My introduction to Doctor Who, was through PBS. I remember coming home from school and going into the basement, sitting next to the comfy chair where our cat (who had recently had kittens) was resting. I would wait for Mister Rogers to finish so I could watch this strange show that I had somehow found. It was individual episodes, so if I missed a day I missed whatever happened, but the show was intriguing. I saw the first episode of Robot, which starts with Pertwee regenerating into Tom Baker. This made me realize I was missing something but I once the story started, I would forget about it. The PBS station had Tom's first four seasons, which they would repeat so I would catch different episodes at different times, filling in stories for me. Eventually they shifted from individual episodes on weekday afternoons to omnibus stories on Saturday nights. The appeal was that it was unlike anything I had seen, and this quirky man was cryptic and funny, and so entertaining. Eventually I became friends with another fan of the show. We would run around the playground at school having adventures, and I began to learn there was more to the show than what I had seen during those afternoon viewings. Cue the Target novelizations! While scanning the bookstore shelves I came across Carnival of Monsters, with Pertwee's face on the cover. I figured it was some character in the story, not the Doctor. Eventually the description of the Doctor (White hair?) gave me a clue, plus his travelling companion was someone I had not seen before. Cue Jean Marc Lofficier's Doctor Who Program Guide (volume 2 what's what and who's who), which only covered up the end of Tom Baker's era despite having Peter Davison's face on the cover with the rest of the Doctor's. This gave some perspective on the history, to limited extent, of the show. It was not until later, when I made friends with a few other fans of the show while in middle school and high school. Later, when I was able to drive myself around, I had access to comic book stores that sold Doctor Who Magazine, DWB, and other related books. I am not sure exactly when I learned about missing episodes, but I do remember watching the early Hartnell stories and wondering why some stories had been skipped. I'll be back in a week, maybe I'll keep going with this, any feedback is appreciated.
