“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” Arthur C Clarke
A 15-year long conspiracy is fighting for its life. The conspiracy, committed by desperate Dr Who fans, permeates the corridors of British television. One of the more noticeable symptoms of the conspiracy is the TV series Jonathan Creek. Many people have noted the similarities between these two shows (an example from offthetelly.co.uk), but the reality is more, much more, disturbing.
Of course, like any respectable conspiracy, it is vigorously denied. An interviewer pushes the point in this interview with the producer of Jonathan Creek. The producer dismisses the similarity, claiming that the writer Andrew Marshall is no fan of Doctor Who. But who is this producer? Why it’s Verity Lambert – the very first producer of Doctor Who back in 1963. And if we grant that Marshall may not be a Who fan, this leaves the massive overlap of characters and plot to be explained. For the coincidences of casting however we can look elsewhere: for the BBC staff (casting included) is riddled with “sleeper” Who fans.
Roots of a conspiracy
Fans of Doctor Who have several scores to settle. Not least of which was the cancellation of the show by the then DG Michael Grade in 1989. Grade publicly stated that he loathed the show, so when DW was first “put on hold” in the mid 80s there was a media flurry driven by fans and doting/bored newspaper columnists that culminated in the fantastic “Doctor in Distress” charity record. But some years later when the show was finally cancelled where was the charity record? All very suspicious. Those same fans had grown up a little, and plotted a much more subtle revenge. They found themselves out of school or college, looking for work, and slowly, and surely, they drew their plans against us. The “other interests” sections of CVs sent to the BBC were quietly revised overnight.
It had to happen. Dr Who was recommissioned early in 2004, and is currently in production to start transmission some time in 2005.