Back in the Old Days, before cable ruled the air, Americans only got to see Brit television (most notably, Doctor Who, but also The Prisoner and Monty Python's Flying Circus) via their local PBS station.

Now, thanks to the magic of YouTube, we can revisit those days when the only on-air Comic Cons or Cosplays were the folks at PBS (or whatever public access station was available) dressing up and embarrassing themselves in front of a camera in an effort to get donations. The most interesting aspect is that the low-cost special effects they used to get donations were the same as those used on Doctor Who at the time.

I sincerely hope the folks behind these videos are watching them right now and cringing, praying for the ground to swallow them up. More likely, the people behind them are the ones who put them on YouTube in the first place.

The first video is below. The rest can be found here. For the record, I have never owned a disappearing TARDIS mug, and I am a lesser person for it.

[via Topless Robot]