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''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the

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since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, the Doctor, is a member. Time Lords are so named for their command ...

called the Doctor, an

extraterrestrial being Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might ...

who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling

space ship Spaceship may refer to: Spaceflight * Space vehicle, the combination of launch vehicle and spacecraft * Spacecraft, a craft, vehicle, vessel or machine designed for spaceflight * Starship, a spacecraft built for interstellar flight Music Songs ...

called the

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior a ...

. The TARDIS exterior appears as a blue British

police box A police box is a public telephone kiosk or callbox for the use of members of the police, or for members of the public to contact the police. It was used in the United Kingdom throughout the 20th century from the early 1920s. Unlike an ordinar ...

, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. With various companions, the Doctor combats foes, works to save civilisations, and helps people in need. Beginning with

William Hartnell William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the first incarnation of the Doctor in '' Doctor Who'' from 1963 to 1966. In film, Hartnell notably appeared in '' Bri ...

, thirteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; in 2017,

Jodie Whittaker Jodie Whittaker (born 17 June 1982) is an English actress who is best known for portraying the thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2017–2022) and as Beth Latimer in ''Broadchurch'' (2013–2017). She came to prominence ...

became the first woman to officially play the role on television. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the series with the concept of regeneration into a new

incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...

, a

plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelie ...

in which a Time Lord "transforms" into a new body when the current one is too badly harmed to heal normally. Each actor's portrayal is unique, but all represent stages in the life of the same character, and together, they form a single lifetime with a single narrative. The time-travelling feature of the plot means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet. The series is a significant part of

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

in Britain and elsewhere; it has gained a cult following. It has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching the series. Fans of the series are sometimes referred to as ''Whovians''. The series is listed in ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as the longest-running science-fiction television series in the world, as well as the "most successful" science-fiction series of all time, based on its overall broadcast ratings,

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and book sales, and iTunes traffic. The series originally ran from 1963 to 1989. There was an unsuccessful attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a

backdoor pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

in the form of a television film titled '' Doctor Who''. The series was relaunched in 2005 and since then, has been produced in-house by BBC Wales in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. ''Doctor Who'' has also spawned numerous

spin-offs Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

, including comic books, films, novels, audio dramas, and the television series ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...

'' (2006–2011), ''

The Sarah Jane Adventures ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' is a British science fiction television programme that was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC ...

'' (2007–2011), '' K9'' (2009–2010), and ''

Class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

'' (2016). It has been the subject of many

parodies A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

and references in popular culture.

Premise

''Doctor Who'' follows the adventures of the title character, a rogue

with somewhat unknown origins who goes by the name " the Doctor". The Doctor fled

Gallifrey Gallifrey () is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It is the original home world of the Time Lords, the civilisation to which the protagonist, the Doctor belongs. It is located in ...

, the planet of the Time Lords, in a stolen

("Time and Relative Dimension in Space"), a

time machine Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

that travels by materialising into, and dematerialising out of, the time vortex. The TARDIS has a vast interior but appears smaller on the outside, and is equipped with a "

chameleon circuit This is a list of notable or recurring items from the BBC television series ''Doctor Who''. C Celery The Fifth Doctor wears a sprig of celery in his lapel. He claims that he is allergic to certain gases in the praxis range; if those gases w ...

" intended to make the machine take on the appearance of local objects as a disguise. Due to a malfunction, the Doctor's TARDIS remains fixed as a blue British

. Across time and space, the Doctor's many incarnations often find events that pique their curiosity, and try to prevent evil forces from harming innocent people or changing history, using only ingenuity and minimal resources, such as the versatile

sonic screwdriver The sonic screwdriver is a fictional multifunctional tool in the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs, used by the Doctor. Like the TARDIS, it has become one of the icons of the programme, and spin-o ...

. The Doctor rarely travels alone and is often joined by one or more companions on these adventures; these companions are usually humans, owing to the Doctor's fascination with planet

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

, which also leads to frequent collaborations with the international military task force

UNIT Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (a ...

when Earth is threatened. The Doctor is centuries old and as a Time Lord, has the ability to regenerate when there is mortal damage to their body. The Doctor's various incarnations have gained numerous recurring enemies during their travels, including the

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by write ...

s, their creator

Davros Davros () is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was created by screenwriter Terry Nation, originally for the 1975 serial ''Genesis of the Daleks''. Davros is a major enemy of the se ...

, the

Cybermen The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. The Cybermen are a species of space-faring cyborgs who often forcefully and painfully convert human beings ( ...

, and the renegade Time Lord the Master.

History

''Doctor Who'' first appeared on the BBC Television Service at 17:16:20

GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...

on Saturday, 23 November 1963; this was eighty seconds later than the scheduled programme time, because of announcements concerning the previous day's

assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...

. It was to be a regular weekly programme, each episode 25 minutes of transmission length. Discussions and plans for the programme had been in progress for a year. The head of drama

Sydney Newman Sydney Cecil Newman (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman w ...

was mainly responsible for developing the programme, with the first format document for the series being written by Newman along with the head of the script department (later head of serials) Donald Wilson and staff writer C. E. Webber; in a 1971 interview Wilson claimed to have named the series, and when this claim was put to Newman he did not dispute it. Writer

Anthony Coburn James Anthony Coburn (10 December 1927 – 28 April 1977) was an Australian television writer and producer, who spent much of his professional career living and working in the United Kingdom. He is best remembered for writing the first ''Doctor ...

, story editor David Whitaker and initial producer

Verity Lambert Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of ...

also heavily contributed to the development of the series. The programme was originally intended to appeal to a family audience as an educational programme using time travel as a means to explore scientific ideas and famous moments in history. On 31 July 1963, Whitaker commissioned

Terry Nation Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a British screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for ''Doctor Who'', as well as the series '' Surviv ...

to write a story under the title ''The Mutants''. As originally written, the

s and Thals were the victims of an alien

neutron bomb A neutron bomb, officially defined as a type of enhanced radiation weapon (ERW), is a low-yield thermonuclear weapon designed to maximize lethal neutron radiation in the immediate vicinity of the blast while minimizing the physical power of the b ...

attack but Nation later dropped the aliens and made the Daleks the aggressors. When the script was presented to Newman and Wilson it was immediately rejected as the programme was not permitted to contain any " bug-eyed monsters". According to Lambert, "We didn't have a lot of choice—we only had the Dalek serial to go ... We had a bit of a crisis of confidence because Donald ilsonwas so adamant that we shouldn't make it. Had we had anything else ready we would have made that." Nation's script became the second ''Doctor Who'' serial – ''

The Daleks ''The Daleks'' (also known as ''The Mutants'' and ''The Dead Planet'') is the second Serial (radio and television), serial in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadca ...

