Beginning withWilliam Hartnell,fourteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; as of 2024[update],Ncuti Gatwa leads the series as theFifteenth Doctor. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the series with theconcept of regeneration into a newincarnation, aplot device in which, when a Time Lord is fatally injured, their cells regenerate and they are reincarnated, into a different body with mannerisms and behaviour, but the same memories, explaining each actor's distinct portrayal, as they all represent different stages in the life of the Doctor and, together, they form a single lifetime with a single narrative. The time-travelling nature of the plot means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet. The Doctor can also change ethnic appearance or gender; in 2017,Jodie Whittaker became the first woman cast in the lead role, and in 2024, Gatwa became the first black actor to headline the series.
The series is a significant part ofpopular culture in Britain[2] and elsewhere; it has gained acult following. It has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching the series.[3]Fans of the series are sometimes referred to asWhovians. The series has been listed inGuinness World Records as the longest-running science-fiction television series in the world,[4] as well as the "most successful" science-fiction series of all time, based on its overall broadcast ratings,DVD and book sales.[5]
Doctor Who follows the adventures of the title character, a rogueTime Lord with somewhat unknown origins who goes by the name "the Doctor". The Doctor fledGallifrey, the planet of the Time Lords, in a stolenTARDIS ("Time and Relative Dimension(s) in Space"), atime machine that travels by materialising into, and dematerialising out of, the time vortex. The TARDIS has a vast interior but appears smaller on the outside, and is equipped with a "chameleon circuit" intended to make the machine take on the appearance of local objects as a disguise. Because of a malfunction, the Doctor's TARDIS remains fixed as a blue Britishpolice box.[6]
Across time and space, the Doctor's many incarnations often find events that pique their curiosity, and try to prevent evil forces from harming innocent people or changing history, using only ingenuity and minimal resources, such as the versatilesonic screwdriver. The Doctor rarely travels alone and is often joined by one or morecompanions on these adventures; these companions are usually humans, owing to the Doctor's fascination with planetEarth, which also leads to frequent collaborations with the international military task forceUNIT when Earth is threatened.[7] The Doctor is centuries old and, as a Time Lord, has the ability toregenerate when there is mortal damage to their body.[8] The Doctor's various incarnations have gained numerous recurring enemies during their travels, including theDaleks, their creatorDavros, theCybermen, and the renegade Time Lordthe Master.[9]
Doctor Who was originally intended to appeal to a family audience[10] as an educational programme using time travel as a means to explore scientific ideas and famous moments in history. The programme first appeared on theBBC Television Service at 17:16:20GMT on 23 November 1963; this was eighty seconds later than the scheduled programme time, because of announcements concerning the previous day'sassassination of John F. Kennedy.[11][12] It was to be a regular weekly programme, each episode 25 minutes of transmission length. Discussions and plans for the programme had been in progress for a year. Thehead of dramaSydney Newman was mainly responsible for developing the programme, with the first format document for the series being written by Newman along with the head of the script department (later head of serials)Donald Wilson and staff writerC. E. Webber; in a 1971 interview Wilson claimed to have named the series, and when this claim was put to Newman he did not dispute it.[13] WriterAnthony Coburn,story editorDavid Whitaker and initial producerVerity Lambert also heavily contributed to the development of the series.[14][g]
On 31 July 1963, Whitaker commissionedTerry Nation to write a story under the titleThe Mutants. As originally written, theDaleks andThals were the victims of an alienneutron bomb attack but Nation later dropped the aliens and made the Daleks the aggressors. When the script was presented to Wilson, it was immediately rejected as the programme was not permitted to contain any "bug-eyed monsters". According to Lambert, "We didn't have a lot of choice—we only had the Dalek serial to go ... We had a bit of a crisis of confidence because Donald [Wilson] was so adamant that we shouldn't make it. Had we had anything else ready we would have made that." Nation's script became the secondDoctor Who serial –The Daleks (also known asThe Mutants). The serial introduced the eponymous aliens that would become the series' most popular monsters, dubbed "Dalekmania", and was responsible for the BBC's first merchandising boom.[16]
We had to rely on the story because there was little we could do with the effects.Star Wars in a way was the turning point. OnceStar Wars had happened,Doctor Who effectively was out of date from that moment on really, judged by that level of technological expertise.
—Philip Hinchcliffe, producer ofDoctor Who from 1974 to 1977, on why the "classic series" eventually fell behind other science fiction in production values and reputation, leading to its cancellation[17]
The BBC drama department produced the programme for 26 seasons, broadcast onBBC One. Due to his increasingly poor health,William Hartnell, first actor to play the Doctor, was succeeded byPatrick Troughton in 1966. In 1970,Jon Pertwee replaced Troughton and the series began production in colour. In 1974,Tom Baker was cast as the Doctor. His eccentric personality became hugely popular, with viewing figures for the series returning to a level not seen since the height of "Dalekmania" a decade earlier.[18] After seven years in the role, Baker was replaced byPeter Davison in 1981, andColin Baker replaced Davison in 1984. In 1985, the channel's controllerMichael Grade cancelled the upcoming twenty-third season, forcing the series into an eighteen-month hiatus.[19][20][21] In 1986, the series was recommissioned on the condition that Baker left the role of the Doctor,[21] which was recast toSylvester McCoy in 1987. Falling viewing numbers, a decline in the public perception of the series and a less-prominent transmission slot saw production ended in 1989 byPeter Cregeen, the BBC's new head of series.[22] Although it was effectivelycancelled, the BBC repeatedly affirmed over several years that the series would return.[23]
While in-house production concluded, the BBC explored an independent production company to relaunch the series.Philip Segal, a Britishexpatriate who worked forColumbia Pictures'television arm in the United States, had approached the BBC as early as July 1989, while the 26th season was still in production.[23] Segal's negotiations eventually led to aDoctor Who television film as apilot for an American series, broadcast on theFox Network in 1996, as aninternational co-production between Fox,Universal Pictures, the BBC andBBC Worldwide. StarringPaul McGann as the Doctor, the film was successful in the UK (with 9.1 million viewers), but was less so in the United States and did not lead to a series.[23]
Licensed media such as novels and audio plays providednew stories, but as a television programme,Doctor Who remained dormant. In September 2003,[24][25]BBC Television announced the in-house production of a new series, after several years of attempts by BBC Worldwide to find backing for a feature film version. The 2005 revival ofDoctor Who is a directplot continuation of the original 1963–1989 series and the 1996 television film. The executive producers of the new incarnation of the series wereQueer as Folk writerRussell T Davies andBBC Cymru Wales head of dramaJulie Gardner. From 2005, the series switched from amulti-camera to asingle-camera setup.[26]
The 50th anniversary ofDoctor Who convention, held over three days at theExCeL London in November 2013, included an appearance of three former Doctors: pictured left to right:Peter Davison,Sylvester McCoy andColin Baker.
StarringChristopher Eccleston as the Doctor,Doctor Who returned with the episode"Rose" on BBC One on 26 March 2005, after a 16-year hiatus of in-house production.[27] Eccleston left after one series and was replaced byDavid Tennant.[28] Davies left the production team in 2009.[29]Steven Moffat, a writer under Davies, was announced as his successor, along withMatt Smith as the new Doctor.[30] Smith decided to leave the role of the Doctor in 2013, the 50th anniversary year.[31] He was replaced byPeter Capaldi.[32]
Both Whittaker and Chibnall announced that they would depart the series after a series of specials in 2022.[35] Davies returned as showrunner from the60th anniversary specials, twelve years after he had left the series previously.[36]Bad Wolf co-produces the series in partnership withBBC Studios Productions.[37] Bad Wolf's involvement sees Gardner return to the series alongside Davies andJane Tranter, who recommissioned the series in 2005.[36]
The programme has been sold to many other countries worldwide (see§ Viewership).
