Happy Anniversary, Dr Who

What I learned today: the theme song to 'Dr Who' was composed by an Aussie. ( What I have forgotten today: the composer's name!).  How awesome is that theme?  The opening bass, the synth, it's so atmospheric and creepy, and I love it.  I used to watch when I was a kid, all those years ago, and I remember the then incarnation of the Doctor's face would appear, as portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee.  And it was a creepy as.  It made my blood go cold.  It was on every day in the school holidays at about two o'clock.  My uncle, a school teacher, would visit my home town with his brood of four (to whom I'm quite close),  They would all be staying at another relative's house, where there was a large paddock.  Someone excavated a trench in that paddock, and we would play soldiers in the war, or else hide and seek (we always hid in the trench).  An older cousin (my rellies are legion) would sometimes double us around on his Yamaha motorbike, and I swear the bugger deliberately rode us through long thistles.

But what I mainly remember is we would be hanging out for 'Dr Who' to come on.  And we drove my grandmother absolutely batshit with the repeated cry of, 'Is it time for 'Dr Who' yet, Nanny?'  When it was finally time, we all huddled on the floor in front of the old black and white television (this was prior to 1975), and watched in fear.  Yes, fear.  We all loved a scare.  Most children do enjoy ghost stories around the campfire, or in the darkened room with the blinds drawn.  (I used to do that with some other kids until the blind inexplicably went up, and we all screamed).  I remember a cloud of evil looking fog, and some seriously scary-looking cyber-fucker (whatever he was) appearing and sending a ray from his forehead  to Dr Who, and knocking him unconscious.  We thought he had killed the Time Lord.  We ran out to the back yard, where my uncle was attending a bonfire, and my cousin cried, 'Daddy, there was a lot of smoke, and this monster came out and killed Dr Who!'  My uncle gestured to the fire and said, 'There's a lot of smoke here, so I hope some strange monster doesn't come out and kill me.'

One day, when we asked for the umpteenth time was it time for Dr Who yet, my grandmother finally blew her springs and shouted, 'No! No! NO!'  Karmic retribution is a funny thing.  I have echoed this cry many a time to my own children, when they have driven me absolutely insane with the same question or request, over and over and over.