Over the years there have been all kinds of meta references to the fact that what we are watching on our screen is a made up drama - from the show within the show in Remembrance Of The Daleks to the parody of fans in characters such as Clive, Malcolm Taylor, Elton Pope and Osgood. There have also been many times when a character has addressed the camera directly. Take for instance, Tom Baker's "not even the sonic screwdriver will get me out of this one" (The Invasion Of Time) or Oswin's "Run you clever boy. And remember." (Asylum Of The Daleks), But the only time in the 50 years history of the show that it has dared combine the two within a regular episode came in the very first Christmas special - The Feast Of Steven - Part Seven of the epic Daleks' Masterplan, sadly no longer available in the archives. And back then it didn't go down at all well with the emerging fan base. But it was Christmas after all, and back then we didn't have Doctor Who At The Proms, Comic Relief or Children In Need to bring audience participation into our favourite science fiction series. Ironically, the one episode where the good Doctor talks to you and me is the one we're least likely to ever see again.
Paul Driscoll is a freelance writer and author across a range of subjects from Cult TV to religion and social policy. He is a passionate Doctor Who fan and January 2017 will see the publication of his first extended study of the series (based on Toby Whithouse's series six episode, The God Complex) in the critically acclaimed Black Archive range by Obverse Books. He is a regular writer for the fan site Doctor Who Worldwide and has contributed several essays to Watching Books' You and Who range. Recently he has branched out into fiction writing, with two short stories in the charity Doctor Who anthology Seasons of War (Chinbeard Books). Paul's work will also feature in the forthcoming Iris Wildthyme collection (A Clockwork Iris, Obverse Books) and Chinbeard Books' collection of drabbles, A Time Lord for Change.
