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<!--Please consider editing the more detailed Doctor Who articles at http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_(1960s-1990s) and http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_(2000s-) as well or instead of adding further material here, in order to keep this article as a briefer overview than those versions.-->
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| style="background: #fff; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #000000" | '''Doctor Who'''
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| style="text-align: center;"|''British [[science fiction|science-fiction]] [[drama]] series''
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| style="background: #fff; text-align: center;" | '''First broadcasts'''
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| style="text-align: center;"|23rd November 1963 (original series)<br> 12th May 1996 (TV movie)<br> 26th March 2005 (current series)
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| style="background: #fff; text-align: center;" | '''Creators'''
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| style="text-align: center;"|[[Sydney Newman]]<br> [[Donald Wilson]]<br> [[C. E. Webber]]
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| style="background: #fff; text-align: center;" | '''[[Doctor Who (1960s-1990s)|1960s-1990s]]'''
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| style="background: #fff; text-align: center;" | '''Starring'''
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| style="text-align: center;"|[[William Hartnell]] • [[Patrick Troughton]]<br>[[Jon Pertwee]] • [[Tom Baker]]<br>[[Peter Davison]] • [[Colin Baker]]<br>[[Sylvester McCoy]] • [[Paul McGann]]<br>
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| style="background: #fff; text-align: center;" | '''Starring'''
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| style="text-align: center;"|[[Christopher Eccleston]] • [[David Tennant]]<br>[[Matt Smith]]
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'''Doctor Who''' is a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[science-fiction]] [[television]] series which was [[Doctor Who (2000s-)|relaunched in 2005]] following its [[Doctor Who (1960s-1990s)|original 26-year run]] on the [[BBC]], plus a 1996 [[television movie]]. On television and in other media, it features the adventures of a [[time travel|time traveller]] known as the '[[Doctor Who#Doctor|Doctor]]', who journeys through [[time]] and [[space]], righting wrongs and fighting injustice, often accompanied by friends known to [[fan (person)|fans]] as 'companions'.
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The programme has lasted since 1963 partly because the Doctor, who has an [[alien]] physiology, is able to 'regenerate' himself when badly injured, allowing the lead actor to be recast. As of 2010, eleven actors have played the Doctor on television, with others appearing in unofficial or alternative productions. His [[time machine]], the [[TARDIS]], is famously disguised as an old British [[police box]]<ref>In an example of how British culture has taken the programme to heart, on the occasion when [[London]]'s [[Metropolitan Police]] challenged the BBC's ownership of the police box design, they lost as the court ruled that people associate such boxes with time machines rather than the police. See ''BBC News'': ''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2352743.stm BBC Wins Police Tardis Case]'', 23rd October 2002.</ref> and is bigger on the inside than out; some well-known adversaries include the [[Daleks]] - mutants inside pepperpot-shaped casings - and the [[Cybermen]].
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The 2010 series is executive-[[producer|produced]] by [[Stephen Moffat]], with [[Matt Smith]] in the lead role.<ref>''BBC News'': '[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7808697.stm New Doctor actor is youngest ever ]'. 4th January 2009.</ref> Currently, ''Doctor Who'' appears to have won a new generation of followers of varying ages: the UK children's magazine show ''[[Blue Peter]]'', for example, reported that their 'Design a ''Doctor Who'' Monster' competition received the largest number of entries for any such event since 1993.<ref>[[BBC]]: ''[http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2005/08/18/23167.shtml Monster Success]''. 18th August 2005. The winning entry appeared in 2006's 'Love & Monsters' as the fearsome 'Abzorbaloff'. Its creator, 13-year-old William Grantham, reportedly gave the seal of approval to the BBC's interpretation, though remarked that "it was supposed to be the size of a double-decker bus".</ref>
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==History==
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===1960s===
In the early 1960s, ''Doctor Who'' was the eventual product of a desire within the BBC to bring science fiction to the small screen. Something was needed to plug a gap in the Saturday early evening schedules of [[sport]] and [[music]] programmes; ''Doctor Who'' was created by [[Sydney Newman]], [[Donald Wilson]] and [[C.E. Webber]], and produced by the BBC's [[drama]] department as a family viewing, intended to be [[education]]al and exciting. With [[Verity Lambert]] at the helm, [[William Hartnell]] was cast as the grandfatherly, enigmatic 'Doctor' and the series was first shown on 23rd November 1963.
 
