Doctor Who

Doctor Who is the longest-running science fiction TV series in history, airing initially from 1963 to 1989. New Dr Who show started in 2005 and the present producer is Steven Moffat. The present Doctor is played by Matt Smith. Doctor Who returns to our screens on BBC on December 25th 2010 in The Christmas Special starring Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor & Karen Gillan as Amy Pond.

DW News

2011 (Series 6)

Doctor Who Series 6 (2011) returns to our screens on BBC 1 in Spring  2011. Matt Smith starts shooting his second season in August 2010.

Christmas Special 2010

Katherine Jenkins and Michael Gambon in Dr Who Xmas Special

Katherine Jenkins and Michael Gambon (Dumbledore from the Harry potter films) and are to star in the Doctor Who 2010 Christmas special which will be a twist on Charles Dickens' novel, 'A Christmas Carol'.

2010 (Series 5)

The fifth series featured the New Doctor Who, Matt Smith and was broadcast in the spring 2010. For the fifth series, Russell T. Davies was replaced as head writer and executive producer by Steven Moffat. Doctor Who series 5 featured a new complete re-design of the Sonic Screwdriver. The new Tardis design is brighter than previous versions. The St. John's ambulance logo on the right door also makes a reappearance after more than 40 years absence. This was last seen when William Harnell was the Doctor.

Matt Smith takes over from David Tennant in Doctor Who, making him the youngest actor to take on the role. Smith was cast as the Eleventh Doctor in late 2008 to replace David Tennant, who announced his departure in October 2008. Karen Gillan will perform the first companion Amy Pond of the Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith. Gillan previously appeared in the 2008 episode "The Fires of Pompeii", as the Soothsayer. Karen Gillan follows in the footsteps of former companions including Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman and Catherine Tate. In series 5, the character River Song performed by Alex Kingston returned.

New Doctor Who Logo

On 6th October, 2009, the BBC unveiled the new Doctor Who logo and insignia for the new series with Matt Smith. From 2010 this imagery will represent the show across the world.

The new logo also includes a first for the series, an insignia combining the title’s D and W into the shape of The Doctor’s Tardis.

The current logo will feature on the three specials which form the finale of the Tenth Doctor's era. But when the TARDIS touches down in the new series in 2010 it's all change as we welcome a new Doctor, new companion and the new logo!

Check out the latest dvd.

For more info, check the Doctor Who Episode Guide section, which also includes news.

About the Show

The TV show is based on the character 'the Doctor', a mysterious traveller whose TARDIS can take him and his companion(s) anywhere in time and space offering a huge potential for stories. The Doctor is a Time Lord and comes from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. He has 13 lives and can regenerate. The regenerations has allowed the change of the lead actor and this flexibility has led to the longevity of Doctor Who.

1. First Doctor (1963-1966) William Hartnell
William Hartnell became the first Doctor in the first episode of Doctor Who, entitled An Unearthly Child.
2. Second Doctor (1966-1969) Patrick Troughton
3. Third Doctor (1970-1974), Jon Pertwee
4. Fourth Doctor (1974-1981)Tom Baker
5. Fifth Doctor (1981-1984) Peter Davison
6. Sixth Doctor (1984-1986) Colin Baker
7. Seventh Doctor (1987-1989, 1996)  Sylvester McCoy
8. Eighth Doctor (1996) Paul McGann
The Paul McGann film transmitted on 27 May 1996.
9. Ninth Doctor (2005) Christopher Eccleston
10. Tenth Doctor (2005-2009) David Tennant
11. Eleventh Doctor (2010 - ?) Matt Smith

Gallifrey

Gallifrey is the home planet of the the Doctor and the Time Lords. During the first decade of the television series, the Doctor's home planet was not identified by name. It was first shown in The War Games (1969) and was first identified by name in The Time Warrior (1973). In Series 1 of the new tv series in  'The End of the World' (2005), the Ninth Doctor states that his home planet was destroyed during the last great time war and that he was the last of the Time Lords. Other Timelords from Gallifrey include Romana, the Master and the Rani. Gallifrey was located in the constellation of Kasterborous.

