Tonight I'm doing something a little bit different: I have a ticket for a big screen showing of Genesis of the Daleks, a classic 1975 Doctor Who episode from the Tom Baker era. Written by Terry Nation, this episode was originally presented as six 25-minute episodes, and now it's been remastered as a 90-minute director's cut being shown for one night only to promote the upcoming Blu-ray release of the 12th season of Doctor Who - Tom Baker's first year in the role of the Doctor.
The episode will be followed by a 30-minute interview with Baker, now 84 years old. To a lot of people, Tom Baker has always been the best of the Doctors, and based on the reaction to his cameo in the series' 50th anniversary special, a lot of people would still enjoy seeing him return to the helm of the TARDIS.
Not surprisingly, I've already seen the episode (it's a classic episode in more than one way) but that's sort of irrelevant. I think it's just a great opportunity for a unique fan experience - a 3-D version of the 50th anniversary episode was shown in theatres around the world, and I never even knew that was an option until well after the event.
But this time, I'm all set: I have my ticket, and I've packed my souvenir BBC Doctor Who Experience TARDIS t-shirt to change into after work. (I was going to wear my THE ANGELS HAVE THE PHONE BOX shirt, but I decided that it would be more diplomatic to wear something a little less obviously post-reboot.) Let's hope that the evening matches my expectations!
- Sid
