Anyone reading this site since its beginnings of a few years back will know that it was with the start of the JN-T produced era of
, and the departure of Tom Baker/arrival of Peter Davison, that my status as a dedicated 'Whovian' was well and truly cemented. The start of the Davison era (and its regularly weekly audiences between nine and ten million) had felt like such a breath of fresh air in 1982, with a youthful Doctor whom I'd greatly liked and could, in a way, relate to. And by the time of his second season start with January 1983's opener
, the importance of the show's Twentieth Anniversary season, and its nostalgia content, had truly started to kick-in for me, what with the reappearance of the tragic villain Omega (at a time back then were such surprises could still be kept secret from fans) as well as other important returning mythos characters and villain/monsters. By mid-season, and stories
, confirmation of an epic homegrown event celebrating the series and its anniversary at Longleat, Wiltshire had started to become a reality, with a special continuity announcement being given after one of the stories had aired. Knowing how this was an event that I couldn't afford to miss, especially so near my birthday, the idea was hatched by my kind mum for a family visit to the event once details were set, and the chance for my brother and his wife to come along and enjoy both a day out and a long test drive of their newly purchased second hand Ford car. Though my brother, ten years older than myself, had always sneakily watched the show, he'd enjoy any chance to slag it off in my company (a perverse form of torture against his younger brother that would persist for a good few years to come), but his wife was (thankfully) less harsh, having been a keen follower of Tom Baker's eccentric 'Bohemian-esque' era.
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| Bessie! |
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| The major guests on the first day gather for a special publicity image. |
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| A map of the event. |
Come the exciting April 3rd Sunday morning of 8am-ish, we were packed with sandwiches, drinks, crisps and sweets galore for what we knew would be a busy and potentially exhausting day (though we hadn't yet realised just how busy it was to be!). After a pleasant but long two hours drive in my brother's old but efficient second-hand blue Ford Escort (which saw us pass the intriguing and mystical Stonehenge site), we knew we had arrived at Longleat House when we became part of an immense traffic jam on its thin entry roads, which thankfully cleared after about half an hour. Once on the grounds and past the colourful monsters front-of-house display welcoming us to the anniversary celebration, we were soon lining up and exploring the many tents that we could get into. The Doctor Who Sets tent was our first standout experience, beyond sets from the most recently screened adventure, The King's Demons, the best was ahead as we entered the pre- The Five Doctors TARDIS console room (with real-life robot Kamelion keeping watch on it, the mechanical robot still barely able to function past a few hand gestures to visitors, and with very noisy drive mechanisms), the UNIT headquarters main office interior, a Dark Tower corridor, Time Lord conference room and the villain's 'Game Room' (but without Doctor and Companion chess pieces, if I recall) amongst the visual highlights truly whetting the appetite for November's landmark TV treat that would be the approaching Anniversary Special. Within the tent I'm sure we saw the Ergon and Omega from Arc of Infinity, alongside Earthshock Cybermen and at least one Sontaran, and then saw more of the latter two outside of it! It was whilst waiting in the line here that my mum and I turned round to see the nearby arrival of the beloved Jon Pertwee era roadster Bessie, now depositing two of my favourites Who stars- a hatted, black coated Anthony Ainley (still looking very much like The Master, even without the fake moustache) and a radiant Elisabeth Sladen, both of whom walked past our line and were having a good natter whilst saying some brief 'hellos' to fans here and there, obviously being escorted to an event somewhere else, and flanked by fake UNIT soldiers (a nostalgic visual motif which I thought was a nice touch!). John Leeson's K-9 voice could soon be heard all over the area as he asked visitors not to approach guests for autographs (I seemed to be the only one obeying that request) and announced via tannoy the programme order of guest talks, autograph times and screening events.
