Dimensionally Transcendental

As I sit in my bed and read Bill's last entry, I begin to look around my bedroom and take stock of what I have- just in this room:

TARDIS exteriors- 11
(9 toys, 1 poster, 1 River Song journal)

TARDIS interiors- 4
(3 toy sets, 1 photograph in the 11th Doctor's console room)

Daleks- 15 toys

Cybermen- 12 toys

Doctors- 8 toys

Sonic Screwdrivers- 11
(9 sonic screwdrivers, 1 sonic laser, 1 sonic lipstick)

Hypercubes- 3

Recorders- 1

We'll save the inventory of audio CD's and books in my room for another time. :)

-Michael

Bigger on the inside...

Sitting here in my living room writing this post I look around me and see 3 TARDIS toys located in various spots. Believe me, we have more in the house than that, its just that only 3 of them are in this room. (My house is like a toy showroom...though more on that in a later post.)

                                                       (rather dark but Amy Pond is inside)

                                                        (the 7th Doctor guards the videos)

                   (the TARDIS after its materialized in the adventure of the windowsill Foo Dog)

  Thinking about traveling in the TARDIS with the Doctor was mentioned in my earlier post and then the one that you wrote as a response Michael, the actual traveling was mentioned but not the mode of travel.

I want to give some thought to that. One of the amazing and mysterious aspects of the Doctor's existence and my fascination with the show, is the interior of the TARDIS...or Time And Relative Dimension In Space.  Through the miracle of Gallifreyan technology, the ability to place an infinite amount of space inside a small shell. The Exterior of the TARDIS has been stuck in the shape of a 1960's Police Call box for most of the duration of the show, with a few quick exceptions. The TARDIS contains a chameleon circuit that allows it to blend in with its surroundings the instant it dematerializes. After being on Earth for an extended period of time, the TARDIS was locked in this form.

The interior of the TARDIS is infinite, it's a maze of rooms and corridors and wonder. Every person who walks through the doors of the Police Box is instantly awed by the fact that it is Bigger on the Inside. Most say this, or attempt to say this. Some deal with it amazingly well, others are dumbfounded. I was always fascinated with this idea. Growing up and having my earliest memories be Tom Baker episodes, I became familiar with the white console room, the hexagonal control panel and the roundels decorating the walls.

I remember being confused and then delighted when the Doctor and Sarah Jane uncover the secondary control room in an episode. This control room was wood paneled, darker and full of atmosphere. The console was wooden and nautical in appearance and there was stained glass on the walls.

 What the heck was this? How could this control room be there? How the heck could this room that was located in a completely different part of the ship have an exit door that led to the exact same place as the control room that I was familiar with? I think at this point I was probably too young to grasp why this was but I guess after a moment I just accepted that it was the way it was and moved on from there.
Later in the same Doctor's era we get to see more of the interior with the medical bays, some labs, the swimming pool and a sort of power station/area. This was shown to us not as the roundel covered walls and sterile white but as brick and stone, some of it looking like it was tunnels made of concrete and steel.
I always thought this was really pretty cool.

As an adult, having read numerous Doctor Who books and watching all the episodes, I really got fascinated with the interior of the TARDIS. Its vast and ever changing. I know that technically the reason that it was ever changing is because of production issues, cost, storage and a million other things...but the act of having to change a set because of those issues did not detract from the show, quite the opposite. It made the show richer in history and mystery.
 Over the years the TARDIS has been hinted at being sentient and having its own sense of person, we have seen a physical manifestation of the TARDIS in the current series(Idris), we have seen one of the companions actually become the TARDIS and then her own TARDIS in the books(Compassion), we have learned that the TARDIS changes her interior when it suits her, or to assist the Doctor or even to foil an enemy.
 The TARDIS has changed her interior from an intimate white console room, to a very Edwardian/Victorian/Nautelous feel of the 8th Doctor to the feeling of enormity of the 9th,10th and 11th Doctors. Heck, we have even seen that the TARDIS has a room in it that is comprised of a grassy hilltop with thousands of butterflies in it. ( the BBC 8th Doctor Adventures novels)
How can this not be something to delight and fascinate a child or an adult?