'' (also known as ''The Mutants''). The serial introduced the eponymous aliens that would become the series' most popular monsters, and was responsible for the BBC's first merchandising boom. The BBC drama department's serials division produced the programme for 26 seasons, broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. Due to his increasingly poor health, the first actor to play the Doctor,

, was replaced by the younger

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction ...

in 1966. In 1970, Jon Pertwee replaced Troughton and the series at that point moved from black and white to colour. In 1974,

Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1974 to 1981.Scott, Danny. (1 ...

was cast as the Doctor. His eccentric style of dress and quirky personality became hugely popular, with viewing figures for the series returning to a level not seen since the height of "Dalekmania" a decade earlier. In 1981, after a record seven years in the role, Baker was replaced by Peter Davison, at 29 by far the youngest actor to be cast as the character in the series' first run and, in 1984,

Colin Baker Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor who played Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series '' The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series ''Docto ...

replaced Davison. In 1985, the channel's controller

Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 (1 ...

attempted to cancel the series, but this became an 18-month hiatus instead. He also had Colin Baker removed from the starring role in 1986. The role was recast with

Sylvester McCoy Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...

, but falling viewing numbers, a decline in the public perception of the series and a less-prominent transmission slot saw production ended in 1989 by

Peter Cregeen Peter Cregeen (born 28 January 1940 in London, England) is a British television director, producer and executive. He was the original director of ITV's successful police drama, ''The Bill'', and made a substantial contribution to the series th ...

, the BBC's new head of series. Although it was effectively cancelled with the decision not to commission a planned 27th season, which would have been broadcast in 1990, the BBC repeatedly affirmed, over several years, that the series would return. While in-house production had ceased, the BBC hoped to find an independent production company to relaunch the series. Philip Segal, a British

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

who worked for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

' television arm in the United States, had approached the BBC about such a venture as early as July 1989, while the 26th season was still in production.Doctor Who Magazine Eighth Doctor Special, Panini Comics 2003 Segal's negotiations eventually led to a ''Doctor Who'' television film, broadcast on the

Fox Network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...

in 1996, as an

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companie ...

between Fox,

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, the BBC and BBC Worldwide. Starring

Paul McGann Paul John McGann (; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial '' The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987), which wa ...

as the Doctor, the film was successful in the UK (with 9.1 million viewers), but was less so in the United States and did not lead to a series. Licensed media such as novels and audio plays provided new stories, but as a television programme, ''Doctor Who'' remained dormant until 2003. In September of that year, BBC Television announced the in-house production of a new series, after several years of attempts by BBC Worldwide to find backing for a feature film version. The executive producers of the new incarnation of the series were writer

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies (born 27 April 1963), better known as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer whose works include ''Queer as Folk'', '' The Second Coming'', ''Casanova'', the 2005 revival of the BBC One scien ...

and

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is b ...

head of drama

Julie Gardner Julie Ann Gardner (born 4 June 1969) is a Welsh television producer. Her most prominent work has been serving as executive producer on the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off shows ''Torchwood'' and ''The Sarah Jane Adventures''. ...

. From 2005, the series switched from

single-camera The single-camera setup, or single-camera mode of production, also known as portable single camera, is a method of filmmaking and video production. The single-camera setup originally developed during the birth of the classical Hollywood cinema ...

to a

multi-camera The multiple-camera setup, multiple-camera mode of production, multi-camera or simply multicam is a method of filmmaking and video production. Several cameras—either film or professional video cameras—are employed on the set and simultaneou ...

setup. Starring Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, ''Doctor Who'' finally returned with the episode "Rose" on BBC One on 26 March 2005. Eccleston left after one series and was replaced by

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

. There have since been eleven further series in 2006–2008, 2010–2015, 2017–2018, 2020, and Christmas/New Year's Day specials every year since 2005. No full series was broadcast in 2009, although four additional specials starring Tennant were made. Davies left the series in 2010 after the end of series 4, and the David Tennant specials were completed.

Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as showrunner, writer and executive producer of the science fiction television series ''Doct ...

, a writer under Davies, was announced as his successor, along with

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series '' Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targaryen in the HBO series '' House of the Dr ...

as the new Doctor. Smith decided to leave the role of the Doctor in the 50th anniversary year. He was replaced by

Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in '' The Thick of It'' (2005–2012), for ...

. In January 2016, Moffat announced that he would step down after the 2017 finale, to be replaced by

Chris Chibnall Christopher Antony Chibnall (born 21 March 1970) is an English television writer and producer, best known as the creator and writer of the award-winning ITV mystery-crime drama ''Broadchurch'' and as a showrunner of the long-running BBC sci ...

in 2018. The tenth series debuted in April 2017, with a Christmas special preceding it in 2016.

was announced as the first female Doctor, and has appeared in three series, the last of which was shortened due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Both Whittaker and Chibnall announced that they would depart the series after a series of 2022 specials following the 13th series. Davies returned as showrunner from the 60th anniversary specials, twelve years after he had left the series previously.

Bad Wolf "Bad Wolf" is the twelfth episode of the revived first series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The episode was first broadcast on BBC One on 11 June 2005. It is the first of a two-part story. The concluding episo ...

co-produces the series in partnership with BBC Studios. Bad Wolf's involvement sees Gardner return to the series alongside Davies and

Jane Tranter Jane Tranter (born 17 March 1963) is an English television executive who was the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base from 2009 until 2015. From 2006 to 2008, she was the BBC's controller of ...

, who recommissioned the series in 2005. The 2005 version of ''Doctor Who'' is a direct plot continuation of the original 1963–1989 series and the 1996 telefilm. This is similar to the 1988 continuation of ''

Mission Impossible ''Mission: Impossible'' is a multimedia franchise based on a fictional secret espionage agency known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). The 1966 TV series ran for seven seasons and was revived in 1988 for two seasons. It inspired a serie ...

'', but differs from most other series' relaunches of the time which have either been reboots (for example, '' Battlestar Galactica'' and '' Bionic Woman'') or set in the same universe as the original, but in a different time period and with different characters (for example, '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and spin-offs). The programme has been sold to many other countries worldwide .

