471 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
471 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
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- The rec.arts.drwho Frequently Asked Questions list -
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CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE:
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Where to get Who material
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1.0 File list.
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The Doctor and timelords in general
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1.1 Who is Doctor Who?
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1.2 What is the Doctor's name?
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1.3 What is the distinction between regeneration and incarnation?
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1.4 How many regenerations does a timelord get?
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1.5 How old is the Doctor?
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Confusing plots and storylines
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2.1 Please explain Romana's regeneration.
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2.2 Was that really the White Guardian at the beginning of the Key to Time?
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2.3 Was there a regeneration scene from Colin to Sylvester?
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Making the show
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3.1 Will there be more Doctor Who?
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3.2 Will there ever be a woman Doctor?
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3.3 Is David Agnew really a pseudonym for Douglas Adams?
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3.4 Was Castrovalva the first Peter Davison story filmed?
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Miscellaneous
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4.1 What are the "missing episodes"?
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4.2 Which story included John Cleese?
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4.3 What is Temporal Grace?
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4.4 Where can I get more information?
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4.5 What other books are recommended?
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4.6 How do I get Ryan K. Johnson's fan-produced episodes of Doctor Who?
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=========================================================================
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FOLLOWING THIS ARTICLE:
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Another article with a list of episodes
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=========================================================================
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1.0 Where to get Who material (files, guides, etc.):
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The mailserver address is: amigo@hardy.u.washington.edu. Mail a
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message there with a Subject: line of the word 'server'. The body of your
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message should use 'get' and the name of the file of which you'd like to
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get. The last line of the mailserver mail should have the word 'end'. One
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other special command 'path' can be used to force the mail path to conform
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to "hard to reach" locations.
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All files are sent as straight ASCII text, and when decompressed
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can range up to 75K in length.
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The files are also available 'anonymous' FTP to [milton.u.washington.edu]
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in directory /public/StarTrek/DR_WHO. Hopefully either way will get it to you
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fast..
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1. Timelord list - a complete list of timelords that have appeared on DW.
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("timelords")
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2. Shada info ("shada")
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3. Scarf patterns - knit your own scarf! ("scarf_pattern")
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4. Companion analysis by James Armstrong ("companions")
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5. Ascii pictures - Tardis, K9, dalek, and 2 logos ("drwho_pics")
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6. List of Dr. Who novels ("drwho_booklist")
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7. Dr. Who episode lists ("drwho_episodes")
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(containing author list & special notes of
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interest) ("drwho_guide")
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8. Other roles of Dr. Who actors ("other_roles")
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("drwho_roles")
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9. This FAQ file ("drwho_FAQ")
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10. The Romana 'n' Dave series:
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[with thanks to: Tom Golden (tgolden@cup.portal.com)
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& Raymond Chen (raymond@math.berkeley.edu)
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Note: Comments about Romana 'n Dave should be sent to Tom.]
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And now.. the list:
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Episode Guide ("romana.readme")
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Romana-'n-Dave-related articles from Tom Golden. ("romana_news")
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AN UNEARTHLY JOKE / THE WAD OF GUM (episodes 1 through 4)
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Romana invites Dave to travel with her; our heroes get
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an assignment from the Guardians; Davros attempts to
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find a new human factor for his Daleks. ("wadofgum")
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REVENGE OF THE BAKER-MAN (episodes 5 through 8)
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Colin Baker attempts revenge on the BBC for being sacked...
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but he's not the only one with sneaky plans. ("bakerman")
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AQUA-VALVA (episodes 9 through 13)
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Our heros track the Locksmith Guardian to an office building
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in Los Angeles... from which they may never escape. ("aquavalva")
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SIGMA (THE ULTIMATE FAUX) (episode 14)
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Oh no! Held hostage by Omega's smarter brother. ("sigma")
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'N.', 'B.' AND 'C' (episodes 15 through 18)
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Dave contemplates resigning from 'Late Night' -- with
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mind-bending results. ("nbc")
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SHADAAP (episodes 19 through 22)
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Romana takes her Tardis to black-market time capsule service
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professional Noiros, who has secret plans to use her TARDIS
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to obtain the legendary Machine of Wellfargos. ("shadaap")
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VENGEANCE ON VALIUM (episodes 23 through 26)
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While vacationing on the planet Valium, Romana 'n Dave
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must prevent an invasion from a neighboring planet. ("vengeance")
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THE UNDIFFERENTIATED APPENDAGE OF GENERIC ILL-FEELING (episodes 27 to 30)
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Our heroes go back into Dave's past to stop the Daleks
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from obtaining the Undifferentiated Appendage of Generic
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Ill-Feeling. ("appendage")
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THE TRIAL OF A TALK SHOW HOST (STORY 1) (episodes 31 through 35)
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Dave is put on trial, and the first piece of evidence is
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Dave's escapades with Romana to rescue the Crystal of Carrington.
