May 2002  SOPHIE: So Ian, when did you, like, become a Dr Who fan? IAN: I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Dr Who fan! SOPHIE: Excuse me, like, isn't that what this whole website thing's about and stuff? IAN: A fan is a fanatic. To a fanatic, rediscovering another five minutes of "Evil of the Daleks" is more important than the Dead Sea Scrolls. I'm not a fan. Look, I often commit the ultimate sacrilege of referring to the central character as Dr Who! No fan would do that. Fans get themselves into all sorts of crazy discussions about how Peter Cushing's Dr Who is the Time Lord Doctor in a parallel universe. Give it up! Do these people even enjoy Dr Who? SOPHIE: So, how do you describe yourself, then? IAN: Er... five foot five, dark hair, which is going the way of the rainforest. Not quite over the hump, as Tony Hancock once said... SOPHIE: Like, 'Hello!' I mean, like, in terms of Doctor Who Appreciation and stuff? IAN: That's it. I appreciate Dr Who. It's been a part of me since I was three or four. It's greatly underrated, yet by far the best TV Sci-Fi ever done. Some of the best TV ever done, full stop. Invented by a man who's other claim to fame was Hockey Night in Canada. SOPHIE: And, like, don't you also mean The Avengers? IAN: Oh yeah. Pertwee-era Mark I. Dr Who - you can't beat it. Great solid dramatic, comical, stirring family entertainment. So I appreciate it. I'm a Dr Who Enthusiast. Not a fan. Next question, please. SOPHIE: So, I mean, like do you, you know, like, like any other Sci-Fi and stuff? IAN: I like science-fiction that is fiction based on science. TV sci-fi is mostly drivel. Look at Quantum Leap. Better still, don't look at it at all. John Wyndham and CS Lewis are favourites of mine. SOPHIE: What about The X-Files? IAN: What about it? I've only ever seen one episode. It was about a bogeyman down a manhole in a housing survey. I thought it was a comedy, like Police Squad. I was disappointed when I found out it was meant to be serious. SOPHIE: Come off it, you must like Star Trek, at least? I mean, like, huh, everybody likes Star Trek!! IAN: Well, I liked the old crew, even in the newer films. They had character. Drama needs characters. I still don't think Star Trek's any better than Dr Who, though, which seems to be the received opinion. SOPHIE: So you're anti-American, huh? What about Blake's 7? IAN: I'm not anti-American at all. As for Blake's 7, many fans objected to the TV movie because it was Americans doing a British show. To me, Blake's 7 was the Brits doing Star Trek. It didn't work. Watch Blake's 7 for five minutes and you keep hoping for the TARDIS to appear. Same with Invasion Earth. It needed the Doctor. British Sci-Fi needs the Doctor. American Sci-Fi doesn't. SOPHIE: OK. Quick fire round. Favourite Doctor? IAN: Easy, Pertwee. SOPHIE: Favourite Master? IAN: Ainley, coz he had to act, and he had a hard act to follow. Great as Delgado was, he was already half-way there on his looks alone. I've no idea what Destiny of the Doctors is about, and I can't be bothered finding out, but I love watching the Ainley scenes by themselves, in Quicktime. He's superb. SOPHIE: Favourite all-time story? IAN: Androzani. SOPHIE: Favourite Monster? IAN: Beep the Meep. If we're talking TV, "canon" and all that, then probably Linx. A superb character. SOPHIE: Connery or Moore? IAN: Lazenby. SOPHIE: The Beatles or The Stones? IAN: The Monkees... Nesmith has been a big influence on me. SOPHIE: You mean, like, bigger than Dr Who? IAN: I was talking about my interest in the guitar and songwriting. SOPHIE: Since we've starting to stray off the subject, is there anything you'd like to say before I turn this tape-recorder off and, like, get the heck out of here? March 2005 SOPHIE: So Ian, the first new episode since 1989 has just been screened. Did you enjoy it? IAN: Thanks for dropping by, Sophie. I'm in the middle of trying to update this site to appeal to the millions of new fans... SOPHIE: So you're hopeful that it will appeal to... IAN: As the second Doctor told the Brigadier, "one mellows with age". As a Pertwee fan, I'm old enough to remain detached from the new series, yet still enjoy it without saying "Och, it's not as good as...", you know the rest. I had the pleasure of watching it with a couple of kids who were absolutley gripped, the way I was 30 years ago. So, it was obviously a success! SOPHIE: What do you think of Chris Eccelston? IAN: The only thing I've ever seen the bloke in was Shallow Grave, and I was impressed by him then, though his Doctor was rather goofy, as were most of the 