The New Doctor! A Doctor Who Alternate History Story

Part 57 - David Burton, March 2005

It's funny. We never officially aired in the States, but that's where we caught on. I remember, now and then I'd get fan letters from the United States. Not often, but once in a while. It was bemusing. Apparently, videotapes from England, third generation, fifth generation, what have you, were circulating.

Then for a couple of years, we had a VHS release. Well, it wasn't officially in the United States. But apparently, there was some major smuggling from Canada going on, let me tell you. Insane stories, Canadian's driving down to conventions with piles of tapes hidden in the boots of their cars, and then just bootlegging them at conventions, for four or five times the retail price. Isn't that marvellous.

Every now and then an American or Canadian travelling over would look me up. I mean, astonishing, right. Of course you'd take them out for a pint. Travel all that way? Of course you would.

Then one day, I get this phone call, from some organizer for a convention. I think it was in Chicago. They're going, 'can you come to our convention' and I'm going 'Jesus!'

So there I am trying to explain to this lad, in the politest possible terms, about this thing called the Atlantic Ocean, and how it's just not feasible for me to pop into my car and have a whip round to see them, much as I'm flattered.

And he says they'll pay my air fare AND my hotel.

Well, I'll tell you, my bags are packed and in the boot of my car before he finishes talking!

That was my first American convention, by the way. And it was grand, grand I tell you. I mean, I didn't have to pay for a meal. People were lining up for my autograph. I had a panel, I walked into this room, capacity 200 and it was filled, there was standing room. I walked through the door, and I had an ovation.

The Americans you see, they got me. They got the humour, the fun of it. The British fans, a lot of them didn't. But the Americans they embraced it. Different culture, I think that they grew up with Star Trek and Star Wars, Close Encounters and Aliens and ET and all this high techno stuff. Just a whole different standard for special effects. If you were going to like Doctor Who, then automatically, there was going to be forgiveness for shortcomings.

In fact, they liked it for the shortcomings, for the fact that we weren't blowing up a planet every twenty minutes, but telling stories and having interesting characters and dialogue.

They got the humour. They loved the humour. They appreciated it. American sci fi, it's all so humourless. It's grim, it's serious, it's the fate of the universe, and that's no lauging matter. So when they came to something that had a little wink to it, well, that was new to them, it was fresh. I think it's what made them forgive the lack of polish and special effects, because, you know, we were being clever and sly and funny.

I think that's why the movie failed in the United States, that McGann thing. They forgot the slyness, the cleverness that Americans loved about Doctor Who. That was Hollywood for you, the first thing they did when they got their hands on Doctor Who... they stripped out the the thing they loved, the cleverness. Kind of ironic.

Sometimes I think, what a missed opportunity. If we'd have had a chance to sell to the States... Well, they loved us, I was Tom Baker version 2 over there. If we'd sold there, we'd have had a second season, and a third. Hell, we could have had seven. Everything totally different. But the one thing the BBC, or BBC Enterprises was hell bent, was that we were never ever coming near the American market. They shot us, and themselves, in the foot.

I can't complain though. You look what they did to the poor Daltenreys. How many millions of pounds did those lads sink into trying to get it done, and at the last minute, BBC Enterprises stabs them in the back. BBC and BBC Enterprises embraced them wholehearted, and they came away poked with nothing but stab wounds. They gave us the back of the hand, and we got a whole season. Funny how it turns out.

The best time? 2001, I don't even have to think about it. We were all over there. I got to meet a lot of the boys - Jon had passed away by that time. Pity, Jon was always so gracious, the grand old man of the Doctors fraternity. Tom was always cordial, you know, but aloof. Peter I met a few times, it was a little wary at first but we warmed up nicely. Colin, Colin and I got along like a house on fire. Maurice was good, very funny man, dead on impressionist - he can do me better than I can. Sylvester and I are fine, all that rubbish in the press about us, complete exaggeration. There's the Doctors for you.

I'm not one of the classic BBC Doctors. But you know, that's all right. I'm one of those other Doctors. Well, that's a group that includes Peter Cushing and Maurice LaMarche, Rowan Atkinson and Richard Grant... That's a pretty good company.

Where was I? Oh yes, 2001. That was the big year. There was this convention in Los Angeles, and they were flying everyone out. You wouldn't believe it. The numbers, the people, the costumes. Anyway, Ian had come out. I think he might have had other business in California. Or maybe someone talked him into it. Or maybe he just wanted to come.

Anyway, there was a special event - a lot of special events. But this one... Someone had booked a theatre, a real theatre, for a special showing of Vienna, 1913. Well, of course, Ian and I had to attend. We were the belles of the ball you might say, the stars of the night. Well, technically, I was the star onscreen, but you know what I mean.

I thought 'oh crap, he's just going to spend the whole time grinding his teeth, and I'll be stuck sitting next to him.' And in the front row, no less. It was one of those mixed blessings, you know. But there it goes. The theatre is packed, completely packed. Not a free seat. And the usher leads us to the front, where there are a couple of seats roped off, just for us. Then the convention organizer makes a speech, and we all go up and say a few words. Then we sit down, and the lights go down, and it plays.

I can see Ian gripping the arms of his seat, like it's the chinese water torture. I'm thinking, poor bastard, he's not going to enjoy this. I'm also thinking 'poor me, because I'm not going to end up enjoying it either, sitting next to him.'

But then, as it plays, I hear it, something I'd never expected to hear.

He chuckled. And as it goes on, he starts to relax more and more. And he starts smiling, he laughs at the right spots, at first you know, holding back. But warming up, you could feel him warming up. The audience is loving it, they're enthralled. You can feel the energy, they jump when they're supposed to be surprised, and they laugh or smile at the right times, and its funny and smart and moves right along, and Ian, he's right there with them.

At the end of it, he turns to me and he says, and there's tears in his eyes, he's grinning, he says to me "David, I get it now. I get it." 

I say "It's yours, Ian, this is what you helped make." 

And he says "Its ours, David, we all did it together."

We get up to take a bow. People are cheering. There's a standing ovation. We lift up our arms, we're like rock stars. We hug. We turn back to the crowd.

Have you ever been witness to the finest moment of a person's life? That moment, that drags them from the depths of hell, to the heights of heaven? Where they find that all their struggles come to something, that it was finally, for the first time, it was finally worth it. I've been privileged to be able to bear witness to that moment.