Public consciousness

It has been claimed that the transmission of the first episode was delayed by ten minutes due to extended news coverage of the assassination of US President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

the previous day; in fact, it went out after a delay of eighty seconds. The BBC believed that coverage of the assassination, as well as a series of power blackouts across the country, had caused many viewers to miss this introduction to a new series, and it was broadcast again on 30 November 1963, just before episode two. The programme soon became a national institution in the United Kingdom, with a large following among the general viewing audience. With popularity came controversy over the series's suitability for children. Morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse repeatedly complained to the BBC over what she saw as the series's violent, frightening and gory content. According to '' Radio Times'', the series "never had a more implacable foe than Mary Whitehouse". A BBC audience research survey conducted in 1972 found that, by their own definition of violence ("any act which may cause physical and/or psychological injury, hurt or death to persons, animals or property, whether intentional or accidental") ''Doctor Who'' was the most violent of the drama programmes the corporation produced at the time. The same report found that 3% of the surveyed audience regarded the series as "very unsuitable" for family viewing. Responding to the findings of the survey in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' newspaper, journalist Philip Howard maintained that, "to compare the violence of ''Dr Who'', sired by a horse-laugh out of a nightmare, with the more realistic violence of other television series, where actors who look like human beings bleed paint that looks like blood, is like comparing

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

with the property market in London: both are fantasies, but one is meant to be taken seriously." During Jon Pertwee's second season as the Doctor, in the serial ''

Terror of the Autons ''Terror of the Autons'' is the first serial of the eighth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 January 1971. The serial is set in various locations i ...

'' (1971), images of murderous plastic dolls, daffodils killing unsuspecting victims, and blank-featured policemen marked the apex of the series's ability to frighten children. Other notable moments in that decade include a disembodied brain falling to the floor in ''

The Brain of Morbius ''The Brain of Morbius'' is the fifth serial of the 13th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 January 1976. The screenwriter credit is given ...

'' and the Doctor apparently being drowned by a villain in ''

The Deadly Assassin ''The Deadly Assassin'' is the third serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 30 October to 20 November 1976. It is the first seri ...

'' (both 1976). Mary Whitehouse's complaint about the latter incident prompted a change in BBC policy towards the series, with much tighter controls imposed on the production team, and the series' next producer, Graham Williams, was under a directive to take out "anything graphic in the depiction of violence".

John Nathan-Turner John Nathan-Turner (''né'' Turner; 12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002) was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. He was also the final producer of the series' firs ...

produced the series during the 1980s and said in the documentary '' More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS'' that he looked forward to Whitehouse's comments because the series's ratings would increase soon after she had made them. Nevertheless, Nathan-Turner also got into trouble with BBC executives over the violence he allowed to be depicted for

season 22 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

of the series in 1985, which was publicly criticised by controller

and given as one of his reasons for suspending the series for 18 months. The phrase " Hiding behind (or 'watching from behind') the sofa" entered British pop culture, signifying the stereotypical early-series behaviour of children who wanted to avoid seeing frightening parts of a

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

me while remaining in the room to watch the remainder of it. The phrase retains this association with ''Doctor Who'', to the point that in 1991 the

Museum of the Moving Image The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in a former building of the historic Astoria Studios (now Kaufman Astoria Studios), in the Astoria neighborhood in Queens, New York City. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the Amer ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

named their exhibition celebrating the programme "Behind the Sofa". The electronic

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

too was perceived as eerie, novel, and frightening at the time. A 2012 article placed this childhood juxtaposition of fear and thrill "at the center of many people's relationship with the series", and a 2011 online vote at Digital Spy deemed the series the "scariest TV show of all time". The image of the

has become firmly linked to the series in the public's consciousness; BBC scriptwriter

, who lived in the resort of Herne Bay, Kent, was one of the people who conceived the idea of a police box as a time machine. In 1996, the BBC applied for a

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

to use the TARDIS' blue

design in merchandising associated with ''Doctor Who''. In 1998, the Metropolitan Police Authority filed an objection to the trademark claim; but in 2002, the Patent Office ruled in favour of the BBC. The 21st century revival of the programme became the centrepiece of BBC One's Saturday schedule and "defined the channel". Many renowned actors asked for or were offered guest-starring roles in various stories. According to an article in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' in 2009, the revival of ''Doctor Who'' had consistently received high ratings, both in number of viewers and as measured by the

Appreciation Index The Audience Appreciation Index (AI) is an indicator measured from 0 to 100 of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by the B ...

. In 2007, Caitlin Moran, television reviewer for ''

'', wrote that ''Doctor Who'' is "quintessential to being British". According to

, the American film director Steven Spielberg has commented that "the world would be a poorer place without ''Doctor Who''". On 4 August 2013, a live programme titled ''Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor'' was broadcast on BBC One, during which the actor who was going to play the Twelfth Doctor was revealed. The live show was watched by an average of 6.27 million in the UK, and was also simulcast in the United States, Canada and Australia.

Episodes

''Doctor Who'' originally ran for 26 seasons on BBC One, from 23 November 1963 until 6 December 1989. During the original run, each weekly episode formed part of a story (or "serial")—usually of four to six parts in earlier years and three to four in later years. Some notable exceptions were: ''

The Daleks' Master Plan ''The Daleks' Master Plan'' is the mostly missing third serial of the third season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in twelve weekly parts from 13 November 1965 to 29 January 1966. Thi ...

'', which aired twelve episodes (plus an earlier one-episode teaser, "

Mission to the Unknown "Mission to the Unknown" is the second serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Derek Martinus, the single episode was broadcast on BBC1 on 9 October 19 ...

", featuring none of the regular cast); almost an entire season of seven-episode serials (season 7); the ten-episode serial ''

The War Games ''The War Games'' is the seventh and final serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969. In the serial, an unnamed alien r ...

'';''

''. Writers

Malcolm Hulke Malcolm Ainsworth Hulke (21 November 1924 – 6 July 1979) was a British television writer and author of the industry "bible" ''Writing for Television in the 70s''. He is remembered chiefly for his work on the science fiction series ''Doctor Wh ...

and

Terrance Dicks Terrance William Dicks (14 April 1935 – 29 August 2019) was an English author and television screenwriter, script editor and producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', working a ...

, Director

David Maloney David John Lee Maloney (14 December 1933 – 18 July 2006) was a British television director and producer, best known for his work on the BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', ''Blake's 7'' and ''The Day of the Triffids''. ''The Guardi ...

