Dr Who, The World's Longest Running Sci-Fi Series

Doctor Who is a world wide phenomena and one of the BBC's top five grossing Superbrands. The Dr Who series has the distinction of being the longest running science fiction television series in the world since it's first screening on the 23rd of November 1963.

The series was created by Sydney Newman, C.E Webber and Donald Wilson and has been made into thirty three series to date. 

 

Today the series is screened on a regular basis in fifty different countries making it the B.B.C's most lucrative product by way of it's DVDs, books, games and toy sales. 

From 1963 until 1969 the series was filmed in monochrome (black and white) from 1970 until 2009 it was filmed in colour SD (standard definition) and since 2009 it has been screened in H.D ( high definition).

The first country to screen Doctor Who outside the United Kingdom was New Zealand which began airing the first series in September 1964. 

DR WHO THEME TUNE

Doctor Who’s iconic theme tune was composed by Ron Griner, realised by Delia Derbyshire and played by the B.B.C Radiophonic Workshop, and was the first T.V series to have an entirely electronic theme tune.

TARDIS FACTS

The Doctor's craft is the iconic T.A.R.D.I.S  which resembles a 1960's British, public telephone box. 

The time and space ship has a chameleon circuit for when it lands enabling it to blend in with any surrounding. 

When it landed in London in 1962 the circuitry malfunctioned and was never repaired.  

The name T.A.R.D.I.S is an acronym for:

T = Time

A = And

R = Relative

D = Dimensions

I = In

S = Space. 

DR WHO T.V SPIN OFFS

There have been six Dr Who spin off television series, all of which have been made by various television channels, they are: 

K-9 & Company – First aired in 1981.

Torchwood – First aired in 2005.  

Doctor Who Confidential – First aired in 2005.

Totally Doctor Who – First aired in 2006. 

The Sarah Jane Adventures – First aired in 2007.

K-9 – First aired in 2009.

DR WHO FILMS

Two Doctor Who films were made with British actor Peter Cushing playing the Doctor, they were called Doctor Who and the Daleks which was released in 1965 and Dalek Invasion of Earth which was released in 1966.

In 1983 a twentieth anniversary special was screened called The Five Doctors, starring the first five Doctors of the series, by this point actor Willaim Hartnell was now deceased and in his place actor Richard Hurndall played Doctor number one.

One T.V movie was made in May 1996 starring Paul McGann called Doctor Who, the T.V Movie. 

 

DR WHO SPECIALS

There have been eleven Dr Who specials made for T.V, ten Christmas specials and one anniversary special. They were: 

2005 - Christmas Invasion – Starring David Tennent as the Doctor.

2006 - The Runaway Bride – Starring David Tennent as the Doctor.

2007 - Voyage of the Damned – Starring David Tennent as the Doctor.

2008 - The Next Doctor – Starring David Tennent as the Doctor.

2009 - The End of Time. (Screened in two parts) – Starring David Tennent as the Doctor. 

2010 – A Christmas Carol – Starring Matt Smith as the Doctor.

2011 – The Widow and the Wardrobe - Starring Matt Smith as the Doctor..

2012 – The Snowmen - Starring Matt Smith as the Doctor.

2013 – Day of The Doctor – A fiftieth anniversary special starring Matt Smith, David Tennent and John Hurt as the Doctor.

2013 – The Time of the Doctor - Starring Matt Smith as the Doctor. .

2014 – Last Christmas – Starring Peter Capaldi as the Doctor.

DOCTOR WHO ACTORS

The eleven British actors who have played the Doctor in the T.V series have been:  

William Hartnell - 1963 – 1966 – Who made three and a half series.

Patrick Troughton - 1966 – 1969 – Who made two and a half series.

Jon Pertwee - 1970 – 1974 – Who made five series.

Tom Baker - 1974 – 1981 – Who made seven series.

Peter Davison 1981 – 1984 – Who made three series.

Colin Baker - 1984 – 1986 – Who made three series.

Sylvester McCoy - 1987 – 1989 – Who made three series.

Christopher Eccleston – 2005 – Who made one series.

David Tennent - 2005 – 2010 – Who made three series.

Matt Smith - 2010 – 2013 – Who made three series.

Peter Capaldi – 2014 – Incumbent – Presently on his second series.  

DOCTOR WHO COMPANIONS

The Doctor has had fifty two official assistants or companions in the T.V series, those of which became household names by playing a much larger part in the Doctor's life than the others were:

Doctor One.

Barbara Wright played by Jaqueline Hill.

Ian Chesterton played by William Russell.

Doctor Two.

Jamie McCrimmon played by Frazer Hines.

Doctor Three.

Jo Grant played by Katy Manning.

Doctor Four.

Sarah Jane Smith played by Elisabeth Sladden. 

K9, with the voice of John Leeson.

Doctor Five.

Tegan Jovanka played by Janet Fielding.

Doctor Six.

Peri Brown played by Nicola Bryant.

Doctor Seven.

Ace played by Sophie Aldred. 

Doctor Eight.

Rose Taylor played by Billie Piper.

Doctor Nine.

Rose Taylor played by Billie Piper.

Donna Noble played by Catherine Tate.

Martha Jones played by Freema Agyeman.

K9, with the voice of David Brierley.

Doctor Ten.

Any Pond played by Karen Gillan. 

Doctor Eleven.

Clara Oswald played by Gemma Coleman. 

DR WHO ADVERSARIES 

The Doctor has had many adversaries over the years but only four of them have returned on a regular basis, they are:

The Daleks – The Daleks were introduced to the Dr Who series in 1963 and were originally created by T.V author Terry Nation and designed by set designer Raymond Cusik. 

Their distinctive voices were developed by voice over actors Peter Hawkins and David Graham which were then elecronically processed by Brian Hodgeson. 

Since then the voice over actors of the Daleks have been portrayed by Michael Wisher – Roy Skelton – Oliver Gilbert – Peter Messaline – Royce Mills – Brian Miller – John Lesson – Terry Malloy – David Gooderson – Nicholas Briggs.

The Cybermen – The Cybermen were introduced to the Dr Who series in 1966. Their original voices were devised electronically but since their return in 2006 they have been portrayed by the sound of voice over actor Nicholas Briggs, who is also the voice of the modern day Daleks. 

The Master – The Master  was introduced to the Dr Who series in 1971. Since then he / she has been played by actors Roger Delgado (1971–1973) - Peter Pratt (1976) - Geoffrey Beevers (1981) - Anthony Ainley (1981–1989) - Gordon Tipple (1996) - Eric Roberts (1996) - Derek Jacobi (2007) - John Simm (2007–2010) - Michelle Gomez (2014–Present).     

Davros – Davros was introduced to the Dr Who series in 1975 and since then has been played by actors Michael Wisher (1975) - David Gooderson (1979) - Terry Molloy (1984–1988) - Julian Bleach (2008–present)