Doctor Who is a
British science-fiction television programme produced by the
BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of
the Doctor, a
Time Lord—a
time-travelling humanoid alien. He explores the universe in his
TARDIS, a
sentient time-travelling space ship. Its exterior appears as a blue British
police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of
companions, the Doctor faces a variety of
foes while working to save civilisations, help ordinary people, and right wrongs.
The show has received
recognition as one of Britain's finest television programmes, winning the 2006
British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series and five consecutive (2005–2010) awards at the
National Television Awards during
Russell T Davies's tenure as executive producer.
[2][3] In 2011,
Matt Smith became the first Doctor to be nominated for a
BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor. In 2013, the
Peabody Awards honoured
Doctor Who with an Institutional Peabody "for evolving with technology and the times like nothing else in the known television universe."
[4] The programme is listed in
Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world,
[5] the "most successful" science fiction series of all time—based on its over-all broadcast ratings, DVD and book sales, and iTunes traffic—
[6] and for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama with its
50th anniversary special.
[7] During its original run, it was recognised for its imaginative stories, creative low-budget
special effects, and pioneering use of
electronic music (originally produced by the
BBC Radiophonic Workshop).
The show is a significant part of
British popular culture,
[8][9] and elsewhere it has become a
cult television favourite. The show has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching the series.
[10] The programme originally ran from 1963 to 1989. After an unsuccessful attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a
backdoor pilot in the form of a
television film, the programme was
relaunched in 2005 by Russell T Davies who was showrunner and head writer for the first five years of its revival, produced in-house by
BBC Wales in
Cardiff. The
first series of the 21st century, featuring
Christopher Eccleston in the title role, was produced by the BBC.
Series two and
three had some development money contributed by the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which was credited as a co-producer.
[11] Doctor Who also spawned
spin-offs in multiple media, including
Torchwood (2006–11) and
The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–11), both created by Russell T Davies;
K-9 (2009–10); and a single pilot episode of
K-9 and Company (1981). There also have been many
spoofs and cultural references of the character in other media.
Eleven actors have headlined the series as the Doctor. The transition from one actor to another, and the differing approach to the role that they bring, is written into the plot of the show as
regeneration into a new
incarnation, a life process of
Time Lords through which the character of the Doctor takes on a new body and, to some extent, new personality, which occurs after sustaining injury which would be fatal to most other species. While each actor's portrayal differs, they are all intended to be aspects of the same character, and form part of the same
storyline. The time-travelling nature of the plot means that on occasion,
story arcs have involved different Doctors meeting each other. The Doctor is currently portrayed by
Peter Capaldi, who took on the role after
Matt Smith's final appearance in the 2013 Christmas special "
The Time of the Doctor".
[12]
Doctor Who first appeared on
BBC1 television at 17:16:20
GMT, eighty seconds after the scheduled programme time, 5:15 pm, on
Saturday, 23 November 1963.
[13][14] 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. The
head of drama, Canadian
Sydney 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 writer
C. E. Webber. Writer
Anthony Coburn,
David Whitaker, a
story editor, and initial producer
Verity Lambert also heavily contributed to the development of the series.
[15][note 1] The programme was originally intended to appeal to a family audience,
[16] as an educational programme using time travel as a means to explore scientific ideas and famous moments in history. On 31 July 1963 Whitaker commissioned
Terry Nation to write a story under the title
The Mutants. As originally written, the
Daleks and
Thals were the victims of an alien
neutron bomb attack but Nation later dropped the aliens and made the Daleks the aggressors. When the script was presented to Newman and Wilson it was immediately rejected as the programme was not permitted to contain any "
bug-eyed monsters". The first serial had been completed and the BBC believed it was crucial that the next one be a success, however,
The Mutants was the only script ready to go so the show had little choice but to use it. According to producer Verity 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 second
Doctor Who serial –
The Daleks (aka
The Mutants). The serial introduced the eponymous aliens that would become the series' most popular monsters, and was responsible for the BBC's first merchandising boom.
[17]
The BBC drama department's serials division produced the programme for 26 seasons, broadcast on
BBC 1. Falling viewing numbers, a decline in the public perception of the show and a less-prominent transmission slot saw production suspended in 1989 by
Jonathan Powell, controller of BBC 1.