, Producer

Derrick Sherwin Derrick George Sherwin (16 April 1936 – 17 October 2018) was an English television producer, writer, story editor and actor. After beginning his career in the theatre, Sherwin became an actor in television before moving into writing. He becam ...

. ''Doctor Who''. BBC. BBC One, London. 19 April 1969 – 21 June 1969. and ''

The Trial of a Time Lord The twenty-third season of British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', known collectively as ''The Trial of a Time Lord'', aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986. It contained four adventures: ''The Mysterious ...

'', which ran for fourteen episodes (albeit divided into three production codes and four narrative segments) during

season 23 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

.''

''. Writers Robert Holmes, Philip Martin and

Pip and Jane Baker Ernest Albert "Pip" Baker (3 January 1929 – 14 April 2020) and Iris E. E. "Jane" Baker (30 December 1924 – 29 August 2014), professionally known as Pip and Jane Baker, were an English husband-and-wife team of television writers known mainly ...

, Directors

Nicholas Mallett Nicholas Mallett (6 May 1945 – 30 January 1997) was a British television director. Mallett was a production unit manager on ''Blake's 7''. As a director, he was responsible for three '' Doctor Who'' serials between 1986 and 1989: ''The Mysterio ...

, Ron Jones and Chris Clough, Producer

. ''Doctor Who''. BBC. BBC One, London. 6 September 1986 – 6 December 1986. Occasionally, serials were loosely connected by a story line, such as

season 8 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

focusing on the Doctor battling a rogue Time Lord called the Master, season 16's quest for

the Key to Time The sixteenth season of British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', known collectively as ''The Key to Time'', began on 2 September 1978 with ''The Ribos Operation'', and ended with ''The Armageddon Factor''. The arc was originally ...

, season 18's journey through E-Space and the theme of entropy, and season 20's Black Guardian trilogy. The programme was intended to be educational and for family viewing on the early Saturday evening schedule. It initially alternated stories set in the past, which taught younger audience members about history, and with those in the future or outer space, focusing on science. This was also reflected in the Doctor's original companions, one of whom was a science teacher and another a history teacher. However, science fiction stories came to dominate the programme, and the history-oriented episodes, which were not popular with the production team, were dropped after '' The Highlanders'' (1967). While the show continued to use historical settings, they were generally used as a backdrop for science fiction tales, with one exception: '' Black Orchid'' (1982), set in 1920s England.'' Black Orchid''. Writer

Terence Dudley Terence Dudley (28 September 1919 – 25 December 1988) was a British television director, producer and screenwriter who worked on many programmes for the BBC. Dudley produced the BBC science fiction series ''Doomwatch'' (1970—72), and direct ...

, Director Ron Jones, Producer

. ''Doctor Who''. BBC. BBC One, London. 1 March 1982 – 2 March 1982. The early stories were serialised in nature, with the narrative of one story flowing into the next, and each episode having its own title, although produced as distinct stories with their own production codes. Following ''

The Gunfighters ''The Gunfighters'' is the seventh serial of the third season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 April to 21 May 1966. The serial is set in and around the tow ...

'' (1966), however, each serial was given its own title, and the individual parts were assigned episode numbers. Of the programme's many writers, Robert Holmes was the most prolific, while

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), BBC radio comedy, ''The H ...

became the most well known outside ''Doctor Who'' itself, due to the popularity of his '' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' works. The serial format changed for the 2005 revival, with what was now called a series usually consisting of thirteen 45-minute, self-contained episodes (60 minutes with adverts, on overseas commercial channels), and an extended 60-minute episode broadcast on Christmas Day. This system was shortened to twelve episodes and one Christmas special following the revival's eighth series, and ten episodes from the eleventh series. Each series includes standalone and multiple episodic stories, often linked with a loose story arc resolved in the series finale. As in the early "classic" era, each episode has its own title, whether standalone or part of a larger story. Occasionally, regular-series episodes will exceed the 45-minute run time; notably, the episodes "

Journey's End ''Journey's End'' is a 1928 dramatic play by English playwright R. C. Sherriff, set in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, towards the end of the First World War. The story plays out in the officers' dugout of a British Army infantry c ...

" from 2008 and " The Eleventh Hour" from 2010 exceeded an hour in length. ''Doctor Who'' instalments have been televised since 1963, ranging between 25-minute episodes (the most common format for the classic era), 45/50-minute episodes (for ''

Resurrection of the Daleks ''Resurrection of the Daleks'' is the fourth serial of the 21st season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on BBC1 between 8 February and 15 February 1984. The serial ...

'' in the 1984 series, a single season in 1985, and the most common format for the revival era since 2005), two feature-length productions (1983's ''

The Five Doctors ''The Five Doctors'' is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', produced in celebration of the programme's 20th anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago ...

'' and the 1996 television film), twelve Christmas specials (most of approximately 60 minutes' duration, one of 72 minutes), and four additional specials ranging from 60 to 75 minutes in 2009, 2010, and 2013. Four mini-episodes, running about eight minutes each, were also produced for the 1993, 2005 and 2007 Children in Need charity appeals, while another mini-episode was produced in 2008 for a ''Doctor Who''–themed edition of

The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

. The 1993 two-part story, entitled ''

Dimensions in Time ''Dimensions in Time'' is a charity special crossover between the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' and the soap opera '' EastEnders'' that ran in two parts on 26 and 27 November 1993. It was filmed on location at Greenwic ...

'', was made in collaboration with the cast of the BBC soap-opera '' EastEnders'' and was filmed partly on the ''EastEnders'' set. A two-part mini-episode was also produced for the 2011 edition of

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

. Starting with the 2009 special "

Planet of the Dead A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...

", the series was filmed in

1080i 1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the scre ...

for

HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

, and broadcast simultaneously on BBC One and

BBC HD BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...

. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show, a special 3D episode, "

The Day of the Doctor ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

", was broadcast in 2013. In March 2013, it was announced that Tennant and Piper would be returning, and that the episode would have a limited cinematic release worldwide. In June 2017, it was announced that due to the terms of a deal between BBC Worldwide and SMG Pictures in China, the company has first right of refusal on the purchase for the Chinese market of future series of the programme until and including Series 15.

Missing episodes

Between 1967 and 1978, large amounts of older material stored in the BBC's various video tape and film libraries were either destroyed or

wiped Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect. Common reasons for loss A significant prop ...