''Doctor Who'' initially endured a rough ride, though audiences seemed positive on the whole. The series was only intended to run for a few episodes, but all that changed with the second serial - ''The Daleks''. [[Terry Nation]]'s script ushered in the mid-sixties 'Dalekmania' craze, with millions of children and not a few older viewers taking the evil Daleks to heart. The Daleks secured the show's future, and over time, appeared more regularly both in the series and in two cinematic productions starring [[Peter Cushing]]. More aliens appeared in the programme, and as the years rolled by, the 'pure historical' serials dwindled as successive production teams took the TARDIS further out into time and space.
 
By 1966, changes were afoot as audience ratings began to decline. If the show was to survive, a new lead actor was required, raising the problem of how to recast the Doctor. Several ideas were suggested, but ultimately the concept of a mysterious 'renewal' process, explained as part of the TARDIS, was shown to change the Doctor's physical appearance and, to some extent, his personality. [[Patrick Troughton]] first appeared as the Doctor in 1966; over the next few weeks, it became clear that audiences were warming to his portrayal of the Doctor as a dishevelled figure with a determination to overcome the terrors of the [[universe]], and the series entered its so-called 'Monster Era', with more alien creatures appearing.
 
1969 saw Troughton's departure, and another radical change for the series. Under producer [[Derrick Sherwin]], the series moved to an [[Earth]]-based background where the Doctor would be aided by a [[military]] organisation known as the '[[United Nations]] Intelligence Taskforce' (UNIT). Troughton's final episode saw the Doctor captured and put on trial by his own people, accused of meddling the affairs of other races. The 'Time Lords', from whom it was revealed the Doctor fled due to boredom, exiled the Doctor to Earth and imposed another change of appearance.
 
===1970s===
The early 1970s saw the first episodes of ''Doctor Who'' broadcast in colour - a move which certainly suited the flamboyant third Doctor, played by [[Jon Pertwee]] as something of a dandy. This incarnation would emphasises the Doctor's love of [[technology|technological]] wizardry and high-powered vehicles - aspects which drew much on the interests of Pertwee himself. However, the production team, headed by [[Barry Letts]] and script editor [[Terrance Dicks]], found the UNIT format too restrictive, and so steered the Doctor's adventures to ever-lengthier forays back out into time and space.
 
In 1974, Pertwee moved on, and was succeeded by [[Tom Baker]], then the youngest actor to take on the part. At 40, Baker would go on to become the best-remembered Doctor to date, playing the role for a record seven years and depicting the Doctor as a more 'bohemian' figure, usually clad in a long coat, wide-brimmed hat and trademark scarf. By this time, ''Doctor Who'' was a mainstay of Saturday-evening entertainment, regularly pulling in over ten million viewers a week. Change, as ever, was just around the corner.
 
===1980s===
[[John Nathan-Turner]] became the producer of ''Doctor Who'' in 1980, at the time of Baker's final season. 'JN-T' would go on to produce the programme right through the 1980s, and in 1981 cast the well-known actor [[Peter Davison]] as Baker's much younger successor. Nathan-Turner was determined to court the series' fans by bringing back old adversaries, and also introduced more unconventional companions that were a sharp contrast with the mostly female, human occupants that until then had made up the majority of TARDIS travellers.
 
Davison would ultimately decide that three years was enough, and Nathan-Turner again had to find a replacement, casting [[Colin Baker]], until then best-known for playing television villains. Baker debuted in 1984, playing a loud and unashamedly arrogant sixth Doctor, and would ultimately complete only two seasons. The BBC considered ''Doctor Who'' vulnerable against competition on other channels, and possibly too [[violence|violent]]. Creative differences among the production team reached a low point at this stage. ''Doctor Who'' was 'suspended' in 1985, but a fan campaign backed up by the [[media]] ensured its return in 1987, with [[Sylvester McCoy]] in the role. McCoy's early clownish seventh Doctor became much darker and manipulative under the direction of script editor [[Andrew Cartmel]]; this era of the show also encouraged young and inexperienced writers, leading to some of the most innovative but controversial stories of the original series. By 1989, however, ratings had declined once more, and this time no media campaign backed the series when it was quietly killed off after 26 years.
 