'great' Doctors. SOPHIE: Which ones weren't great, then? IAN: Well, they all were, I meant 'legendary', pre-JNT. SOPHIE: You didn't like the JNT Doctors? IAN: I didn't say that, but that's when the 'legendary' Doctor Who era seemed to end. Some JNT stories WERE brilliant - Remembrance of the Daleks remains one of the all-time great Dalek tales, and I think Peter Davison should've stayed on for another year or two. He was superb with Peri, although Colin Baker was a great actor burdeoned down with a bad hairstyle and costume, and even Sylvestor... Look, I like them all. SOPHIE: Did you like McGann? IAN: Although I lived in America at the time, I didn't actually have a TV in 1996, and he wouldn't have been my first choice. Still, having watched him a few times since, and listened to some of his CDs, he brought an endearing innocence to the role which contrasted with the craftiness of the 7th Doctor. SOPHIE: Did anything spoil the show for you? IAN: Only crowd noise, etc., from the preceeding Graham Norton dance show leaking through for the first ten minutes or so. Also, the way they just jumped into the title sequence without an introduction. I had to have lightning quick reflexes to hit the record button on the VCR remote. SOPHIE: You don't have a DVD recorder? IAN: No SOPHIE: I thought everyone did. IAN: Well, you're thick. SOPHIE: Did you tape Doctor Who Cofidential? IAN: No. I watched it, with half a brain. I'm tired of these DocWhoMentaries, as I call them, with their pop songs played over montages of clips of past Doctors - th only one of those that means anything to me is Phil Oakley's Together in Electric Dreams, which I saw at Panopticon '86. Does anyone have a copy they can send me? I still think of the first Doctor clutching Susan when I hear that song. SOPHIE: Which is where, exactly? IAN: On Radio 2, of course. The official Doctor Who station. SOPHIE: Oh, so you listened to Project Who? IAN: No, just give me the stories, please. SOPHIE: Some fans didn't like the new TARDIS. What are your thoughts? IAN: Inside or out? SOPHIE: Both? IAN: Both - it was Cushing-ish, with light spilling out through the windows and the Poilce Box doors on the inside -which makes more sense than the old interior doors. Some fans reckon it's not close to a real Police Box, but it's just a caricature, after all. It's OK. I wish the roundels were bigger and deeper. The time-column is a bit McGann-ish. Who cares. One mellows with age. You stop worrying about these things and taking them seriously. SOPHIE: Any other observations about the Who-steria on the telly right now? IAN: Yeah. Katy Manning! I mean, that lady is STILL red hot... SOPHIE: Since we've starting to stray off the subject, is there anything you'd like to say before I turn this tape-recorder off and, like, get the heck out of here?  IAN: Yep! PLEASE SIGN MY FLIPPIN' GUESTBOOK!!! Enough of that twaddle already! So to wrap it up, I'd just like to thank all the people who've helped me out - Jon, Sean, Mr F, Sophie R. M'Cann and Dave Ross, as well as all the contributors to Kiosk Korner, who receive special thanks, plus links, in that section. Thanks also to Colin-John Rodgers who, for so many years, put together the fanzine Inferno, which is where a lot of the fiction and artwork on this site was first exposed to public gaze.... A long time ago, friends. By the way, feedback is most welcome - either by signing the guestbook below, or by dropping me a line or two by email. To new fans tuning in here for the first time, I envy you. This is the start of a great new era for Doctor Who - where it belongs - on TV. And, as someone who hates TV and lived happily without one for years, that's saying something. The Doctor is in safe hands with Chris Eccleston - the role could so easily have gone to a lesser actor who would use it as a quick fix for his ego, or to raise his profile, then leave after one season (probably complaining about 'type-casting'!) and leaving millions of kids disillusioned. I predict Chris will follow in the footsteps of earlier predecessors, helping build deep and lasting foundations before handing over gracefully to 'the new guy' three or four years from now. Before I head off, a big THANK YOU to LYCOS for making this site possible! If you've an idea for sharing a hobby or interest with the rest of mankind (or that sad portion of us who are on-line, anyways),you could do a lot worse than to give LYCOS a try. Happy times and places! Ian McPherson, March 2005 CONTENTS | MISSING SCRIPTS | DALEKATESSAN | TARDIS TIME | ART GALLERY COSMIC COMICS | LINKS | ABOUT ME | GUESTBOOK