More than 30 Years in the TARDIS

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An extended cut version of 30 Years in the TARDIS was released on BBC Video in 1994, where it was retitled More than 30 Years in the TARDIS and restored many interviews that had to be cut for the BBC broadcast.

VHS cover text

"It was sixteen minutes past five (Earth Time) on Saturday the 23rd November 1963, the day after the assassination of President Kennedy, when Doctor Who first materialised on to BBC Television. Squeezed in between the football results and the Telegoons, a legend was born".

So, from humble flickering beginnings more than 30 years ago, began the eccentric Timelord's crusade against evil. Now this fascinating documentary charts that remarkable career in time travel.

There are dozens of classics excerpts featuring all seven Doctors, clips from the widescreen trailers of the two Dalek movies starring Peter Cushing, plus recently discovered material.

More than just a nostalgic birthday programme, this unique documentary made specially for BBC Video, features:

Archive Gems

  • scenes from the missing 1965 Dalek episode "DEVIL'S PLANET"
  • colour film of WILLIAM HARTNELL at a 1966 airshow, plus pictures from his own scrapbook
  • Dalek creator TERRY NATION on WHICKER'S WORLD in 1968

Behind The Scenes

  • Action from the studio floor including CARNIVAL OF THE MONSTERS (1972), DEATH TO THE DALEKS (1973), THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI (1984), GHOSTLIGHT (1989)

Pure Nostalgia

  • BLUE PETER - the Doctor Who monster competition winners, the unveiling of the Whomobile and the War Machine
  • NATIONWIDE - the TOM BAKER interview
  • Pebble Mill at One - interview with Patrick Troughton and visual effects designer Bernard Wilkie

More Treasures From The Cutting Room Floor

  • Battlefield - the Brigadier meets Ace for the first time
  • Sophie Aldred and the water tank stunt that went wrong
  • Remembrance of the Daleks - is there more to the Doctor?

All this plus two exclusive Doctor Who commercial breaks, spoofs by CRACKERJACK and SPIKE MILLIGAN, candid moments and bloopers from across the years, specially shot interviews and an all star cast of favourite Doctors, assistants and of course, monsters.

An ultimate celebration of the world's longest running science fiction TV series, this special BBC Video includes footage from Thirty Years in the TARDIS, originally transmitted on 29 November 1993.

Main subject

to be added

The documentary featured appearances by the surviving Doctor actors, including Jon Pertwee, and numerous companions. Nicholas Courtney hosted the documentary, partially in character as the Brigadier. The documentary also included a section on the 1960s Peter Cushing films.

Dalek on a Hoverbout.

Towards the end several notable scenes occur:

  • A demonstration of how modern-day (for 1993) special effects could be applied to Doctor Who as the camera follows a boy into the TARDIS from outside, with the effects seamlessly moving from location to studio interior. Carole Ann Ford, possibly in character as an adult Susan Foreman, awaits him inside. Such a scene does not take place in Doctor Who proper until the 2012 Christmas special The Snowmen.
  • The same boy takes part in a rather sinister, cliffhanger-like sequence in which Elisabeth Sladen appears to be taken over by an alien influence. This is followed by Courtney being driven away in a limousine — driven by an Auton.
Daleks surrounding Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling.
  • Following the closing credits of the VHS release, BBC controller Alan Yentob is captured on video being evasive when asked by an interviewer about rumours of a new Doctor Who production being imminent. This is followed by a multi-layered vision sequence featuring multiple Daleks achieved through real Daleks, models and animated images. Such a high concentration of Daleks appearing on screen would not be achieved until many years later in such stories as The Parting of the Ways and Asylum of the Daleks.

Additional topics covered

to be added

Part One: Doctor Who and the Daleks
Part Two: Monsters and Companions
Part Three: Laughter & Tears Behind the Scenes

People interviewed

In order of credited appearance.

Clips seen 

Clips from a wide range of Doctor Who related film were shown.

  • R.A.F. Finningly Airshow 8mm film (18 September 1965)
  • Pebble Mill at One, TX: 21 December 1973.
  • The Lively Arts: Whose Doctor Who, TX: 3 April 1977.
  • Blue Peter, TX: 5 November 1973.
  • Good Morning with Anne and Nick, TX: 20 January 1994.
  • Whicker's World: A Handful of Horrors - I Don't Like My Monsters to Have Oedipus Complexes, TX: 27 January 1968.
  • Dr. Who and the Daleks trailer.
  • Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. trailer.
  • Walls' Sky Ray advert (1967)
  • Prime Computer adverts (1979-80)
  • Looking In, TX: 7 November 1972.
  • Blue Peter, TX: 14 December 1967.
  • Blue Peter, TX: 20 June 1966.
  • Talkback, TX: 3 October 1967.
  • Crackerjack, TX: March 1974.
  • Crackerjack: Hallo My Dalek, TX: 21 March 1975.
  • Spike Milligan's Q6: "Pakistani Dalek" sketch, TX: 11 December 1975.
  • Nationwide, TX: 24 October 1980.

As well as excerpts from two songs:

  • "Who's Who" by Roberta Tovey with Malcolm Lockyer & his Orchestra, Polydor Records (1965)
  • "Who is the Doctor" by Jon Pertwee, Purple Records (1972)

Acting scenes 

Freshly filmed scenes were added with in character acting. The actors would break suddenly into character for these scenes. At the end of the documentary these in-character scenes were implied to take place within the boy's mind.

Crew 

To be continued...?

Home video releases

  • VHS UK cover (PAL)

    VHS UK cover (PAL)

  • VHS UK cover fold out (PAL)

    VHS UK cover fold out (PAL)

  • VHS Australian cover (PAL)

    VHS Australian cover (PAL)

  • DVD The Legacy Collection Box Set Region 2

    DVD The Legacy Collection Box Set Region 2

  • Region 2 DVD cover

    Region 2 DVD cover

The documentary was released as the extended More than 30 Years in the TARDIS on its own in VHS format in 1994. Preview copies of the tape had included a Weetabix advert from the 1970s, but this was edited out of the final release due to clearance difficulties.

It was included in the 2013 DVD release of the box set called The Legacy Collection.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Taken from Whicker's World: A Handful of Horrors - I Don't Like My Monsters to Have Oedipus Complexes, TX: 28 January 1968.
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