[URBAN NOTE] "That time when Doctor Who was reborn in Toronto"

[rfmcdonald]

blogTO's Ed Conroy writes about how Nelvana nearly launched a Doctor Who animated series.

Tomorrow sees the debut adventure of a new Doctor Who played by Peter Capaldi, heavily promoted by Space as an unmissable TV event owing to its street cred with geek chic culture, a worldwide cult following who will no doubt to cast a long shadow over next weekend's Fan Expo at the Metro Toronto convention centre. Not bad for a 51 year-old TV series.

However not all that long ago, Doctor Who was in the inter-dimensional dumps. After being created in 1963 by Toronto born CBC brain trust Sydney Newman, the series ran for 26 years on the BBC before losing its mojo and becoming a creaky pantomime joke. It was cancelled in 1989, and faded into the limbo of cult television hell kept alive only by nerdcore books and comics, mostly written by fans.

During those "wilderness years", rumours appeared frequently about Doctor Who's imminent return. Everything from Steven Spielberg producing an Americanized version with a rapping Tardis to a big screen version starring David Hasselhoff were mooted and booted. Few knew the truth was about to (de)materialize in Toronto.