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TARDIS Guide

Overview

Released

Tuesday, December 31, 1963

Written by

Michael Bentine

Directed by

Joseph McGrath

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

Doctor Who?

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Earth orbit, BBC Television Centre, Earth

Synopsis

Doctor Fotheringown is invited to be interviewed in a studio about his new invention, the first rocket set to be shot into space by British scientists. Soon, the clumsy, eccentric old man accidentally presses the launch button on the working model brought into the studio, sending him and his interviewer into orbit.

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4 reviews

A frivolous fun feature! Clive Dunn is spectacular as this version of the Doctor, even going so far as to get his lines wrong, come in at the wrong time, all fitting the character flawlessly. The jokes are the sort as featured in Christmas crackers - absolutely lame to the point of amusement. For being so early on in Doctor Who's history, it's worth watching, as the first ever clear glimpse of anyone making fun of the programme, so it's interesting to see what they make of it, the Doctor (as he is) just being a rather ridiculous boffin. Overall, this is the kind of feature I love, it's comedic, much more enjoyable than many Doctor Who stories, and relevant to that, nice and short.


ButterCashier

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This is an utterly, utterly silly parody, and yet it's so interesting to watch as a piece of ephemera. It's fascinating to see the then contemporary references, as well as see how much Doctor Who must have already embedded itself as a staple of the TV landscape. It still holds up remarkably well as a silly piece of comedy, and at just seven minutes, is well worth a watch.


sircarolyn

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Fun little extra I found on the Aztecs one day now I always come back to it


Rock_Angel

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Guys it's probably alright to take this one off the site, you know. He literally says that he's "Dr. Fotheringown", not "Dr. Who". God. It's not even funny.


ClydeLangerRules

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Quotes

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BENTINE: Excuse me, but whom have I the honour of addressing?

FOTHERINGOWN: Doctor Fotheringown.

BENTINE: Doctor Who?

FOTHERINGOWN: No, not Doctor Who, Doctor Fotheringown!