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Doctor Who was back after an eighteen month hiatus and at the
start of the year Colin Baker himself was in town to promote the new
series of episodes and host the showing of the first four parts. My
thoughts of writing for television again returned and I reviewed my
list of story ideas to see which ones I might pitch next. At first
the only note of concern was the cut in the length of a Doctor Who
season, so I knew that my chances to successfully sell a story would
be much slimmer. Then, seemingly days after Colin Baker returned to
England from his promotional tour, news came out that he was being
fired from the show by the BBC Controller. Just as abruptly my
thoughts of pitching for the show were put aside once again.
But Doctor Who itself was now being broadcast on-air locally
whereas in the past the best we could hope for was to pick up the
Denver PBS broadcasts on cable. The local broadcaster had typically
gone to the Tom Baker shows as their initial run given their high
popularity, but they soon started an on-air campaign that horrified
me. Unlike the Denver station that asked for donations to support
the showings of Doctor Who, in the Summer of Nineteen
Eighty-Seven our local broadcaster was running a 'pay up or else'
campaign that came across more as an extortion than a request. The
only redeeming bit of their campaign was 'If they didn't get enough
funds to continue carrying the show by the end of the Summer, all
donations toward the show would be refunded.' Still, I felt the need
to let them know of my feelings about the tenor of their campaign and
I called up their office. Rather than just say they'd make a note of
it, as I expected, they scheduled an appointment with the head of the
station so I could let him know in person.
This fed my ego and before going to the meeting later in the week I
went to the local comic book, science fiction & fantasy store to
collect my next issue of the official Doctor Who magazine. I
told them of my coming visit and the owner offered to provide a
discount to anyone who pledged toward the continued showings of the
series. This was a nice carrot I could take with me and present at
the meeting, and for moral support I asked Chet of the Dungeons
& Dragons group to come along. He agreed and we were off
to the appointment.
It was my first time visiting the studio, heck any
television studio, and we were treated very formally as we gave our
names at the front desk and then went to the large glass window
overlooking the studio bay, then darkened and not it use, as we
waited to be taken in. Guided to his office, the head of the station
sat us down and asked what brought us here. I told him and he
acknowledge that their spot for pledges did seem a bit harsh in
retrospect and he'd look into changing it. In the meantime he told
us John Nathan-Turner, the producer of the show, would be arriving
later that Summer with the 'Doctor Who Road Show' and asked if
I'd be willing to be their local liaison for Mr. Nathan-Turner when
he arrived... Sure, I agreed as this unexpected news fell
into my lap like a God send. Here I was wanting to write for the
show and I'd be meeting with the producer in person!?!
I did my best to keep cool about it as the head of the station also
asked if I could find and organize volunteers for the official Doctor
Who pledge drive night. I said I would and then mentioned the
willingness of the local comic book, science fiction & fantasy
store to provide discounts for all who pledged. He thought that was
great, but then said he had heard the owner of that store was a dead
head. While I didn't know the owner personally, I had met him at the
store several times over the years and had some good chats with him,
I felt the need to defend him and said that I didn't think that
was the case at all as he seemed sharp and on the ball to me.
There was a long quiet pause and then the station manager told
me that ''Deadhead'' was the term for a fan of The Grateful Dead
band.
I got to practice my straight face to tamp down the welling
embarrassment as I quietly returned that I hadn't known.
No matter, all was good and he thanked us for our interest and coming
participation. On the drive home I asked Chet if he had heard of the
term ''Deadhead'' before and he had not. Once back in town I
printed-up flyers and discount coupons at my own expense. The flyers
were to request for volunteers at the coming pledge drive for Doctor
Who night as well as let people know of the coming Road Show
visit and I sought permission to leave them at various haunts of mine
in town.
When the 'Doctor Who Road Show' arrived, the BBC had made
all of the arrangements for their associated personnel as to places
to stay and so Chet's and my jobs were to be John Nathan-Turner's
personal assistants at the station and to keep any overly avid fan at
bay. The entire event was several hours long as we waited for people
to show in drips and drabs, in between we kept him company and talked
about the show, the new actor who had just been cast as the new
doctor, and great locations in Colorado the show should consider if
they ever wished to film here. I spoke at length about possibly
writing for the show and he mentioned that he remembered my original
interest before the production break and would be willing to look
over my next ideas. This time he wanted a sample script to be
included as part of the pitch to show that I knew how to format one
and I was more than happy to agree and get an updated postal address
from him. He did note that, given the reduced episode count,
there would be less chance to have my pitches accepted but assured me
that any idea he found compelling would be fully considered.
I was over the moon and as the end of the event came we thanked him
for his time, he thanked us for our help and Chet and I returned
home. Catching a few more broadcasts of Doctor Who on the
local station I noticed that they were still running the 'pay-up or
else' style notices at the end of the broadcasts, so apparently the
station manager hadn't had the chance to review the spots and have
them softened in tone...
As the day came for the pledge night, I rounded up the various people
who had volunteered, many from the science fiction club, and a few
more new faces who had called me based on my flyers. We car pooled
to the station and took our places behind the phones. I brought my
very own Doctor Who scarf to wear during the time as well as
the discount coupons to be included with the pledge thank-you letters
that the station would mail. Some local pizza places had donated
food and drinks and we had a great time of it. The station ran 'The
Talons Of Weng-Chiang' as the pledge night showing, a great
choice, and we readied ourselves for the swell of calls
between the episodes as we sat in the background on camera as the
station personnel spoke about the need for pledges and if we didn't
reach our goal and couldn't carry Doctor Who, all our pledges
would be refunded. The night was a success and we just
reached our goal before the final episode of the show was finished.
Done, we volunteers left our seats, grabbed some last minute snacks
at the table as the next shift of call takers took our place. The
station manager thanked us for our time & effort and we left
thrilled knowing that we had succeeded in getting a continued run of
Doctor Who shows for the coming broadcast year.
When September came, Doctor Who was replaced in its time slot
with Lawrence Welk repeats. Doctor Who was
gone, not even moved to another time slot. No explanation was
given, no pledges refunded, none of the coupons I had printed up were
mailed out with the thank you letters. We had been completely used
and the only thing that salved my pride was my time spent with John
Nathan-Turner on the day of the Road Show.
I never supported our local PBS station again and vocally talk-out
against them, recommending to my friends that they only support the
Denver PBS station on cable. But even they dropped broadcasts of
Doctor Who by the next year.
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