Doctor Who Collectible Medal Coins
There are some events that people’s lives are measured by. For example, ask people of a certain age where they were the moment that JFK was assassinated and they’ll be able to say precisely. It was one of those defining moments in history that changed the course of lives and left an indelible mark on all those present on Earth at the time.
There have, however, been fictional characters that have left an indelible mark on their audience, too. One of those is a much-loved hero who disappeared from television screens for a few years, before being bought back to life due to popular demand. Ask most British people where they were when the Daleks were invading Earth, and the truthful answer would be “behind the sofa” or “hiding behind my hands, peeping through my fingers”.
Doctor Who was the absolute must watch television program for generations of children. Positioned early evening on a Saturday, the stories about the adventures of the Time Lord – known simply as The Doctor – as he battled against a never ending melee of extra terrestrial threats to society made for compulsive viewing. Children would often be scared witless by cardboard sets and weird looking aliens, and marvel at the Tardis (a Police telephone box that was larger on the inside than on the outside). Then they would be sent to bed with warnings like “if you don’t go straight to sleep the sea-monsters will get you”. Parents are like that.
The Doctor would only last a certain time before having to regenerate. This would often happen at the end of a series, and the viewers would be left to wait until the new run began to find out what the new Doctor looked like. A person’s age can be judged to within a couple of years by the answer to a simple question: who was your favourite Doctor Who? Each generation of children thought their Doctor was the best, and each Doctor had certain characteristics that set him apart from the rest.
Jon Pertwee’s Doctor from the early seventies had a camp air about him – frilly shirts and velvet jacket – and relied on the help of the Army, led by ‘The Brigadier’. Tom Baker’s character (1974 to 1981) walked everywhere draped in a twelve-foot scarf. Brilliant stuff.
The BBC is now on the eleventh reincarnation of the Doctor, and times have certainly moved on. Sets, props, and alien characters are even more believable: the wonders of modern science and special effects. Children still hide behind their hands to watch.
The Doctor returns to screens on the 27th August 2011, and fanatics can admire their hero on a Doctor Who Collectable medal from the Royal Mint.
On the obverse is a depiction of the Tardis, whilst the reverse displays a portrait of Matt Smith’s Doctor with his trademark bow tie (almost a hark back to Jon Pertwee’s Doctor). Smith will be the Doctor for at least three series, according to the BBC, and started as the Doctor in 2010.
The medal is struck in .925 sterling silver, weighs 12 grams with a diameter of 28.40 mm, and is housed in a presentation box. Priced at £47.50, the medal is a must for any Doctor Who fanatic, who may have to be quick as the issue is limited to 5,000.
Doctor Who Collectible Silver Coin by The Royal Mint