Public consciousness
It has been claimed that the transmission of the first episode was delayed by ten minutes due to extended news coverage of theassassination of US PresidentJohn F. Kennedy the previous day; in fact, it went out after a delay of eighty seconds.[38] The BBC believed that coverage of the assassination, as well as a series of power blackouts across the country, had caused many viewers to miss this introduction to a new series, and it was broadcast again on 30 November 1963, just before episode two.[39][40]
The programme soon became a national institution in the United Kingdom, with a large following among the general viewing audience.[42][43] The show received controversy over the suitability of the series for children. Morality campaignerMary Whitehouse repeatedly complained to the BBC over what she saw as the programme's violent, frightening and gory content. According toRadio Times, the series "never had a more implacable foe than Mary Whitehouse".[44]
A BBC audience research survey conducted in 1972 found that, by their own definition of violence ("any act[s] which may cause physical and/or psychological injury, hurt or death to persons, animals or property, whether intentional or accidental"),Doctor Who was the most violent of the drama programmes the corporation produced at the time.[45] The same report found that 3% of the surveyed audience believed the series was "very unsuitable" for family viewing.[46] Responding to the findings of the survey inThe Times newspaper, journalist Philip Howard maintained that, "to compare the violence ofDr Who, sired by a horse-laugh out of a nightmare, with the more realistic violence of other television series, where actors who look like human beings bleed paint that looks like blood, is like comparingMonopoly with the property market in London: both are fantasies, but one is meant to be taken seriously."[45]
DuringJon Pertwee'ssecond season as the Doctor, in the serialTerror of the Autons (1971), images of murderous plastic dolls, daffodils killing unsuspecting victims, and blank-featured policemen marked the apex of the series' ability to frighten children.[47] Other notable moments in that decade include a disembodied brain falling to the floor inThe Brain of Morbius[48] and the Doctor apparently being drowned by a villain inThe Deadly Assassin (both 1976).[49] Mary Whitehouse's complaint about the latter incident prompted a change in BBC policy towards the series, with much tighter controls imposed on the production team,[50] and the series' next producer,Graham Williams, was under a directive to take out "anything graphic in the depiction of violence".[51]John Nathan-Turner produced the series during the 1980s and said in the documentaryMore Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS that he looked forward to Whitehouse's comments because the ratings of the series would increase soon after she had made them. Nathan-Turner also got into trouble with BBC executives over the violence he allowed to be depicted forseason 22 of the series in 1985, which was publicly criticised by controllerMichael Grade and given as one of his reasons for suspending the series for 18 months.[52]
The phrase "hidingbehind the sofa" (or "watching from behind the sofa") entered Britishpop culture, signifying the stereotypical but apocryphal early-series behaviour of children who wanted to avoid seeing frightening parts of atelevision programme while remaining in the room to watch the remainder of it.[53][54]The Economist presented "hiding behind the sofa whenever the Daleks appear" as a Britishcultural institution on a par withBovril andtea-time.[55] Paul Parsons, author ofThe Science of Doctor Who, explains the appeal of hiding behind the sofa as the activation of the fear response in theamygdala in conjunction with reassurances of safety from the brain'sfrontal lobe.[56] The phrase retains this association withDoctor Who, to the point that in 1991 theMuseum of the Moving Image inLondon named its exhibition celebrating the programmeBehind the Sofa. The electronictheme music too was perceived as eerie, novel, and frightening at the time. A 2012 article placed this childhood juxtaposition of fear and thrill "at the center of many people's relationship with the series",[57] and a 2011 online vote atDigital Spy deemed the series the "scariest TV show of all time".[58]
TARDIS interior (2005–2010) at theDoctor Who Experience,London Olympia
The image of theTARDIS has become firmly linked to the series in the public's consciousness; BBC scriptwriterAnthony Coburn, who lived in the resort ofHerne Bay, Kent, was one of the people who conceived the idea of a police box as a time machine.[59] In 1996, the BBC applied for atrademark to use the TARDIS' bluepolice box design in merchandising associated withDoctor Who.[60] In 1998, theMetropolitan Police Authority filed an objection to the trademark claim; but in 2002, thePatent Office ruled in favour of the BBC.[61][62][63]
The 21st-century revival of the programme became the centrepiece of BBC One's Saturday schedule and "defined the channel".[64] Many renowned actors have madeguest-starring appearances in various stories includingKylie Minogue,[65]Sir Ian McKellen,[66] andAndrew Garfield[67] among others.[68] According to an article in theDaily Telegraph in 2009, the revival ofDoctor Who had consistently received high ratings, both in number of viewers and as measured by theAppreciation Index.[69] In 2007,Caitlin Moran, television reviewer forThe Times, wrote thatDoctor Who is "quintessential to being British".[70] According toSteven Moffat, the American film directorSteven Spielberg has commented that "the world would be a poorer place withoutDoctor Who".[71]
On 4 August 2013, a live programme titledDoctor Who Live: The Next Doctor[72] was broadcast on BBC One, during which the actor who was going to play the Twelfth Doctor was revealed.[73] The live show was watched by an average of 6.27 million in the UK, and was also simulcast in the United States, Canada and Australia.[74][75]
Doctor Who originally ran for 26 seasons on BBC One, from 23 November 1963 until 6 December 1989. During the original run, each weekly episode formed part of a story (or "serial")—usually of four to six parts in earlier years and three to four in later years.[citation needed] Some notable exceptions were:The Daleks' Master Plan, which aired twelve episodes (plus an earlier one-episode teaser,[76] "Mission to the Unknown", featuring none of the regular cast[77]); almost an entire season of seven-episode serials (season 7); the ten-episode serialThe War Games;[78] andThe Trial of a Time Lord, which ran for fourteen episodes (albeit divided into three production codes and four narrative segments) duringseason 23.[79] Occasionally, serials were loosely connected by a story line, such asseason 8 focusing on the Doctor battling a rogue Time Lord calledthe Master,[80][81]season 16's quest forthe Key to Time,[82]season 18's journey through E-Space and the theme of entropy,[83] andseason 20's Black Guardian trilogy.[84]
The programme was intended to be educational and for family viewing on the early Saturday evening schedule.[85] It initially alternated stories set in the past, which taught younger audience members about history, and with those in the future or outer space, focusing on science.[85] This was also reflected in the Doctor's original companions, one of whom was a science teacher and another a history teacher.[85]
However, science fiction stories came to dominate the programme, and the history-oriented episodes, which were not popular with the production team,[85] were dropped afterThe Highlanders (1967). While the show continued to use historical settings, they were generally used as a backdrop for science fiction tales,[86][87] with one exception:Black Orchid (1982), set in 1920s England.[88]
The early stories were serialised in nature, with the narrative of one story flowing into the next and each episode having its own title, although produced as distinct stories with their own production codes.[89] FollowingThe Gunfighters (1966), however, each serial was given its own title, and the individual parts were assigned episode numbers.[89]
The serial format changed for the2005 revival, with what was now called a series usually consisting of thirteen 45-minute, self-contained episodes (60 minutes with adverts, on overseas commercial channels) and an extended 60-minute episode broadcast on Christmas Day. This system was shortened to twelve episodes and one Christmas special following the revival'seighth series, and ten episodes from theeleventh series. Each series includes standalone and multiple episodic stories, often linked with a loose story arc resolved in the series finale. As in the early "classic" era, each episode has its own title, whether stand-alone or part of a larger story. Occasionally, regular-series episodes will exceed the 45-minute run time;[citation needed] for example, the episodes "Journey's End" (2008) and "The Eleventh Hour" (2010) were longer than an hour.[93][94]
884Doctor Who instalments have been televised since 1963, ranging between 25-minute episodes (the most common format for the classic era), 45/50-minute episodes (forResurrection of the Daleks in the 1984 series, a single season in 1985, and the most common format for the revival era since 2005), two feature-length productions (1983's "The Five Doctors" and the1996 television film), twelveChristmas specials (most of approximately 60 minutes' duration, one of 72 minutes), and four additional specials ranging from 60 to 75 minutes in 2009, 2010, and 2013. Four mini-episodes, running about eight minutes each, were also produced for the 1993, 2005, and 2007Children in Need charity appeals, while another mini-episode was produced in 2008 for aDoctor Who–themed edition ofThe Proms. The 1993 two-part story, entitledDimensions in Time, was made in collaboration with the cast of the BBC soap-operaEastEnders and was filmed partly on theEastEnders set. A two-part mini-episode was also produced for the 2011 edition ofComic Relief.[citation needed] Starting with the 2009 special "Planet of the Dead", the series was filmed in1080i forHDTV[95] and broadcast simultaneously on BBC One andBBC HD.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show, a special3D episode, "The Day of the Doctor", was broadcast in 2013.[96] In March 2013, it was announced that Tennant and Piper would be returning[97] and that the episode would have a limited cinematic release worldwide.[98]
In June 2017, it was announced that due to the terms of a deal betweenBBC Worldwide andSMG Pictures in China, the company has first right of refusal on the purchase for the Chinese market of future series of the programme until and including Series 15.[99][100]
Between 1967 and 1978, large amounts of older material stored in the BBC's various video tape and film libraries was either destroyed[h] orwiped. This included many early episodes ofDoctor Who, those stories featuring the first two Doctors:William Hartnell andPatrick Troughton. In all, 97 of 253 episodes produced during the programme's first six years are not held in the BBC's archives (most notably seasons 3, 4, and 5, from which 79 episodes are missing).[101][102] In 1972, almost all episodes then made were known to exist at the BBC,[103] while by 1978 the practice of wiping tapes and destroying "spare" film copies had been brought to a stop.[104]
No 1960s episodes exist on their original videotapes (all surviving prints being film transfers), though some were transferred to film for editing before transmission and exist in their broadcast form.[105]
Some episodes have been returned to the BBC from the archives of other countries that bought prints for broadcast or by private individuals who acquired them by various means. Early colour videotape recordings made off-air by fans have also been retrieved, as well as excerpts filmed from the television screen onto 8 mmcine film and clips that were shown on other programmes. Audio versions of all lost episodes exist from home viewers who made tape recordings of the show. Short clips from every story with the exception ofMarco Polo (1964), "Mission to the Unknown" (1965) andThe Massacre (1966) also exist.
