Doctor Who (TV Series)

Doctor Who is a television show and a global, multimedia franchise controlled by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corperation)

It centres on a time traveller called "the Doctor", who comes from a race of beings known as Time Lords. They travel through space and time in a time machine they call the TARDIS. This ship — which looks like a small, London police box on the outside — has nearly infinite dimensions on the inside. It has become such an iconic shape in British culture that it is currently the intellectual property of the BBC rather than its actual makers, the Metropolitan Police Service.

Origin
Several individuals share credit for establishing Doctor Who in 1963, but it is generally accepted that the original impetus for the series, as well as the establishment of certain aspects, such as the concept of the TARDIS, the basic character of the Doctor and the title Doctor Whoitself belong to Canadian-born Sydney Newman, who is also credited with creating another iconic series, The Avengers. Others involved in piecing together the puzzle that became the series include Head of Serials Donald Wilson, writer C. E. Webber, script editor David Whitaker and the show's first producer, Verity Lambert, the first woman to hold such a position in the drama department at the BBC.

Two other notable participants in the birth of the series were Anthony Coburn and Waris Hussein, the writer and director, respectively, of the first four-part serial, An Unearthly Child, the first episode of which aired on 23 November 1963. The version of the first episode that was broadcasted was in fact the second mounting of that episode; an earlier version (called "The Pilot Episode" by fans), was taped some weeks before, but was rejected for several issues. The BBC allowed a second mounting of the pilot to proceed. The first episode aired the day after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and had to be rebroadcast a week later when power failures disrupted the first broadcast.

Also important to creating the atmosphere of the early series were composers Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire. Grainer wrote the basic melody of the Doctor Who theme, and Derbyshire, with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, transformed it into a pioneering piece of electronica music. There have been several arrangements used of the theme, but the basic melody has remained unchanged throughout the show's history. No new piece of music has ever been commissioned as a theme, making it one of the longest-serving signature tunes in television history.

An Unearthly Child introduced the first incarnation of the Doctor, played by character actor William Hartnell. Supporting him were William Russell and Jacqueline Hill as Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, respectively, and Carole Ann Ford as the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan Foreman. These four would form the core cast of the series throughout its first season and into the second.

From very early on, the television show spawned a sub-genre of the franchise in the form of short stories in various shapes and forms from small one-paper issues to short novels to even telling a story on a set of cards. This genre has developed throughout the years into massive shorts and anthologies and is still holding up in the 21st century.

Cast

 * The Doctor - William Hartnell
 * The Doctor - Patrick Troughton
 * The Doctor - Jon Pertwee
 * The Doctor - Tom Baker
 * The Doctor - Peter Davison
 * The Doctor - Colin Baker
 * The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
 * The Doctor - Richard Griffiths
 * The Doctor - Adrian Dunbar

First Doctor
The First Doctor was portrayed by William Hartnell from 1963 to 1966.

Second Doctor
The Second Doctor was portrayed by Patrick Troughton from 1966 to 1969.

Third Doctor
The Third Doctor was portrayed by Jon Pertwee from 1970 to 1974.

Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor was portrayed by Tom Baker from 1974 to 1981.

Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor was portrayed by Peter Davison from 1982 to 1984.

Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor was portrayed by Colin Baker from 1984 to 1986.

Season 22
The show's format changed to 45-minute episodes in this season.

Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor was portrayed by Sylvester McCoy from 1987 to 1990.