I have been a fan of the British Sci-Fi show Doctor Who since approximately 1976 when I first saw a Tom Baker episode on WTTW in Chicago where I was living at the time. I quickly became engrossed and it was my hobby for a number of years. I have attended several Doctor Who conventions, have quite a few autographs of actors and actresses who have participated in the show, and have a large collection of novelizations and videos. Doctor Who began on the BBC on November 23, 1963 and ran until it's cancellation in 1989. It's debut was delayed by one day with the news of President Kennedy's assassination.

The good Doctor returned to our TV screens in May 1996, on FOX TV here in America. I was very impressed with the show, but it didn't pull very high ratings, and once again, the Doctor disappeared from our airwaves.

Thankfully, 2005 will be a very good year for Doctor Who fans. On March 26, 2005, Doctor Who returns to the airwaves with an entire new series of 13 episodes. Christopher Eccleston will be playing the role of the Doctor, and his lone companion (at this time) will be Rose Tyler, played by actress/singer Billie Piper.

It will be broadcasting on BBC1 in the UK, CBC Television in Canada, and PrimeTV in New Zealand. *UPDATE* Good News! The Sci-Fi channel in the US has picked up the 1st season of the new Doctor Who and it begins it's broadcasting on Friday, March 17, 2006. They'll be showing the first two episodes that evening, and then I believe they'll be showing one episode a week on Friday nights. One of the first reviews is located at iFn Magazine.

For those who will be unable to view the new TV adventures, a company known as Big Finish was able to negotiate rights to begin recording new audio adventures for Doctor Who. Many of the actors and actresses from the original series have been reprising their roles in these audio adventures. Some new companions have been introduced as well. I have been able to hear several of these stories and they're quite well done. Follow the link above to check them out.

My favorite companion has always been Nyssa, played by Sarah Sutton. She was a companion to both Tom Baker and Peter Davison. This is my favorite picture of Nyssa, as played by Sarah Sutton. This is the outfit she wore in Peter Davison's second season. The male viewers in England were after the BBC to have both Nyssa and Tegan "show some more leg" and this was the outfit they came up with for Nyssa to wear. It doesn't appear quite this skimpy in the episodes, but it's still nice (grin). And we all know that they were pandering to the males again when, in Nyssa's last episode, Terminus, they had her get sick and during her disorientation, she dropped her skirt, and was wearing not much more than what you see her here in this promotional picture.