In addition to these, there are off-screen photographs made by photographerJohn Cura, who was hired by various production personnel to document many of their programmes during the 1950s and 1960s, includingDoctor Who.[citation needed] These have been used infan reconstructions of the serials. The BBC has tolerated these amateur reconstructions, provided they are not sold for profit and are distributed as low-quality copies.[106]
One of the most sought-after lost episodes is part four of the last William Hartnell serial,The Tenth Planet (1966), which ends with theFirst Doctor transforming into theSecond.[107] The only portion of this in existence, barring a few poor-quality silent 8 mm clips, is the few seconds of the regeneration scene, as it was shown on the children's magazine showBlue Peter. With the approval of the BBC, efforts are now underway to restore as many of the episodes as possible from the extant material.[citation needed]
"Official" reconstructions have also been released by the BBC on VHS, on MP3CD-ROM, and as special features on DVD. The BBC, in conjunction with animation studioCosgrove Hall, reconstructed the missing episodes 1 and 4 ofThe Invasion (1968), using remastered audio tracks and the comprehensive stage notes for the original filming, for the serial's DVD release in November 2006.[citation needed] The missing episodes ofThe Reign of Terror were animated by animation company Theta-Sigma, in collaboration withBig Finish, and became available for purchase in May 2013 through Amazon.com.[108] Subsequent animations made in 2013 includeThe Tenth Planet,The Ice Warriors (1967) andThe Moonbase (1967).[109]
In April 2006,Blue Peter launched a challenge to find missingDoctor Who episodes with the promise of a full-scaleDalek model as a reward.[110] In December 2011, it was announced that part 3 ofGalaxy 4 (1965) and part 2 ofThe Underwater Menace (1967) had been returned to the BBC by a fan who had purchased them in the mid-1980s without realising that the BBC did not hold copies of them.[111]
On 10 October 2013, the BBC announced that films of eleven episodes, including nine missing episodes, had been found in a Nigerian television relay station inJos.[112] Six of the eleven films discovered were the six-part serialThe Enemy of the World (1968), from which all but the third episode had been missing.[113] The remaining films were from another six-part serial,The Web of Fear (1968), and included the previously missing episodes 2, 4, 5 and 6. Episode 3 ofThe Web of Fear is still missing.[114]
The Doctor was initially shrouded in mystery. In the programme's early days, the character was an eccentric alien traveller of great intelligence who battled injustice while exploring time and space in an unreliabletime machine, the "TARDIS" (anacronym for Time and Relative Dimension in Space), which notably appears much larger on the inside than on the outside.[i][115]
The initially irascible and slightly sinister Doctor quickly mellowed into a more compassionate figure and was eventually revealed to be aTime Lord, whose race are from the planetGallifrey, which the Doctor fled by stealing the TARDIS.[116][117]
Changes of appearance
Producers introduced the concept ofregeneration to permit the recasting of the main character. This was prompted by the poor health of the original star,William Hartnell.[118][119] The term "regeneration" was not conceived until the Doctor's third on-screen regeneration; Hartnell's Doctor merely described undergoing a "renewal", and the Second Doctor underwent a "change of appearance".[120][121] The device has allowed for the recasting of the actor various times in the show's history, as well as the depiction of alternative Doctors either from the Doctor's relative past or future.[122]
The serialsThe Deadly Assassin (1976) andMawdryn Undead (1983) established that a Time Lord can only regenerate 12 times, for a total of 13 incarnations.[123][124] This line became stuck in the public consciousness despite not often being repeated and was recognised by producers of the show as a plot obstacle for when the show finally had to regenerate the Doctor a thirteenth time.[123][125] The episode "The Time of the Doctor" (2013) depicted the Doctor acquiring a new cycle of regenerations, starting from theTwelfth Doctor, due to theEleventh Doctor being the product of the Doctor's twelfth regeneration from his original set.[126]
Although the idea of casting a woman as the Doctor had been suggested by the show's writers several times, including by Newman in 1986 and Davies in 2008, until 2017, all official depictions were played by men.[127][128]Jodie Whittaker took over the role as theThirteenth Doctor at the end of the 2017 Christmas special and is the first woman to be cast as the character.[129] The show introduced the Time Lords' ability to change sex on regeneration in earlier episodes, first in dialogue, then withMichelle Gomez's version ofthe Master[130][131] andT'Nia Miller's version of the General.[132]
Upon Whittaker's final appearance as the character in "The Power of the Doctor" on 23 October 2022, she regenerated into a form portrayed byDavid Tennant, who was confirmed to be theFourteenth Doctor and the first actor to play two incarnations, having previously played theTenth Doctor. In the same year,Ncuti Gatwa was revealed to be portraying theFifteenth Doctor, making him the first black actor to headline the series.[133][134]
In addition to those actors who have headlined the series, others have portrayed versions of the Doctor in guest roles. Notably, in 2013,John Hurt guest-starred as a hitherto unknown incarnation of the Doctor known as theWar Doctor in the run-up to the show's 50th-anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor".[135] He is shown in mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor"retroactively inserted into the show's fictional chronology between McGann's and Eccleston's Doctors, although his introduction was written so as not to disturb the established numerical naming of the Doctors.[136] The show later introduced another such unknown past Doctor withJo Martin's recurring portrayal of theFugitive Doctor, beginning with "Fugitive of the Judoon" (2020).[137] An example from the classic series comes fromThe Trial of a Time Lord (1986), in whichMichael Jayston's character theValeyard is described as an amalgamation of the darker sides of the Doctor's nature, somewhere between the twelfth and final incarnation.[138] The most recent example is whenRichard E. Grant, who previously portrayed an alternate version of the Doctor known as the Shalka Doctor in the animated seriesScream of the Shalka (2003), appeared as a hologram of a past Doctor in "Rogue" (2024).[139]
The casting of a new Doctor has often inspired debate and speculation. Common topics of focus include the Doctor's sex (prior to the casting of Whittaker, all official incarnations were male), race (all Doctors were white prior to the casting ofJo Martin in "Fugitive of the Judoon") and age (the youngest actor to be cast is Smith at 26, and the oldest are Capaldi and Hartnell, both 55).[144][145][146]
Meetings of different incarnations
There have been instances of actors returning later to reprise their specific Doctor's role. In 1973'sThe Three Doctors, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton returned alongside Jon Pertwee. For 1983's "The Five Doctors", Troughton and Pertwee returned to star with Peter Davison, and Tom Baker appeared in previously unseen footage from the uncompletedShada serial. For this episode, Richard Hurndall replaced William Hartnell. Patrick Troughton again returned in 1985'sThe Two Doctors with Colin Baker.[140]
In 2020's "Fugitive of the Judoon", Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor meets Jo Martin's incarnation of the Doctor, subsequently known as the Fugitive Doctor; they interact again in the episode "The Timeless Children" later that year as well as in "Once, Upon Time" in 2021. In her final episode, "The Power of the Doctor" (2022), Whittaker interacts with the Guardians of the Edge, manifestations of the Doctor's First (Bradley), Fifth (Davison), Sixth (Colin Baker), Seventh (McCoy), and Eighth (McGann) incarnations.[149] Additionally, multiple incarnations of the Doctor have met in variousaudio dramas andnovels based on the television show.[150]
The companion figure – generally a human – has been a constant feature inDoctor Who since the programme's inception in 1963. One of the roles of the companion is to be a reminder for the Doctor's "moral duty".[151] The Doctor's first companions seen on-screen were his granddaughterSusan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) and her teachersBarbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) andIan Chesterton (William Russell). These characters were intended to act asaudience surrogates, through which the audience would discover information about the Doctor, who was to act as a mysterious father figure.[151] The only story from the original series in which the Doctor travels alone is "The Deadly Assassin" (1976).[152] Notable companions from the earlier series include aTime Lady namedRomana (Mary Tamm andLalla Ward), and humans such asJamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines),Jo Grant (Katy Manning),Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen),Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding),Peri Brown (Nicola Bryant), andAce (Sophie Aldred).[153][154] Dramatically, these characters provide a figure with whom the audience can identify and serve to further the story by requesting exposition from the Doctor and manufacturing peril for the Doctor to resolve. The Doctor regularly gains new companions and loses old ones;[155] sometimes they return home or find new causes—or loves—on worlds they have visited. Some have died during the course of the series.[156] Companions are usually humans or humanoid aliens.[155]
