Doctor Who
From The TV IV
| Doctor Who | |
| |
| Premiere | November 23, 1963 |
| Finale | |
| Airs | On hiatus |
| Creator | Sydney Newman C.E. Webber Donald Wilson |
| Network | BBC |
| Style | sci-fi drama
25-minute (seasons 1-20, 22-26) 45-minute (seasons 21, 27-) B&W: seasons 1-6 Color: seasons 7- |
| Company | BBC |
| Episodes | 752 + 5 specials + 1 TV movie (through season 30) |
| Seasons | 30 |
| Status | Renewed through season 31 (2010)
plus 4 specials in 2009 |
| Origin | UK |
Doctor Who (1963–1989, 1996, 2005–), the longest-running science fiction show in the history of television, was a popular British sci-fi show involving a time-traveling alien. The show ran for twenty-six seasons between 1963 and 1989. Following a sixteen year hiatus broken only by a controversial American-made television movie of dubious quality, the show resumed production in 2005, on its 27th season.
The title character, known only as "The Doctor", is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. Once a high-ranking Time Lord, the Doctor has at various times been fugitive from his own people, the saviour of his people and at the time of season 27 appears to have been responsible for wiping out Time Lords. The First Doctor, disenchanted with the Time Lords, stole an aging Type 40 TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space) time machine from a repair bay on Gallifrey and packed his granddaughter Susan off to Earth.
The Doctor spends his time interfering with various cultures (in positive ways, of course) and fighting injustice, while occasionally encountering and doing battle with classic bad guys such as the robotic space mutant Daleks (famous in their early episodes for their fright factor—the running joke with Doctor Who monster episodes is that they should always end up with viewers watching from a safe hidden position peeking out from behind the couch, and the Daleks are no exception) and the Cybermen, a race of evil cybernetic aliens.
One of the most confusing (to new viewers, at least) and original elements of the series, and the one that enabled it to continue as long as it has, is the concept of regenerations. Time Lords are capable of regenerating twelve times, taking a new face and personality every time while still remaining essentially the same person. This allowed the BBC to continue the show after various Doctor actors would decide that they wanted to leave. After the first few seasons, the First Doctor (played by actor William Hartnell) was killed off and regenerated into the Second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton. To date, there have been ten Doctors portrayed in the show, with the tenth being the current Doctor, who is portrayed by David Tennant since season 28.
The Doctor also goes through a series of companions (essentially people he picks up on his travels who stay with him and help him/get in trouble/scream incessantly) through the course of the show, such as his season 27–28 companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper).
The show was resurrected in 2005 with some development funding provided by the CBC. It had surprising ratings success in the United Kingdom and Canada. The Sci Fi Channel aired the first season of the new format of Doctor Who a year later, marking the first time Doctor Who aired on American network television.
It has been announced that there will be a break between the thirtieth and thirty-first seasons. Four special episodes will be aired in 2009 featuring David Tennant. Tennant has announced his retirement from the role after these specials; his replacement is the young Matt Smith. Russell T. Davies is also stepping down as show-runner at the end of 2009, with writer Stephen Moffat taking over for the series' thirty-first season in 2010.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
[edit] Seasons
| Season | Premiere | Finale | # |
|---|---|---|---|
| BBC | |||
| Season One Stories 1–8 | November 23, 1963 | September 12, 1964 | 42 |
| Season Two Stories 9–17 | October 31, 1964 | July 24, 1965 | 39 |
| Season Three Stories 18–27 | September 11, 1965 | July 16, 1966 | 45 |
| Season Four Stories 28–36 | September 10, 1966 | July 1, 1967 | 43 |
| Season Five Stories 37–43 | September 2, 1967 | June 1, 1968 | 40 |
| Season Six Stories 44–50 | August 10, 1968 | June 21, 1969 | 44 |
| Season Seven Stories 51–54 | January 3, 1970 | June 20, 1970 | 25 |
| Season Eight Stories 55–59 | January 2, 1971 | June 19, 1971 | 25 |
| Season Nine Stories 60–64 | January 1, 1972 | June 24, 1972 | 26 |
| Season Ten Stories 65–69 | December 30, 1972 | June 23, 1973 | 26 |
| Season Eleven Stories 70–74 | December 15, 1973 | June 8, 1974 | 26 |
| Season Twelve Stories 75–79 | December 28, 1974 | May 10, 1975 | 20 |
| Season Thirteen Stories 80–85 | August 30, 1975 | March 6, 1976 | 26 |
| Season Fourteen Stories 86–91 | September 4, 1976 | April 2, 1977 | 26 |
| Season Fifteen Stories 92–97 | September 3, 1977 | March 11, 1978 | 26 |
| Season Sixteen Stories 98–103 | September 2, 1978 | February 24, 1979 | 26 |
| Season Seventeen Stories 104–109 | September 1, 1979 | January 12, 1980 | 26 |
| Season Eighteen Stories 110–116 | August 30, 1980 | March 21, 1981 | 28 |
| Season Nineteen Stories 117–123 | January 4, 1982 | March 30, 1982 | 26 |
| Season Twenty Stories 124–130 | January 3, 1983 | March 16, 1983 | 22 + 1 |
| Season Twenty-One Stories 131–137 | January 5, 1984 | March 30, 1984 | 24 |
| Season Twenty-Two Stories 138–143 | January 5, 1985 | March 30, 1985 | 13 |
| Season Twenty-Three Stories 144–147 | September 6, 1986 | December 6, 1986 | 14 |
| Season Twenty-Four Stories 148–151 | September 7, 1987 | December 7, 1987 | 14 |
| Season Twenty-Five Stories 152–155 | October 5, 1988 | January 4, 1989 | 14 |
| Season Twenty-Six Stories 156–159 | September 6, 1989 | December 6, 1989 | 14 |
| Season Twenty-Seven New Season One | March 26, 2005 | June 18, 2005 | 13 |
| Season Twenty-Eight New Season Two | April 15, 2006 | July 8, 2006 | 13 + 2 |
| Season Twenty-Nine New Season Three | March 21, 2007 | June 30, 2007 | 13 + 1 |
| Season Thirty New Season Four | April 5, 2008 | July 5, 2008 | 13 + 8 |
| Season Thirty-One New Season Five | 2010 | — | 13 |
[edit] Telefilms
| Title | Network | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| The TV Movie | BBC | June 25, 1996 |
[edit] In Depth
- At a Glance: Additional information about the series
- Image Gallery: The pictures used in the Doctor Who articles.
- Locations: Planets, space stations, and ships.
- The TARDIS
[edit] DVD and Blu-ray Releases
[edit] DVD
[edit] Blu-ray
| Title | Release Date | # | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Episodes | |||
| Planet of the Dead | July 28, 2009 | 1 | purchase |
[edit] External Sites
- Official BBC website for Doctor Who
- Doctor Who Episodes, TV Listings, News, Photos and More at TVGuide.com
- Outpost Gallifrey - A major fan site with all the latest news.
Categories: Hiatus | Renewed | Program | BBC | Drama | Science Fiction | Time Travel | Resurrected Series | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 2000s | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 1963 Premieres | 2005 Premieres | 1989 Finales | IVy Awards/2006/Nominees | IVy Awards/2007/Nominees | Doctor Who