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| In a fix with a Sontaran! |
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| With a barely visible Gundan. |
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| I always liked the Gallifreyan Guard outfits. |
Next up was a delve into the scary world of
Doctor Who monsters in the Make-Up and Costumes area. I remember witnessing a Sontaran, the modern Omega and an Ergon, possibly a Terileptil and one of the modern
Earthshock-era Cybermen lurking in the near darkness, plus an equally looming Gundan warrior. It was also a real thrill to see a Dalek for real in one of the tents (not a fan made prop - a singular, quite tatty and generally beaten-up looking one that we eventually discovered would appear in
The Five Doctors, which would be screening later in the year). Ken Trew, one of the series acclaimed costume designers, was also present, happily yet furiously dishing out drawing sheets for kids to practice their potential skills whilst also letting luckier little
Whovians like me wear an
Earthshock Cyberman helmet and shoulder unit. It was fun to wear but I wouldn't have liked to have been wearing it for hours. Sadly, my mum wasn't able to get a Polaroid of this momentous moment, likely having been distracted elsewhere in the tent. The Make-up section was also very interesting- you could see the original Tom Baker cactus thorn mask from
Meglos, another Cyber helmet variation, numerous moustaches of the Brigadier's, as well as various wigs, neck casts and odd photos adorning the walls. If you were lucky, you could be selected to have patterned alien make-up applied to your face by two of the series top artists (which happened to a certain young man named Edgar Wright, whose photo of his application work made its way into the
Radio Times 20th Anniversary souvenir magazine - probably not a chance selection, he probably had family connections in showbiz anyway!)
Fifteen minutes on came the visual effects tent, which celebrated not just the BBC boys work on the series since the mid-60's but their many other fantasy related achievements too, with photos and models not just from Who but also the recently concluded Blake's 7, plus coverage of The Day of the Triffids and The Flipside of Dominic Hyde, of which the latter's infamous prop blue saucer vehicle was out and about to visitors on the nearby muddy grounds of Longleat. I saw and stalked Jim Francis of BBC Visual Effects and talked to him about his work. Well, more like me rolling out his own list of achievements right back at him whist he listened bemusedly- if you're ever reading this, Jim, I'm really sorry abut that!. I then headed back to the tent to finish my perusing of the many polaroid bts images and props they'd pull out of storage for display.
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| Effects-related shots from numerous Who adventures in the Special Effects tent. |
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| Me with a certain 'paranoid android'! |
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| Next to the impressive time vessel of Dominic Hyde. |
Out of the visual effects tent, I discovered Miss Sladen once more within my autograph reach but as I approached her I was soon cut-off by a Bessie photo call with three people boarding it.
Curses!
Now past mid-day, amidst many fans dressed in scarfs, hats, frilly shirts and baggy trousers, my brother and his wife had separated from myself and mum and gone off to explore the rest of the non-Who Longleat experience, whilst we made our way to the area behind Longleat House - climbing the massive exterior steps to the large window panelled conservatory area, of which we could see, between massive potted plants, that signings were well underway, involving the very pretty, all-smiles Sarah Sutton and the old 'Black Guardian' himself, Valentine Dyall at work with the fans, which was great to see. The entire event was by now teeming with people - fans and members of the public of all ages, which was great to see - this was my first experience witnessing so many other people truly interested in the series beyond visits to the Forbidden Planet shop in London's Denmark Street. At the time, and after this event, I thought the show was truly invincible as a Great British public viewing institution, and could never have anticipated the wrath of the 'approaching storm' for evil that was the new snob-elitist guard of BBC1 and BBC Drama only a year later. As the event was getting even more packed, mum and I decided to brave the autograph line for what we thought would be an hour or so. Boy were we wrong! We thought the line we were entering was going straight into the conservatory, but it turned out to be via the immense back garden area to it, which seemingly went on forever and barely moved.
Despite the line problems, the people within in it were all of good cheer and enthusiasm.I got talking to a nice young chap named Nigel, from Bristol, about all things Who, where we exchanged addresses and I foolhardily agreed to give him a set of The Five Faces of Doctor Who season tape copies in exchange for a selection of Jon Pertwee stories audio off-air recorded from back in the day, and which, when received, were not complete and proved to be barely audible. I know who got the better deal between the two of us - what a con artist he was, of which, even now all these years later, I still feel well and truly used and abused when I hear the name 'Nigel'.
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| Ainley, Davison and Sarah Sutton in the forum tent. |
As the line eventually moved three or four people at a time, Peter Davison (in his cricketing outfit) made a surprise appearance saying hello and doing some autographs in the front area near the back entrance, which got a great cheer- sadly we were still right down the other side of the line and could barely see him past the pleasant-enough vines and statues littering the site. But it was a very nice gesture from the ever-pleasant lead star to do nonetheless, and something he'd continue to do for fans caught in lines across the event that day. I tip my fedora hat to you, Mister Davison!