Some companions have gone on to reappear, either in the main series or in spin-offs. Sarah Jane Smith became the central character inThe Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011) following a return toDoctor Who in 2006. Guest stars in the series include former companions Jo Grant,K9, andBrigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney).[168] The character of Jack Harkness also served to launch a spin-off,Torchwood (2006–2011), in which Martha Jones also appeared.[169]
When Sydney Newman commissioned the series, he specifically did not want to perpetuate the cliché of the "bug-eyed monster" of science fiction.[170] However,monsters were popular with audiences and so became a staple ofDoctor Who almost from the beginning.[171]Daleks,Cybermen, and the Master are some of the most iconicfoes the Doctor has battled in the series.[9]
With the show's 2005 revival, executive producer Russell T Davies stated his intention to reintroduce the classic monsters ofDoctor Who.[172] TheAutons with the Nestene Consciousness, first seen in 1970'sSpearhead from Space, and Daleks, first seen in 1963'sThe Daleks, returned in series 1. Davies's successor, Steven Moffat, continued the trend by reviving theSilurians, also first seen in 1970, in series 5 andZygons, first seen in 1975, in the 50th-anniversary special.[173] Since its 2005 return, the series has also introduced new recurring aliens:Slitheen (Raxacoricofallapatorians),Ood,Judoon,Weeping Angels andthe Silence.[9][174]
The Daleks, which first appeared in the show'ssecond serial in 1963,[175][176] areDoctor Who's oldest villains. The Daleks are Kaleds from the planetSkaro, mutated by the scientistDavros and housed in mechanical armour shells for mobility. The actual creatures resemble octopuses with large, pronounced brains. Their armour shells have a single eye-stalk, a sink-plunger-like device that serves the purpose of a hand, and adirected-energy weapon. Their main weakness is their eyestalk; attacks upon them using various weapons can blind a Dalek, making it go mad. Their chief role in the series plot, as they frequently remark in their instantly recognisable metallic voices, is to "exterminate" all non-Dalek beings. They even attack theTime Lords in theTime War, as shown during the 50th Anniversary of the show. They continue to be a recurring 'monster' within the Doctor Who franchise, having appeared in every series since 2005.[177] Davros has also been a recurring figure since his debut inGenesis of the Daleks, although played by several different actors.[178]
The Daleks were created by the writerTerry Nation (who intended them to be anallegory of theNazis)[179] and BBC designerRaymond Cusick.[180] The Daleks' début in the programme's second serial,The Daleks (1963–1964), made both the Daleks andDoctor Who very popular. A Dalek appeared on a postage stamp celebrating British popular culture in 1999, photographed byLord Snowdon.[181] The Daleks received another stamp in 2013 as part of the 50th anniversary.[182] In "Victory of the Daleks" a new set of Daleks were introduced that come in a range of colours; the colour denoting its role within the species.[183]
Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth'stwin planet Mondas that began to implant more and more artificial parts into their bodies. This led to the race becoming coldly logical and calculatingcyborgs, with emotions usually only shown when naked aggression was called for. With the demise of Mondas, they acquired Telos as their new home planet. They continue to be a recurring 'monster' within theDoctor Who franchise.[184][185]
The Cybermen have evolved dramatically over the course of the show. They were reintroduced in the2006 series in the form of alternate universe aliens, with radically different back stories.[186] The standard Cybermen returned in "Closing Time", though they kept their 2006 design.[187] In the2020 series, the Cybermen aligned themselves with The Master, and were given the ability to regenerate.[188]
The Master is the Doctor'sarchenemy, a renegadeTime Lord who desires to rule the universe. Conceived as "Professor Moriarty to the Doctor'sSherlock Holmes",[189] the character first appeared in 1971. As with the Doctor, the role has been portrayed by several actors, since the Master is a Time Lord as well and able to regenerate; the first of these actors wasRoger Delgado, who continued in the role until his death in 1973. The Master was briefly played byPeter Pratt andGeoffrey Beevers untilAnthony Ainley took over and continued to play the character untilDoctor Who's hiatus in 1989.[190] The Master returned in the 1996 television movie ofDoctor Who, and was played by American actorEric Roberts.[191]
Following the series revival in 2005,Derek Jacobi provided the character's reintroduction in the 2007 episode "Utopia". During that story, the role was then assumed byJohn Simm, who returned to the role multiple times throughout theTenth Doctor's tenure.[192] In the 2014 episode "Dark Water", it was revealed that the Master had become a female incarnation or "Time Lady", going by the name of "Missy" (short for Mistress, the feminine equivalent of "Master"). This incarnation is played byMichelle Gomez. Simm returned to his role as the Master alongside Gomez in thetenth series.[193] The Master returned for the 2020twelfth series withSacha Dhawan in the role.[194] This incarnation dubbed himself the "Spy Master" referencing a role he had taken withMI6.[195]
TheDoctor Who theme music was one of the firstelectronic music signature tunes for television, and after more than a half century remains one of the most easily recognised. The original theme was composed byRon Grainer and realised byDelia Derbyshire of theBBC Radiophonic Workshop, with assistance from Dick Mills, and was released as a single on Decca F 11837 in 1964. The Derbyshire arrangement served, with minor edits, as the theme tune up to the end ofseason 17 (1979–1980). It is regarded as a significant and innovative piece of electronic music recorded well before the availability of commercial synthesisers or multitrack mixers. Each note was individually created by cutting, splicing, speeding up and slowing down segments ofanalogue tape containing recordings of a single plucked string,white noise, and the simpleharmonic waveforms oftest-tone oscillators, intended for calibrating equipment and rooms, not creating music. New techniques were invented to allowmixing of the music, as this was before the era of multitrack tape machines. On hearing the finished result, Grainer asked, "Jeez, Delia, did I write that?" She answered, "Most of it."[196] Although Grainer was willing to give Derbyshire the co-composer credit, it was against BBC policy at the time. She would not receive an on-screen credit until the 50th-anniversary story "The Day of the Doctor" in 2013.[197][198]
A new arrangement of the theme, once again by Gold, was introduced in the 2007 Christmas special episode, "Voyage of the Damned".[201] Gold returned as composer for the 2010 series, and was responsible for a new version of the theme which was reported to have had a hostile reception from some viewers.[202] In 2011, the theme tune charted at number 228 of radio station Classic FM's Hall of Fame, a survey of classical music tastes. A revised version of Gold's 2010 arrangement had its debut over the opening titles of the 2012 Christmas special "The Snowmen", and a further revision of the arrangement was made for the 50th-anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor" in November 2013.[203]
With the arrival of new composerSegun Akinola forseries 11[204] came a new version of the opening theme, which incorporated elements of Derbyshire's original arrangement.[205][206] Akinola also created a new arrangement of the show's closing theme to play over the end credits of "Demons of the Punjab" in the style ofPunjabi music.[207]
