Update metadata and transcripts through end of July 2026
Refreshed episodes/hosts/comments/series from hpr.sql, and added official HPR transcripts for the 180 episodes aired since the last sync (hpr4516-hpr4695).
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Lee Hanken
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Episode: 4600
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Title: The First Doctor, Part 5
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Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr4600/hpr4600.mp3
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Transcribed: 2026-07-31 16:14:52 (official HPR transcript)
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---
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This is Hacker Public Radio Episode 4600, for 2026-03-20
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Today's show is entitled, "The First Doctor, Part 5"
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The host is Ahuka and the duration is 00:15:26
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The flag is Clean, and the license is CC-BY-SA
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The summary is "A continuing look at the first Doctor Who."
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Hello, this is Ahuka, welcoming you to Hacker Public Radio, and another exciting episode in our series on science fiction and fantasy.
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And we're going to wrap up the first Doctor Who, William Hartnell, in today's episode.
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We've been following him from the very first episode of Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child.
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And he was in the role for just over three years.
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So, we've got a lot of stories to talk about, and the first one we're going to talk about today is called The Celestial Toymaker.
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It's a wonderful story, and the Toymaker is another foe many Doctor Who fans wanted to see return.
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And in 2023, it happened.
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And in the story, The Giggle, he returned, played this time by Neil Patrick Harris, and it is a very good story.
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But in this introduction of the character, he is played by Michael Goff in a Fu Manchu-like costume.
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And he has great powers, but is bound by certain rules, which makes this interesting.
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When the TARDIS lands in his world, he sets them games they have to survive to escape.
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They're games based on children's games you might be familiar with, but they have a twist.
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The Doctor is told he must solve the Trilogic puzzle in exactly 1,023 moves.
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And Stephen and Dodo must win their games before the Doctor wins his.
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This story is pure entertainment, but very well done.
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However, Hartnell's decline continued.
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In this story, there are scenes of the Trilogic puzzle where a hand moves a piece,
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but it's not Hartnell's hand, it's another actor.
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And Hartnell does not appear at all in Episodes 2 and 3.
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Producer John Wiles had a plan to replace Hartnell,
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whose contract was up at the end of the season,
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but he was overruled by BBC head of cereals, Gerald Savory,
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who extended Hartnell's contract, leading to John Wiles quitting the production.
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Hartnell would continue for now, but something would have to happen eventually.
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Next is the gunfighters.
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Now, depending on your point of view with this one,
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it's a historical story.
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It is either embarrassingly bad or delightfully camp.
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All a matter of perspective.
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It takes the TARDIS to Tombstone, Arizona,
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at the time of the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
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Now, I've been to Tombstone, Arizona,
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and it is extremely camp or embarrassingly bad.
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I've seen that they do a reenactment of the gunfight of the O.K. Corral there every day.
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Now,
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Stephen Taylor is mostly silly,
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trying to act out childish fantasies of cowboys.
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The setup comes from the end of the previous story,
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when the doctor bites into a candy and yells in pain.
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He needs to see a dentist.
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And Doc Holliday, aside from being a gunfighter,
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is a dentist.
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Mistaken identities happen all over.
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Now, this is light fluff.
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It's enjoyable if you give in to the silliness.
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So, I wouldn't say don't watch it.
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I'd just say go in knowing that you're going to see something very silly and very camp.
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Then the next story is called The Savages.
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This is another story about who are the bad guys, really.
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In that respect, it's similar to Galaxy 4.
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Now, in this case,
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Dodo and Stephen are captured by what appear to be Stone Age savages.
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The doctor, meanwhile,
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is taken to the City of the Elders
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and is greeted warmly.
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It seems they have been following his travels for some time
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and are great admirers of him.
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Now, Stephen and Dodo are rescued by soldiers from the city
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and reunited with the doctor.
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Then Dodo slips away and stumbles on experiments being conducted on human beings.
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So, the Elders turn out to be the real savages here.
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They're experimenting on what we thought were savages,
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who are just unfortunate people that they are exploiting.
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And they're basically trying to take their life energy for themselves.
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The lab is destroyed in this,
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and the two groups decide to live together in peace.
