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- The rec.arts.drwho Frequently Asked Questions list -
CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE:
Where to get Who material
1.0 File list.
The Doctor and timelords in general
1.1 Who is Doctor Who?
1.2 What is the Doctor's name?
1.3 What is the distinction between regeneration and incarnation?
1.4 How many regenerations does a timelord get?
1.5 How old is the Doctor?
Confusing plots and storylines
2.1 Please explain Romana's regeneration.
2.2 Was that really the White Guardian at the beginning of the Key to Time?
2.3 Was there a regeneration scene from Colin to Sylvester?
Making the show
3.1 Will there be more Doctor Who?
3.2 Will there ever be a woman Doctor?
3.3 Is David Agnew really a pseudonym for Douglas Adams?
3.4 Was Castrovalva the first Peter Davison story filmed?
Miscellaneous
4.1 What are the "missing episodes"?
4.2 Which story included John Cleese?
4.3 What is Temporal Grace?
4.4 Where can I get more information?
4.5 What other books are recommended?
4.6 How do I get Ryan K. Johnson's fan-produced episodes of Doctor Who?
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FOLLOWING THIS ARTICLE:
Another article with a list of episodes
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1.0 Where to get Who material (files, guides, etc.):
The mailserver address is: amigo@hardy.u.washington.edu. Mail a
message there with a Subject: line of the word 'server'. The body of your
message should use 'get' and the name of the file of which you'd like to
get. The last line of the mailserver mail should have the word 'end'. One
other special command 'path' can be used to force the mail path to conform
to "hard to reach" locations.
All files are sent as straight ASCII text, and when decompressed
can range up to 75K in length.
The files are also available 'anonymous' FTP to [milton.u.washington.edu]
in directory /public/StarTrek/DR_WHO. Hopefully either way will get it to you
fast..
1. Timelord list - a complete list of timelords that have appeared on DW.
("timelords")
2. Shada info ("shada")
3. Scarf patterns - knit your own scarf! ("scarf_pattern")
4. Companion analysis by James Armstrong ("companions")
5. Ascii pictures - Tardis, K9, dalek, and 2 logos ("drwho_pics")
6. List of Dr. Who novels ("drwho_booklist")
7. Dr. Who episode lists ("drwho_episodes")
(containing author list & special notes of
interest) ("drwho_guide")
8. Other roles of Dr. Who actors ("other_roles")
("drwho_roles")
9. This FAQ file ("drwho_FAQ")
10. The Romana 'n' Dave series:
[with thanks to: Tom Golden (tgolden@cup.portal.com)
& Raymond Chen (raymond@math.berkeley.edu)
Note: Comments about Romana 'n Dave should be sent to Tom.]
And now.. the list:
Episode Guide ("romana.readme")
Romana-'n-Dave-related articles from Tom Golden. ("romana_news")
AN UNEARTHLY JOKE / THE WAD OF GUM (episodes 1 through 4)
Romana invites Dave to travel with her; our heroes get
an assignment from the Guardians; Davros attempts to
find a new human factor for his Daleks. ("wadofgum")
REVENGE OF THE BAKER-MAN (episodes 5 through 8)
Colin Baker attempts revenge on the BBC for being sacked...
but he's not the only one with sneaky plans. ("bakerman")
AQUA-VALVA (episodes 9 through 13)
Our heros track the Locksmith Guardian to an office building
in Los Angeles... from which they may never escape. ("aquavalva")
SIGMA (THE ULTIMATE FAUX) (episode 14)
Oh no! Held hostage by Omega's smarter brother. ("sigma")
'N.', 'B.' AND 'C' (episodes 15 through 18)
Dave contemplates resigning from 'Late Night' -- with
mind-bending results. ("nbc")
SHADAAP (episodes 19 through 22)
Romana takes her Tardis to black-market time capsule service
professional Noiros, who has secret plans to use her TARDIS
to obtain the legendary Machine of Wellfargos. ("shadaap")
VENGEANCE ON VALIUM (episodes 23 through 26)
While vacationing on the planet Valium, Romana 'n Dave
must prevent an invasion from a neighboring planet. ("vengeance")
THE UNDIFFERENTIATED APPENDAGE OF GENERIC ILL-FEELING (episodes 27 to 30)
Our heroes go back into Dave's past to stop the Daleks
from obtaining the Undifferentiated Appendage of Generic
Ill-Feeling. ("appendage")
THE TRIAL OF A TALK SHOW HOST (STORY 1) (episodes 31 through 35)
Dave is put on trial, and the first piece of evidence is
Dave's escapades with Romana to rescue the Crystal of Carrington.
("tth1")
THE TRIAL OF A TALK SHOW HOST (STORY 2) (episodes 36 through 40)
Dave searches for an adventure which will show that
he does not negatively affect the fabric of time. ("tth2")
THE TRIAL OF A TALK SHOW HOST (STORY 3) (episodes 41 through 44)
Romana enlists the aid of The Equalizer to rescue Dave. ("tth3")
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ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Contributors include:
James C. Armstrong, Jr.
Steve "BandanaMan" Makuch
Dora Kilburn
Jeff Hildebrand
Todd Horch
Ron O'Dell
Michael Robertson
Address any additions/comments about the FAQ, or anything about the
mailserver & FTP site (such as "help me's") to:
Michael Robertson [amigo@milton.u.washington.edu]
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THE DOCTOR AND TIMELORDS IN GENERAL
1.1 Who is Doctor Who?
Doctor # Actor
1 William Hartnell*
2 Patrick Troughton*
3 Jon Pertwee
4 Tom Baker
5 Peter Davison (with one "d")
6 Colin Baker
7 Sylvester McCoy
8 (1992 ??? )
Also, Richard Hurndall* played Doctor #1 in "The Five Doctors", except
for the old clip at the beginning (that was Hartnell).