Versions of the "Doctor Who Theme" have also been released as pop music. In the early 1970s, Jon Pertwee, who had played the Third Doctor, recorded a version of the Doctor Who theme with spoken lyrics, titled, "Who Is the Doctor".[k] In 1978, a disco version of the theme in the UK, Denmark and Australia by the group Mankind, which reached number 24 in the UK charts. In 1988, the band The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (later known asThe KLF) released the single "Doctorin' the Tardis" under the name The Timelords, which reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in Australia; this version incorporated several other songs, including "Rock and Roll Part 2" byGary Glitter (who recorded vocals for some of the CD-single remix versions of "Doctorin' the Tardis").[208] Others who have covered or reinterpreted the theme includeOrbital,[208]Pink Floyd,[208] the Australian string ensembleFourplay, New Zealand punk bandBlam Blam Blam,The Pogues,Thin Lizzy,Dub Syndicate, and the comediansBill Bailey andMitch Benn. Both the theme and obsessive fans were satirised onThe Chaser's War on Everything. The theme tune has also appeared on many compilation CDs, and has made its way into mobile-phone ringtones. Fans have also produced and distributed their own remixes of the theme. In January 2011, the Mankind version was released as adigital download on the albumGallifrey And Beyond.[citation needed]
Most of the innovative incidental music forDoctor Who has been specially commissioned from freelance composers, although in the early years some episodes also usedstock music, as well as occasional excerpts from original recordings orcover versions of songs by popular music acts such asThe Beatles andthe Beach Boys.[citation needed] Since its 2005 return, the series has featured occasional use of excerpts of pop music from the 1970s to the present day.[209]
The most frequent musical contributor during the first 15 years wasDudley Simpson, who is also well known for his theme and incidental music forBlake's 7, and for his haunting theme music and score for the original 1970s version ofThe Tomorrow People. Simpson's firstDoctor Who score wasPlanet of Giants (1964) and he went on to write music for many adventures of the 1960s and 1970s, including most of the stories of the Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker periods, ending withThe Horns of Nimon (1979). He also made acameo appearance inThe Talons of Weng-Chiang (as aMusic hall conductor).[210]
From the 2005 revival to the 2017 Christmas episode "Twice Upon a Time",[211] all incidental music for the series was composed byMurray Gold andBen Foster and has been performed by theBBC National Orchestra of Wales from the 2005 Christmas episode "The Christmas Invasion" onwards. A concert featuring the orchestra performing music from the first two series took place on 19 November 2006 to raise money for Children in Need. David Tennant hosted the event, introducing the different sections of the concert.[212] Murray Gold andRussell T Davies answered questions during the interval, andDaleks andCybermen appeared whilst music from their stories was played. The concert aired onBBCi on Christmas Day 2006. ADoctor Who Prom was celebrated on 27 July 2008 in theRoyal Albert Hall as part of the annualBBC Proms. The BBC Philharmonic and theLondon Philharmonic Choir performed Murray Gold's compositions for the series, conducted by Ben Foster, as well as a selection of classics based on the theme of space and time. The event was presented byFreema Agyeman and guest-presented by various other stars of the show with numerous monsters participating in the proceedings. It also featured the specially filmed mini-episode "Music of the Spheres", written by Russell T Davies and starring David Tennant.[213]
On 26 June 2018, producer Chris Chibnall announced that the musical score forseries 11 would be provided byRoyal Birmingham Conservatoire alumnusSegun Akinola.[204] His approach was described as more subtle and "understated" than Gold's work by critics,[214][215] and Akinola remained composer throughout Chibnall's tenure, scoring all of theThirteenth Doctor's episodes.[216]
Six soundtracks have been released since 2005. Thefirst featured tracks from the first two series,[219][220] thesecond andthird featured music from the third and fourth series respectively. Thefourth was released on 4 October 2010 as a two-disc special edition and contained music from the 2008–2010 specials (The Next Doctor to "End of Time Part 2").[221][222] Thesoundtrack for Series 5 was released on 8 November 2010.[223] In February 2011, a soundtrack was released for the 2010 Christmas special "A Christmas Carol",[224] and in December 2011, thesoundtrack for Series 6 was released, both by Silva Screen Records.[225]
In 2013, a 50th-anniversary boxed set of audio CDs was released featuring music and sound effects from Doctor Who's 50-year history. The celebration continued in 2016 with the release of Doctor Who: The 50th Anniversary Collection Four LP Box Set by New York City-based Spacelab9. The company pressed 1,000 copies of the set on "Metallic Silver" vinyl, dubbed the "Cyberman Edition".[226]
Exhibits in theDoctor Who Experience,Cardiff Bay, in 2015
During theITV network strike of 1979, viewership peaked at 16 million.[232] Figures remained respectable into the 1980s, but fell noticeably after the programme's 23rd series was postponed in 1985 and the show was off the air for 18 months.[233]
Its late 1980s performance of three to five million viewers was seen as poor at the time and was, according to the BBC Board of Control, a leading cause of the programme's 1989 suspension. Some fans considered this disingenuous, since the programme was scheduled against the ITV soap operaCoronation Street, the most popular show at the time.[234][235] During Tennant's run (the third notable period of high ratings), the show had consistently high viewership, with the Christmas specials regularly attracting over 10 million.[231]
The BBC One broadcast of "Rose", the first episode of the 2005 revival, drew an average audience of 10.81 million, third highest for BBC One that week and seventh across all channels.[231][236][237] The current revival also garners the highest audienceAppreciation Index of any drama on television.[238]
International
Map of countries that have broadcastDoctor Who (as of 2013[update])
Doctor Who has been broadcast internationally outside of the United Kingdom since 1964, a year after the show first aired. As of November 2013[update], the modern series has been broadcast in more than 50 countries.[239] The 50th anniversary episode, "The Day of the Doctor", was broadcast in 94 countries and screened to more than half a million people in cinemas across Australia, Latin America, North America and Europe. The scope of the broadcast was a world record, according toGuinness World Records.[240]
Doctor Who is one of the five top-grossing titles forBBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm.[241] BBC Worldwide CEOJohn Smith has said thatDoctor Who is one of a small number of "Superbrands" which are heavily promoted worldwide.[242]
Only four episodes have premiere showings on channels other thanBBC One. The 1983 20th-anniversary special "The Five Doctors" had its debut on 23 November (the actual date of the anniversary) on a number of PBS stations two days before its BBC One broadcast. The 1988 storySilver Nemesis was broadcast with all three episodes airing back to back onTVNZ in New Zealand in November, after the first episode had been shown in the UK but before the final two instalments had aired there.[citation needed]
New Zealand was the first country outside the United Kingdom to screenDoctor Who, beginning in September 1964, and continued to screen the series for many years, including the new revived series that aired onPrime Television from 2005 to 2017.[244] In 2018, the series is aired on Fridays on TVNZ 2, and on TVNZ On Demand on the same episode as the UK.[245] The series moved toTVNZ 1 in 2021,[citation needed] before TVNZ lost the rights to the show altogether in 2022.[246]
In Australia, the show has had a strong fan base since its inception, having been exclusively first run by theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) since January 1965. The ABC has periodically repeated episodes; of note were the daily screenings of all available classic episodes starting in 2003 for the show's 40th anniversary and the weekly screenings of all available revived episodes in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary. The ABC broadcast the modern series' first run onABC1 andABC Me, with repeats onABC2 and streaming available onABC iview.[247]
TVOntario picked up the show in 1976 beginning withThe Three Doctors and aired each series (several years late) through to series 24 in 1991. From 1979 to 1981, TVO airings were bookended by science-fiction writerJudith Merril who introduced the episode and then, after the episode concluded, tried to place it in an educational context in keeping with TVO's status as an educational channel. Its airing ofThe Talons of Weng-Chiang was cancelled as a result of accusations that the story wasracist; the story was later broadcast in the 1990s on cable station YTV. CBC began showing the series again in 2005. The series moved to the Canadian cable channelSpace in 2009.[249]
Series three began broadcasting on CBC on 18 June 2007 followed by the second Christmas special, "The Runaway Bride", at midnight,[250] and the Sci Fi Channel began on 6 July 2007, starting with the second Christmas special at 8:00 pm E/P followed by the first episode.[251]
Series four aired in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel (now known asSyfy), beginning in April 2008.[252] It aired on CBC beginning 19 September 2008, although the CBC did not air the "Voyage of the Damned" special.[253] The Canadian cable network Space (now known asCTV Sci-Fi Channel) broadcast "The Next Doctor" (in March 2009) and all subsequent series and specials.[249]
