Fifty years on, Carole Ann Ford, who played Doctor Who's first assistant, wishes she could turn back time
The producers insisted that she should not refer to the Doctor as her grandfather, recalls Carole Ann Ford.
She was the original Doctor Who girl, the first to fly through time and space
with an eccentric alien who would go on to become a great British hero.
“It was instant madness,” says Carole Ann Ford, remembering the reaction when
Doctor Who was first broadcast, in November 1963. “There was nothing like it
on television. We could go anywhere in the universe, and we gave them great
cliffhangers.
As seen in An Unearthly Child
She played the eerily intense teenager Susan, with an elfin beauty and an
unearthly brain. The Beatles were just breaking through, and suddenly this
young actor was also the object of adoration. “It was amazing, like being a
pop star. I couldn’t go down the street for a bottle of milk any more.”
Half a century later, the Doctor is a playground legend with a place in
popular culture to rival Robin Hood. The revamped Doctor Who is one of the
best-loved shows on television and a gold mine for the BBC, which is gearing
up to celebrate the anniversary in high style. A special episode in November
will bring at least two doctors together.
The story of how the show was created will also be told in a new drama, An Adventure In Space and Time. “Somebody is playing me, which is hilarious,” says Ford, now a sparky 72-year-old. She will appear on Radio 4 today, in The Reunion, along with others who helped fashion that first series.
As seen in 20th anniversary The Five Doctors
The story of how the show was created will also be told in a new drama, An Adventure In Space and Time. “Somebody is playing me, which is hilarious,” says Ford, now a sparky 72-year-old. She will appear on Radio 4 today, in The Reunion, along with others who helped fashion that first series.
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