Actor Jon Pertwee as Doctor Who, in candid photograph

Jon Pertwee

Lovely to see a celebration of the life of Jon Pertwee on this, his 100th birthday. A joy to see his name trending on Twitter, too.

Jon was not my Doctor. I’m not quite old enough for that. I have vague memories of early Tom Baker, but really my life with Doctor Who didn’t start until the latter part of his reign. My strongest early memory falls in the hands of the bull-headed Nimon.

That aside. I thoroughly enjoy Pertwee period adventure—I’m jealous of those for whom Roger Delgado was their Master. Ainley worked for me—camp megalomaniac worked well for me—but when I see Delgado in action in a face-off with Pertwee, I can only feel envy.

For me, Jon Pertwee was Worzel Gummidge. That’s no bad thing; that series was brilliantly entertaining and filled with such talent besides Pertwee, like the glorious Geoffrey Bayldon and the wonderful Una Stubbs.

Celebrate and remember—I might just drop Terror of the Autons into the DVD Player tonight.