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 producer is Russell T. Davies. The present Doctor is played by David Tennant. Three companions will feature in the fourth series: Catherine Tate will reprise her role as Donna Noble, who was first introduced in 'The Runaway Bride', for all 13 episodes; Freema Agyeman (Martha) will return mid-season for five episodes, and Billie Piper will return as Rose Tyler for three episodes.

DW News

2008 Episode Guide

The 2008 Season consists of 13 episodes. Read the Doctor Who Season 4 section for more info. Check out the latest dvd.

Martha Jones Character appears in Torchwood

Martha Jones joins Torchwood for a while after she is called upon for help by her fellow former-companion, Jack Harkness. The character appears in three episodes: Episode 6: Reset (Jack calls in an old friend for a favour, none other than Martha Jones), Episode 7: Dead Man Walking and Episode 7: A Day In The Death.

Classic Series actor passes away.

Kevin Stoney, the acclaimed actor who portrayed two of the greatest villains in the original series of Doctor Who, has died at the age of 86. He passed away on January 20, 2008. Stoney first appeared in Doctor Who as Guardian of the Solar System Mavic Chen, confronting William Hartnell's Doctor in the 1965 story The Daleks' Master Plan. Three year's later, he returned to battle Patrick Troughton as Tobias Vaughn in the Cyberman epic The Invasion.

Stoney's last contribution to Doctor Who came in 1975, playing the Vogan Tyrum in Revenge of the Cybermen. The actor was also well known for roles in such classic series as Blake's 7, I, Claudius and The Tomorrow People.

Christmas Special 2007

Voyage of the Damned (60 minute special) - 25 December 2007

The Christmas Special of 2007 was called Voyage of the Damned and Kylie Minogue featured in this story as Astrid Peth.

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

BBC Wales announced on 11 December 2007 that Piers Wenger is to take over the reins as Executive Producer for Doctor Who's fifth series and will become the new Head of Drama, BBC Wales when Julie Gardner leaves that role in January 2009.

2009 and 2010 (Series 5)

After the 2008 Christmas Special, three Bank Holiday specials have been commissioned to air throughout 2009. The programme will then return in 2010 with a fifth full series.

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
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
9. Ninth Doctor (2005) Christopher Eccleston
10. Tenth Doctor (2005-present) David Tennant

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.

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 Autons, Sontarans, Sea Devils, Ice Warriors, Yeti, the Silurians, the Slitheen and the Zygons.

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.

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.

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.