Monday, January 1, 2018

FANFICCERS' FRIEND - BORIS AND THE DOCTOR



On Thanksgiving of last year – November 23, 2017 – the Television Crossover Hall of Fame inducted Boris Karloff as a member in the League of Themselves division. 

The reason?  That date marked the 130th anniversary of his birth.  He made many appearances on variety programs of the 1950s and 1960s, but he only made two appearances as himself interacting with fictional characters in their shows – an episode of ‘The Gale Storm Show’ and with Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr. in one episode of ‘Route 66’. 

Now, normally one must have an appearances in three different TV series to qualify for the TVXOHOF, but there is a loophole – if a character or a member of the League of Themselves is mentioned in other TV shows as though they are real, then their existence in Toobworld is considered verified.

Such was the case for Mr. Karloff.  There were references to him in ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’, ‘Bones’, ‘Barney Miller’, ‘The Father Dowling Mysteries’, and ‘The A-Team’.  Karloff is such a titan in pop culture that I’m sure there will be more as Time passes.

And speaking of Time…..

I found a picture of Boris Karloff that could serve as a launch for some ‘Doctor Who’ fanfic!


If you like it, it’ll be up to you to write it.  But O’Bviously, the antagonist would be a Weeping Angel; Karloff would be playing himself; and then it’s just a matter of figuring out which Doctor and Companion(s) you would like to team him up with.  If I did delve into this myself, I think it would be the Second Incarnation, if for no other reason than finding good black & white photos of Patrick Troughton as the Doctor to photo-shop with black & white stills from Karloff’s primitive TV appearances in anthology TV shows. 

But the Eleventh seems to have spent some time in Old Hollywood so he might be an option as well.

Anyhoo, if you write up a fanfic story about Karloff and the Doctor, let me know.  I’d like to read it.

As sure as I am that his name was Boris Karloff, I’m sure your story would be a “Thriller”!

BCnU!



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