===1990s===
''Doctor Who'' survived throughout the 1990s as a series of original novels produced by [[Virgin Publishing]], and later the BBC. In 1996, the Doctor returned to the small screen in a U.S.-backed TV movie which saw McCoy hand over to [[Paul McGann]]. The production fared well among UK audiences, but was poorly scheduled in [[North America]] and ultimately it failed to go to a series. McGann's Doctor was a gentler figure than his predecessor; his adventures continued in print, on [[radio]] and in [[comic]]s into the twenty-first century.
 
===2000s-===
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{{main|Doctor Who (2000s-)}}
Following the programme's 1989 cancellation and failure of the 1996 TV movie to secure a new series, the return of the show in 2005 was largely due to the persistence of the then-Controller of Drama Commissioning, [[Jane Tranter]],<ref>''BAFTA'': '[http://www.bafta.org/learning/webcasts/in-conversation-with-jane-tranter,598,BA.html In conversation with Jane Tranter]'. 30th September 2008.</ref> and the Controller of BBC One at the time, [[Lorraine Heggessey]],<ref>[http://media.guardian.co.uk/columnists/story/0,,368725,00.html Born in 1956], Heggessey was amongst the first generation of BBC executives and ''Doctor Who'' contributors who had actually grown up with the original programme. It has been suggested that this childhood love of the series, emerging as these people reached the senior ranks of the BBC, was one factor in the show's resurrection in 2003.</ref> who finally won the rights to the series from the corporation's commercial arm, [[BBC Worldwide]]. The 'new series' retained the TARDIS and other key features of the original 'classic series', rather than being a fundamentally new spin-off. Going into production in 2004, it was executive-produced by writer [[Russell T. Davies]] and [[BBC Wales]] Head of Drama/BBC Television Controller of Drama Commissioning [[Julie Gardner]]. Davies had contributed to a range of ''Doctor Who'' novels published in the interim years, so brought a love of the programme to the new series, as well as considerable television scriptwriting experience. Davies cast the highly-experienced actor [[Christopher Eccleston]] as the Doctor, who declined to appear in a second run of adventures, leading Davies to cast [[David Tennant]] as the tenth Doctor.
 
After four series and several specials, Davies left the programme in the hands of frequent writer for the series Stephen Moffat, who is executive producer from series five onwards. With David Tennant also leaving the series in 2010, the fifth season of the programme introduces a new actor playing the Doctor, Matt Smith.
 
==Characters==
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===The Doctor===
The Doctor is the main character in the series: various aspects of his character and past have been revealed, but much remains mysterious. Even his name remains an enigma; 'Who' is certainly not his real name (''An Unearthly Child'', 1963), and various explanations for it have been presented over the years, such as the Doctor obtaining various [[doctorate]]s (e.g. ''The Armageddon Factor'', 1978). It is unclear whether he is a [[medicine|medical]] [[doctor (physician)|doctor]] or not, and early on he referred to himself as a [[science|scientist]] and [[engineering|engineer]], "a builder of things" (''The Aztecs'', 1964).
 
Over the course of the series' first few years, it becomes clear that the Doctor is not a human being, though in the 1990s and later, it was shown that he may have some human roots (''Doctor Who'', 1996), and that he is also able to become human (''Human Nature'', 2007). First shown travelling with his grand-daughter, Susan (''An Unearthly Child'', 1963), the programme has given but a few hints about what other family he might have had: the new series has mentioned a brother (''Smith & Jones'', 2007) and that he was a father (''Fear Her'', 2006), and the 1996 film revealed that his mother was human. From 1969's ''The War Games'', the Doctor's　own people, the Time Lords, appeared regularly in the show, but in the 2005 series it was revealed that they had been destroyed in a 'Time War' with the Daleks, the Doctor's greatest adversary.
 
The Doctor's physiology is rather different from humans; ''Spearhead from Space'' (1970) reveals he has two [[heart]]s, for example, and he is also capable of physical and mental feats beyond those of an ordinary human. The most spectacular of these, first shown at the conclusion of 1966's ''The Tenth Planet'', is his ability to 'regenerate' - what he calls a "renewal" (''The Power of the Daleks'', 1966) or a trick for "cheating death" (''The Parting of the Ways'', 2005). In the latter story, for example, with the Doctor's body fatally injured in the course of saving his companion's life, she and the viewer witness a tremendous burst of energy released from his body, and his features melt into those of a new individual - the Doctor's tenth incarnation, portrayed by David Tennant. It is quickly established that this new person is the same character, physically different and with some new personality quirks, but still the same adventurer (''The Christmas Invasion'', 2006).
 
