The Woman Who Fell To Earth
On a recent anniversary of the transmission of Rose, I took the opportunity to re-run a review of it I’d written immediately after its transmission and for a...
"It's A Matter of Memory" - Part Two
“Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. Turn and face the strange ch-ch-changes.” Last month, we were looking at the question of multi-Doctor stories, and whether the “past”...
The Masque of Mandragora
“Looking for words to say. Searching but not finding understanding anywhere. We're lost in a Masquerade.” The initial impetus for The Masque of Mandragora...
“It’s A Matter of Memory” - Interlude: Companion Piece
“Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind.” A side issue of all the memory man stuff we discussed last week, and the question of whether...
"It's A Matter of Memory" - Part One
“I made myself a promise, that I'd soon forget we ever met. But something sure is wrong. I forgot to remember to forget” In the years immediately following...
The First Doctors
“I am the one and only. Nobody I’d rather be.” On the 5 November 1988 episode of BBC One’s Saturday morning children’s magazine programme Going Live!...
Famous Last Words - Part Two
“You’re never gonna see me cry the last goodbye.” Yes, that title is more than a trifle oxymoronic. But bear with me. Earlier this month, we looked at the...
Famous Last Words
"What was the last thing you said? It took like over a year to get you out of my head." A couple of odd, plot adjacent thoughts flashed through my mind...
Death to the Daleks
“There may be a powercut, and the candles burn down low, but something inside of me, says the bad news isn't so.” Many fans have stories about reading Target...
Comic Cuts
“Battle, battle, battle, battle, battle. Battle someone, oh. Battle, battle, battle battle someone, oh. Completion search. Here I love the bow.” I’ve had a...
Day of the Daleks
“Let’s start a war! Let’s start a nuclear war!” Day of the Daleks has never, as far as I’m aware, been involved in a legal tussle about its storyline. On the...
The Seeds of Death
“The space race is over. It's been and it's gone, and I'll never get to the moon. Because the space race is over - and I can't help but feel we've all grown...
“Lloyd George Knew My Father”
Back in the early noughties, Britain was a different place. It was governed by a Labour Party led by a barrister with asymmetric hair, whose attempts to...
It Takes You Away
Anyone who thinks Psychic Paper skipped a week in the last few days is right. Apologies. To make up the difference, there will be at least two e-mails for...
Pyramids of Mars
“Spirits of ancient Egypt. Hung on the telly. Hung on the telly.” I enjoy a good coincidence. There are times when I feel like coincidence is the operating...
Boom / 73 Yards / Dot and Bubble
“Trio. Trio. I want a Trio and I want one now.” Most the posts I write for Psychic Paper are about twentieth century Doctor Who. This isn’t, as someone...
Revenge of the Cybermen
“What some men will do here for diamonds / What some men will do here for gold.” Towards the end of 1987 my next door neighbour Matthew, who was a year older...
Dragonfire
“Ice Ice Baby. Ice Ice Baby.” Immediately before the transmission of its first episode, BBC1 announced that Dragonfire was “the 150th adventure” for Doctor...
Seasons in the Sun
It is a source of joy to me that the fabulous The Church on Ruby Road is a Doctor Who special transmitted in 2023 and yet it is not, according to wikipedia...
Delta and the Bannerman
"Here's to the Future. Love is the answer" In both the Doctor Who Magazine and Doctor Who Appreciation Society polls of the 1987 series of Doctor Who, each...
