Adric
(Matthew Waterhouse)
  Adric
appeared in Dr. Who from 1980 (with Tom Baker) until 1982
(with Peter Davison) when he was killed off in "EARTHSHOCK".
Within our gay community Dr. Who, or more accurately Adric,
had become compulsive viewing. It was much the same
everywhere, we later learned.
Whether it was the (surely unintentional?) campness of the
character (and dressed in jim-jams!!!) or just his way of
being so "vulnerably butch", that made him popular we don't
know, but popular he was. (No, not like that! - Although he
was eighteen or more, everyone just wanted to mother him! The
a.o.c. was 21yrs then anyway, remember?)
It's more than twenty-five years on and the topic of his death
can still often get an airing at gatherings. It's like
everyone knows what they were doing when they learned of
Kennedy's assassination, or of the death of Elvis. So it is
with Adric. There was the disbelief. The silence as the
credits rolled by. Then the rush to the phone - only to find
every number you wanted was engaged, as they too were trying
to contact others. People rushed to each other's houses,
picking up people on the way, in order to chew the cud. To
explore the options. The storyline. Surely the Doctor would
time-travel back far enough to save him. They couldn't let him
die! Not our Adric! They mustn't! - THEY DID!!!
Matthew Waterhouse was born on December 19th in 1961. Educated
at Shoreham Grammar School, where he successfully took his A
levels, he later joined the BBC, first working in the news and
information dept. His first appearance on screen came as a
public schoolboy in, "To Serve Them All My Days" (1980).
Matthew appeared as Adric in the Dr Who stories: Full Circle,
State of Decay, Warrior's Gate, The Keeper of Traken,
Logopolis, Castrovalva, Four to Doomsday, Kinda, The
Visitation, Black Orchid, and Earthshock. He was one of the
youngest "companions", the first "signed up" Doctor Who fan to
join the series and (allegedly) the first 'openly gay' actor,
in spite of his tender years. He worked with both Tom Baker
and Peter Davison.
    
Since leaving Dr. Who he has worked in the theatre: Puck in "A
Midsummer Night's Dream"; Peter in "Peter Pan"; Edmund in "The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". He also did a one man show
"Huckleberry Finn" which he adapted from the Mark Twain novel.
There have been rumours of Matthew appearing in a sci-fi pilot
with some other well known sci-fi actors. Anyone know of this?
 Matthew
moved to the United States in 1997 and is currently living in
Connecticut. His private life remains very private, but there
are rumours that his partner is a guy he met at a Doctor Who
Convention. He still enjoys performing on stage and in his
spare time he is said to collect rare books by obscure
mid-century poets. He visits the UK frequently and has
contributed some of the commentary (along with Peter Davison,
Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton) to the recent DVD re-releases
of his stories "Earthshock" and "The Visitation."
Regenerations 2005, held on the weekend of 24th-25th
September at the Swansea Marriott Hotel featured 30 guests
from the world of Doctor Who - including Matthew Waterhouse.
In the summer of
2006, Matthew had his first book published:
Fates, Flowers. With adult themes, it has been labelled:
"The funniest, blackest entertainment you will read all year",
the reviews I've seen of it are all favourable. I must get a
copy!
 
EARTHSHOCK and THE VISITATION
available on DVD.
Thought: If it
hadn't had been for Adric,
would we all still be dinosaurs?
Today, more than twenty-five
years after Adric appeared on our screens, there are still
countless references, articles, appreciative / fan forums, fan
fictions, and websites about the young Alzarian boy who stole
our hearts. There are far too many for them to be mentioned
here. A Google search for either Adric or Matthew Waterhouse
will keep you entertained for many happy hours - and we thank
each and every one of those websites. Long live Adric! Long
live Matthew! |
