Doctor Who

[Fairlight]

On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 02:51:37PM -0400, after drawing runes in goat's blood,
John Esak cast forth these immortal, mystical words:
> 
> And one comment, throughout all the episodes I've ever seen, yes it was
> always hinted that Galafrey was not extant or maybe even destroyed
> somehow... But in series 5 so far they have actually stated that it was
> Doctor Who's fault and he feels terrible about it.  This is a slight
> difference or extension to what it used to be.

Well in the old programme, Gallifrey still existed, and he visited there
numerous times, from the trial that forced his regeneration from
incarnation 2 to 3 (and possibly before that, but I can't remember an
earlier instance offhand), to "The Five Doctors" 25th anniversary special,
and even beyond from what I've read.  

I haven't seen later than about "Timelash" in the first third or so of the
6th doctor in the old series, as PBS used to be responsible for carrying
the show stateside, and they abdicated due to financial concerns back in
about '90-92, somewhere in there.  I talked to our local PBS here about
getting it back on the air locally somewhere between '95 and 2000, and was
told that the BBC was charging the same amount for the original Doctor Who
as it costs to air four other BBC shows that they were airing on weekends
(Bob Stockler and I both used to watch the BBC weekend comedies).  And the
BBC had weird restrictions on it, like to get the rest of the series, they
made you run the first half of the 4th doctor's (Tom Baker's) run--twice.
If you did that, -then- you could access licensing for the rest of the
archive.

Anyway, yeah, in the new series, Gallifrey is gone.  And the Doctor does
feel responsible.  And likely twice as responsible by series 5, and I'll
say no more, due to spoilers.  :)  It's jaw-dropping, if you're a fan of
the show.

mark->