The First 40 Years: 1968
This is part of a series of articles looking at the first 40 years of the Stephen Joseph Theatre (1955 to 1995) from the perspective of the theatre's Archive. The articles were first published in the SJT Circular newsletter.1968: The Doctor Is In
by Simon MurgatroydCircle members will have to forgive the author a bit of self-indulgence this month as we bring together two of my favourite subjects with the Stephen Joseph Theatre and the time-travelling television series Doctor Who.
So let’s board the TARDIS and visit 1968 which was something of a turning point for Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre with two very notable omissions and one interesting addition.
In October 1967, the company’s founder, Stephen Joseph, died at his home in Longwestgate. Although he had not been actively involved in the 1967 season, he was still closely connected with the theatre and regarded as a figure head. 1968 marked the start of a new era for the company.
Also missing was the company’s most famous protege, Alan Ayckbourn. Alan had joined the company in 1957 and even though he left to join the Victoria Theatre in 1962 and, subsequently, the BBC in 1965, he had been a presence every year since 1957.
Not in 1968 though, which stands as one of just four years between 1957 and the present day where Alan has neither acted, directed or written a play for the company. It was, in fact a very unusual summer about very little of which is held in archive.
It apparently marked the longest summer season yet at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, running for 14 weeks - ‘apparently’ as there is no surviving brochure or timetable for the season and the schedule of the plays have had to be been painstakingly reconstructed as best as possible from newspaper reports, adverts and other miscellany.
The season was overseen by Director Of Productions (Artistic Director) Rodney Wood and he would direct three of the five plays, unusually only one of which was a new play and that by a writer who had never been produced before or since by the company.
The season mixed little known Russian and German plays with a Noël Coward classic and a historic drama, making it an unusual - if largely unremarkable - season in the history of the company.
However, there is one significant point of interest with the addition of a new actor to the company, who would go on to become one of the most recognisable faces on British television during the 1970s.
Tom Baker joined the company two years into his career as an actor, which had notably begun playing the Bear in an acclaimed production of The Winter’s Tale which had visited the Edinburgh Festival, Cambridge and Venice in 1966. He had also been involved in the1967 summer rep season in Henley-on-Thames.
He joined a core company of nine actors, none of whom - uniquely in the SJT’s history - had worked previously with the company nor would do so again. Tom appeared in four of the five plays with roles in David Bramley’s new play A Boat In The Backyard, Noël Coward’s Hay Fever, Carl Sternheim’s The Strongbox and Arden Of Feversham.
Several photos of Tom survive from his productions and examples from Hay Fever, Arden Of Feversham and The Strongboxand he is very recognisably the actor who would go on to star in Doctor Who six years later.
Tom is also featured in a newspaper article, which is the only article in archive about the Library Theatre that year. It offers details of the season and some of the actors involved, including Tom.
The only reviews from Tom’s time with the company are drawn from The Stage’s online archive but one of which - for The Strongbox - draws a familiar picture of the actor to anyone familiar with his performances over the years.
“Tom Baker as the photographer has a prodigious part and his antics, his florid speech, his foppish and extravagant mannerisms are a joy to watch.”
Tom left the company at the end of the summer season and did not return to Scarborough. He would join the National Theatre from 1969 to 1971, but increasingly worked in television and film. Famously he was in a bit of a lull and working on a construction site when he was cast in 1974 in the BBC series Doctor Who, taking over the role of the Doctor from Jon Pertwee.
He would play the part of the Doctor between 1974 and 1981, appearing in 178 episodes, and is arguably the most well-known and loved Doctor from what is now called its’ classic’ phase (1963 - 1989). He returned to the show briefly in 2013 for the 50th anniversary episode of the show as the mysterious Curator.
Coincidentally, Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre has another significant link with Doctor Who - particularly Tom’s Doctor - as the year after Tom left, the actress Elisabeth Sladen joined the company in 1969.
Elisabeth became well-known as the fourth’s Doctor companion Sarah Jane Smith and is regarded as one of the most popular companions from the entire history of the show; she returned to the show for several episodes when it returned in its new incarnation in 2006 and headed her own spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, from 2007 until her death in 2011.
Elisabeth worked in Scarborough for two years and appeared in the world premiere of two of Alan Ayckbourn’s plays, playing Fiona Foster in How The Other Half Loves and Jenny in The Story So Far....
But that’s another year and another story. To get to 1969, we’ll have to step into the TARDIS again, leave Tom behind and return in a month or so for more treasures from the archive.
Article by and copyright of Simon Murgatroyd. Please do not reproduce this article without permission of the copyright holder.