The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) wields the sonic screwdriver for the first time in Episode 1 of Fury from the Deep (1968).
I was just a teenager, yet to embark on a career in journalism, when I wrote to Victor Pemberton, asking for an interview. Victor was on his way to a recording session for Fraggle Rock, the children’s television series he produced and co-wrote for Muppets creator Jim Henson, when he took time out to meet me. He brushed aside my gratitude, explaining that not only had he retained enormous affection for Doctor Who but as a young man he had idolised numerous film stars. In 1954, at the age of 22, he met Laurel and Hardy at the Finsbury Park Empire, and he’d remained unstintingly devoted to the legendary double-act ever since. In short, he understood what it meant to be a fan.
A 1960s portrait of Doctor Who producer Peter Bryant.