. This included many early episodes of ''Doctor Who'', those stories featuring the first two Doctors:

and

. In all, 97 of 253 episodes produced during the programme's first six years are not held in the BBC's archives (most notably seasons 3, 4, and 5, from which 79 episodes are missing). In 1972, almost all episodes then made were known to exist at the BBC, while by 1978 the practice of wiping tapes and destroying "spare" film copies had been brought to a stop. No 1960s episodes exist on their original videotapes (all surviving prints being film transfers), though some were transferred to film for editing before transmission and exist in their broadcast form. Some episodes have been returned to the BBC from the archives of other countries that bought prints for broadcast or by private individuals who acquired them by various means. Early colour videotape recordings made off-air by fans have also been retrieved, as well as excerpts filmed from the television screen onto 8 mm

cine film Ciné film or cine film is the term commonly used in the UK and historically in the US to refer to the 8 mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm, and 16 mm motion picture film formats used for home movies. It is not normally used to refer to ...

and clips that were shown on other programmes. Audio versions of all lost episodes exist from home viewers who made tape recordings of the show. Short clips from every story with the exception of '' Marco Polo'' (1964), "

" (1965) and ''

The Massacre ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (1966) also exist. In addition to these, there are off-screen photographs made by photographer

John Cura Tele-snaps (often known as telesnaps) were off-screen photographs of British television broadcasts, taken and sold commercially by John Cura (born Alberto Giovanni Cura in Clapham, South London, England; 9 April 1902 – 21 April 1969). From 194 ...

, who was hired by various production personnel to document many of their programmes during the 1950s and 1960s, including ''Doctor Who''. These have been used in fan reconstructions of the serials. The BBC has tolerated these amateur reconstructions, provided they are not sold for profit and are distributed as low-quality copies. One of the most sought-after lost episodes is part four of the last William Hartnell serial, ''

The Tenth Planet ''The Tenth Planet'' is the partly missing second serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 8 to 29 October 1966. It was William Hartnell ...

'' (1966), which ends with the

First Doctor The First Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor William Hartnell. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time ...

transforming into the Second. The only portion of this in existence, barring a few poor-quality silent 8 mm clips, is the few seconds of the regeneration scene, as it was shown on the children's magazine show '' Blue Peter''. With the approval of the BBC, efforts are now under way to restore as many of the episodes as possible from the extant material. "Official" reconstructions have also been released by the BBC on VHS, on MP3 CD-ROM, and as special features on DVD. The BBC, in conjunction with animation studio

Cosgrove Hall Cosgrove Hall Films (also known as Cosgrove Hall Productions) was an English animation studio founded by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall; its headquarters was in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Cosgrove Hall was once a major producer of childre ...

, reconstructed the missing episodes 1 and 4 of '' The Invasion'' (1968), using remastered audio tracks and the comprehensive stage notes for the original filming, for the serial's DVD release in November 2006. The missing episodes of '' The Reign of Terror'' were animated by animation company Theta-Sigma, in collaboration with Big Finish, and became available for purchase in May 2013 through Amazon.com. Subsequent animations made in 2013 include ''

'', ''

The Ice Warriors ''The Ice Warriors'' is the partly missing third serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 11 November to 16 December 1967. In this serial, th ...

'' (1967) and ''

The Moonbase ''The Moonbase'' is the half-missing sixth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 11 February to 4 March 1967. In this serial, the Secon ...

'' (1967). In April 2006, '' Blue Peter'' launched a challenge to find missing ''Doctor Who'' episodes with the promise of a full-scale

model as a reward. In December 2011, it was announced that part 3 of ''

Galaxy 4 ''Galaxy 4'' is the first serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by William Emms and directed by Derek Martinus, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 11 Septem ...

'' (1965) and part 2 of ''

The Underwater Menace ''The Underwater Menace'' is the half-missing fifth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 14 January to 4 February 1967. In this seri ...

'' (1967) had been returned to the BBC by a fan who had purchased them in the mid-1980s without realising that the BBC did not hold copies of them. On 10 October 2013, the BBC announced that films of eleven episodes, including nine missing episodes, had been found in a Nigerian television relay station in Jos. Six of the eleven films discovered were the six-part serial ''

The Enemy of the World ''The Enemy of the World'' is the fourth serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 23 December 1967 to 27 January 1968. The serial is set in Aus ...

'' (1968), from which all but the third episode had been missing. The remaining films were from another six-part serial, ''

The Web of Fear ''The Web of Fear'' is the partly missing fifth serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 3 February to 9 March 1968. The serial is set on the ...

'' (1968), and included the previously missing episodes 2, 4, 5 and 6. Episode 3 of ''The Web of Fear'' is still missing.

Characters

The Doctor

The Doctor was initially shrouded in mystery. In the programme's early days, the character was an eccentric alien traveller of great intelligence who battled injustice while exploring time and space in an unreliable

, the "

" (an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for Time and Relative Dimension in Space), which notably appears much larger on the inside than on the outside (a quality referred to as "dimensionally transcendental"). The initially irascible and slightly sinister Doctor quickly mellowed into a more compassionate figure and was eventually revealed to be a

, whose race are from the planet

, which the Doctor fled by stealing the TARDIS.

Changes of appearance

Producers introduced the concept of

regeneration Regeneration may refer to: Science and technology * Regeneration (biology), the ability to recreate lost or damaged cells, tissues, organs and limbs * Regeneration (ecology), the ability of ecosystems to regenerate biomass, using photosynthesis ...

to permit the recasting of the main character. This was prompted by the poor health of the original star,

. The term "regeneration" was not conceived until the Doctor's third on-screen regeneration; Hartnell's Doctor merely described undergoing a "renewal", and the Second Doctor underwent a "change of appearance". The device has allowed for the recasting of the actor various times in the show's history, as well as the depiction of alternative Doctors either from the Doctor's relative past or future. The serials ''

'' (1976) and ''

Mawdryn Undead ''Mawdryn Undead'' is the third serial of the 20th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was originally broadcast in four twice weekly parts on BBC1 from 1 to 9 February 1983. The serial is set in an Engl ...

'' (1983) established that a Time Lord can only regenerate 12 times, for a total of 13 incarnations. This line became stuck in the public consciousness despite not often being repeated and was recognised by producers of the show as a plot obstacle for when the show finally had to regenerate the Doctor a thirteenth time. The episode "

The Time of the Doctor "The Time of the Doctor" is an episode of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', written by Steven Moffat and directed by Jamie Payne, and was broadcast as the ninth ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special on 25 December 201 ...