===Companions===
The Doctor rarely travels the universe alone, and many of his friends or 'companions' have shared his adventures over the years. The very first, Susan, was actually his grand-daughter, with her two human teachers completing the first TARDIS crew. Through curiosity, being rescued or taking up an offer to see the universe, many others followed over the years. In the 1970s, the Doctor was 'exiled' to Earth by his own people for a time, and became a reluctant member of UNIT, a special taskforce set up to counter alien threats. This 'UNIT family' memorably included [[Nicholas Courtney]] as its commanding officer, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Other well-remembered companions of the 1970s included the accident-prone UNIT agent Jo Grant ([[Katy Manning]]), the leather-clad savage Leela ([[Louise Jameson]]), and Sarah Jane Smith, played by [[Elisabeth Sladen]].
 
From 2005 onwards, the Doctor is initially travelling alone, but former London shop assistant Rose Tyler ([[Billie Piper]]) joins him at the close of the opening adventure, with others appearing later. Though the relationship between the Doctor and Rose is initially rocky, they come to trust and rely on each other through experience; her departure in 2006's ''Doomsday'' seemed to affect the Doctor deeply. Later seasons saw further companions, but also characters who fulfilled the companion role for just one story; towards the end of the Doctor's tenth life, he once again became a solo traveller.
 
===Villains===
In ''Doctor Who'', the universe is a dangerous place. A frequently occurring theme is that of various alien races attempting to conquer the Earth or otherwise threatening the human race,<ref>A new, enforced guideline for the new series so far is that all stories must involve humanity in some way.</ref> only to be foiled by the Doctor. Perhaps the best-known example of this in the new series concerns the attempts of the Slitheen family to take over the planet and sell it for scrap (''Aliens of London'' and ''World War Three'', 2005). Other villains appearing include the Master (a fellow, evil Time Lord returning from the original series in 2007), the [[Cybermen]] (in the 2006 series) and Cassandra, the last human being alive five billion years in the future ''The End of the World'', 2005; ''New Earth'', 2006).
 
Best-known villains in the series and wider UK culture are the 'Daleks', mutants inside metallic pepperpot-like casings equipped with a gun and an appendage not unlike a [[sink plunger]]. Envisaged as representing the [[Nazism|Nazis]], their best-known characteristic is frequently screaming ''"Exterminate!"'' at anything un-Dalek prior to destroying anything that gets in their way of eliminating all life other than that which is Dalek. They have appeared several times in the new series, firstly in ''Dalek'' (2005), where it appears that only one individual had survived a previous encounter with their nemesis, the Doctor - known in Skaroene lore as 'The Oncoming Storm' (''The Parting of the Ways'', 2005).
 
==Format==
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For most of its 1963-1989 run, ''Doctor Who'' was broadcast in 25-minute episodes, with few exceptions. Initially the programme ran for most of the year, with only a few weeks' break between seasons. Over the decades, the number of episodes each year was reduced; about 26 was the norm for some years, though by the end of the 1980s this had fallen to 14. Long stories of six or more episodes thus became a thing of the past; the majority of stories consisted of four episodes. From 1966, each story had only one title, but originally individual episodes had separate titles, leading to considerable fan debate over what the overall titles for some of these early serials are. The very first story, for instance, is commonly known and marketed by the BBC as ''An Unearthly Child'', which strictly speaking was only the title of the very first episode. Internal production documents have led some fans to conclude that the 'true' title is ''100,000 BC''.<ref>Research publications by David J. Howe, Mark Stammers and Stephen J. Walker hold to these behind-the-scenes titles, for example.</ref>
 
Episodes of 'new series' ''Doctor Who'' run for about 45 minutes, except for special Christmas adventures broadcast between series. Two-part episodes have separate titles. From series two, the regular characters have been largely absent from one or more episodes so the leads can concentrate on filming others.
 
==Music and titles==
The theme music for ''Doctor Who'' changed little for the first 17 years of the original series's run: composed by [[Ron Grainer]] and realised by [[Delia Derbyshire]] of the [[BBC Radiophonic Workshop]], this example of [[electronic music]] played over the original series titles, which were achieved using a [[howl-round]] visual effect. The new series's music was arranged by [[Murray Gold]], whose predecessors on the original series included [[Peter Howell]], who created a faster, more dramatic version for the period 1980-1985; [[Dominic Glynn]] (1986); and [[Keff McCulloch]] (1987-1989). The 1996 film also had new theme music.
 
