Doctor Wonka?


As if we needed further proof that all roads lead to Doctor Who, I found the following wiki-trivia while trying to google up an answer to the question, "Did Roahl Dahl attend a screening of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?"
Dahl, who had rights to the film production, unsuccessfully pushed foSpike Milligan to play Willy Wonka. His next choice, Ron Moody, rejected the part. Jon Pertwee also turned down the role due to ongoing commitments to Doctor Who....
Dahl was ultimately unhappy with the production, feeling "disappointed"about many elements. These included the non-casting of Milligan as well as the emphasis on Wonka and not Charlie. He was said to be "infuriated" at the plot changes made by David Seltzer, which included the conversion of Slugworth into a spy and the "belching" scene. This displeasure led to Dahl not allowing any more versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to be made in his lifetime. 
We would have been interested to see Pertwee as Wonka, and fully agree about the non-necessity for belching scenes in general.

Speaking of Spike Milligan, we were just cleaning out the bookshelves and came across Dip the Puppy, which truly has to be the most whackadoo thing I have ever read in my life.

To illustrate, I open the book at random and here is what I find:
The door opened and there was a Red Ice Lolly with one leg in a big yellow boot.  "I'm Frozen Fred," he said.  "Follow me," and he hopped down a long hall full of flowers, and bright blue and lemon parrots wearing spotted socks.

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