I was recently asked to write the introduction to a new portfolio reproducing some of Andrew Skilleter’s artwork from the 1980s. While gazing at Andrew’s cover painting for The Leisure Hive novelisation, I recalled the August evening, long ago, when I first saw that story.
I knew that Doctor Who had changed many times before, but this somehow didn’t prepare me for the astonishing make-over that unfolded in the opening minutes of Part One. By the following March an impossibly young Doctor had arrived in the shape of Peter Davison and, once again, everything I thought I knew about the series needed re-evaluating.
When Doctor Who was relaunched with Rose, almost 25 years later, I got the same feeling all over again, although by this time the idea of watching any new episodes seemed unfamiliar.