Letter: Dr Who formula

Dr Who formula

Sir: I disagree entirely with Kim Newman's notion ("Dr Who has been exterminated", 29 May) that "proper" Dr Who ended after the first 15 years. What he fails to acknowledge is that the format of the series is so flexible that it is far more than just a "horror show with a sci-fi rationale". What marked it out as different from any other sci-fi was the fact that it could go anywhere and be anything. Even in the Hartnell era the format was always surprisingly varied from week to week. Thus we can have a straightforward tale of monsters invading the Earth one week and have historical costume drama the next, a horror story, a psychological thriller or a James Bond- style action plot. To say that the show's appeal rests entirely with Daleks, Cybermen and so on is a misunderstanding of what it means. And please don't forget that some of us really liked the Eighties incarnations of the Doctor.

ALEX GOLDFINCH

Bath, Avon