" (2013) depicted the Doctor acquiring a new cycle of regenerations, starting from the

Twelfth Doctor The Twelfth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Peter Capaldi in three series as well as four specials. As with previous incar ...

, due to the

Eleventh Doctor The Eleventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is played by Matt Smith in three series as well as five specials. As with previous incarnations of the Doct ...

being the product of the Doctor's twelfth regeneration from his original set. Although the idea of casting a woman as the Doctor had been suggested by the show's writers several times, including by Newman in 1986 and Davies in 2008, until 2017, all official depictions were played by men.

took over the role as the

Thirteenth Doctor The Thirteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the fictional protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme, ''Doctor Who''. She is portrayed by English actress Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to portray the character, st ...

at the end of the 2017 Christmas special and is the first woman to be cast as the character. The show introduced the Time Lords' ability to change sex on regeneration in earlier episodes, first in dialogue, then with

Michelle Gomez Michelle Gomez (born 23 November 1966) is a Scottish actress. She gained recognition for her roles in the comedy series ''The Book Group'' (2002–2003), ''Green Wing'' (2004–2007), and '' Bad Education'' (2012–2013). She went on to appear ...

's version of The Master and

T'Nia Miller T'Nia Miller (born 1980) is a British actress, known for her appearances in television series including '' Witless'' (2016–2018), '' Years and Years'' (2019), ''Free Rein'' (2019), ''The Haunting of Bly Manor'' (2020), and ''Foundation'' (2021 ...

's version of The General. On 8 May 2022, it was announced that

Ncuti Gatwa Mizero Ncuti Gatwa ( ; born 15 October 1992) is a Rwandan-Scottish actor. He rose to prominence as Eric Effiong on the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Sex Education'' (2019–present), which earned him a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Te ...

would take over from Jodie Whittaker as the

Fifteenth Doctor The Fifteenth Doctor will be the next incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme, ''Doctor Who''. He will be portrayed by Rwandan-Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa. Gatwa is the first black actor and t ...

, making him the first black actor to headline the series. On 23 October 2022, it was announced in "

The Power of the Doctor "The Power of the Doctor" is the third and final of the 2022 specials of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', and was broadcast on BBC One on 23 October 2022. The episode was ordered for the occasion of the 100th ann ...

" that David Tennant would return to the show as the

Fourteenth Doctor The Fourteenth Doctor is the current incarnation of the Doctor, the fictional protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme, '' Doctor Who''. The Fourteenth Doctor is portrayed by Scottish actor, David Tennant, who previously por ...

, and would take over from Jodie Whittaker, making him the first actor to play as two incarnations. In addition to those actors who have headlined the series, others have portrayed versions of the Doctor in guest roles. Notably, in 2013,

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

guest-starred as a hitherto unknown incarnation of the Doctor known as the

War Doctor The War Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by the English actor John Hurt. Although he precedes Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor in the ...

in the run-up to the show's 50th anniversary special "

". He is shown in mini-episode "

The Night of the Doctor "The Night of the Doctor" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. It was made available on BBC iPlayer and YouTube on 14 November 2013, as part of the BBC One lead-up to the show's 50th anniver ...

" retroactively inserted into the show's fictional chronology between McGann and Eccleston's Doctors, although his introduction was written so as not to disturb the established numerical naming of the Doctors. The show later introduced another such unknown past Doctor with

Jo Martin Jo Martin (born 29 April) is a British actress. She played Natalie Crouch in the BBC One sitcom '' The Crouches'', which aired between 2003 and 2005. She joined the cast of ''Holby City'' in 2019 as neurosurgeon Max McGerry. Martin portrayed a ...

's recurring portrayal of the

Fugitive Doctor The Fugitive Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. She is portrayed by the English actress Jo Martin, the first non-white person to play the role. Within the ...

, beginning with "

Fugitive of the Judoon "Fugitive of the Judoon" is the fifth episode of the twelfth series of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 26 January 2020. It was written by Vinay Patel and current showrunner Chris C ...

" (2020). An example from the classic series comes from ''

'' (1986), in which

Michael Jayston Michael James (born 29 October 1935), known professionally as Michael Jayston, is an English actor. He played Nicholas II of Russia in the film ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' (1971). He has also made many television appearances, which have include ...

's character the

Valeyard The Valeyard () is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series, '' Doctor Who''. He is described by the Master as an amalgamation of the Doctor's darker sides from between his twelfth and final incar ...

is described as an amalgamation of the darker sides of the Doctor's nature, somewhere between the twelfth and final incarnation. On rare occasions, other actors have stood in for the lead. In ''

'',

Richard Hurndall Richard Gibbon Hurndall (3 November 1910 – 13 April 1984) was an English actor. He is best remembered for replacing William Hartnell in the role of the First Doctor for '' Doctor Who's'' 20th anniversary special '' The Five Doctors''. Caree ...

played the First Doctor due to William Hartnell's death in 1975; 34 years later David Bradley similarly replaced Hartnell in '' Twice Upon a Time''. In ''

Time and the Rani ''Time and the Rani'' is the first serial of the 24th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 7 to 28 September 1987. It was the first to feature Sylvester McCoy ...

'', Sylvester McCoy briefly played the Sixth Doctor during the regeneration sequence, carrying on as the Seventh. In other media, the Doctor has been played by various other actors, including

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

in two films. For more information, see the

list of actors who have played the Doctor Since the beginning of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' in 1963, many actors have played the title character of the Doctor on television and in various BBC-licensed spin-offs on television, stage, radio, film, audio ...

. The casting of a new Doctor has often inspired debate and speculation. Common topics of focus include the Doctor's sex (prior to the casting of Whittaker, all official incarnations were male), race (all Doctors were white prior to the casting of

in "

") and age (the youngest actor to be cast is Smith at 26, and the oldest are Capaldi and Hartnell, both 55).

Meetings of different incarnations

There have been instances of actors returning later to reprise their specific Doctor's role. In 1973's '' The Three Doctors'', William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton returned alongside Jon Pertwee. For 1983's ''

'', Troughton and Pertwee returned to star with Peter Davison, and Tom Baker appeared in previously unseen footage from the uncompleted '' Shada'' serial. For this episode, Richard Hurndall replaced William Hartnell. Patrick Troughton again returned in 1985's ''

The Two Doctors ''The Two Doctors'' is the fourth serial of the 22nd season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC1 from 16 February to 2 March 1985. The serial is set on an alien ...

