Topic

Doctor Who

Not who you're looking for? Others named Doctor Who: British science fiction television series · 1996 British-American-Canadian television film directed by G · The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 heart · The Doctor and his companion travel across time and space en

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Overview

Doctor Who is a pinball machine designed by Bill Pfutzenreuter (Pfutz) and Barry Oursler, and released by Midway (under the Bally brand name) in September 1992. It is based on the television series Doctor Who. As stated in the Gameplay section, the rulesheet is rather different from other pinball machines released at the time, which didn't help popularity (and even now it is still seen as an exotic machine amongst collectors) as casual players did not understand the complex rule changes that occur during the game. The first 100 games included a moving Dalek topper that would turn side-to-side while the robot was speaking. The effect was achieved by fitting the robot's body with a complex motor, cam, and optoelectronics system. Its complexity and expense led to it being cut from the production run. Production Dalek toppers can be made to move with "wobble head kits". Prototypes featured the old Bally-style backbox (and a totally different backglass), but this was changed to the Williams-styled one in order to cheapen the production process for both product lines. Gameplay The basic gameplay is all about the various incarnations of the Doctor (seven at the time of production). Each Doctor affects the rules or scoring for a different section of the playfield, as described below. Doctor 1 (played in the series by William Hartnell): Awards an extra "E-S-C-A-P-E" letter every time a target in that bank is hit or the ball drops into the sinkhole below the bumpers, thus enabling easier earning of the Video Mode (which can then be used to "collect" the currently selected Doctor) and Special. Doctor 2 (played in the series by Patrick Troughton): Allows more time to make the "Hang-On" shot and doubles its value. Doctor 3 (played in the series by Jon Pertwee): Allows more time to complete the shots in the "W-H-O" sequence and thus light extra balls. Doctor 4 (played in the series by Tom Baker): Awards an extra "R-E-P-A-I-R" letter whenever any target in that bank is hit, increasing the value of all of them. Doctor 5 (played in the series by Peter Davison): Doubles Jet Bumper score, which also results in a faster lighting of the Transmat (to "collect" the currently selected Doctor). Doctor 6 (played in the series by Colin Baker): Increases the Playfield Multiplier by one instead of one-half for every loop shot (to a maximum of four), and slows the rate at which the multiplier decreases.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Because it's the best idea ever invented in the history of the world!”
— Russell T. Davies, responding to the question, "Why do you think people love Doctor Who so much?" on BBC Wales Today (20 July 2004)
“I don't know what it's like to be God — obviously ...until that very first moment when you get to sit down and type the words in your script: INTERIOR. TARDIS. ... Suddenly I got a very good idea of what it must feel like. I went: "I'm writing it now this scene in the Tardis. I'm writing it!" And that was amazing, it was wonderful.”
— Neil Gaiman, on writing the script for the episode The Doctor's Wife (originally titled House of Nothing), as quoted in "Neil Gaiman reveals power of writing Doctor Who" by Tim Masters at BBC News (24 May 2010)
“Because of the British sensibility, there's an emphasis [in Doctor Who] on nonviolence, there's an emphasis on philosophical issues. There wasn't anything like that on TV at the time – there wasn't a Star Trek on at the time.”
— Maura Grady in “How Doctor Who Survived 50 Years”, by Nicholas Slayton, The Atlantic, (November 21, 2013)
“What would be the point of having this job if I didn't get to make up some of the maddest possible scenes I've ever had in my head since I was a kid? For him to stand there and take the mickey out of all those monsters — is just hugely exciting.”
— Steven Moffat, on The Doctor confronting his enemies in The Pandorica Opens, in an interview in Doctor Who Rewind (2011) by BBC America
“The world would be a poorer place without Doctor Who.”
— Steven Spielberg, as quoted in "Edinburgh TV Festival 2008: don't rule out Doctor Who feature film, says Steven Moffat" by Ben Dowell in The Guardian (23 August 2008).
“Here in two flat sentences are the best things I can say about our field [science fiction] on American television: Dr. Who is sometimes aired. Sometimes Battlestar Galactica is not.”
— Gene Wolfe, Aussiecon Two (43rd World Science Fiction Convention) Guest of Honor speech (August 1985), as published in Gene Wolfe, Castle of Days (1992)

