Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme broadcast by BBC One since 1963. The programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called " the Doctor ", an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human.
Doctor Who first appeared on BBC TV at 17:16:20 GMT on Saturday, 23 November 1963; this was eighty seconds later than the scheduled programme time, due to the assassination of John F. Kennedy the previous day. It was to be a regular weekly programme, each episode 25 minutes of transmission length.
There was an unsuccessful attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a backdoor pilot, in the form of a television film titled Doctor Who. The programme was relaunched in 2005, and since then has been produced in-house by BBC Wales in Cardiff.
Starring Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, Doctor Who finally returned with the episode "Rose" on BBC One on 26 March 2005. Eccleston left after one series and was replaced by David Tennant.
Premiering the day after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the first episode of Doctor Who was repeated with the second episode the following week. Doctor Who has always appeared initially on the BBC's mainstream BBC One channel, where it is regarded as a family show, drawing audiences of many millions of viewers; episodes were also repeated on BBC Three, before its transition to an online-only channel. The programme's popularity has waxed and waned over the decades, with three notable periods of high ratings. The first of these was the " Dalekmania " period (circa 1964–1965), when the popularity of the Daleks regularly brought Doctor Who ratings of between 9 and 14 million, even for stories which did not feature them. The second was the mid to late 1970s, when Tom Baker occasionally drew audiences of over 12 million.
Doctor Who first appeared on BBC TV at 17:16:20 GMT on Saturday, 23 November 1963; this was eighty seconds later than the scheduled programme time, because of the assassination of John F. Kennedy the previous day. 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 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, story editor David Whitaker and initial producer Verity Lambert also heavily contributed to the development of the series.
When the revived series of Doctor Who was brought back, an aftershow series was created by the BBC, titled Doctor Who Confidential. There have been three aftershow series created, with the latest one titled Doctor Who: The Fan Show, which began airing from the tenth series. Each series follows behind-the-scenes footage on the making of Doctor 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 the Doctor Who episode that preceded it.
Companions. Main article: Companion (Doctor Who) The companion figure – generally a human – has been a constant feature in Doctor 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".
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.
For other uses, see Doctor Who (disambiguation). Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme broadcast by BBC One since 1963. The programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called " the Doctor ", an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human.
Segal's negotiations eventually led to a Doctor Who television film, broadcast on the Fox Network in 1996 as an international co-production between Fox, Universal Pictures, the BBC and BBC Worldwide.
After the series was taken off the air in 1989, various Doctor Who projects were produced under license from the BBC. Doctor Who Magazine continued its long-running comic strip and published original fiction, initially continuing the run of stories with the seventh Doctor and Ace and featuring other companions and Doctors. Virgin Publishing published a series of original books, The New Adventures of Doctor Who (NAs), from 1991 to 1997. This series continued the stories of the seventh Doctor, further exploring and developing the themes and ideas introduced in the later years of the television series. Several writers who had worked on that era wrote NAs, as well as writers of earlier eras and some writers who would work on the new series, including Russell T Davies, Paul Cornell, Mark Gatiss and Gareth Roberts. The NAs introduced original companions, including Bernice Summerfield, and at one point the series editors considered regenerating the Doctor; they did however regenerate The Master. The success of the NAs led Virgin to publish The Missing Adventures, featuring earlier Doctors and companions, and several short story anthologies.
In September 2003, Heggessey managed to persuade Worldwide that as several years had now passed and they were no nearer to producing a film, BBC television should be allowed to make a new series. The other proposals notwithstanding, Tranter and Heggessey elected to approach Davies once again, who had often told the BBC when approached for other projects that he would only return to them to take charge of a new series of Doctor Who. He quickly accepted, and on 26 September 2003 it was officially announced that Doctor Who would be returning to BBC One, produced in-house at BBC Wales in 2004 for transmission in 2005.
After actors Hugh David (later a director on the series) and Geoffrey Bayldon had both turned down approaches to star in the series, Verity Lambert and the first serial's director Waris Hussein managed to persuade 55-year-old character actor William Hartnell to take the part of the Doctor.
The seventh season, at twenty-five episodes, was shorter than any before and established a pattern of Doctor Who seasons being between twenty and twenty-eight 25-minute episodes in length, one that would last until the middle of the 1980s.
Following the 1996 television movie, Universal retained some rights to produce new Doctor Who stories, but without a broadcaster attached, they allowed those rights to expire. Full production rights, therefore, reverted to the BBC in 1997.
Virgin Publishing published a series of original books, The New Adventures of Doctor Who (NAs), from 1991 to 1997. This series continued the stories of the seventh Doctor, further exploring and developing the themes and ideas introduced in the later years of the television series.