* indicates the actor has passed away
1.2 What is the Doctor's name?
The main character of "Doctor Who" has been referred to by several
different labels. These include:
-Theta Sigma, used by Drax on the Planet of the Shadow (The Armageddon
Factor). This is supposedly an old school name. It was used again
in The Happiness Patrol.
-Doctor Who, has been used in a couple episodes, most notably The War
Machines, were WOTAN is calling for "Doctor Who". The role was credited
as "Doctor Who" until Castrovalva, where the name changed to:
-The Doctor. This seems to be what he is called most often.
-Doctor van Wer, was used in The Highlanders.
-In Colony in Space, a name was presented, but was unreadable, on a
Gallifreyan computer.
-Dr. Caligari was used in The Gunfighters.
-Dr. Foreman was hinted at in An Unearthly Child.
-Dr. John Smith was the alias the Doctor used while he was UNIT's unpaid
scientific advisor. He also used this in The War Games.
-In The Trial of a Time Lord, one section of the matrix had the Doctor
almost saying his name while on Earth. He never finishes the sentence.
-In Remembrance of the Daleks, a calling card was produced by the Doctor
that may or may not have had his name.
-Ace usually calls him Professor.
1.3 What is the distinction between regeneration and incarnation?
When a regeneration occurs, a timelord renews his or her body. What that
means to us is a new appearance (a new actor). An incarnation is a particular
body. So far, the Doctor has had seven incarnations and six regenerations.
1.4 How many regenerations does a timelord get?
Twelve. The fact that there is a fixed number is referenced in many
stories, and I believe the first mention is in "The Deadly Assasin".
The number twelve is stated in "Mawdryn Undead", and probably in other
stories as well.
1.5 How old is the Doctor?
Here are some clues:
From "The Ribos Operation":
The Doctor: "How old do you think I am?"
Romana: "759"
The Doctor: "756"
Romana: "You've lost count somewhere."
From "The Pirate Planet":
The Doctor: "How long do you think I've been operating this TARDIS?"
Romana: "523 years."
The Doctor: "Right uh....has it been that long?"
Well, I've got another -- From "Remembrance of the Daleks", the younger of
the female scientists (who I believe is called 'Alison Williams' or something
similar) asks the Doctor "How do you just rewire a piece of alien
machinery?", to which he replies "It's easy... when you have 900 years of
experience." (older than both the figures given in the file :-) )
(Provided as a public service by: Andy "mad as a penguin" Stevens)
CONFUSING PLOTS AND STORYLINES
2.1 Please explain Romana's regeneration.
There is no good explanation, but net discussions have yielded these
possibilities:
a: Romana is wasteful
b: Romana had achieved a higher level in the Academy, and hence the
ability to "try-on bodies"
c: Romana, unlike the Doctor, regenerated "Without Stress". What I
mean by this is that the Doctor could choose and "Try-on bodies" like
Romana did *IF* there was no stress about his regeneration.
2.2 Was that really the White Guardian at the beginning of The Key to
Time?
There are two camps of opinions to this question, obviously one yes and
one no. The No Camp believes that the pursuit of the key was motivated
solely by the Black Guardian, and use as evidence his masquerade in
The Armageddon Factor as their proof. They also feel that the White
Guardian at the start of the sequence was threatening to the Doctor,
and therefore out of character.
I [James] personally disagree. When masquerading, the part was still played
by Valentine Dyall. In The Ribos Operation, the part was played by
Cyril Luckham. Cyril also played the White Guardian in Enlightenment,
when both Guardians were present, so we may be confident that Cyril's
appearance is the "normal" appearance of the White Guardian.
2.3 Was there a regeneration scene from Colin to Sylvester?
This is how Time and the Rani begins:
Voice of BBC1: "A new series, a new physical form and a journey to an
altogether more far-flung shore. Sylvester McCoy stars as Doctor Who."
[OK, so that bit was only on the BBC, but I'm saying that so people know that
these nexts bits come before the title sequence.]
Computer animation space sequence: swirling stars. Out of these come spinning
the TARDIS. Multicolored beams come from the left. Some miss, some hit.
Those that hit cause the TARDIS's gyrations to alter, so that the TARDIS is
spinning in three (maybe four!) dimensions. There are two of these sequences,
actually.
Inside the TARDIS: The Doctor and Mel are lying on the floor. The Doctor is
face-down [and surprisingly short, since it's actually McCoy in a wig and
Colin's immense costume]. The exercise bike falls over.
On Lakertya: Ikona climbing atop the quarry, er, serene rocky mountain.
He looks into the pink sky and sees a color-cycling rainbow. Down this bow
comes the TARDIS.
Inside the TARDIS: Red-clothed feet enter. Pan up. It's the Rani, holding
a gun-like object (which the Doctor recognizes later in the show), which she
used to shoot down the TARDIS. Rani speaks: "Leave the girl; it's the man
I want."
Inside the TARDIS: Furry feet. (Urak) They lumber over to the face-down
Doctor. Furry hand reaches down, and turns the Doctor over, just as the
fx people turn on a video bleed. The wig disappears as the shot is changed
to a wig-less McCoy, and the fx people slowly turn off the bleed, as the
whooshy music rises portamento higher and higher and higher.
As the bleed stops and we see the face and the music climaxes, the
opening title sequence begins.
MAKING THE SHOW
3.1 Will there be more Doctor Who?
Maybe, maybe not. Not anytime soon, anyway. The official announcement is:
"Doctor Who will be back but not in the near future. We are
not close to a deal with any company. When Doctor Who returns
the programme will be vibrant, vital and improved, not a tired
old Time Lord who comes back too soon" *