{"id":37533,"date":"2023-02-23T00:49:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T00:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/?p=37533"},"modified":"2023-02-21T18:02:23","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T18:02:23","slug":"which-second-doctor-story-made-neil-gaiman-fall-in-love-with-doctor-who","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/2023\/02\/23\/which-second-doctor-story-made-neil-gaiman-fall-in-love-with-doctor-who\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Second Doctor Story Made Neil Gaiman Fall in Love With Doctor Who?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ttr_start\"><\/div>\n<p>Fantasy author and <em>Doctor Who<\/em> script writer Neil Gaiman has revealed that the episode which made him fall in love with <em>Doctor Who<\/em>, and indeed television itself, was the concluding part of the epic Season 6 finale <em>The War Games<\/em>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Doctor Who. The final part of The War Games. It unpeeled my mind and left me in love with the infinite possibilities inherent in the story. 21st of June 1969. I was 8. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FXcPEVj8PI\">https:\/\/t.co\/FXcPEVj8PI<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/neilhimself\/status\/1614649909315272706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 15, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>His comment came in response to a tweet which mockingly posted a rather curious meme of a woman seemingly taking her children for a walk whilst carrying a sign urging people to head outdoors on the grounds that &#8220;kids won&#8217;t remember their best day of television&#8221;. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Absolute bullshit. I can distinctly remember the day Thundercats was first shown on BBC1. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KSWPjCU7Dm\">pic.twitter.com\/KSWPjCU7Dm<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Graham (@GrahamOfTheDead) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GrahamOfTheDead\/status\/1614587512495693827?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 15, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Gaiman, who wrote the Eleventh Doctor stories <em>The Doctor&#8217;s Wife<\/em> and <em>Nightmare in Silver<\/em>, is not alone in admiring Patrick Troughton&#8217;s swansong which saw the Time Lords catch up with the Doctor and putting him on trial for breaking their rules preventing interfering in other planets&#8217; affairs. The episode&#8217;s many memorable moments include the Doctor&#8217;s desperate efforts to escape, a moving farewell scene as he says goodbye to Zoe and Jamie, and his stubborn rejection of all the faces chosen for him by the Time Lords.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our own <a href=\"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/2019\/06\/21\/50-years-of-the-war-games-patrick-troughtons-last-serial\/\">Joe Siegler gave his own tribute back in 2019<\/a>, marking <em>The War Games<\/em>&#8216; fiftieth anniversary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>&#8220;The first time we see a Time Lord was in Episode 10. The idea that a Time Lord regeneration can be \u201ccontrolled\u201d in any way was first brought up in Episode 10. The first time we saw Gallifrey was in Episode 10 (although the word \u201cGallifrey\u201d wasn\u2019t used until much later \u2013 1973\u2019s\u00a0<em>The Time Warrior<\/em>\u00a0in Jon Pertwee\u2019s final series). There was a scene fairly early on where Troughton\u2019s Doctor expounds on some of this stuff, claiming he was \u201cbored\u201d as the reason when asked by Jamie why he left his home in the first place. The claim that Time Lords can \u201clive forever, barring accidents\u201d was first made here, too.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>And Peter Shaw expanded on why the story&#8217;s themes still resonate in his piece <em><a href=\"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/2022\/03\/24\/why-i-love-the-war-games\/\">Why I Love&#8230; The War Games<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>&#8220;Necessity, graft, and inspiration drew out from two of\u00a0<em>Doctor Who<\/em>\u2019s finest writers, Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke, arguably the best end-of-Doctor story there ever was.<\/p><p>&#8220;And it\u2019s not just a romp. The title\u2019s a giveaway. It\u2019s about evil men causing death and destruction. About brainwashed soldiers fighting for a cause they don\u2019t fully understand. And about heroic resistance fighters risking their lives to reveal the truth, while striving for justice and freedom. It\u2019s about as inspiring a story as we could hope for right now.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>All of which prompts us the DWC to wonder what was the moment that made you fall in love with <em>Doctor Who<\/em>? I&#8217;ll start us off by taking us back to 8th June 1974 when Jon Pertwee&#8217;s Doctor, fatally weakened by radiation on Metebelis Three, collapses in front of Sarah and the Brigadier and transforms into a new body&#8230; You didn&#8217;t see that kind of thing on <em>Trumpton<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let us know in the comments!