I love this program. In fact, I've been quite obsessed about it in the past, and still am whenever there are any rumours of a missing episode reappearing from some dark corner of the earth (such as someone's attic or basement).

For those of you who don't know, Doctor Who is a long running british science fiction program which began soon after I was born in November 1963. A google search on Doctor Who will tell you everything you could possibly want to know about it, including the fact that 108 episodes from the first 6 years of the series are missing from the BBC archives (see here for a wikipedia treatise on this). Amongst this collection are many of my favourite stories, most of whom feature Patrick Troughton in the title role. For a long time I was so upset at the loss of these stories that I devoted considerable time and effort at reconstructing the stories using soundtracks and stills taken from episodes at the time, eventually joining up with Michael Palmer (rip) and Robert Franks to form the JV reconstruction team.

I have, from time to time, wondered why I have had such an obsession with this program. Certainly the fact that I grew up without a father has something to do with it, as the character of the Doctor provides an excellent father figure / role-model. Eventually, however, I have come to realise that it is for me an almost tailor-made fantasy. I can imagine that for a certain type of child, me included, the Doctor is far more appealing than Batman, Superman or any other sort of super-hero. It got me when I was 13, and although my adult fantasies do not extend beyond winning the lottery now (promise), the program got its claws into me when I was young and I still get a little childish thrill when I watch it now.

But am I kidding myself here? I wonder whether I should just be honest with myself and state that even at 45 I wish I could be a Time Lord. Why? Well:

1. I would love to travel backwards and forwards in time.
2. I would love to have that understanding which "sees the threads which hold the universe together and knows how to fix them when they go wrong".
3. I would love to have a TARDIS to live in - the size of a mansion but relocatable to anywhere in the world without having to pay those extortionate property prices
4. I would love to be able to be as eccentric as I like with everyone accepting this because I basically know what's going on and they don't.
5. And finally, when I die, I would love to regenerate.

Richard