In the 5th Doctor's tenure we did see a lot of the interior of the TARDIS, we got to see more of the Doctor and his companion's "home life" so to speak. For the first time, we really got to see that this was not just a mode of transport for them, but it was home, it was where they lived. We get to see companion's bedrooms and see a bit into their private lives. The first Doctor's companions seemed to just sleep on some  diagonally raised couches in the same room, very 60's future-ish sci-fi, never really having their own space or privacy.

I just find the entire idea of the infinite space of the interior to be amazing, I want to see more. I always liked it when a new Time Lord such as the Master or the Rani or the Meddling Monk was shown, it was another chance to see what the interior of a TARDIS looked like and how it differed from the Doctors.

I wish that someone would publish a book just on the interiors of the TARDIS, detailing what we have seen, pictures of the various rooms, schematics, listings etc...I know its hard to make a map of an infinite space...but someone should try.

I remember thinking that as an adult it would be really cool to decorate a room as if it was a room in the TARDIS by creating back lit roundels for the walls, or for a hallway. Dorky?...yeah, Geeky?...yeah, Cool?...Hell Yeah!  Have I done it yet? nahhh, not yet...but that doesn't mean it will never happen.

For me, traveling in the TARDIS would be a really amazing experience, I would love to get to explore the mysteries, the corridors, the rooms and every nook and cranny that it had to offer. Of course, since its an infinite space(and a fictional space as well) that would be an impossibility, but the adventure would be worth the time. So yeah, I guess this answers my previous question of would I be a companion, given more thought, yeah, I would.
-Bill

re: A Familiar Vorrrp Vorrrp...

In response to my erstwhile companion's last post, if the Doctor landed in front of me and asked me to join him, I would jump in that TARDIS without reservation or hesitation. Obviously I have dreamed of traveling through time and space my entire life, running around the Console Room, dressing up in great costumes and running down endless corridors. Every time I hear that familiar vorrrp vorrrp I get chills up and down my spine.

I recently went to London, England for the first time and for me, it was like a spiritual journey to Mecca. I had arrived in the Promised Land! I don't think I can adequately convey the feelings and emotions I had that week. I could have easily had titled the trip "Searching for Doctor Who". The entire city is so saturated with scenes and memories from the show, I was punch drunk from drinking in the experience.

While there are many highlights to the trip, there are two that really apply to this post. The first was at the amazing Doctor Who Experience. The tour starts out with a mayday message from the 11th Doctor. He's trapped and needs our help to set him free. Then quite literally the TARDIS materializes in front of you and you go inside into the Console Room! The doors close behind you and the ship takes off, the floor starts pitching, steam is erupting from the console and the time rotor is oscillating up and down. We were in the TARDIS!!! Of course she lands up on the bridge of a Dalek ship, but that's a tale for another time.

The other great moment of the trip was when we were walking back to the Underground Station from the Experience. We turned the corner and there before us, right on the sidewalk in the middle of the day, was an actual Police Box! I immediately got the chills and was slack jawed. I couldn't believe there was a 'TARDIS' in front of me. Granted, I had just seen several TARDIS's and such at the Experience, but this was different because it was a REAL Police Box. While it wasn't humming, I felt an emotional charge when I touched it. I hoped the Doctor was inside and had arrived to whisk me away on an adventure. The doors were locked. I pulled out my TARDIS key to see if it worked. It didn't. Maybe he was on the loo and couldn't come to the door. My heart felt a little sad and disappointed. I took a moment to recompose myself and we went on our way.

In reflection, that week in London was one of, if not the greatest, adventure of my life. While we weren't actually with the Doctor in the TARDIS, following in his footsteps and exploring this amazing planet we live on is the most wonderful journey of a lifetime!

-Michael

"Go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine"

On this day in 1975, William Hartnell passed away at the age of 67. I don't want to only talk about the deceased cast of Doctor Who but this made my mind turn in a few different directions. So strap in for a quick spin!

In 1978 when I started watching Doctor Who, I had no idea there was anyone besides Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor. At some point when my PBS started showing Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor episodes, they finally aired the 10th anniversary episode The Three Doctors. This introduced me to Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor and, very briefly, William Hartnell's First Doctor. It really wasn't a great introduction. Poor ol' guy, trapped in a plastic box, on the scanner screen. He had some funny lines, but you could tell he was very weakened. This Doctor had seen better days.