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But they realize they need a leader who is from neither group
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and choose Stephen to be their leader.
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So, another companion goes.
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Only Dodo is left.
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Then, the war machines.
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This is kind of an AI gone bad story.
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At this time in history,
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we're certainly primed to see AI gone bad.
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In this case, a professor has built a computer
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to help manage the communications in the new post office tower,
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which, in fact, was a new building in London.
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But the computer turns out to be more than anyone realized.
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The doctor gets it right away
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when the computer correctly gives the meaning of TARDIS.
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Then it turns out the computer can hypnotize people
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and make them its slaves.
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It does this to several of the professors involved
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and has them build the war machines
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that will enable it to take over the world.
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Dodo is hypnotized and tries to trap the doctor.
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But he figures it out and restores her.
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Then she is sent away to recuperate.
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We won't ever see her again.
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Meanwhile, the secretary to one of the professors
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by the name of Polly
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and a young sailor named Ben
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join up with the doctor
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and they defeat the computer.
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At the end, they realize they have Dodo's TARDIS key
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and enter just before it takes off.
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So now we have two new companions.
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Now, this is a fun episode.
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The props are the usual for this time at Doctor Who.
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They're pretty cheap and they look it.
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The writing is good.
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The story has enough twists and turns
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to carry you right along.
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Hartnell was really good in this story
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despite the problems he was having.
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The next is the smugglers.
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Now, this is another historical story.
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But instead of being based on any particular incident,
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it tells of a general occurrence in English history.
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The English government chose to support itself
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primarily through customs duties on imports,
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which of course created an incentive
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to avoid those duties by smuggling.
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And that definitely happened a lot
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in the Cornwall area of England.
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It was also one of the issues
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that started the American Revolution,
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but that's not the story
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we're going to be telling here.
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Now, the TARDIS crew
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encounters a former pirate
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now turned church warden
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who tells them a secret
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before being killed by another pirate.
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Ben and Polly capture a man
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who they think is the murderer,
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but he is in fact
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an undercover revenue agent
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and in the end helps defeat the pirates.
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It is a good story
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and the most memorable character
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has to be Cherub,
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the pirate who murdered the church warden
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and kills other people
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and is very sinister.
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So this is a story
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where all the episodes have been lost.
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So I got it through reconstructions.
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So you may or may not
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want to subject yourself to that,
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but I'm a completist.
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What can I say?
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And finally, we come to
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the 10th planet
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and that is Hartnell's final story
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and it takes the TARDIS to Antarctica
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where the travelers are taken
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to the snow-capped base
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of the International Space Command.
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They are managing the return
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of the manned space mission
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Zeus 4
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and everything goes wrong
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when a new planet appears
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dooming the mission.
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Then we meet
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the second most memorable enemies
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of the Doctor,
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the Cybermen.
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They explain that they are
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from the planet Mondas,
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which is Earth's twin,
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hence the 10th planet,
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and they need the energy
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from the Earth
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to keep their planet going.
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The general running the base
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is of course pig-headed
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and does everything possible
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to make things worse
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than they have to be.
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This adventure turns out
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to be too much for the Doctor,
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who explains that his old body
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is just wearing out
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and when they get back
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to the TARDIS,
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he collapses
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and starts to change.
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In the end,
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he is replaced by Patrick Troughton.
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Now, Hartnell was becoming
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increasingly difficult
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to work with
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as far back as the Time Meddler,
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where you could really see him
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losing his lines.
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And there are lots of stories
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about him hiding notes
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to remind himself
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about what he was supposed to say.
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But the BBC
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didn't want the show to end,
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so they did something unprecedented
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and replaced the lead actor
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in a popular series.
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To explain it away,
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they invented regeneration,
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something the Doctor's race could do.
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We now call them
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the Time Lords of Gallifrey,
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but that part did not appear
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until the end of Troughton's run
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as the Doctor.
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For now,
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the Doctor was just a member
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of an unspecified alien race,
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and the only other member
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we had met
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was the meddling monk.
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At least,
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we assume he is of the same race
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since he has a TARDIS.
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So,
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that completes
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the first Doctor.
