1983 to 1987: A Five Doctors Recording to Ace’s Jacket

JAMIE LENMAN is showcasing one item for each year of Doctor Who’s existence – among them collectables, props and personal mementos.

A VHS tape of The Five Doctors (1983), recorded by Terry Boniface.

Simon Peak watches a VHS of The Five Doctors in 1985, two years after the story’s original broadcast.

1983

A Five Doctors recording

T he story goes that it was Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in June 1953 that convinced much of the British public to finally buy a television set, or at least rent one in order to view the grand spectacle. The increase in sales was actually part of a general upward trend, but it’s true to say that far fewer of the rented items were returned that summer than was usual.

In Doctor Who circles, another important event, 30 years later, prompted a large number of households to acquire a video recorder by any means possible – the screening in November 1983 of the 20th-anniversary special, The Five Doctors. “To buy a VCR outright in 1983, you’d have been paying the equivalent of nearly £2,000 in today’s money,” explains Simon Peak of Colchester, who taped the show on a machine his family were hiring. “Renting was pretty commonplace.”

“Somehow I convinced my parents to get the video player for this momentous occasion. ”

Gareth Gorman

The Radio Times for 19-25 November 1983 featured a Five Doctors cover painting by Andrew Skilleter.

Painted Fine Art Castings models from Matt Carter’s collection.

As with the rented TV sets in 1952, however, buying the thing outright was offset by the previously paid instalments. “Somehow I convinced my parents to get the video player for this momentous occasion,” says Gareth Gorman in Melbourne. “The whole family watched Doctor Who, so it wasn’t too hard to convince them, but they did hire it for a while to be sure. Then those payments went towards buying it down the line.”

Gareth was part of the burgeoning Australian audience that had been in producer John Nathan-Turner’s mind when he cast Brisbane-born Janet Fielding as series regular Tegan Jovanka. Eventually, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation put some AU$60,000 towards the special’s budget, just as Gareth contributed to his family’s expenditure. “I bought a JVC 180-minute tape for it,” he says proudly.