Barbara in Wonderland (short story)
Barbara in Wonderland was a short story original to the 2145th issue of Radio Times. A loose pastiche of Alice in Wonderland, it featured the First Doctor and two Daleks as part of its supporting cast, playing the roles of the Mad Hatter and his friends, the March Hare and the Dormouse, respectively.
Uniquely, despite being a prose appearance, the Doctor was still, in a fashion, portrayed by William Hartnell: a photoshoot with Hartnell in costume, two Dalek props, and actress Barbara Lord as the titular Barbara was held for the story. As the photograph was printed in colour, it constituted the first coloured appearances by Hartnell as the Doctor.
Summary
Lost in the BBC Television Centre, Barbara starts to feel hungry and disorientated, believing she has a "time-ache" when she can't recall how long she has been lost. The First Doctor then appears from behind her and invites her to join him for tea in the canteen. Though she is startled to find him dining with a pair of Daleks, the Doctor reassures her that they will be harmless as long as not insulted. However, when Barbara mentions needing to leave due to being late, the Silver Dalek becomes upset, and the Doctor asks Barbara to give him "the pip" every hour and five minutes. Barbara promptly leaves.
Characters
- Barbara
- Commissionaire
- Producer
- Floor manager
- Announcer
- Make-up artist
- Wardrobe supervisor
- "Fancy" Smith
- "Jock"
- Sergeant Blackett
- Barlow
- Sergeant Watt
- Weatherman
- Dr. Who
- Black Dalek
- Silver Dalek
Worldbuilding
- In her wanderings through the BBC Television Centre, Barbara visits the studios of The Beat Room and continuity announcements, the wardrobe and make-up department, the set of Z-Cars, the weather forecast studio, a restaurant, and the props department.
- Other programmes recorded at the Television Centre include Juke Box Jury, International Concert Hall, Panorama, Gardening Club, Black and White Minstrel Show, Children of the New Forest, The Count of Monte Cristo, Doctor Finlay's Casebook, and Dixon of Dock Green.
- The Doctor takes Barbara for some canteen tea.
- Barbara refers to the Doctor as "Dr. How" due to mixing up her words with her next question, "Who did you get here?"
- Because the TARDIS is "hopeless in traffic", the Doctor came to the Television Centre by car.
- The Black Dalek has got indigestion from drinking his tea.
Notes
- Two different shots of the photograph featuring William Hartnell were actually taken; the other one was printed in black and white in an advertisement for the then-upcoming Radio Times Christmas special. It was later restored and colourised by Clayton Hickman at the request of Stuart Humphryes.[1]
Continuity
- After a run-in with a Liverpool police station not unlike the one featured in Z-Cars, the Doctor, alongside companions Steven Taylor and Sara Kingdom, had a similar adventure to Barbara's involving the confusion between fiction and reality at a Hollywood film set. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan [+]Loading...["The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)"])