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

On IJR

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Not who you're looking for? Others named Doctor Who: British science fiction television series · 1996 British-American-Canadian television film directed by G · The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 heart · The Doctor and his companion travel across time and space en

Overview

Doctor Who is a pinball machine designed by Bill Pfutzenreuter (Pfutz) and Barry Oursler, and released by Midway (under the Bally brand name) in September 1992. It is based on the television series Doctor Who. As stated in the Gameplay section, the rulesheet is rather different from other pinball machines released at the time, which didn't help popularity (and even now it is still seen as an exotic machine amongst collectors) as casual players did not understand the complex rule changes that occur during the game. The first 100 games included a moving Dalek topper that would turn side-to-side while the robot was speaking. The effect was achieved by fitting the robot's body with a complex motor, cam, and optoelectronics system. Its complexity and expense led to it being cut from the production run. Production Dalek toppers can be made to move with "wobble head kits". Prototypes featured the old Bally-style backbox (and a totally different backglass), but this was changed to the Williams-styled one in order to cheapen the production process for both product lines. Gameplay The basic gameplay is all about the various incarnations of the Doctor (seven at the time of production). Each Doctor affects the rules or scoring for a different section of the playfield, as described below. Doctor 1 (played in the series by William Hartnell): Awards an extra "E-S-C-A-P-E" letter every time a target in that bank is hit or the ball drops into the sinkhole below the bumpers, thus enabling easier earning of the Video Mode (which can then be used to "collect" the currently selected Doctor) and Special. Doctor 2 (played in the series by Patrick Troughton): Allows more time to make the "Hang-On" shot and doubles its value. Doctor 3 (played in the series by Jon Pertwee): Allows more time to complete the shots in the "W-H-O" sequence and thus light extra balls. Doctor 4 (played in the series by Tom Baker): Awards an extra "R-E-P-A-I-R" letter whenever any target in that bank is hit, increasing the value of all of them. Doctor 5 (played in the series by Peter Davison): Doubles Jet Bumper score, which also results in a faster lighting of the Transmat (to "collect" the currently selected Doctor). Doctor 6 (played in the series by Colin Baker): Increases the Playfield Multiplier by one instead of one-half for every loop shot (to a maximum of four), and slows the rate at which the multiplier decreases.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Because it's the best idea ever invented in the history of the world!”
— Russell T. Davies, responding to the question, "Why do you think people love Doctor Who so much?" on BBC Wales Today (20 July 2004)
“I don't know what it's like to be God — obviously ...until that very first moment when you get to sit down and type the words in your script: INTERIOR. TARDIS. ... Suddenly I got a very good idea of what it must feel like. I went: "I'm writing it now this scene in the Tardis. I'm writing it!" And that was amazing, it was wonderful.”
— Neil Gaiman, on writing the script for the episode The Doctor's Wife (originally titled House of Nothing), as quoted in "Neil Gaiman reveals power of writing Doctor Who" by Tim Masters at BBC News (24 May 2010)
“Because of the British sensibility, there's an emphasis [in Doctor Who] on nonviolence, there's an emphasis on philosophical issues. There wasn't anything like that on TV at the time – there wasn't a Star Trek on at the time.”
— Maura Grady in “How Doctor Who Survived 50 Years”, by Nicholas Slayton, The Atlantic, (November 21, 2013)
“What would be the point of having this job if I didn't get to make up some of the maddest possible scenes I've ever had in my head since I was a kid? For him to stand there and take the mickey out of all those monsters — is just hugely exciting.”
— Steven Moffat, on The Doctor confronting his enemies in The Pandorica Opens, in an interview in Doctor Who Rewind (2011) by BBC America
“The world would be a poorer place without Doctor Who.”
— Steven Spielberg, as quoted in "Edinburgh TV Festival 2008: don't rule out Doctor Who feature film, says Steven Moffat" by Ben Dowell in The Guardian (23 August 2008).
“Here in two flat sentences are the best things I can say about our field [science fiction] on American television: Dr. Who is sometimes aired. Sometimes Battlestar Galactica is not.”
— Gene Wolfe, Aussiecon Two (43rd World Science Fiction Convention) Guest of Honor speech (August 1985), as published in Gene Wolfe, Castle of Days (1992)

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.