The series was aired inBrazil at the TV networksSyfy and, more frequently, at the public broadcasterTV Cultura. Expect international distribution rights holders, it had already been made available on local streaming platformsLooke andGloboplay. Starting from 2024, the previous 13 series will be available at the upcoming streaming service+SBT.[254]
Asia
Series 1 through 3 of Doctor Who were broadcast on variousNHK channels from 2006 to 2008 with Japanese subtitles.[255] Beginning on 2 August 2009, upon the launch ofDisney XD in Japan, the series has been broadcast with Japanese dubbing.[256]
A wide selection of serials is available from BBC Video on DVD, on sale in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the United States. Every fully extant serial has been released on VHS, and BBC Worldwide continues to regularlyrelease serials on DVD. The 2005 series is also available in its entirety onUMD for thePlayStation Portable. Eight original series serials have been released onLaserdisc[257] and many have also been released onBetamax tape andVideo 2000. One episode of Doctor Who (The Infinite Quest) was released onVCD. Initially, only the series from 2005 onwards were also available onBlu-ray, along with the 1996 TV filmDoctor Who, released in September 2016.[258] However in March 2021, it was announced that the classic run would be released on Blu-ray starting with seasons 12 and19.[259]
Over 600 episodes of the classic series (the first 8 Doctors, from 1963 to 1996) are available to stream onBritBox (launched in 2017) andPluto TV.[260] From 2020, the revival series is available for streaming onHBO Max, as well as spin-offsSarah Jane Adventures andTorchwood.[261] Ahead of the 60th anniversary of the series, BBC cleared the rights to allow almost every single non-missing episode ofDoctor Who[l] ontoiPlayer. Additionally various spin-offs were also added to iPlayer includingTorchwood,The Sarah Jane Adventures,Class, andDoctor Who Confidential.[263]
In these films,Peter Cushing plays a human scientist[265] named "Dr. Who" who travels with his granddaughter, niece, and other companions in a time machine he has invented. TheCushing version of the character reappears in both comic strips and a short story, the latter attempting to reconcile the film continuity with that of the series. In addition, several planned films were proposed, including a sequel,The Chase, loosely based on theoriginal series story, for the Cushing Doctor, plusmany attempted television movie and big-screen productions to revive the originalDoctor Who after the original series was cancelled.[citation needed]
Paul McGann starred inthe only television film as theeighth incarnation of the Doctor. After the film, he continued the role in audio dramas and was confirmed as the eighth incarnation through flashback footage and a mini episode in the 2005 revival, effectively linking the two series and the television movie.[citation needed]
In 2011,David Yates announced that he had started work with the BBC on aDoctor Who film, a project that would take three or more years to complete. Yates indicated that the film would take a different approach fromDoctor Who,[266] although then showrunnerSteven Moffat stated later that any such film would not be a reboot of the series and that a film should be made by the BBC team and star the current TV Doctor.[267]
Doctor Who has appeared on stage numerous times. In the early 1970s,Trevor Martin played the role inDoctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday. In the late 1980s, Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker both played the Doctor at different times during the run of a play titledDoctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure. For two performances, while Pertwee was ill,David Banks (better known for playingCybermen) played the Doctor. Other original plays have been staged as amateur productions, with other actors playing the Doctor, whileTerry Nation wroteThe Curse of the Daleks, a stage play mounted in the late 1960s, but without the Doctor.[citation needed]
A pilot episode ("A Girl's Best Friend") for a potential spin-off series,K-9 and Company, aired in 1981, withElisabeth Sladen reprising her role as companionSarah Jane Smith andJohn Leeson as the voice ofK9, but was not picked up as a regular series. Concept art for an animatedDoctor Who series was produced by animation companyNelvana in the 1980s, but the series was not produced.[268][269]
Following the success of the 2005 series produced by Russell T Davies, the BBC commissioned Davies to produce a 13-part spin-off series titledTorchwood (ananagram of "Doctor Who"), set in modern-dayCardiff and investigating alien activities and crime. The series debuted onBBC Three on 22 October 2006.[270]John Barrowman reprised his role ofJack Harkness from the 2005 series ofDoctor Who.[271] Two other actresses who appeared inDoctor Who also star in the series:Eve Myles asGwen Cooper, who played the similarly named servant girl Gwyneth in the 2005Doctor Who episode "The Unquiet Dead",[272] andNaoko Mori, who reprised her role asToshiko Sato, first seen in "Aliens of London". A second series ofTorchwood aired in 2008; for three episodes, the cast was joined by Freema Agyeman reprising herDoctor Who role ofMartha Jones. A third series was broadcast from 6 to 10 July 2009, and consisted of a single five-part story calledChildren of Earth which was set largely in London. A fourth series,Torchwood: Miracle Day jointly produced by BBC Wales, BBC Worldwide and the American entertainment company Starz debuted in 2011. The series was predominantly set in the United States, though Wales remained part of the show's setting.[citation needed]
The Sarah Jane Adventures, starringElisabeth Sladen who reprised her role as investigative journalistSarah Jane Smith, was developed byCBBC; a special aired on New Year's Day 2007, and a full series began on 24 September 2007.[273] A second series followed in 2008, featuring the return of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.[274][275] A third in 2009 featured a crossover appearance from the main show by David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.[276][277] In 2010, a fourth season featuredMatt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor alongside former companion actressKaty Manning reprising her role asJo Grant.[278] A final, three-story fifth series was transmitted in autumn 2011 – uncompleted due to Sladen's death in early 2011.[279]
An animated serial,The Infinite Quest, aired alongside the 2007 series ofDoctor Who as part of the children's television seriesTotally Doctor Who. The serial featured the voices of series regulars David Tennant andFreema Agyeman but is not considered part of the 2007 series.[280] A second animated serial,Dreamland, aired in six parts on theBBC Red Button service, and the officialDoctor Who website in 2009.[281]
Class, featuring students of Coal Hill School, was first aired on-line on BBC Three from 22 October 2016, as a series of eight 45 minute episodes, written byPatrick Ness.[282][283] Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor appears in the show's first episode.[284] The series was picked up byBBC America on 8 January 2016 and byBBC One a day later.[285] On 7 September 2017, BBC Three controller Damian Kavanagh confirmed that the series had officially been cancelled.[286]
Numerous other spin-off series have been created not by the BBC but by the respective owners of the characters and concepts. Such spin-offs include the novel and audio drama seriesFaction Paradox,Iris Wildthyme andBernice Summerfield; as well as the made-for-video seriesP.R.O.B.E.; the Australian-produced television seriesK-9, which aired a 26-episode first season onDisney XD;[296] and the audio spin-offCounter-Measures.[297]
Aftershows
When the revived series ofDoctor Who was brought back, an aftershow series was created by the BBC, titledDoctor Who Confidential. There have been three aftershow series created, with the latest one titledDoctor Who: The Fan Show, which began airing from the tenth series. Each series follows behind-the-scenes footage on the making ofDoctor Who through clips and interviews with the cast, production crew and other people, including those who have participated in the television series in some manner. Each episode deals with a different topic, and in most cases refers to theDoctor Who episode that preceded it.[citation needed]
In 1983, coinciding with the series' 20th anniversary, "The Five Doctors" was shown as part of the annual BBCChildren in Need Appeal, however it was not a charity-based production, simply scheduled within the line-up of Friday 25 November 1983. This was the programme's first co-production with Australian broadcasterABC.[298] At 90 minutes long it was the longest single episode ofDoctor Who produced to date. It featured three of the first five Doctors, a new actor to replace the deceased William Hartnell, and unused footage to represent Tom Baker.[299]