==Spin-offs and alternative adventures==
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The original series had only one spin-off, which did not survive beyond its 1981 pilot. ''K-9 and Company'' starred [[Elisabeth Sladen]] and [[John Leeson]], reprising their roles as former companions Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 (a [[robot]] [[dog]] voiced by Leeson). The new series has seen two spin-off dramas, ''[[Torchwood]]'' (2006-), starring [[John Barrowman]], and ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' (2007-) starring Elisabeth Sladen with occasional appearances by K9, once again voiced by John Leeson. Like Sladen and Leeson, Barrowman appeared as a 'companion' in ''Doctor Who'' itself, starring as Captain Jack Harkness from 2005's ''The Empty Child'' onwards. ''Torchwood'' sees Harkness leading a team trying to prevent alien incursions via a 'time rift' running through present day Cardiff, while the ''Sarah Jane Adventures'' follows the adventures of investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith. The latter production aired on [[Children's BBC]] with an intended audience of younger fans, while ''Torchwood'' was presented as a post-9pm 'adult' take on the affairs of the ''Doctor Who'' universe.
 
Several shorter adventures have also appeared as part of charity events and the [[Proms]], a long-standing evening of music at the [[Royal Albert Hall]]. 2005 saw the immediate aftermath of the Doctor's regeneration into the form of David Tennant broadcast as part of the long-running charity event ''[[Children in Need]]''. Similarly, a second short ''Children in Need'' adventure, ''Time Crash'' (2007), contributed to the series' continuity.
 
The Doctor also appeared in ''The Music of the Spheres'' as part of the 2008 Proms, in an 'interactive' adventure which saw the TARDIS linked to the Royal Albert Hall via a hole in time and space through which an evil 'Graske' emerged to threaten the audience. This was the Graske's second appearance in what has become a significant run of extra adventures available on digital channels or the internet, the first being ''Attack of the Graske'' in 2005.
 
===Films, plays, radio, video and web dramas, novels===
In the 1960s, Terry Nation was unable to launch a U.S. spin-off series starring his creations, the Daleks, but they twice appeared on the big screen. Two televised adventures of ''Doctor Who'' were remade for the cinema: ''Doctor Who and the Daleks'' (1965) and ''Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD'' (1966) starred Peter Cushing as 'Doctor Who', an elderly human scientist who had invented a time machine. These two films, which were not part of the television series's continuity, did well at a time when 'Dalekmania' was at its height.
 
A stage play, ''Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday'', starring [[Trevor Martin]] as an alternative fourth Doctor, played in the  early 1970s, and another theatrical adventure appeared as ''The Ultimate Adventure'' in 1989. Jon Pertwee reprised his role for the play's first run - with [[David Banks]] understudying - and a further run of shows featured [[Colin Baker]] returning to the role. Baker and his co-star on the original series, [[Nicola Bryant]], also appeared in a ''Doctor Who'' radio drama, ''Slipback'', in 1985.
 
Many of the original stars of the series appeared as different characters in several fan-produced video dramas in the 1990s. More recently, they have starred in officially-licensed audio dramas by [[Big Finish]], some of which have aired on the [[digital radio]] station [[BBC 7]]. The BBC produced original adventures for the Doctor on its website, notably ''The Scream of the Shalka'' (2003), starring [[Richard E. Grant]]. Meanwhile, a series of original novels saw Doctors past and present battling adversaries old and new first for Virgin Publishing in their ''New Adventures'' series (1991-1997), then [[BBC Books]] (1997-).
 
===Spoofs===
The BBC itself produced two spoofs of ''Doctor Who'' for charity. in 1993 Children in Need featured ''[[Dimensions in Time]]'', which featured a crossover with several incarnations of the Doctor meeting characters from the British [[soap opera]] ''[[Eastenders]]'', which was publicised as a "pantomime" and is no considered 'canon' by fans. In 1999, ''[[Red Nose Day]]'' featured the comedy ''Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death''.
 
==Footnotes==
{{reflist|2}}
 
==See also==
*[[Doctor Who (1960s-1990s)
*[[Doctor Who (2000s-)
*[[TARDIS]]
*[[Science fiction]]
*[[BBC]]

Latest revision as of 16:39, 4 March 2021


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