(September 2017) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Doctor Who is a British television science fiction series, produced and screened by the BBC on the BBC TV channel from 1963 to 1964, and on BBC1 (later BBC One) from 1964 to 1989 and since 2005.
November 12, 2019 Updated April 19, 2021. BBC/Adrian Rogers/BBC/Adrian Rogers. Doctor Who is one of the longest-running TV shows in history, with a total of over 850 episodes over 37 seasons.
It’s not the time that matters, it’s the person.”. “You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common: they don’t alter their views to fit the facts; they alter the facts to fit their views.”. “Never cruel or cowardly. Never give up, never give in.”.
Being alive right now is all that counts.”. “This is one corner of one country, in one continent, on one planet that’s a corner of a galaxy that’s a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond.
Selected Other Doctors. Doctor Who (Peter Cushing, 1965-1966): This guy, the star of two 1960s Dalek-centric films, wasn’t even a Time Lord but a human inventor actually called “Doctor Who”! On the other hand, some fans have theorized that he could be the aged version of another alternate Doctor we now know about….
The Doctor is a Time Lord who travels the universe for kicks because his planet is the dullest in the universe and Earth is much more fun. Million of fans continue to enjoy this series on many levels, from the fantasy and sci-fi to the tongue in cheek humor. Franchises: Doctor Who.
The Doctor is a Time Lord who travels the universe for kicks because his planet is the dullest in the universe and Earth is much more fun. Million of fans continue to enjoy this series on many levels, from the fantasy and sci-fi to the tongue in cheek humor.
While Peter Capaldi finished his run as the traveling Time Lord with last year's Season 10 and his final Christmas Special, that very same special also gave us our first look at the new Doctor: Jodie Whittaker, who will be the first female Doctor (the Thirteenth Doctor overall)! So what better time to take a look back at all the Doctors from ...
Three Recommended Stories: Genesis of the Daleks, Pyramids of Mars, City of Death. Still the definitive Doctor for many, this long-running incarnation was the perfect combination of goofiness and gravitas, with an iconic Bohemian image, booming voice, and endearing devotion to his traveling companions. Loading.
Origin of "Doctor". The English language history of doctor starts in the early 14th century, when the word was first applied to a select few who likely knew neither bloodwork nor basketwork.
The word doctor comes from the Latin word for "teacher," itself from docēre, meaning "to teach.". The 14th century was the birth of the Renaissance, and lots of teaching and learning was afoot. By the century's end, the word doctor was being applied not just to a select few theologians, but also to qualified and/or accomplished academics ...
Your friend has a PhD, after all, which means they're bright enough to have gone through (at the very least) years of coursework, exams, a dissertation, and a defense of that dissertation. But what your friend also knows is that while doctor most often refers to a medical doctor, academic doctors can rightfully claim it too.
What to Know. Doctor comes from the Latin word for "teacher" and originally referred to a small group of theologians who had approval from the Church to speak on religious matters. Eventually the term saw greater use referring to qualified academic and medical professionals.
The reason your friend doesn't answer that call is because they're smart enough to know that the word doctor in modern English is most often used to refer to a person who knows the healing arts and who's trained and licensed to use those healing arts. Your friend has a PhD, after all, which means they're bright enough to have gone through ...
The Doctor kills the scientist with the polarity-reversed age-reversal machine. However, the scary scorpion beast turns out not to be dead after all and flees to a cathedral, where the Doctor kills it again with a church organ. Advertisement: With the day saved, the Doctor offers Martha yet another "one more trip".
The Doctor mentions in reply that he'd seen it firsthand. Lazarus dismisses this, pointing out that the Doctor looks far too young to have been there , and the Doctor parries by pointing out that Lazarus looks too young himself. At this, Lazarus chuckles.
Dying as Yourself: Averted, as Lazarus was always himself, even while transformed. That said, after he dies, he reverts back to his old man form. Follow the Chaos: Martha finds the Doctor by running towards the sound of the explosions. Fountain of Youth: Lazarus' machine is for rejuvenation.
In the episode, professor Lazarus wants to benefit humanity by finding a way to defy death. Big Red Button: The one on the aging reverser is pressed with an unusual lack of ceremony. Body Horror: Lazarus' transformation into an "evolutionary reject".
When Things Spin, Science Happens, and Lazarus successfully turns himself into a young, healthy, 41-year-old.
The Doctor, wary of getting too attached to another human, or perhaps of getting another human killed, drops Martha off back home. Her time in the TARDIS is over. However, from the news on her TV he realises that Martha's time period is in danger, and returns only seconds after he left for — ostensibly — one more adventure with Martha.
Never Be Hurt Again: Lazarus wants to avoid death because of his experiences during World War II. Waiting helplessly in Southwark Cathedral for bombs to blow him up, he vowed to never be so helpless again.