Doctor Who 

The adventures in time and space of the Doctor, a Time Lord who changes appearance and personality by regenerating when near death, and is joined by companions in battles against aliens and other megalomaniacs.

Creator:

Sydney Newman

Stars:

William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee

Top Rated TV #236 | 3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Tom Baker	...	Doctor Who 178 episodes, 1974-1984
William Hartnell	...	Dr. Who / ... 144 episodes, 1963-1984
Jon Pertwee	...	Doctor Who / ... 132 episodes, 1970-1984
Patrick Troughton	...	Dr. Who / ... 131 episodes, 1966-1985
Frazer Hines	...	Jamie / ... 117 episodes, 1966-1985
Nicholas Courtney	...	Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart / ... 109 episodes, 1965-1989
Pat Gorman	...	Guard / ... 104 episodes, 1964-1985
Elisabeth Sladen	...	Sarah Jane Smith 83 episodes, 1973-1984
Jacqueline Hill	...	Barbara Wright / ... 81 episodes, 1963-1980
William Russell	...	Ian Chesterton 78 episodes, 1963-1965
Katy Manning	...	Jo Grant 78 episodes, 1971-1984
John Scott Martin	...	Dalek / ... 76 episodes, 1965-1988
John Levene	...	Sergeant Benton / ... 74 episodes, 1967-1983

Storyline

Traveling across time and space, the immortal time-lord known as 'The Doctor' travels across the universe with his many companions and his loyal shape-shifting space-ship: The TARDIS. The Doctor faces many threats across many generations: from The Daleks, The Cybermen and his time-lord adversary The Master to the sinister Davros, creator of The Daleks.

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Plot Keywords:

doctor who | gunfight at the o.k. corral | doc holliday | reference to tombstone arizona | arizona territory | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [UK]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Doctor Who

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£4,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min (15 episodes) 25 min (679 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (1963-1987) Stereo (1988-1989)

Color:

Black and White (1963-1969) Color (1970-1989)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ace's story was at the heart of the show's 26th and final season, which had a trilogy of adventures which is about Ace's gradual transformation from adolescence to womanhood and the arc of series 26 was Ace's journey. According to Sophie Aldred (Ace) in an interview, "Ghost Light" is about Ace's past fears. "The Curse of Fenric" is about Ace's present fears and "Survival" is about Ace's future fears.

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Quotes

Adric: Will Romana be all right?
The Doctor: All right? She'll be superb.

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Crazy Credits

In a number of 1980s episodes, recurring villain The Master often first appeared in disguise. Actor Anthony Ainley was credited under a pseudonym on these occasions (usually an anagram of his own name) in order to preserve the element of surprise.

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Alternate Versions

The original videotape prints of 1960s-era episodes no longer exist. As a result, all later broadcasts of these episodes (PBS, Sci-Fi Channel, BBC) have used film and kinescope transfers. When these early episodes began to be issued on DVD in the early-2000s, computer technology was used to restore the video look to these episodes. In addition, other restorations and corrections to the original broadcasts were made. (For example, the sound mix is altered to remove background noise and accidental sounds like coughs in the studio, in one episode a boom shadow was digitially removed). These restorations are particularly apparent in the box sets Lost in Time and The Beginning which compile surviving episodes from the early years of the series.

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Connections

Referenced in When I Grow Up (2016)

User Reviews

Greatest Series of All Time

`Doctor Who', in a nutshell, is probably the most imaginative show ever created. Initially, it was about an eccentric time-traveller from another planet, who looked human and affected an English manner and style. The interior of his time machine (called a TARDIS) was huge and highly advanced, but the exterior quaintly resembled an English public call box. The Doctor was a self-imposed exile from a race of powerful beings called the Time Lords. The Time Lords observed history, but never interfered with it. This bored the almighty heck out of the Doctor, so he made off with an older TARDIS and decided to see the Universe for himself.

When the original actor who played the Doctor decided to leave the show, the writers came up with the inventive concept of `regeneration'. Whenever the Doctor was close to death, or actually killed, he would `regenerate' into a new body (and persona). The show went through seven highly talented actors in this fashion.

The format of the show was highly adaptable. Didn't like the way the show was going? Just wait two or three years. The style always seemed to change whenever there was a change of Doctor, producer and/or script editor. The series went from educational children's drama to monster show to intelligent adult sci-fi/drama to gothic horror to high camp, et cetera, et cetera, and so forth.

This was a wonderful, imaginative, fun show when it was on. I was sad to see it go.