In my mind, the second time I saw the First Doctor was in the 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors. The opening clip taken from the Dalek Invasion of Earth was fitting and brief, but so out of context. Since William had passed away, they recast the First Doctor with another actor who was fine in filling his shoes, but still not the man himself.

Then came the glorious day when my PBS started airing Doctor Who from the very beginning. Going back to 1963, to the day after JFK was assassinated, came the very first episode An Unearthly Child. Through the fog on a cold London night, a police officer passes by a  junk yard with an old Police Box humming in the corner. A pair of school teachers follow their student Susan to this junk yard and meet the Doctor. So feisty, so argumentative, so crotchety, so eccentric. THIS was William Hartnell's Doctor in his prime! Playing the Doctor as the anti-hero, he electrified the screen. Bursting into the TARDIS for the first time, he transported all of us to another dimension. It was breathtaking!

Once we got to the Dalek Invasion of Earth and saw that tiny clip that started The Five Doctors in context, it was so much more emotional. The Doctor saying goodbye to his granddaughter, locking her out of the TARDIS, and forcing her to start a new life with the man she loves. "Go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine." Timeless words that have lived on for nearly 50 years. 


Hartnell had many more great adventures in his three years in the role. Thankfully many of those adventures still exist and we have enjoyed them many times. When I finally obtained his swansong, The Tenth Planet, on VHS, I sat glued to the TV as he fought his last battle against a new menace called the Cybermen. Even though the final episode  no longer exists, between telesnaps, linking narration, and the last few minutes of actual footage, we saw William Hartnell rejuvenate into Patrick Troughton. 


While William was not in good health for the last years of his life, I am now struck by how young he was when he passed. Much like Elizabeth Sladen, who was only 65 when she passed last year. Both taken to soon from us. Both sad reminders of our fleeting mortality but they will always live on through Doctor Who.


-Michael

A Familiar Vorrrp Vorrrp...

We sell this particular item at work, its a plush TARDIS that makes a materializing/dematerializing sound when you squeeze it. Needless to say it gets squeezed a lot of times during the work day(not by me... at least not anymore) The sound is just loud enough that I can pretty much hear it from anywhere in the store. Even though I know its not real, I still like to go look in the section that it's merchandised in to see who is playing with it...and if I am being honest, there is the little tiny fractional portion of me that looks...because, hey, you just never know.

Would you do it? If the TARDIS were to materialize out of the vortex and solidify right in front of you, If the Doctor came bounding out of the door and bumped into you, would you, could you, assist him and take that step into the unknown and travel with him?

It's an easy and a difficult question to answer all rolled into one.

On first impulse the answer would be, Hell yes! but really stop and think about it, it's a difficult one to say. Taking the step to be the Doctor's companion is not an easy road, sure, there must be some downtime in the TARDIS. After all, he does talk about some of the vacation spots in the Universe he's been to...but take a look at the way he meets his companions. In the heat of the moment, rushing from one cataclysmic event to the next. People die, monsters are unleashed, governments and dictators fall and sometimes planets explode.

I suppose as the Doctor has gotten older (yet younger looking) the experience of being a companion has at least lost one of its uncertainties...the uncertainty of ever seeing your home, family and original time period again. In the earliest stages of the Doctor's traveling with companions, he had no grasp of how to actually pilot the TARDIS where he wanted to go. The only way that a companion was likely to get home to their time was by sheer luck, if they were lucky enough to get back at all. Some died, some ended up being forced out of the TARDIS and some decided to leave and take up residence in a new time and place. As the Doctor has aged, he has gradually become more proficient with steering the TARDIS around the universe though still not 100% accurately. Many times hitting the right planet, but just not the right time frame.
Its not until the current series that companions have been so grounded in their timeframe, Rose, Martha, Donna and Amy have all had the opportunities to come back to family and home on numerous occasions.

Could you give up your life as you know it, journey in the TARDIS knowing that there is a remote possibility that you could die, and a greater chance that you might never return to your own time again. You would never see your family, friends and loved ones. Your possessions, your job, your pets and  your home might all be lost to you forever.