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("tth1")
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THE TRIAL OF A TALK SHOW HOST (STORY 2) (episodes 36 through 40)
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Dave searches for an adventure which will show that
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he does not negatively affect the fabric of time. ("tth2")
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THE TRIAL OF A TALK SHOW HOST (STORY 3) (episodes 41 through 44)
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Romana enlists the aid of The Equalizer to rescue Dave. ("tth3")
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============================================================================
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ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
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Contributors include:
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James C. Armstrong, Jr.
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Steve "BandanaMan" Makuch
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Dora Kilburn
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Jeff Hildebrand
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Todd Horch
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Ron O'Dell
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Michael Robertson
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Address any additions/comments about the FAQ, or anything about the
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mailserver & FTP site (such as "help me's") to:
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Michael Robertson [amigo@milton.u.washington.edu]
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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THE DOCTOR AND TIMELORDS IN GENERAL
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1.1 Who is Doctor Who?
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Doctor # Actor
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1 William Hartnell*
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2 Patrick Troughton*
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3 Jon Pertwee
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4 Tom Baker
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5 Peter Davison (with one "d")
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6 Colin Baker
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7 Sylvester McCoy
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8 (1992 ??? )
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Also, Richard Hurndall* played Doctor #1 in "The Five Doctors", except
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for the old clip at the beginning (that was Hartnell).
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* indicates the actor has passed away
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1.2 What is the Doctor's name?
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The main character of "Doctor Who" has been referred to by several
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different labels. These include:
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-Theta Sigma, used by Drax on the Planet of the Shadow (The Armageddon
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Factor). This is supposedly an old school name. It was used again
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in The Happiness Patrol.
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-Doctor Who, has been used in a couple episodes, most notably The War
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Machines, were WOTAN is calling for "Doctor Who". The role was credited
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as "Doctor Who" until Castrovalva, where the name changed to:
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-The Doctor. This seems to be what he is called most often.
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-Doctor van Wer, was used in The Highlanders.
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-In Colony in Space, a name was presented, but was unreadable, on a
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Gallifreyan computer.
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-Dr. Caligari was used in The Gunfighters.
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-Dr. Foreman was hinted at in An Unearthly Child.
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-Dr. John Smith was the alias the Doctor used while he was UNIT's unpaid
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scientific advisor. He also used this in The War Games.
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-In The Trial of a Time Lord, one section of the matrix had the Doctor
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almost saying his name while on Earth. He never finishes the sentence.
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-In Remembrance of the Daleks, a calling card was produced by the Doctor
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that may or may not have had his name.
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-Ace usually calls him Professor.
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1.3 What is the distinction between regeneration and incarnation?
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When a regeneration occurs, a timelord renews his or her body. What that
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means to us is a new appearance (a new actor). An incarnation is a particular
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body. So far, the Doctor has had seven incarnations and six regenerations.
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1.4 How many regenerations does a timelord get?
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Twelve. The fact that there is a fixed number is referenced in many
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stories, and I believe the first mention is in "The Deadly Assasin".
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The number twelve is stated in "Mawdryn Undead", and probably in other
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stories as well.
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1.5 How old is the Doctor?
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Here are some clues:
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From "The Ribos Operation":
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The Doctor: "How old do you think I am?"
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Romana: "759"
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The Doctor: "756"
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Romana: "You've lost count somewhere."
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From "The Pirate Planet":
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The Doctor: "How long do you think I've been operating this TARDIS?"
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Romana: "523 years."
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The Doctor: "Right uh....has it been that long?"
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Well, I've got another -- From "Remembrance of the Daleks", the younger of
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the female scientists (who I believe is called 'Alison Williams' or something
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similar) asks the Doctor "How do you just rewire a piece of alien
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machinery?", to which he replies "It's easy... when you have 900 years of
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experience." (older than both the figures given in the file :-) )
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(Provided as a public service by: Andy "mad as a penguin" Stevens)
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CONFUSING PLOTS AND STORYLINES
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2.1 Please explain Romana's regeneration.
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There is no good explanation, but net discussions have yielded these
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possibilities:
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a: Romana is wasteful
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b: Romana had achieved a higher level in the Academy, and hence the
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ability to "try-on bodies"
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c: Romana, unlike the Doctor, regenerated "Without Stress". What I
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mean by this is that the Doctor could choose and "Try-on bodies" like
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Romana did *IF* there was no stress about his regeneration.
