Journal Entry #41: Pandora's Box

Date: December 9, 2007
Time: 22:18

Way back in the mists of time, CBS Television used to run programming late at night. This was around midnight to maybe two o'clock in the morning, and as I worked nights, and would invariably stay awake until all hours of the night on my days off, I had the opportunity to watch some of these programs.

They all seemed to be produced in Canada, and the two I remember well were "Night Heat" and "Adderly". But the important thing to know is after these shows were on, CBS ran reruns of a program that was originally aired on that network in 1968, that program was called "The Prisoner", and it starred Patrick McGoohan in the lead role.

I got hooked on this show big time, I went looking for books about it, and I found two very important books. One was "The Official Prisoner Companion", a behind the scenes sort of book that also had the entire episode guide and a breakdown of each episode. It even had the address and phone number of where I could buy the videotapes. Which I soon did.

The other book I bought listed the "25 Best and Worst Science-Fiction Television". It was the 15 Best, and 10 Worst. Of course, "Star Trek" was #1, Twilight Zone was 2, and Outer Limits was 3. The Prisoner was 10, and this rather interesting little show called "Doctor Who" was #5.

So I read what there was about it in the book, and I saw there were a few videos to rent in Blockbuster®, and I watched them. I saw "The Five Doctors", a 20th Anniversary Special, "Deadly Assassin", and two theatrically-released movies based on two previously aired episodes. These movies starred Peter Cushing. Although, in the films, he was called "Doctor Who", and his travel machine, the TARDIS was something he had built himself.

But even as I watched the television episodes, and even the movies, the wheels in my head began to turn. And yet, it wasn't until much later that I became a fan. It was shortly after my brother had been diagnosed with HIV, that I subconsciously needed an outlet for the nervous energy that was building up inside me.

One day, I happened to be talking with one of the people in the VAX area of Network Operations, his name was Mike. Mike and I soon got into a discussion about Doctor Who, and he lent me some of the tapes that he owned, and once again I saw "The Five Doctors", "Deadly Assassin", but this time I also got to see a program called "Day of the Daleks", and I also saw all of these tapes with a different perspective. You see, before, when I saw the tapes, I watched them as a fan of science-fiction. This time, I was watching them as a science-fiction fan, there's a difference. You see, this time, I was watching tapes that belonged to fan of the program, that gave them a vibe that the other tapes, the rentals, did not have. And then the wheels in my head started to spin more rapidly.

And then, I was in a store called "Coconuts". They sold music and videotapes. I'm browsing through their videos, and there it is, a Doctor Who video that I have not seen. Well sure, there are a lot of them that I haven't seen, but this one was different. This one featured the Seventh incarnation of the being called "The Doctor", and this particular tape had extra footage that the previous release, which I had long since missed, did not.

So I bought it, finally, and I watched it. And I became hooked!

There was a moment in this episode, one tiny moment, that made me think. There was this bit of business where the Doctor is talking with a soldier on guard duty, and it was at that moment that I saw his eyes. The actor protraying the Doctor at this point is named Sylvester McCoy and his companion is Ace, played by Sophie Aldred. I looked at the Doctor's eyes and saw something, I felt there was something else there, something more than simply being a Time Lord.

Now this was long before I knew anything about the missing footage from a prior story called "Remembrance of the Daleks", and way before I even read the novelization of the final story, "Survival". So the Seventh Doctor, became "My Doctor", and his companion Ace, became my favorite companion.

In 1996, some months after my brother died from AIDS, and I took possession of his typewriter, I wrote a Doctor Who story, featuring the 8th incarnation of the Doctor, and his companion of the moment was a friend of mine who comes back after his travels and tells me the story that I may write it. I dedicated the story to my friend Mike, the guy who let me the tapes, which led to my becoming a Doctor Who Fan.

I wrote "Dedicated to Michael Taylor, who no idea of the Pandora's Box he was opening when he decided to lend me those tapes.", and I gave him a copy of the story.

I just wish I could that one published more than anything, but I can't. Y'see, that's the story that goes against all of the rules set down by the BBC for all authors that wish to write Doctor Who stories. Well, it's the first story that does that. ;-)