Would you?

The practical side of me says no, I couldn't do that at all, I can't see giving up all that I know for the unknown...The adventurous part of me isn't so certain. How could you give up the opportunity to see all of time and space, to have the miracles of the ages at your fingertips? Hell, just the opportunity to live and travel in the TARDIS and to explore its depths would be worth it alone.

I suppose that traveling in the TARDIS is a lot like real life, its uncertain, there are always risks. You never know what's around the next corner. You should live your life like any day or minute could be your last. Be happy, take chances. Life should be an adventure and not a chore.

Would I take that step through the doors of the TARDIS?  

Yeah, I think I would.

-Bill

Eldrad Must Live...no, really, she/he must live

Very quickly I wanted to answer my S.J.S questions that I posed to Michael. If I really have to narrow down a favorite story of Sarah Jane's I think I really have to go with The Hand of Fear. Even though it is Sarah's last story, it is not bogged down or burdened by this fact, it's a great story that unfortunately ends with Sarah leaving the TARDIS and the Doctor. The scene between the Doctor and Sarah right before she leaves is touching and heart warming and leaves a bittersweet feeling.

I think that my earliest Sarah Jane memory is from The Seeds of Doom, I remember Harrison Chase and his crazy organ playing and the Krynoid overtaking the manor house, as well as the scenes in the Antarctic.
-Bill

"I'm going to pack my goodies and I'm going home."

I have many wonderful and fond memories of our Sarah Jane Smith. I previously stated that my earliest memory of Doctor Who was The Seeds of Doom, which would be my earliest memory of Elizabeth Sladen. I hate to choose just one Sarah Jane story as my favorite. There are so many great stories that she brought to life. I adore her debut in The Time Warrior, where she burst on the scene full of fire and passion. She was the picture of women's lib, taking no chauvinism from Jon Pertwee's Doctor. She was a very modern companion for a show that was in transition. She was a breath of fresh air and set the stage for Tom Baker's arrival and the greatest popularity the classic show ever had. Her characterization of the Doctor's companion set the tone for decades to come.

My favorite memory, and probably my favorite Classic Sarah Jane story, is the final scene from The Hand of Fear. From the moment the Doctor and Sarah walk in the quarry to their final goodbye's, it is a tour de force for Liz. My heart breaks every time I watch her final scene. After a galaxy spanning adventure, it all comes down to a very quiet, domestic scene in the console room. The Doctor receives a call from Gallifrey and can't take Sarah Jane with him. After fighting Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans, it would be the Time Lords that would separate our daring duo. And off Sarah Jane goes, walking into the proverbial sunset.

But thank the stars, that wasn't the last of our Sarah. K9 & Company was cute. The Five Doctors was lovely. The Big Finish audio series showed an adult Sarah Jane in a very dark and gritty world. It moved the character into areas she never went in the classic tv series and showcased the tremendous acting range of Liz. This began the dramatization of the lives of the Doctor's companion AFTER they leave him. What effect he had on them, and what it's like to return to a normal life.

This paved the way for her triumphant return in the new series in the amazing School Reunion. My favorite new memory is when she see's the TARDIS again for the first time in decades and slowly turns around to come face to face with the 10th Doctor. The scene is beautiful and full of emotion between Liz and David. It was as though the years had faded away and we were kids again with our Sarah Jane. Her portrayal of life after the Doctor, now on-screen, was heartbreaking as she talking about touching such splendor then being dumped abruptly and trying to resume a normal life. At least she did get a K9 out of it.

 I was so happy when Liz got her own show The Sarah Jane Adventures. It wonderfully moved the character forward to become a mother, a leader, a teacher, and a defender of the Earth in her own right. Much like the many great moments from her Classic adventures, the SJA's created so many more with her reunion with the Brigadier, with Jo Grant, with the 10th Doctor, and meeting the 11th Doctor. Seeing her back in the TARDIS those last few times brought a big smile to my face. Another great moment from the new series was Sarah Jane's reunion with Davros in Stolen Earth/ Journey's End. The scene was so electric and jumped off the screen. For us old Who fans, it was such a treat to make that connection.

