Daily Archive

Via Outpost Gallifrey’s news page:

William Hartnell, the actor who originated the role of the Doctor in the 1960s, playing the first incarnation of the character for BBC Television from 1963 to 1966, was born exactly 100 years ago today. For many of the original Doctor Who fans who were children in the 1960s, he remains the definitive Doctor.

I may not have grown up in 1960s Britain, but Hartnell is my Doctor, as I started watching his episodes around 10 years ago. For anyone who started watching Doctor Who with Eccleston and Tennant and decided to go back to the very beginning, it can be a rough jolt, and not just in the obvious colour-vs-black-and-white way. 1960s serials are drawn out over 4-8 episodes of 25 minutes each, and can move very slowly when compared to the fast 45 minutes that one episode of the 9th or 10th Doctor can cover.

Part of the reason I caught on with Hartnell is that some of his stories took place in the past. I was completing my undergrad in history, and it was nice to see the Doctor and his companions encounter Aztecs, Romans, and the Old West. Not to discount his multiple encounters with the Daleks, but the historical stories (TV, novel, and audio) are among my favourites in the Doctor Who canon.

Here’s to Billy Hartnell and his great contributions to Doctor Who.

I’m looking forward to the premiere of JPod on CBC TV. There’s a site with cast and crew bios, links to sites for the book, the book’s wiki, and Douglas Coupland, and other fun things related to the program.

I’ve been a big fan of Coupland’s since reading Microserfs, and while I prefer this book over JPod, even though the settings are similar, it’s still fun to see something of Coupland’s realized on screen.

This isn’t the first, however. Everything’s Gone Green is a 2006 film with an original screenplay by Coupland. I really enjoyed it when I saw it at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

In a nutshell, JPod is about Ethan and his coworkers (all of whose names have a “J” in it), his parents, and the various hijinks that ensue. If it’s anything like the book, the 13 episodes of JPod the series is going to be fun!