Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah talks Doctor Who, in a new article by the Birmingham Mail/Sunday Mercury, ahead of its 50th Anniversary episode this weekend. (Text originally published in Behind The Sofa)

Brummie chart star turned stage singer Toyah Willcox admits that she can’t wait for Saturday’s big Doctor Who special.

Brummie chart star turned stage singer Toyah Willcox admits that she can’t wait for Saturday’s big Doctor Who special. Because she’s TURNED ON by the telly Time Lord, who’ll be played in the 50th anniversary adventure by no fewer than three actors.

Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt will all appear as incarnations of Britain’s best-loved sci-fi star – and viewers may also be treated to fleeting glimpses of all the other Doctors who have graced the Tardis over the years.

And that’s great news for Toyah, 55, who was born in Kings Heath. “When I was a ratty pubescent teen I started to find the whole concept of Doctor Who highly erotic,” she admits. “And I still do!” The singer says that the show played a big part in her Second City childhood. “Haven’t we all hidden behind the sofa when Doctor Who was on the telly?” she asks.

• Continue reading at the Birmingham Mail/Sunday Mercury.

• The Big Fat Quiz Of The 80s: A few screen caps from Sunday night’s programme. It’s available to watch online at 4 on Demand, and is repeated a few times this coming weekend (days/times here). Click here or on the caps to view larger versions.

• Instagram #1: Last night Toyah shared a photo of Phil Davis, herself and Mark Wingett at the Quadrophenia screening/Q&A in London – View the photo…

• Behind The Sofa: The Doctor Who book from last year, which Toyah contributed to, has been revised and expanded with over 30 new entries: Over 150 celebrity memories of DOCTOR WHO, on behalf of Alzheimer’s Research UK, with a new foreword by Sir Terry Pratchett – View more info…

• Instagram #2: On Sunday Toyah shared a photo of a “Toyah Wilcox” Birmingham Rep Bar beer mat – View here…

• Head Crash: The 1986 radio drama, which was banned and didn’t air until July 1993 on ‘BBC Radio 3’, which included Toyah in the cast is currently available to listen to in full at ‘Soundcloud’ – Listen here…

• Talk The Talk: Recently uploaded to ‘You Tube’, a short clip of Toyah, talking about languages, on the ‘BBC Learning Zone’ from the early 2000s – View here…

• Ulster Hall 1981: Photos of Toyah from this gig, which was also televised, have been added recently to Buck Defect’s Facebook – View here… (Thanks to Seán)

Behind The Sofa, the Doctor Who book in which Toyah contributes a memory, has finally been published and is now available to buy from Amazon and other online book stores.

Behind The Sofa is a collection of over 100 celebrity memories of Doctor Who, compiled in aid of Alzheimer’s Research UK.

• View a review of the book at Impact Online, a news report at Velvet Onion and a preview of some of the excellent content at Radio Times.

• I Was A Teenage Toyah Fan: The Kindle edition of “I Was A Teenage Toyah Fan” is available for just 80p at Amazon – A coming of age tale of Adolescent Misadventures in Eighties Pop. You don’t have to have a Kindle to read it – Kindle editions are also readable on iPhones, iPads, Macs, PCs and many more portable devices with the Kindle app. The paperback has been dropped to £5.99 + P&P on Lulu.

• Behind The Sofa: Celebrity Memories Of Doctor Who: In which Toyah contributes a memory, is now available to pre-order and goes on general release, in print and digitally, in late September: Behind The Sofa is a collection of over 100 celebrity memories of Doctor Who, compiled in aid of Alzheimer’s Research UK. Steve Berry decided to undertake this project in memory of his mother Janet, who suffered from Alzheimer’s in her final years and passed away in 2009. The book has taken more than four years to put together and its publication has been “crowd-funded” by the pre-orders of an enthusiastic Whovian community. More details at Troubador and Amazon.

The charity Doctor Who book, ‘Behind The Sofa’, in which Toyah contributes a memory, will go ahead after all.

‘Radio Times’ reported in early March:

Doctor Who charity book threatened by PayPal dispute: Behind the Sofa may not be published after payments frozen

Behind the Sofa, a limited-edition charity book full of celebrities’ reminiscences about Doctor Who, may not now be published following the decision of online payments service PayPal to freeze the account of the project’s organiser.

All profits from the 200-page book were to be given to Alzheimer’s Research UK. But payments for pre-orders – which were to be used by editor Steve Berry to fund the manufacture and distribution of the book – have today been frozen by PayPal.

PayPal had been taking payments directly by credit and debit card, as well as from customers with PayPal accounts. Berry may now have to fund the book himself.

The book was to feature contributions from, among many others: Paul Whitehouse, Michael Grade, Rufus Hound, Stephen Merchant, Charlie Brooker, Hugh Bonneville, Al Murray, Bill Oddie, Chris Chibnall, Jeremy Dyson, Jonathan Ross, Josie Long, Terrance Dicks, Martina Cole, Mitch Benn, Neil Gaiman, Nicholas Parsons, Paul Cornell, Toyah Willcox and Tracy Ann Oberman.

• Read the full article, at the ‘Radio Times’ website, here.