Reflecting on Liz's life and legacy fills me with so many feelings of special times. We are so lucky to have available to us this huge body of work on audio and video and we can relive her adventures. So although our dear, sweet Liz is no longer with us, Sarah Jane will live forever. In my mind, I see her scene from The End of Time as David Tennant's Doctor is saying goodbye to his former companions. They do a close up of Sarah Jane's face as she see's the Doctor standing in the TARDIS doorway, waving goodbye. You can see the realization fall upon her face, that this Doctor was on his way to regenerate. Tear began to roll down her face, she begins so smile, waving goodbye, as the sun shines on her face. Farewell Sarah Jane. Farewell Liz. You will always be in our hearts.

-Michael

A sad anniversary ...Elisabeth Sladen you may be gone, but never forgotten.

Today Michael sent me a text that said it has been one year since Elisabeth Sladen passed away. My response was that it seemed like it was only yesterday, it really doesn't feel like a full year has passed by.

This got me thinking a lot about her. As Michael and I both stated Sarah Jane Smith was one of the first companions that we actively remember from our youth. She was one of the voices that helped to introduce us into the strange adventures through space and time in the TARDIS with the Doctor.

What makes her hands down one of the best companions, if not THE best companion ever?

I don't know if I can answer that one completely. I only know what I feel about her.
I can say this hands down, if I ever got to go along for adventures in the TARDIS, I would have wanted to do so with Sarah Jane Smith, investigative reporter.
She was plucky, she was sweet, she was independent, she stood up for herself and she didn't always need rescuing. Most importantly of all, she was the Doctor's best friend, this especially became true when the Doctor regenerated into his 4th incarnation(played by Tom Baker). You could believe their relationship was genuine, even though she was human and he was a Time Lord. You knew that they cared about each other. I will admit that sometimes the writers didn't treat the character as well as they could have, she started out very strong and then later was written weaker..but that never mattered. The reason it never mattered was that Elisabeth Sladen was a class act. She was a great actress, you loved her, you just couldn't help it. So, if the situation or writing was a bit sketchy or the very independent journalist sometimes screamed a lot and needed to be saved, well, you just didn't care, it was Sarah Jane. You were along for the ride with her.

When Sarah Jane Smith left the Doctor and the TARDIS on that street corner that clearly was not in South Croydon, in her Andy Pandy jumper and the goodies she had packed( her stuffed owl and a potted plant) it was the end of an era.

We were able to see Sarah Jane again in the 5th Doctor story The Five Doctors and even though her coat was a bit silly and her part was a bit silly too, it just didn't matter. Once again it was Sarah.

Not being in England, we missed the pilot of K-9 and company which sees Sarah Jane getting a K-9 mark  III robot dog from the Doctor as a Christmas present(the Doctor was referenced and not in the actual show) I saw this show much later on and was probably in my early 20's. Was it good?
nahhh, not really. It was great to see the character again but the story line just didn't work as a pilot episode. It dealt with local residents practicing in witchcraft where Sarah lived. It might have made a decent episode in the middle of a series, but not as a pilot

After that, it was always a treat to go back and watch episodes with Sarah in them on tape. We got to read about her adventures with the 7th Doctor in the Virgin published novel Bullet Time and then in the Missing and Lost Adventures novels.

 Big Finish Audio did two series of audio adventures solely about Sarah Jane in the present day and those were even better than reading about her, we got to have the character and hear Lis Sladen voice her, what a treat.

Seeing her come back in School Reunion with David Tennant was magical and amazing and she looked stunning and beautiful. It was just a breathtaking moment to see her in action again. Apparently that thought was not just ours because Sarah/Lis made another appearance on Who and then got her own spin off show The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Sadly, plans for her and Tom Baker to do some 4th Doctor audios for Big Finish were on the table when she passed away, so we will never get to see what could have been...

I like to try to look at it though as not what could have been...but as what we have. Elisabeth Sladen made the character of Sarah Jane Smith a real person, a person that millions of people loved, and continue to love. We still have all of her episodes and audios to watch and listen to...and most importantly of all, we have our memories.

I know that I have rambled on a whole lot Michael,  so I will end this one now, but before I go, I am going to ask you a few questions to answer, once you do, I will do the same.