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2.2 Was that really the White Guardian at the beginning of The Key to
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Time?
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There are two camps of opinions to this question, obviously one yes and
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one no. The No Camp believes that the pursuit of the key was motivated
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solely by the Black Guardian, and use as evidence his masquerade in
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The Armageddon Factor as their proof. They also feel that the White
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Guardian at the start of the sequence was threatening to the Doctor,
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and therefore out of character.
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I [James] personally disagree. When masquerading, the part was still played
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by Valentine Dyall. In The Ribos Operation, the part was played by
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Cyril Luckham. Cyril also played the White Guardian in Enlightenment,
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when both Guardians were present, so we may be confident that Cyril's
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appearance is the "normal" appearance of the White Guardian.
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2.3 Was there a regeneration scene from Colin to Sylvester?
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This is how Time and the Rani begins:
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Voice of BBC1: "A new series, a new physical form and a journey to an
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altogether more far-flung shore. Sylvester McCoy stars as Doctor Who."
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[OK, so that bit was only on the BBC, but I'm saying that so people know that
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these nexts bits come before the title sequence.]
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Computer animation space sequence: swirling stars. Out of these come spinning
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the TARDIS. Multicolored beams come from the left. Some miss, some hit.
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Those that hit cause the TARDIS's gyrations to alter, so that the TARDIS is
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spinning in three (maybe four!) dimensions. There are two of these sequences,
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actually.
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Inside the TARDIS: The Doctor and Mel are lying on the floor. The Doctor is
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face-down [and surprisingly short, since it's actually McCoy in a wig and
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Colin's immense costume]. The exercise bike falls over.
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On Lakertya: Ikona climbing atop the quarry, er, serene rocky mountain.
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He looks into the pink sky and sees a color-cycling rainbow. Down this bow
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comes the TARDIS.
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Inside the TARDIS: Red-clothed feet enter. Pan up. It's the Rani, holding
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a gun-like object (which the Doctor recognizes later in the show), which she
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used to shoot down the TARDIS. Rani speaks: "Leave the girl; it's the man
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I want."
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Inside the TARDIS: Furry feet. (Urak) They lumber over to the face-down
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Doctor. Furry hand reaches down, and turns the Doctor over, just as the
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fx people turn on a video bleed. The wig disappears as the shot is changed
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to a wig-less McCoy, and the fx people slowly turn off the bleed, as the
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whooshy music rises portamento higher and higher and higher.
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As the bleed stops and we see the face and the music climaxes, the
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opening title sequence begins.
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MAKING THE SHOW
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3.1 Will there be more Doctor Who?
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Maybe, maybe not. Not anytime soon, anyway. The official announcement is:
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"Doctor Who will be back but not in the near future. We are
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not close to a deal with any company. When Doctor Who returns
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the programme will be vibrant, vital and improved, not a tired
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old Time Lord who comes back too soon" *
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* The BBC has announced it start production of Dr Who in 1992.
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This leaves the questions though:
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1. When will the first episode be aired?
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The latest reports of show times could be as early as the '92 season,
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but is mostly speculation now - and for U.S. viewers, it could mean
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a year at least after the first season ends.
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2. Who will play Who? (The Doctor)
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We know offically that Sylvester McCoy won't be continuning as
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the Doctor. The list of people nominated to take over the part have
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included a run-down list of impossibilities, so hence the real
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word has yet to be given.
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3.2. Will there ever be a woman Doctor?
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While it may be possible for a male<->female regeneration, it is
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unlikely that a woman will be cast as the Doctor in the near future.
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This whole controversy started with Tom Baker intentionally stirring
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up the hornets nest by saying when he left the part, "And I'd like
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to wish the new Doctor, whoever he or she may be..."
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3.3 Is David Agnew really a pseudonym for Douglas Adams?
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David Agnew was a house pseudonym that was used twice. The first time was on
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"The Invasion of Time" and that one was written by Graham Williams and Anthony
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Read. The second episode with that name was City of Death and that one
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was Douglas Adams (as script editor) and Graham Williams.
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3.4 Was Castrovalva the first Peter Davison story filmed?
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Castrovalva WAS the fourth Peter Davison story made. The others were
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made in advance to allow the Doctor character to settle (hard to do
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with three other characters to write for...). In order, they were:
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Four to Doomsday, The Visitation, and Kinda.
