Chalky, Shirt and Tigger…

…First Night Nerves

It was about time, so he was back (again). After the false start of the 1996 TV Movie, excitement was again rising about the return of a certain timelord to primetime Saturday nights. Such an event could not pass without celebration, and so it was agreed that the gang should gather for the first episode. However, Dufus found himself unable to come down from Birmingham (presumably so that he could make sure he taped all DW related items that night), Enigma and Scooby were abroad, and Lupine was also unavailable.

So, it was only Shirt and Tigger that made their way to Shirt’s, whose front room had been turned into a “Doctor Who” shrine with posters and models. Arriving just in time for the “Doctor Who: A New Dimension” documentary, the three sat expectantly, hoping that it would not contain quite as many spoilers as the “Project Who” documentary on Radio 2, earlier that week. This televisual delight finished, Graham Norton popped up to present “Strictly Dance Fever”.

“We want ‘Doctor Who’”, said Tigger impatiently, before taking greats pains to intimately criticise each and every dance pair.

Shirt meanwhile, made sure that he had his all videotapes together, and that his Freeview box was tuned into BBC3 for “Doctor Who: Confidential”, after the main feature.

As the minutes ticked closer to 7pm, Tigger became more and more excited, whilst Chalky and Shirt pretended to be non-plussed by the whole thing.

The tap-dancers of the BBC1 ident appeared, and as the announcer solemnly intoned: “Well now BBC1 hurtles through space and time. Come with us for the trip of a lifetime. Aliens, you have been warned. Christopher Eccleston is the new……Doctor Who !!”, an expectant silence fell over the room, save for Shirt loudly crunching some Pringles. However, even he quietened down when the theme began, and the words “Christopher Eccleston” shot out of the vortex.

The sofa on which the three were seated seemed to be shaking a great deal, but this turned out to be Tigger bouncing up and down with excitement (well it is what Tigger’s do best).

The first new (proper) WHO began, and for nearly five minutes, no-one said a word, eyes transfixed on the screen, until a voice from the ether, sounding suspiciously like Graham Norton broke the dramatic tension.

“Your Freeview’s breaking through”, criticised Chalky (who was only jealous because Tigger wouldn’t let him have it at home).

Shirt garbled that it wasn’t his fault [which was later confirmed when it proved to be country-wide, and nothing to do with Freeview].

Silence reigned again, and lasted until the final credits, save occasional over-the-top laughter from Shirt, particularly during the scene by the London Eye.

Shirt having swapped over the videotape, and turned his Freeview on, taping “Doctor Who Confidential”, turned to the others.

“He’s back, baby !” he said doing his best (and ironically also his worst) Joey Tribbiani impression.

The rest of the evening was spent in scanning in images for Chalky and Tigger’s wedding invitation.

Later, over TARDIS battenberg cakes (provided by Tigger), it was agreed that the new series was “fantastic”.

[PL]