'' with Colin Baker. In 2007, Peter Davison returned in the Children in Need short "

Time Crash "Time Crash" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on 16 November 2007, as part of the BBC One telethon for the children's charity Children in Need. Written by Steven Moffat, it sta ...

" alongside David Tennant. In "

The Name of the Doctor "The Name of the Doctor" is the thirteenth and final episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 18 May 2013. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed ...

" (2013), the Eleventh Doctor meets a previously unseen incarnation of himself, subsequently revealed to be the

. In the following episode, "

", David Tennant's

Tenth Doctor The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the main protagonist of the BBC science fiction television franchise ''Doctor Who''. He is played by David Tennant in three series as well as nine specials. As with previous incarnations of ...

appeared alongside

as the

and

as the

, as well as brief footage of all the previous actors. Additionally, multiple incarnations of the Doctor have met in various

audio dramas Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

and novels based on the television show. In 2017, the First Doctor (this time portrayed by David Bradley) returned alongside Peter Capaldi in "

The Doctor Falls "The Doctor Falls" is the twelfth and final episode of the tenth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay, and was broadcast on 1 July 2017 on BBC One. I ...

" and " Twice Upon a Time". In 2020's "Fugitive of the Judoon", Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor meets Jo Martin's incarnation of the Doctor, subsequently known as the Fugitive Doctor; they later interact in "The Timeless Children" later that year and "Once Upon Time" in 2021. In her final episode, "

" (2022), Whittaker interacts with the Guardians of the Edge, manifestations of the Doctor's First (Bradley), Fifth (Davison), Sixth (Colin Baker), Seventh (McCoy), and Eighth (McGann) incarnations. Additionally, multiple incarnations of the Doctor have met in various

and novels based on the television show.

Revelations about the Doctor

Throughout the programme's long history, there have been revelations about the Doctor that have raised additional questions. In ''

'' (1976), it was hinted that the First Doctor might not have been the first incarnation (although the other faces depicted might have been incarnations of the Time Lord Morbius). In subsequent stories, the First Doctor was depicted as the earliest incarnation of the Doctor. In ''

'' (1983), the Fifth Doctor explicitly confirmed that he was then currently in his fifth incarnation. Later that same year, during 1983's 20th Anniversary special ''

'', the First Doctor enquires as to the Fifth Doctor's regeneration; when the Fifth Doctor confirms "Fourth", the First Doctor excitedly replies, "Goodness me. So there are five of me now." In 2010, the Eleventh Doctor similarly calls himself "the Eleventh" in " The Lodger". In the 2013 episode "The Time of the Doctor", the Eleventh Doctor clarified that he was the product of the twelfth regeneration due to a previous incarnation which he chose not to count and one other aborted regeneration. The name Eleventh is still used for this incarnation; the same episode depicts the prophesied "Fall of the Eleventh", which had been trailed throughout the series. While the Doctor was early on described as from the planet

, as first mentioned in ''

The Time Warrior ''The Time Warrior'' is the first serial of the 11th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 15 December 1973 to 5 January 1974. The serial introduced Eli ...

'' (1973), these origins were

retconned Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...

in ''

The Timeless Children "The Timeless Children" is the tenth and final episode of the twelfth series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 1 March 2020. It was written by Chris Chibnall, and directed by Jamie ...

'' (2020), and the Doctor was shown as from another unknown dimension or universe. In the same story, it was revealed that First Doctor was not the earliest incarnation of the Doctor. During the Seventh Doctor's era, it was hinted that the Doctor was more than just an ordinary Time Lord. In the 1996 television film, the Eighth Doctor describes himself as being "half human". The BBC's FAQ for the programme notes that "purists tend to disregard this", instead focusing on his Gallifreyan heritage. The programme's first serial, ''

An Unearthly Child ''An Unearthly Child'' (sometimes referred to as ''100,000 BC'') is the first serial of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC TV in four weekly parts from 23 November to 14 December 1963 ...

'', shows that the Doctor has a granddaughter,

Susan Foreman Susan Foreman (also known as Susan Campbell in spin-off media) is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The granddaughter and original companion of the First Doctor, she was played by actress Car ...

. In the 1967 serial, ''

The Tomb of the Cybermen ''The Tomb of the Cybermen'' is the first serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was originally broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 September 1967. In the serial, the ...

'', when

Victoria Waterfield Victoria Waterfield is a fictional character played by Deborah Watling in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. A native of Victorian England, she was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the p ...

doubts the Doctor can remember his family because of "being so ancient", the Doctor says that he can when he really wants to—"The rest of the time they sleep in my mind". The 2005 series reveals that the Ninth Doctor thought he was the last surviving Time Lord, and that his home planet had been destroyed; in "

The Empty Child "The Empty Child" is the ninth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 21 May 2005. It was the first episode written by Steven Moffat, who later beca ...

" (2005), Dr. Constantine states that, "Before the war even began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I am neither." The Doctor remarks in response, "Yeah, I know the feeling." In " Smith and Jones" (2007), when asked if he had a brother, he replied, "No, not any more." In both "

Fear Her "Fear Her" is the eleventh episode of the second series of the British science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 24 June 2006. It was written by Matthew Graham and directed by Euros Lyn. The episode takes place in L ...

" (2006) and "

The Doctor's Daughter "The Doctor's Daughter" is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008. Set on the planet Messaline, the episode features Georgia Moffett as Jen ...

" (2008), he states that he had, in the past, been a father. In "

The Wedding of River Song "The Wedding of River Song" is the thirteenth and final episode in the sixth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', and was first broadcast on BBC One on 1 October 2011. It was written by lead writer and executiv ...

" (2011), it is implied that the Doctor's true name is a secret that must never be revealed; this is explored further in "

" (2013), when River Song speaking his name allows the Great Intelligence to enter his tomb, and in "The Time of the Doctor" (2013) where speaking his true name becomes the signal by which the Time Lords would know they can safely return to the universe.

Companions

The companion figure – generally a human – has been a constant feature in ''Doctor Who'' since the programme's inception in 1963. One of the roles of the companion is to be a reminder for the Doctor's "moral duty". The Doctor's first companions seen on-screen were his granddaughter

(

Carole Ann Ford Carole Ann Lillian Ford ( Higgins; born 16 June 1940) is a British actress best known for her roles as Susan Foreman in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and as Bettina in the 1962 film adaptation of '' The Day of the ...

