S

I N  S P A C E

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

Before Doctor Who was outsourced to Wales by a BBC that doesn't really exist anymore, it was made in London, with TV Centre, the Acton Hilton, and Threshold House in its DNA.

Today, Doctor Who is like a Tube station that's been given a multi-million pound refit: flash, but its soul has been ripped out. It's like a lovely old Woolworths that's been turned into a Primark, full of hormonal teens. The Bard said it best: "A poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

But let's not dwell on that. Let's remember the good times. It's time for the KAOS Doctor Who (1963-89) throwback, with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel. This week, the Rani calls the Master an "asinine cretin".

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

A D V E N T U R E S

I N  S P A C E

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

It's time for the weekly KAOS Doctor Who (1963-89) throwback, with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel.

This week, a disturbed Tegan pays a visit to a fortune teller. Who's that in the crystal ball, now?

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

ADVENTURES

IN SPACE

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

It's time for the weekly KAOS Doctor Who (1963-89) throwback, with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel.

This week, something odd is happening in a Victorian mansion in 1883. Soup, anyone?

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

ADVENTURES

IN SPACE

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

T he KAOS weekly Doctor Who throwback continues, with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel.

This week, it's 1963, and we enter the TARDIS for the first time.

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

ADVENTURES

IN SPACE

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

T he KAOS weekly Doctor Who throwback continues, with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel.

This week, the seventh Doctor entertains the Gods of Ragnarok, whilst Ace is pursued by clowns. In a hearse.

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

ADVENTURES

IN SPACE

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

T he KAOS weekly Doctor Who throwback continues, with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel.

This week, jelly babies cause problems for The Robots of Death.

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

ADVENTURES

IN SPACE

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

T he KAOS weekly Doctor Who throwback continues, with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel.

This week, the death of the fourth Doctor, the climax to Doctor Who's eighteenth (and best) season.

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

ADVENTURES

IN SPACE

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

T he KAOS weekly Doctor Who throwback continues, with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel.

This week, the death of Adric. Before the series returned in 2005, the death of a major character was just that: their death. It therefore meant something, even if you didn't like the character (and Doctor Who fans don't like Adric). I've always liked Adric; there is, somehow, something sexy about this tragic gay boy from space.

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

ADVENTURES

IN SPACE

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

W elcome to our weekly throwback to Doctor Who (the original series, as opposed to the sub-Spielberg, pseudo-soap 21st century reboot), with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel.

This week, the first Doctor visits the dentist in The Gunfighters (1966). Doctor Who fans hate this story, but I love it to bits. It is, to coin a phrase, a goddamn laugh riot. And it's a musical, of sorts, with the The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon punctuating the action.

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

ADVENTURES

IN SPACE

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

Adventures In Space and Time is a weekly throwback to Doctor Who proper (as opposed to the sub-Spielberg, pseudo-soap 21st century reboot), with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel.

This week, the Cybermen unbox their leader in Tomb of the Cybermen (1967). "You will be like us," he says as he emerges. Not much of a threat, you might think. Until you stop and consider how eagerly so many faggots are embracing heteronormativity these days. Scary now, right?

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

ADVENTURES

IN SPACE

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

Adventures In Space and Time is a weekly throwback to Doctor Who proper (as opposed to the sub-Spielberg, pseudo-soap 21st century reboot), with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel.

This week, the moment the Autons come to life in Spearhead From Space (1969). The shop window is just around the corner from where I live, and looks in 2015 much like it did in 1969... Sans Autons, of course.

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

ADVENTURES

IN SPACE

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

Adventures In Space and Time is a weekly throwback to Doctor Who proper (as opposed to the sub-Spielberg, pseudo-soap 21st century reboot), with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel.

This week, the sixth Doctor is forced to watch Peri have her head shaved, and then die, in 1986's The Trial of a Timelord. Who's to say which fate is worse? Watch out for the beefcake extras...

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

ADVENTURES

IN SPACE

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

It's no secret that I'm a huge Doctor Who geek. Old skool Doctor Who, not the Disneyfied 21st century reboot. Adventures In Space and Time is a weekly throwback to the series that ran from 1963 to 1989, with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel. It's a throwback that will likely have a limited appeal, but prior 2005's relaunch, limited appeal was half the fun of being a Doctor Who fan.

This week, the seventh Doctor and Ace take on the Kandyman in The Happiness Patrol (1988). And be sure to read the KAOS guide to this very gay episode.

It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a spirit of adventure

ADVENTURES

IN SPACE

AND TIME
Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway

It's no secret that I'm a huge Doctor Who geek. Old skool Doctor Who, not the Disneyfied 21st century reboot. Adventures In Space and Time is a weekly throwback to the series that ran from 1963 to 1989, with clips from the BBC's official Doctor Who YouTube channel. It's a throwback that will likely have a limited appeal, but prior 2005's relaunch, limited appeal was half the fun of being a Doctor Who fan.

This week, the fourth Doctor toys with the devastatingly beautiful Mary Tamm in The Armageddon Factor (1978)...