What is your favorite Sarah Jane story?
What is the first Sarah Jane memory from childhood that comes to mind?


-Bill

We built this city on Doctor Who

It seemed like it was years before my PBS station got around to airing the Jon Pertwee episodes. I have a vague memory of his episodes starting and me asking "Who the hell is this guy?", "What did they did do to my opening credits?", "Where's my TARDIS??". It was a delightfully confusing time but I quickly got up to speed and by the time we hit the regeneration scene in The Planet of the Spiders, it all made sense. Of course by time we hit the 80's, we go through a (5 rounds) rapid succession of Doctors from 5 to 6 to 7. And at some point, they went back and aired all the 1st and 2nd Doctor episodes that still exist, which blew my mind because they were NOT in color!

I don't think I was every frightened by Doctor Who, but that Wirrn falling out of the cupboard in The Ark in Space did give me a startle. I was more fascinated by the concepts of time and space, the origins of the aliens, dimensional transendentalism, etc. Easy concepts for a 5 year old to wrap his head around. I lost track of the number of times I built the TARDIS console room out of paper and cardboard. It had fully functional door, view screen, even a time rotor that went up and down. Now a days kids can buy toy replicas of the console room (which I have, of course). But when we were kids, we had to use blood, sweat, tears, rice paste and scraps to build our own!

And oh the VCR tapes I had! When we finally got our first VCR, I must have bought tapes in bulk to record every episode off TV. What an ordeal! It must have taken me the better part of the 80's the get them all. Mine too are stashed somewhere in a drawer or closet in my parents house. Who knew that they'd release them officially on VHS, then DVD, then special edition DVD, some now on BluRay, and instantly on iTunes. What's next?

[Sidenote: I also sometimes recorded the audio from the TV onto cassette so I could listen to them later. Thus was born my Doctor Who audio obsession..... but that's a story for another time.]

-Michael

Fixing impossible things and pointing at them...

Oddly enough Seeds of Doom is one of the early memories of mine as well, though I watched Doctor Who on our local PBS station WMHT in the mornings. I have memories of watching after getting ready for school and before catching the bus. This was back in elementary school.
Tom and Lis are the Doctor/Companion combo I remember first too...though I do have some shaky memories of seeing John Pertwee and Lis in Invasion of the Dinosaurs

I remember that my brother Brian was always scared of the Daleks when he was little, I never was. Looking back on it I realize that I was never scared of the show, just fascinated with and by it. I am unsure what the appeal was to my much younger self, sadly I can't remember why I liked it, just that I did.

This was back in the days before everyone had a vcr in their homes...once we got ours years later, I remember that I was a maniac about taping the show whenever it was on. This was always an ordeal as you never quite knew how long the show was going to be on for. If you were lucky there were no breaks so you could set the vcr and get it all...UNLESS of course there was a pledge drive on, then it was torture to deal with. You could sit and watch it and hit stop while they went on about donating money, but if you were going out there was no way to do this. You had to use the setting on the tape for the maximum length of time allowed.

I still have the homemade tapes of Doctor Who from my teen years packed away someplace. I need to dig them out someday...especially since we have a friend who actually used to host some of those pledge drives. Of course, back then I didn't know him. I think it would be a hoot (to steal a turn of phrase from Tegan) to watch the tapes and see him.

Bill

Fixed Points and Impossible Things

Memories are funny things. They're not fixed points in our minds. Memories can change, evolve, diminish, extrapolate and be deleted. How you remember something from a day ago can be completely different in 10 years. And if you remember something you forgot, is it truly the same memory or an amalgamation of remnants repackaged?

I clearly remember Tom Baker and Elizabeth Sladen as my first Doctor and Companion team. I have fond memories of their adventures at 6 PM weeknights on our PBS station. I would often eat my dinner on a TV tray in front of the set, as the opening theme would begin and a sense of excitement would fall over me. I seem to remember 'Seeds of Doom' as one of my earliest episodes, if not possibly the first episode, I ever watched. Ironic that it would be the one with the crazy man playing his organ (Harrison Chase- a role model to future organists and botanists alike).