In 1993, for the franchise's 30th anniversary, another charity special,Dimensions in Time, was produced forChildren in Need, featuring all the surviving actors who played the Doctor and a number of previous companions. It also featured a crossover with the soap operaEastEnders, the action taking place in the latter'sAlbert Square location and aroundGreenwich. The special was one of several special 3D programmes the BBC produced at the time, using a 3D system that made use of thePulfrich effect, requiring glasses with one darkened lens; the picture would look normal to those viewers who watched without the glasses.[citation needed]
In 1999, another special,Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death, was made forComic Relief and later released on VHS. An affectionateparody of the television series, it was split into four segments, mimicking the traditional serial format, complete withcliffhangers, and running down the same corridor several times when being chased (the version released on video was split into only two episodes).[citation needed] In the story, the Doctor (Rowan Atkinson) encounters boththe Master (Jonathan Pryce) and theDaleks. During the special, the Doctor is forced to regenerate several times, with his subsequent incarnations played by, in order,Richard E. Grant,Jim Broadbent,Hugh Grant, andJoanna Lumley.[300] The script was written bySteven Moffat, later to be head writer and executive producer of the revived series.[301]
Since the return ofDoctor Who in 2005, the franchise has produced two original "mini-episodes" to support Children in Need. The first, which aired in November 2005, was anuntitled seven-minute scene introducingDavid Tennant as theTenth Doctor. It was followed in November 2007 by "Time Crash", a 7-minute scene that featured the Tenth Doctor meeting theFifth Doctor,Peter Davison.[302]
The earliestDoctor Who–related audio release was a 21-minute narrated abridgement of the First Doctor television storyThe Chase released in 1966. Ten years later, the first original Doctor Who audio was released onLP record;Doctor Who and the Pescatons featuring the Fourth Doctor.[318] The first commercially available audiobook was an abridged reading of the Fourth Doctor storyState of Decay in 1981. In 1988, during a hiatus in the television show,Slipback, the first radio drama, was transmitted.[319]
Since 1999,Big Finish Productions has released several different series of Doctor Who audios on CD. The earliest of these featured the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors, with Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor joining the line in 2001. Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor began appearing for Big Finish in 2012.[320] Along with the main range, adventures of the First, Second and Third Doctors have been produced in both limited cast and full cast formats, as well as audiobooks. The 2013 seriesDestiny of the Doctor, produced as part of the series' 50th-anniversary celebrations, marked the first time Big Finish created stories (in this case audiobooks) featuring the Doctors from the revived show.[citation needed] Along with this, in May 2016, the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, appeared alongside Catherine Tate in a collection of three audio adventures,[321] before receiving his own range.[322][320] In August 2020, Big Finish announced a new series of audios beginning release in May 2021, featuringChristopher Eccleston reprising his role as theNinth Doctor.[323][320]
In 2022,BBC Sounds began airingDoctor Who: Redacted, a podcast written byJuno Dawson and starringCharlie Craggs andJodie Whittaker. The podcast focuses on a trio of friends who host a paranormal conspiracy podcast, "The Blue Box Files", and end up getting involved in much more than they expected.[327][328] The podcast was later renewed for a second series.[329]
Doctor Who books have been published from the mid-sixties through to the present day. From 1965 to 1991 the books published were primarily novelised adaptations of broadcast episodes; beginning in 1991 an extensive line of original fiction was launched, theVirgin New Adventures andVirgin Missing Adventures. Since the relaunch of the programme in 2005, a new range of novels has been published byBBC Books. Numerous non-fiction books about the series, including guidebooks and critical studies, have also been published,[citation needed] and a dedicatedDoctor Who Magazine (DWM) with newsstand circulation has been published regularly since 1979:DWM is recognised byGuinness World Records as the longest running TV tie-in magazine, celebrating 40 years of continuous publication on 11 October 2019.[330] This is published by Panini, as is theDoctor Who Adventures magazine for younger fans.[331]
NumerousDoctor Whovideo games have been created from the mid-80s through to the present day. ADoctor Who game was planned for theSega Mega Drive but never released.[332] One of the recent ones is amatch-3 game released in November 2013 foriOS,Android, Amazon App Store andFacebook calledDoctor Who: Legacy. It has been constantly updated since its release and features all the Doctors as playable characters as well as over 100 companions.[333]
Another video game instalment isLego Dimensions – in which Doctor Who is one of the many "Level Packs" in the game. The pack contains the Twelfth Doctor (who can reincarnate into the others), K9, the TARDIS and a Victorian London adventure level area. The game and pack released in November 2015.[334]
Doctor Who: Battle of Time was a digital collectible card game developed byBandai Namco Entertainment and released foriOS andAndroid.[335] It was soft-launched on 30 May 2018 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand, but was shut down on 26 November of that same year.[336]
Since the creation of theDoctor Who character by BBC Television in the early 1960s, a myriad of stories have been published aboutDoctor Who, in different media: apart from the actual television episodes that continue to be produced by the BBC, there have also been novels, comics, short stories, audio books, radio plays, interactive video games, game books, webcasts, DVD extras, and stage performances. The BBC takes no position on thecanonicity of any of such stories, and producers of the show have expressed distaste for the idea of canonicity.[340]
In 2013, thePeabody Awards honouredDoctor Who with an Institutional Peabody "for evolving with technology and the times like nothing else in the known television universe."[345] The programme is listed inGuinness World Records as the longest-running science-fiction television show in the world,[346] as the "most successful" science-fiction series of all time—based on its overall broadcast ratings,DVD and book sales, andiTunes traffic[5]—and for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama with its50th-anniversary special.[347]
In 1975,Season 11 of the series won aWriters' Guild of Great Britain award for Best Writing in a Children's Serial. In 1996, BBC television held the "Auntie Awards" as the culmination of their "TV60" series, celebrating 60 years of BBC television broadcasting, whereDoctor Who was voted as the "Best Popular Drama" the corporation had ever produced, ahead of such ratings heavyweights asEastEnders andCasualty.[348] In 2000,Doctor Who was ranked third in a list of the100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century, produced by theBritish Film Institute and voted on by industry professionals.[349] In 2005, the series came first in a survey bySFX magazine of "The Greatest UK Science Fiction and Fantasy Television Series Ever". InChannel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows,Doctor Who was placed at number nine.[350] In 2004 and 2007,Doctor Who was ranked number 18 and number 22 onTV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever.[351][352] In 2013, TV Guide ranked it as the sixth-best sci-fi show.[353]
The revived series has received recognition from critics and the public, across various awards ceremonies. It won fiveBAFTA TV Awards, includingBest Drama Series, the highest-profile and most prestigious British television award for which the series has ever been nominated.[354] It was very popular at theBAFTA Cymru Awards, with 25 wins overall including Best Drama Series (twice), Best Screenplay/Screenwriter (thrice) and Best Actor.[355] It was also nominated for 7Saturn Awards, winning the onlyBest International Series in the ceremony's history. In 2009,Doctor Who was voted the 3rd greatest show of the 2000s by Channel 4, behindTop Gear andThe Apprentice. The episode "Vincent and the Doctor" wasshortlisted for a Mind Award at the 2010 Mind Mental Health Media Awards for its "touching" portrayal ofVincent van Gogh.[356]
As a British series, the majority of its nominations and awards have been for national competitions such as the BAFTAs, but it has occasionally received nominations in mainstream American awards, most notably a nomination for "Favorite Sci-Fi Show" in the 2008People's Choice Awards, and the series has been nominated multiple times in the SpikeScream Awards, with Smith winning Best Science Fiction Actor in 2011. The CanadianConstellation Awards have also recognised the series. In 2019,Doctor Who was inducted into theScience Fiction Hall of Fame based inSeattle, Washington.[363]
^abSome special episodes have a running time of up to 90 minutes.