<\/p>\n<div class=\"ttr_end\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Which story made you fall in love with Doctor Who?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"Which Second Doctor Story Made Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) Fall in Love With #DoctorWho?","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[205],"tags":[132,769,1532,137,141,2011,509,965],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28606,"url":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/2020\/07\/20\/neil-gaiman-would-love-to-write-for-jodie-whittakers-thirteenth-doctor\/","url_meta":{"origin":37533,"position":0},"title":"Neil Gaiman Would Love to Write for Jodie Whittaker&#8217;s Thirteenth Doctor","author":"Philip Bates","date":"20 July 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\"I think Jodie Whittaker is a fabulous Doctor\", says The Doctor's Wife writer.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38953,"url":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/2023\/07\/07\/would-neil-gaiman-return-to-write-more-doctor-who-i-love-being-in-the-audience\/","url_meta":{"origin":37533,"position":1},"title":"Would Neil Gaiman Return to Write More Doctor Who? &#8220;I Love Being in the Audience&#8221;","author":"Philip Bates","date":"7 July 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"It sounds like the writer of The Doctor's Wife prefers not to know what happens behind the scenes.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26656,"url":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/2020\/04\/11\/michael-sheen-and-richard-clark-join-neil-gaiman-for-the-doctors-wife-rewatch-tonight\/","url_meta":{"origin":37533,"position":2},"title":"Michael Sheen and Richard Clark Join Neil Gaiman for The Doctor&#8217;s Wife Rewatch Tonight","author":"Philip Bates","date":"11 April 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Rewatch The Doctor's Wife on Saturday 11th April 2020 at 8pm (BST), and use the hashtag #BiggerOnTheInside.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-TARDIS.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-TARDIS.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-TARDIS.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-TARDIS.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-TARDIS.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17857,"url":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/2018\/11\/09\/doctor-who-writer-toby-whithouse-teams-up-with-neil-gaiman-for-new-gormenghast-show\/","url_meta":{"origin":37533,"position":3},"title":"Doctor Who Writer Toby Whithouse Teams Up With Neil Gaiman For New Gormenghast Show","author":"Andrew Reynolds","date":"9 November 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Doctor Who writer and Being Human creator Toby Whithouse will be teaming up with Neil Gaiman to bring Gormenghast to the small screen. Whithouse will serve as showrunner on a new adaptation of Mervyn Peake\u2019s novel which tells the story of the titular castle and its family of nobles. According\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17910,"url":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/2018\/11\/15\/neil-gaiman-doctor-who-messed-with-fellow-writers-script\/","url_meta":{"origin":37533,"position":4},"title":"Neil Gaiman: Doctor Who &#039;Messed&#039; with Fellow Writer&#039;s Script","author":"Andrew Reynolds","date":"15 November 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Neil Gaiman hasn\u2019t been shy about sharing his feelings about writing for Doctor Who. In fact, the trauma of seeing Nightmare In Silver, his second episode after the award-winning The Doctor\u2019s Wife, turned into what he described as a \u2018curates egg,\u2019 convinced him to take on the job of showrunner\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nightmare-in-Silver-Matt-Smith-11th-Eleventh-Cybermen.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nightmare-in-Silver-Matt-Smith-11th-Eleventh-Cybermen.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nightmare-in-Silver-Matt-Smith-11th-Eleventh-Cybermen.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Nightmare-in-Silver-Matt-Smith-11th-Eleventh-Cybermen.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":32809,"url":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/2021\/08\/07\/would-neil-gaiman-or-douglas-mackinnon-take-over-as-doctor-who-showrunner\/","url_meta":{"origin":37533,"position":5},"title":"Would Neil Gaiman or Douglas Mackinnon Take Over as Doctor Who Showrunner?","author":"Jonathan Appleton","date":"7 August 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Gaiman wrote The Doctor's Wife and Nightmare in Silver, while Mackinnon directed 8 episodes between 2008 and 2015.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Doctors-Wife-11th-Eleventh-Matt-Smith-Neil-Gaiman-Suranne-Jones-Idris.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lD76-9Ln","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37533"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37533"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37746,"href":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37533\/revisions\/37746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}