Doctor Who’s 44th

I don’t want to fall any more behind, so I’d better post…

Today is (or was, I suppose) Doctor Who’s 44th anniversary.

In my plan for how this whole NaBloPoMo thing was going to work, I had it set out that I’d write a wonderfully reminiscent post about Doctor Who in my life and why it’s totally the best show ever. And I think i could pull it off. I just don’t feel like writing that post tonight.

At least in part, it’s because [Verity Lambert died yesterday](http://www.dwin.org/blog/archives/000279.html). Verity Lambert was Doctor Who’s first producer.

She, along with Canadian [Sydney Newman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Newman) set out what Doctor Who would be. She was perhaps as much responsible for the Daleks as [Terry Nation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Nation) was. Sydney Newman wanted Doctor Who to be a show that taught kids about science and history in an entertaining way, but with no bug-eyed monsters whatsoever. Verity Lambert, however, knew nothing about science, so instead commissioned a story about mutant monsters surviving a nuclear war.

There’s a line in the Season 3 episode “Human Nature” where the Doctor, as the human named John Smith, mentions his parents “Sydney and Verity”.

I want to write more, but I’m fighting to stay awake. I have people over and we’re going to have a Doctor Who party tomorrow. I am very happy about that, but right now, I need some rest.