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So,
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you know,
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brief overview of the era.
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Whatever else you might say
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about Hartnell,
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he created a franchise
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that has lasted
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for over 60 years
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as I record this show.
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After a slow start,
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he really developed the character
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and became identified with it.
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In the beginning,
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he was a very stubborn
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and unlikable old man,
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but as the series progressed,
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he mellowed
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and his humor
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started to come through
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even more.
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Now,
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Hartnell himself
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returned to the role
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one more time
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in the third Doctor story,
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The Three Doctors,
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1973,
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which was the first time
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Doctor Who
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had a story featuring
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multiple incarnations
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of the character.
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In this case,
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the first Doctor,
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William Hartnell,
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the second Doctor,
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Patrick Troughton,
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and the third Doctor,
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John Pertwee.
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But due to his declining health,
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he had a limited role
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in this particular story,
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appearing only on a TV screen,
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and he passed away in 1975.
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Now,
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he was portrayed
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by Richard Herndall
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in another multiple Doctor story
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called The Five Doctors
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in 1983,
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which was broadcast
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for the 20th anniversary
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of the program
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during Peter Davison's run
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as the fifth Doctor.
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In recent times,
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David Bradley
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has portrayed
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the first Doctor,
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first in a docudrama
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called
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An Adventure in Space and Time,
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2013,
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which was produced
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in honor of
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the 50th anniversary
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of the program.
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This show tells
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the story of
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the first Doctor
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and how the program
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came together
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in a dramatic form,
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and I recommend it highly.
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Bradley would reprise
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the role
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in 2017
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in The Doctor Falls
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and Twice Upon a Time,
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where he played
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opposite Peter Capaldi's
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12th Doctor.
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And then again
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in The Power of the Doctor
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in 2022,
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where he appears
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alongside
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other previous Doctors.
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It is perhaps notable
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that the first three Doctors,
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William Hartnell,
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Patrick Troughton,
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and John Pertwee,
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have all passed away,
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but only Hartnell's
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first Doctor
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has been revived
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so often.
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I think that tells you
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something about
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his importance
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in the history
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of Doctor Who.
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So we've finished,
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now,
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took five episodes
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to go through
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everything that
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William Hartnell did.
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Now,
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in those days,
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they,
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it was almost
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a year-round
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television program.
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You know,
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I think there was,
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you know,
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like 48,
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they had a 48-week season.
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And so they had to record
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a whole lot of episodes
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and do a whole lot of stories
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in order to fill
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all of that.
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you know,
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by the time we get
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to Tom Baker,
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they're now down
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to 26 episodes.
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It's one half
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of a year.
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You know,
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now in
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the 21st century,
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they started off
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doing 13 episodes
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as a season.
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and then
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the last couple
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of ones
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it was like
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eight.
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So,
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you know,
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they're not
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putting out
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as much content
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as they used to.
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And as far as
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what I'm going to do
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with this
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is
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I will
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come back
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with
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Patrick Troughton.
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We'll start talking
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about some of
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his shows
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and maybe
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work my way
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through
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all of the
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classic.
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I don't see
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the point
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in
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doing
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the
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stories
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that started
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in 2005
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with Christopher
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Eccleston
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because I think
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pretty much
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everyone who has
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any interest
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in Doctor Who
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already knows
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about that stuff.
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So,
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you don't need
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me to talk
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about it.
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But that still
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gives me a whole
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lot of stuff
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to talk about.
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So,
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there will be
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more
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Doctor Who
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related episodes
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of my
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Science Fiction
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and Fantasy
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series.
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So,
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this is Ahuka
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for Hacker
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Public Radio
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signing off
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and as always
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encouraging you
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to support
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free software.
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Bye-bye!
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You have been listening to Hacker Public Radio at Hacker Public Radio.org.
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Today's show was contributed by a HPR listener like yourself.
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If you ever thought of recording podcast, click on our upload link
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to find out how easy it is.
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Hosting for HPR has been kindly provided by an AnHonestHost.com, the Internet Archive,
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rsync.net, and our mirror network.
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Unless otherwise stated, today's show is released under a Creative Commons
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Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license.
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