Of course we could theorize that our memories are changing because history has been rewritten. Or we're remembering something from an alternate dimension. Or the future is bleeding back into the present and compressing the past into new memories. Oh the possibilities are endless!

-Michael

Time and Tide Melt the Snowman...

Reaching into the vault of memories and hitting the back of the boot cupboard is going to be an interesting experience. As you know Michael my memory is faulty at the best of times...must be from getting tied up, knocked out, bumped on the head and/or spraining my ankle and falling all those times running from the monster(s) and waiting for the Doctor to save me.

Sarah Jane Smith discovering the TARDIS's boot cupboard

It will be interesting to see how memories either sync up or are completely at odds with each other as this blog rolls along.-Bill

Bill- I just remember talking about the Doctor Who wedding while we were in the pool. The bridal party would all be dressed as Companions. K9 would be the ring-bearer. Ah good times.

So although our plans never came to fruition as we planned, we were very close. There was a wedding (more comic book than Doctor Who), we stood together at the alter (me as your second-best man), and we did have 3 children (dogs not humans).

Despite the best laid plans of mice and men, it's the bold brush strokes of life that make the canvas beautiful. In our case, our canvas is woven together by Doctor Who! -Michael

Michael, I believe the discussion of the Doctor Who wedding was that very day we met, in the car ride from the party to the apartment. If memory serves correct, there was also talk about having three children and naming them Tegan, Nyssa and Adric (poor bastard) and how they would have little baby jumpers in the colors of their adult television namesakes.

While silly, this exchange was a precursor to conversations that would take place for a decade (and hopefully many more years to come). When Michael and I speak to each other on a daily basis either via email, FaceBook or texting, no matter what the subject is, there is alway some sort of reference to Doctor who wrapped into it...be it a reference from the show, both "Classic" and "Current", countless books, audio adventures or spin-offs.

It's always a part of our exchange. We can have a silly conversation, a mundane day to day chat or be speaking to each other of things that are important to us.  Generally it does not matter, somehow, someway, the Doctor makes his way into our lives.-Bill

How it began... Michael's perspective

So it was 2002 and I was still living in Syracuse, frequently visiting my old friend James (or Jim as he was now known to the rest of the world) in Albany, where he had moved the year prior. At some point he had met this guy named "Bill" and started telling me I had to meet him. Apparently this Bill was some sort of Doctor Who fan. I guess I could believe there was another Dr Who fan out there. I also believed in Yeti's and the Loch Ness Monster.

At some point the stars aligned and we had out first clandestined meeting at a picnic at a lovely couples house in Delmar. From across the backyard I saw Bill and somehow knew it was him. This was before these social networking sights were live and we couldn't cyber-stalk to find peoples pictures yet. I think we exchanged pleasantries and platitudes initially. Then we showed each other our Seal of Rassilon tattoos and BANG! our fates were sealed. I thought "OK, this guy must be for real if he has the Seal tattoo.".

We then began our Doctor Who conversation, comparing notes, favorite Doctor, favorite episode, etc etc. I think that when on for the rest of the night, the following day, and on and on. I can't remember if it was the same weekend but at some point we did discuss a Doctor Who wedding. Ah good times.

(Ironic side note: James (Jim) and I were celebrating a decade of friendship in 2002. Ten years later, Bill and I are now celebrating our decade. If the pattern follows, Bill now has to introduce me to my next decade friend)

How it began...Bill's perspective

So one summer ten years ago I was at a party with two of my new friends, Mike and Jim. At that point in time we belonged to a large group of guys in and around the Albany NY area that got together on a weekly basis and had potluck dinners and summer parties. In a sense it was a very informal gay networking group. Just a large group of guys hanging out and having fun.

 For this particular party Jim had invited his friend Michael to come out and spend the weekend, Jim had gone to school with Michael in Syracuse NY and the two of them, along with Mike, had been friends for a few years.

This was my first meeting with Michael. Jim had previously told me that his friend Michael was a big Doctor Who fan...he was not kidding. At the party we were introduced to each other and hit if off pretty well, we talked about a lot of things, Doctor Who being one of them. I ended up catching a ride back with Michael to Jim and Mike's apartment and we basically spent the entire ride conversing about the show.

He seriously out-geeked me in our conversation...and so it began