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MISCELLANEOUS
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4.1 What are the "missing episodes"?
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During the early seventies many Doctor Who stories were destroyed by
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the BBC, along with vast amounts of other material kept by the BBC, in
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order to cut costs in storage. This was before they knew they could market
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much of the stuff. Copyright laws had much to do with this also. Many of
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the lost episodes are of the later William Hartnell and much from the
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Patrick Troughton era. As much as 115 episodes are still missing
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(equivalent to 2 to 3 seasons).
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4.2 Which story included John Cleese?
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John Cleese appeared with Eleanor Bron as art critics in City of Death.
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4.3 What is Temporal Grace?
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Temporal Grace is the quality which is alleged to prevent the use of
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weapons inside a TARDIS. It has not been working in the Doctor's
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TARDIS since Logopolis.
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4.4 Where can I get more information?
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Doctor Who - Twenty-Five Glorious Years
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by Peter Haining
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Published by WH Allen & Co.
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Distributed by:
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USA: Lyle Stuart Inc.
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120 Enterprise Ave
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Secaucus, New Jersey
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07094
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Canada: Cancoast Books
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90 Signet Drive, Unit 3
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Weston, Ontario
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M9l 1T5
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"Doctor Who - Twenty-Five Glorious Years" is a book that tells the story
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of the first twenty five years of the longest running science fiction series.
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The book is a mish-mash of information that any Who-info starving Whovian will
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kill to get (maybe a little too strong), but it does have plenty to interest
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anyone who loves the Doctor.
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The book starts of with an introduction to the beginnings of this
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amazing series from the brainchild of Sydney Newman to the airwaves in 1963.
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It then proceeds to give a perspective of the quarter century of Doctor Who,
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from William Hartnell to Sylvester McCoy.
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Then comes an insight behind the cameras of Doctor Who with John Nathan-
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Turner. John gives us background to his work done with the show and working
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with Tom Baker, up to Sylvester McCoy.
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The next section discusses the seven actors that have played the Doctor
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since the beginning. Starting off with a long part about Sylvestor McCoy, it
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gives a two or three page discussion on the other six Doctors.
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Following is a little section on other persons that have played the
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Doctor, including Peter Cushing in the movies "Doctor Who and the Daleks" and
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"Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD", and Trevor Martin who played the Doctor in
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a stage play.
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It goes on to discuss the Doctor as viewed by his favourite female
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companions and includes a little write up of each. They include:
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Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), Dorothea 'Dodo' Chaplet (Jackie Lane),
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Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling), Zoe Harriet (Wendy Padbury),
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Liz Shaw (Caroline John), Jo Grant (Katy Manning),
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Sarah Jane Smith (Elizabeth Sladen), Leela (Louise Jameson),
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Romana (Mary Tamm), Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding),
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Perpugilliam 'Peri' Brown (Nicola Bryant), Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford) and
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Ace (Sophie Aldred).
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Others sections include one of guest stars that have appeared on the show,
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separated into subsections of each of the Doctor's eras, excluding
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Sylvestor McCoy, and a couple of smaller sections on Doctor Who and the
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merchandisers and as well as Doctor Who in the comics.
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The final section is a listing of all the episodes, giving the name of
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the story, writers, directors, guests, how many episodes and when they were
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aired.
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4.5 What other books are recommended?
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Neal Crossan writes:
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Well from Peter Haining, his best was probably Dr.Who - A Celebration,
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since then he has shown a remarkable talent for rewritting the same book.
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For individual stories, InVision can't be beat (this includes CMS
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Adventures In Space In Time).
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Dr.Who -The Early Years is an excellent account of the Hartnell Years of
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the Show.
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For an overall perspective, Dr.Who Monthly and DWB. O.K., so they're
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magazines and not books, but many of the topics in 25 Glorious Years have
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been covered in them in much more detail.
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And finally the best book on Dr.Who - David Bank's Cybermen book.
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4.6 How do I get Ryan K. Johnson's fan-produced episodes of Doctor Who?
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Basically, all you have to do is put $3 and a blank (VHS) videotape
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in an envelope and send it to:
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Ryan K. Johnson, P.O. Box 85418, Seattle, WA 98145
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and he'll send the tape back to you with the four Doctor Who episodes,
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_Wrath of Eukor_, _Visions of Utomu_, _Pentagon West_ and _Broken Doors_,
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plus _Star Trek: The Pepsi Generation_ (a parody of you-know-what.)
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That's basically it. He wants as many people as possible to be able to
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see these and encourages us to "show them around or make copies for friends,
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enemies, or people off the street." So there you have it...
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