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| Patrick Troughton was a marvellous autograph signing treat. |
Thankfully, when we finally got to the conservatory interior, we couldn't have asked for a better autograph signee than the late, great Patrick Troughton, who kindly autographed by book and happily talked to my mum about his role as
Robin Hood back in the early B/W days of television, as she told him how much my gran had loved seeing him in it. Troughton would reply, almost Second Doctor-ly, "Oh my, that was a
long time ago!" Later on I would see Troughton amiably walking into the Forum tent, likely for some kind of panel discussion or 'pop-in' moment.
After nearly three hours at the main house, we emerged for some sit down time snacking and Capri Sun drinking (as well as the much-needed visit to the loo!) before trying to explore the remaining tents. We couldn't get in the far too small and cramped Cinema area, though it sounded great from the outside as fans got to celebrate surviving stories from across all five Time Lord incarnation (the stories selected: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Dominators, Terror of the Autons (in B/W), Terror of the Zygons and Earthshock), We had the same problem with the Forum era guest tents of which further great laughs, cheers and applause could be heard. Then, even more depressing, we'd heard that the actual regular Doctor Who exhibition on site had been closed off to any more visitors. Thankfully, we did get a brief look once more at the costume and make-up tent, and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop venue, where composer Peter Howell talked about what goes into making a score for the new series (and how its edited), followed by a talk from another sound legend, Dick Mills who provided demonstrations of sound designs alongside his anecdotes. To be honest, being a mere twelve-year old, I wasn't truly appreciative of the Radiophonic Workshop's skills and we left after half an hour or so, but not before hearing for the first time the abandoned, truly awful theme variation created for Jon Pertwee's Tenth Season in 1973. Next up was the Auction and Merchandise tent, which we'd briefly explored early morning, and now managed to enjoy some of the prop auction taking place, being held by a very young and less portly superfan named Ian Levine, with help from special guests John Levene, Jon Pertwee (ever the showman for the Variety Club of Great Britain) and director Fiona Cumming. With their help, a Tomb of the Cybermen Cybersuit went for £250, an Arc of Infinity stazer gun for £50, and a sonic screwdriver for £150 (going to a lucky Australian fan)
The Merchandise area overall was a real treat to explore - seeing all the mint old/new Target books on display was, for me, almost akin to having a religious experience- I have loved those books and their amazing cover art since the beginning of their publishing, plus the Suchard Easter Eggs with Peter Davison on them, annuals, Andrew Skilleter posters, fanzines, the official Doctor Who monthly, and singles galore, as well as all kinds of other officially authorised material, briskly flying off the tables and seemingly, inexhaustibly replaced as the day went on. Just out was the new TARDIS Technical Manual large size book, which was given to me that day as a birthday treat from my mum/gran, and which I thoroughly enjoyed looking at. A special treat at the Target Books area of the tent was a special chat/appearance from writer Terrance Dicks, letting us know he was currently adapting The Five Doctors to book form and that the Cybermen were coming back for the special, to menace all five incarnations of our hero!
Going back out into the fading sun, of which the day's weather had been overall generally agreeable, we once again saw Peter Davison out and about, alongside his then all-smiles wife Sandra Dickinson and some more UNIT guards, before reuniting with my brother and his wife, making a last look over of things we might have missed before we had to make the ultimately uneventful trip back home to London. The crowds had faded slightly but it was still generally teeming around Longleat - the aura of Doctor Who strongly resonant. Back then there were no real fans dressed up in character or as monsters like there are now. As I mentioned earlier, it looked like there was much more of a general public feel to it all (which I prefer) as well as the intense and debating hardcore fans enveloped within the crowds.
As John Leeson's K-9 dutifully continued his public announcements (he must have been cold and exhausted in that tiny booth he resided over that Easter weekend!), we made our way back to the car, having overall enjoyed a great experience into the world of Doctor Who. Yes, it wasn't as well organised as it could have been, and both the BBC and BBC Enterprise's had then truly under factored-in the amount of attendees (heedless of series producer John Nathan-Turner's warnings!), but it was nonetheless a huge success and a real sales triumph for BBC Enterprises. Additionally, it was quite emotional, and genuinely surreal, seeing my favourite past and present Who stars up close and real, too.
The event was described years later as Doctor Who's version of 'Woodstock', and I couldn't agree more with that apt comparison. You really had to be there... and I had been!
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