"...AND IN AT 26"

Written by Piggy Fizz

If music channel, TMF’s eight hour run down of the ‘100 Sexiest Videos’ last Saturday was a rotten swizz, with something by Pussycat Dolls in poll position but no sign of Junior Jack’s Stupidisco anywhere, some sense of justice was restored when ‘Doctor Who’ was crowned 26th Greatest Drama on C4’s somewhat brisker chart special.

This felt right and proper, far more so than the many occasions when WHO has ranked much higher in list shows celebrating Kids TV, Favourite Telly Characters or even Top Ten Bastards where I recall Davros had a good turn-out, (Can I just make it clear that I tend to video these things and skim-view through them the next morning).

Here, WHO was being measured against legitimate dramas rather than clips of David Jason falling through a pub's open bar, and was voted for by actual programme makers rather than a gestalt of short-term memory viewers who could be bothered to tick an on-line box.

Not that any of this actually matters of course, but as this site has had its share of articles rolling their eyes at the notion of being a WHO fan, it was great, not to mention surprising, to suddenly be reminded of the show’s good points; it’s fun, it’s imaginative, it’s got an infinitely adaptable set-up, well...potentially. It’s made a triumphant return from the dead, it gets kids interested in history, literature and science...well potentially, and is cherished even by people who aren’t obsessed with it. Dare I say it, much of the show’s run has actually been well-written or has at least made a genuine effort to tap into issues and popular culture of the day as the recent ‘About Time’ reference books have demonstrated without having to resort to much tenuous evidence.

The revelation for me was that the very inclusion of WHO at all seemed just fine, entirely lacking in the sore thumb status it might have prompted stuck amongst highly regarded heavyweight productions. The only other dweeb show present was The Prisoner, but then that’s always been lauded as Kafka dressed up as The Avengers.

There was a feeling that had this been a party, WHO would have been warmly welcomed by the other guests rather than sneered at for turning up with a 2-litre bottle of Woodpecker.

If The Naked Civil Servant, Threads, or The Singing Detective are all far more serious and important in the sense that they directly addressed issues, at the same time they all seem to have something in common with WHO in their outlook, attitude or willingness to do something different with the television format, almost as if they’re the sort of programme that might develop out of WHO. Okay, that’s starting to sound pretentious, and I must stress that I don’t regard WHO as anything much beyond a fun, goofy adventure show, but at its best the series has usually attempted to get audiences thinking, even if its original remit to educate kids about school-book subjects soon got lost in a miasma of robots and space monsters.

So, while I’ve still got a very big problem with the idea of the show as an all-consuming hobby, it’s been a genuine pleasure to see it in a fresh context, to remember or perhaps realise for the first time why it’s always been so appealing.

...apparently Torchwood didn't quite make the Top50.