[18] Although (as series co-star
Sophie Aldred reported in the documentary
Doctor Who: More Than 30 Years in the TARDIS) it was effectively, if not formally,
cancelled with the decision not to commission a planned 27th series of the show for transmission in 1990, the BBC repeatedly affirmed that the series would return.
[19]
While in-house production had ceased, the BBC hoped to find an independent production company to relaunch the show.
Philip Segal, a British
expatriate who worked for
Columbia Pictures' television arm in the United States, had approached the BBC about such a venture as early as July 1989, while the 26th series was still in production.
[19] Segal's negotiations eventually led to a
Doctor Who television film, broadcast on the
Fox Network in 1996 as a co-production between Fox,
Universal Pictures, the BBC and
BBC Worldwide. Although the film was successful in the UK (with 9.1 million viewers), it was less so in the United States and did not lead to a series.
[19]
Licensed media such as novels and audio plays provided
new stories, but as a television programme
Doctor Who remained dormant until 2003. In September of that year,
[20] 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 executive producers of the new incarnation of the series were writer
Russell T Davies and
BBC Cymru Wales head of drama
Julie Gardner.
Doctor Who finally returned with the episode
"Rose" on BBC One on 26 March 2005.
[21] There have since been six further series in 2006–2008 and 2010–2012, and Christmas Day specials every year since 2005. No full series was filmed in 2009,
[22] although four additional specials starring Tennant were made. In 2010,
Steven Moffat replaced Davies as
head writer and executive producer.
[23]
The 2005 version of
Doctor Who is a direct
plot continuation of the original 1963–1989 series,
[note 2] as is the 1996 telefilm. This differs from other series relaunches that have either been reimaginings or reboots (for example,
Battlestar Galactica and
Bionic Woman) or series taking place in the same universe as the original but in a different period and with different characters (for example,
Star Trek: The Next Generation and spin-offs).
[24]
The programme has been sold to many other countries worldwide (see
Viewership).
Public consciousness
It has been suggested that the transmission of the first episode was delayed by ten minutes due to extended news coverage of the assassination of US President
John F. Kennedy the previous day; whereas in fact, it went out just eighty seconds late.
[25] Because it was believed that the coverage of the events of the assassination as well as a series of power blackouts across the country may have caused too many viewers to miss this introduction to a new series, the BBC broadcast it again on 30 November 1963, just before the broadcast of episode two.
[26][27]
The programme soon became a national institution in the United Kingdom, with a large following among the general viewing audience.
[28][29] Many renowned actors asked for, or were offered and accepted,
guest-starring roles in various stories.
[30][31][32][33]
With popularity came controversy over the show's suitability for children. Morality campaigner
Mary Whitehouse repeatedly complained to the BBC in the 1970s over what she saw as the show's frightening and gory content.
[34] John Nathan-Turner, who produced the series during the 1980s, was heard to say that he looked forward to Whitehouse's comments, as the show's ratings would increase soon after she had made them.
[35]
The phrase "
Hiding behind (or 'watching from behind') the sofa" became coined and entered British
pop culture, signifying in humour the stereotypical early-series behaviour of children who wanted to avoid seeing frightening parts of a
television programme while remaining in the room to watch the remainder of it.
[36] The phrase retains this association with Doctor Who, to the point that in 1991 the
Museum of the Moving Image in
London named their exhibition celebrating the programme "Behind the Sofa". The electronic
theme music too was perceived as eerie, novel, and frightening, at the time. A 2012 article placed this childhood juxtapose of fear and thrill "at the center of many people's relationship with the show",
[37] and a 2011 online vote at
Digital Spy deemed the series the "scariest TV show of all time".
[38]
During
Jon Pertwee's
second series as the Doctor, in the serial
Terror of the Autons (1971), images of murderous plastic dolls, daffodils killing unsuspecting victims, and blank-featured policemen marked the apex of the show's ability to frighten children.
[39] Other notable moments in that decade include a disembodied brain falling to the floor in
The Brain of Morbius[40] and the Doctor apparently being drowned by Chancellor Goth in
The Deadly Assassin (both 1976).
[41]