Monday 21 June 2010

Kklak! Kklak! Kklaaaak!


KKLAK! KKLAK! KKLAAAAAK!

Yes, those of you who remember the Target novelisation of this week's Who Gold story will know that to be the unique sound of the T-Rex! No, not Marc Bolan. Carry on...


Doctor Who: Invasion Of The Dinosaurs (omnibus)
Sunday 11th July 1993
9.00-11.30am (UK Gold)

Now technically there are only five Doctor Who episodes called Invasion of the Dinosaurs - the Doctor Who production team gave the opening instalment of this story its own unique (and rather dull) title - 'Invasion' - in order to conceal the appearance of dinosaurs. Fair enough, huh? Imagine just how cheesed off Letts and co. must have been when Radio Times advertised it with a photo of a Pterodactyl threatening the Doctor and Sarah!


'Invasion' stands out for special attention because it only exists in black and white, due to the short-sightedness of the BBC in the 1970s; luckily for us a 16mm monochrome film telerecording of the episode turned up in 1983. UK Gold addressed this 'oddity' prior to transmission, for casual viewers who might have thought their televisions were on the blink! The channel's announcer also reminded viewers that this was the first (British) airing of 'Doctor Who and the Dinosaurs' (ahem) since its original transmission since 1974 - as it transpired, it would be another ten years before the story was finally made available to purchase on VHS (the last Doctor Who story to be released on the format, no less) so this really was a treat for Who fans.


Along with a reminder of that morning's movie, Battleshock, the following trailers were aired during the junction prior to Doctor Who...

DOCTOR WHO: THE OMNIBUS VERSION
Sunday's (sic) at 9am

DAVID COPPERFIELD
Sundays 5.30pm

ELIZABETH R
Tonight at 9pm

FAIRPORT CONVENTION
This Sunday night at 11.45 (pm)


Right, I'm off to watch The Pandorica Opens again - what an episode! See you next week for another trip down memory lane...

3 comments:

  1. That sounds very much to me like Andrea McDowell introducing the episode. A friend and fellow "gob" on Channel 5 now!

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  2. David BruntOctober 03, 2010

    Actually, Radiotimes billed ep 1 as "Invasion".

    Though it did have a whopping big piece of artwork of the Doctor and Sarah being menaced by the Pterodactyl accompanied by a caption mentioning the prehistoric monsters...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the correction, David :-)

    ReplyDelete