Ah, Blackpool.
Apart from inspiring the lyrics to one of my favourite Jethro Tull songs, it's probably best known around these parts for hosting a Doctor Who Exhibition between 1974 and 1985.
You know, back in the days when any scrap of extra-televisual Who was something extremely rare and precious...
And miraculously, I was fortunate enough to be taken to the Blackpool exhibition when Season Bloody Eighteen was current on our screens.
Memories of the day...
(1) Reading "Doctor Who and the Web of Fear" in the car on the journey there. (Library hardback, Achilleos cover). (2) Seeing the Star Wars Droid Factory on sale for the only time ever, and not being able to have it, no matter how hard I pleaded. (3) Getting lost in the Tower complex and spending what seemed like hours stood watching a dummy of Ken Dodd singing his signature song "Happiness" on a loop, waiting for my parents to find me. (4) Buying a copy of "Doctor Who and the Planet of the Daleks" (Target paperback, Achilleos cover) and an Exhibition pencil. (5) Realising the Console Room exhibit was a bit rubbish.
A few days later, I took my pencil into school where it was stolen by a girl who told the teacher that she had bought it in a local supermarket, despite the fact that it had "Doctor Who Exhibition Blackpool" printed on it.
And you wonder why I consider most women to be irredeemably evil...