Tardis

The Doctor uses the Tardis to travel anywhere in the universe and can travel through time as well. The TARDIS is bigger inside than out and is shaped like a 1950s British Police box. Tardis is an acronym for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.

A built-in camouflage device called a chameleon circuit is supposed to disguise the Tardis so it blends in with its surroundings, but it stopped working when the Doctor was in London in the 1960s. Because of the malfunctioning circuit, the Tardis is permanently stuck in the shape of a Police Box - a blue box roughly the size of a phone booth and has been since the first episode of the classic series.

Although the outer shell of the Tardis isn't very big, the space on the inside is vastly larger, thanks to something the Doctor describes as its "dimensionally transcendental" quality. A creation of the Time Lords (who have several such vehicles), the Doctor's Tardis is a "Type 40," apparently an obsolete model.

Companions

The Doctor has had over 35 companions since the start of the tv series. The Doctor almost always travels with between one and three companions. The only episode of the original series in which the Doctor travelled alone was The Deadly Assassin.

The First Doctor's original companions were his granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) and school teachers Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) and Ian Chesterton (William Russell).
Previous companions have reappeared in the series, usually for anniversary specials. One former companion, Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth Sladen), together with the robotic dog K-9, appeared in an episode of the 2006 series more than twenty years after their last appearances in the 20th Anniversary story 'The Five Doctors' (1983). The Sarah Jane character also appears in her own spin-off tv series The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Enemies

The Doctor in his adventures has faced many adversaries. The most popular include the Daleks, Cybermen, the Master, Davros, Autons, Sontarans, Sea Devils, Ice Warriors, Yeti, the Silurians, the Slitheen and the Zygons.

Master: The Master is a renegade Time Lord. He was once known as Koschei and also by various temporary aliases and pseudonyms. The last time he appeared on tv was in last episode of series 3 called Last of the Time Lords.

The Rani: The Rani was a renegade Time Lady. She has only appeared in two serials, The Mark of the Rani and Time and the Rani, before Doctor Who went off the air in 1989. There was speculation in series 4 that Donna was really the Rani.

History

Doctor Who first appeared on BBC television in the UK at 5.15 pm on 23 November 1963. The programme originally ran from 23 November 1963 until 6 December 1989 for 26 seasons on BBC1. Each story in the original show ran in a weekly episode format (serial), usually of four to six parts in earlier years and three to four in later years.

In 1980 new producer John Nathan-Turner introduced new changes to Dr Who: new title sequence and the theme music had been updated.

The tv series was postponed indefinitely in 1989. Despite having been off the air for over 15 years original novels and audio only productions were created for fans.

In 1996 a television movie was made in the USA, but the ratings for the pilot were judged insufficient. In 2003, the BBC announced that it would commission a revival of Docter Who. The new series featured Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor and was launched in 2005. He featured as the Doctor for only one season.

Past Producers of New Series

Russell T. Davies

Did you know?

* The original theme was composed by Ron Grainer.

* The new Doctor Who has two spin-offs TV shows: Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

* Torchwood is a spin-off of Dr Who. It follows a group of investigators working for the secret organisation of the same name. Set in Cardiff, the team specialise in alien technology that has landed on Earth, and crime, whether it be alien or human. The mysterious Captain Jack Harkness is the leader of the equally mysterious Torchwood, and vows to guard humanity against alien threats. Curious PC Gwen Cooper accidentally discovers the group, and soon becomes entangled in a series of events. This leads up to her being hired, and becoming involved in the exciting affairs of the organisation. Together with medic, Owen Harper, and the gadgets expert, Toshiko Sato, the four explore the thrilling world of Torchwood.

* Filmmaker Ridley Scott was the BBC designer originally allocated to design the Daleks. He never carried out the task as Raymond P Cusick, who was able to commit for a longer period, replaced him.