^The1996 television film has a running time inNTSC regions of 89 minutes. InPAL regions, the film is affected byPAL speedup, shortening the running time to 85 minutes.[1]
^Newman is often given sole creator credit for the series. Some reference works such asThe Complete Encyclopedia of Television Programs 1947–1979 by Vincent Terrace erroneously credit Terry Nation with creatingDoctor Who, because of the way his name is credited in the two Peter Cushing films.[15]
^When it became an entry in theOxford English Dictionary, the word "TARDIS" often came to be used to describe anything that appeared larger on the inside than its exterior implied.
^The years shown cover the actor's tenure as the lead character only.
^Often mistitled "I am the Doctor". Originally released as a 7" vinyl single, plain sleeve, December 1972 on label Purple PUR III
^Clark, Anthony."Doctor Who (1963–89, 2005–)".Screenonline.Archived from the original on 7 February 2007. Retrieved21 March 2007.The science fiction adventure series Doctor Who (BBC, 1963–89) has created a phenomenon unlike any other British TV programme.
^Tulloch, John."Doctor Who".Museum of Broadcast Communications. Archived fromthe original on 11 February 2007. Retrieved21 March 2007.The official fans have never amounted to more than a fraction of the audience. Doctor Who achieved the status of an institution as well as a cult.
^David J. Howe; Mark Stammers; Stephen Walker (1994).Doctor Who: The Seventies. Dr Who. p. 120.ISBN978-1852274443.
^Banks, David (1990).Doctor Who: Cybermen. WH Allen & Co. p. 126.ISBN0352327383.
^Leith, Sam (4 July 2008)."Worshipping Doctor Who from behind the sofa".The Daily Telegraph.Archived from the original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved5 July 2008.The cliché aboutDoctor Who—that it had us "hiding behind the sofa"—is more telling in its tone than its questionable factuality. It connotes nostalgia, and a pleasurable mixture of fright and fascination—but above all it connotes domesticity. It united fear and soft furnishings in the British mind.
^"Still, the Daleks are the boss space horrors, something to get the children hiding behind the sofa."Reynolds, Stanley (9 April 1973). "The metamorphoses of Who".The Times. p. 15.
^Moran, Caitlin (30 June 2007)."Doctor Who is simply masterful".The Times. London. Archived fromthe original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved1 July 2007.[Doctor Who] is as thrilling and as loved asJolene, or bread and cheese, or honeysuckle, or Friday. It's quintessential to being British.
^Molesworth, Richard."BBC Archive Holdings".Doctor Who Restoration Team. Archived fromthe original on 28 December 2012. Retrieved30 April 2007.A full set was held at least until early 1972, as 16 mm black and white film negatives (apart—of course—from 'Masterplan' 7)
^Molesworth, Richard."BBC Archive Holdings".Doctor Who Restoration Team. Archived fromthe original on 28 December 2012. Retrieved30 April 2007.the videotapes began to be wiped, or re-used, until the formation of the BBC's Film and Videotape Library in 1978 put a stop to this particular practice.
^"Dudley Simpson: Composer and conductor who used synthesizers to create eerie music for Doctor Who serials".The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. 19 December 2017. p. 33.
^Paolini, Christopher (20 September 2008)."Shadows of the Past".Brisingr (Hardcover) (1st ed.). New York:Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 204, 761.ISBN978-0-375-82672-6.'Bending over, Eragon read,Adrift upon the sea of time, the lonely god wanders from shore to distant shore, upholding the laws of the stars above.' and in acknowledgments 'Also, for those who understood the reference to a 'lonely god' when Eragon and Arya sitting around the campfire, my only excuse is that the Doctor can travel everywhere, even alternate realities. Hey, I'm a fan too!'
^Culf, Andrew (4 November 1996). "Viewers spurn TV's golden age in poll of small screen classics as the BBC fetes its 60th birthday".The Guardian. p. 4.
^"Winners announced".Mind. Archived fromthe original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved4 May 2011.Dr Who – "Vincent and the Doctor" (BBC One/BBC Wales).Richard Curtis writes this touching episode ofDr Who about the mental health experiences of the great artist Vincent van Gogh.
Matt Hills.Triumph of a Time Lord: Regenerating "Doctor Who" in the Twenty-First Century (I. B. Tauris, 2010). 261 pages. Discusses the revival of the BBC'sDoctor Who in 2005 after it had been off the air as a regular series for more than 15 years; topics include the role of "fandom" in the sci-fi programme's return, and notions of "cult" and "mainstream" in television.
Scholarly views
Bradshaw, Simon; Keen, Anthony; Sleight, Graham, eds. (2011).The Unsilent Library: Essays on the Russell T. Davies Era of the New Doctor Who. Science Fiction Foundation.ISBN978-0903007085.
Chapman, James (2013).Inside the TARDIS: The Worlds of Doctor Who. London: I.B.Tauris.ISBN978-1780761404.
Charles, Alec. "War Without End?: Utopia, the Family, and the Post-9/11 World in Russell T. Davies'sDoctor Who".Science Fiction Studies (2008): 450–465.
Charles, Alec. 2011. "The crack of doom: The uncanny echoes of Steven Moffat's Doctor Who".Science Fiction Film and Television; Vol. 4, Issue 1, Spring 2011. Liverpool University Press. This analysis is framed specifically by the Freudian notion of the uncanny, and suggests that Moffat's work onDoctor Who confronts unconscious perceptions, repressed fears and death itself through storytelling techniques which attempt to connect directly with the audience by deconstructing the distance between material reality and the fantasy space of the series.
Fisher, R. Michael, and Barbara Bickel. "The Mystery of Dr. Who? On A Road Less Traveled in Art Education".Journal of Social Theory in Art Education 26.1 (2006): 28–57.
Fiske, John. "Popularity and ideology: A structuralist reading of Dr. Who".Interpreting television: Current research perspectives (1984): 165–198.
McCormack, Una (2011). "He's Not the Messiah: Undermining Political and Religious Authority in NewDoctor Who". In Bradshaw, S., Anthony Keen and Graham Sleight (eds.),The Unsilent Library: Essays on the Russell T. Davies Era of the New Doctor Who. The Science Fiction Foundation.
Orthia, Lindy A. "Antirationalist critique or fifth column of scientism? Challenges fromDoctor Who to the mad scientist trope".Public Understanding of Science 20.4 (2011): 525–542.
Perryman, Neil. "Doctor Who and the Convergence of Media: A Case Study in Transmedia Storytelling".Convergence 14.1 (2008): 21–39.
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