) and her teachers Barbara Wright (

Jacqueline Hill Grace Jacqueline Hill (17 December 1929 – 18 February 1993)Obituary
cuttin ...

) and

Ian Chesterton Ian Chesterton is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and a companion of the First Doctor. He was played in the series by William Russell, and was one of the members of the programme's first r ...

( William Russell). These characters were intended to act as

audience surrogates A narrative technique (known for literary fictional narratives as a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device) is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want —in other words, a stra ...

, through which the audience would discover information about the Doctor, who was to act as a mysterious father figure. The only story from the original series in which the Doctor travels alone is "

" (1976). Notable companions from the earlier series include Romana (

Mary Tamm Mary Tamm (22 March 1950 – 26 July 2012) was a British actress, who appeared in many British TV drama series and serials, and is best known for her role as Romana I in the BBC's science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', starrin ...

and

Lalla Ward Sarah Jill "Lalla" Ward (born 28 June 1951) is an English actress, voice artist and author. She is best known for playing the role of Romana II in the BBC television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1979 to 1981. Career Early career Ward's stage na ...

), a Time Lady;

Sarah Jane Smith Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running BBC Television science fiction on television, science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and two of Doctor Who spin-offs, its spin-offs. Sarah Jane is a dogged in ...

(

Elisabeth Sladen Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen (1 February 1946 – 19 April 2011) was an English actress. She became best known as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series ''Doctor Who'', appearing as a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside ...

); and

Jo Grant Josephine "Jo" Grant, later Jo Jones, is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Jo was introduced by Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks in the first episode of ''D ...

(

Katy Manning Catherine Ann "Katy" Manning (born 14 October 1946) is an English- Australian actress, television presenter, voice artist and former model. Although she has made many appearances on both screen and stage, Manning is best known for her part as t ...

). Dramatically, these characters provide a figure with whom the audience can identify and serve to further the story by requesting exposition from the Doctor and manufacturing peril for the Doctor to resolve. The Doctor regularly gains new companions and loses old ones; sometimes they return home or find new causes—or loves—on worlds they have visited. Some have died during the course of the series. Companions are usually humans or humanoid aliens. Since the 2005 revival, the Doctor generally travels with a primary female companion, who occupies a larger narrative role. Steven Moffat described the companion as the main character of the show, as the story begins anew with each companion and she undergoes more change than the Doctor. The primary companions of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors were

Rose Tyler Rose Tyler is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. She was created by series producer Russell T Davies and portrayed by Billie Piper. With the revival of ''Doctor Who'' in 2005, Rose was introd ...

(

Billie Piper Billie Paul Piper (born Leian Paul Piper; 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer. She initially gained recognition as a singer after releasing her debut single "Because We Want To" at age 15, which made her the youngest woman ...

Martha Jones Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series, ''Torchwood''. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in ''Doctor Who'', afte ...

(

Freema Agyeman Freema Agyeman (; born Frema Agyeman; 20 March 1979) is a British actress. She rose to fame with her role as the Doctor's companion Martha Jones in the BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' (2007–2010), and received further recognition f ...

), and Donna Noble (

Catherine Tate Catherine Jane Ford (born 5 December 1969), known professionally as Catherine Tate, is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the BBC sketch comedy series '' The Catherine Tate Show'' (2004–2007) ...

), with

Mickey Smith Mickey Smith is a fictional character portrayed by Noel Clarke in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The character is introduced as the ordinary, working class boyfriend of Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), a London shopgirl ...

( Noel Clarke) and

Jack Harkness Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series, '' Torchwood''. The character first appears in the 2005 ''Doctor Who'' episode "The Empty Child" and subsequently features in the ...

(

John Barrowman John Scot Barrowman (born 11 March 1967) is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness in ''Doctor Who'' and '' Torchwood'', and as Malcolm Merlyn in the Arrowv ...

) recurring as secondary companion figures. The

became the first to travel with a married couple,

Amy Pond Amelia "Amy" Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Amy is a companion of the series protagonist the Doctor, in his eleventh incarnation, played by ...

(

Karen Gillan Karen Sheila Gillan (; born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress. She gained recognition for her work in British film and television, particularly for playing Amy Pond, a primary companion to the Eleventh Doctor in the science fiction ser ...

) and

Rory Williams Rory Williams is a fictional character portrayed by Arthur Darvill in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Having been introduced at the start of the fifth series, Rory joins the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) ...

(

Arthur Darvill Thomas Arthur Darvill (born 17 June 1982) is an English actor. He is known for portraying Rory Williams, a companion of the Eleventh Doctor in the television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2012), as well as Rip Hunter in ''Legends of Tomorrow'' ...

), whilst out-of-sync meetings with River Song (

Alex Kingston Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston (born 11 March 1963) is an English actress. Active from the early 1980s, Kingston became noted for her television work in both Britain and the US in the 1990s, including her regular role as Dr. Elizabeth Corday in ...

) and

Clara Oswald Clara Oswald is a fictional character in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. She was created by series producer Steven Moffat and portrayed by Jenna Coleman. Clara was introduced in the Doc ...

(

Jenna Coleman Jenna-Louise Coleman (born 27 April 1986), known professionally as Jenna Coleman, is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Jasmine Thomas in the soap opera ''Emmerdale'', Clara Oswald in the science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', Q ...

) provided ongoing story arcs that continued with the

. The tenth series included the alien

Nardole Nardole is a fictional character created by Steven Moffat and portrayed by Matt Lucas in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is a companion of the Twelfth Doctor, an incarnation of the alien time tra ...

(

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...

) and introduced

Pearl Mackie Pearl Mackie is a British actress. She is best known for playing Bill Potts in the long-running television series '' Doctor Who''. Mackie is a 2010 graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Her first major television role came in 2014, w ...

as Bill Potts, the Doctor's first openly gay companion. Pearl Mackie said that the increased representation of LGBTQ people is important on a mainstream show. The

has primarily travelled with

Ryan Sinclair Ryan Sinclair is a fictional character created by Chris Chibnall and portrayed by Tosin Cole in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Introduced in the first episode of Series 11, Ryan was a companion of J ...

(

Tosin Cole Tosin Cole (born 23 July 1992) is an American-born British actor. He is known for various roles in British television series and films. He began his on-screen career starring in '' The Cut'' and ''EastEnders: E20'', later securing a regular rol ...

Graham O'Brien Graham O'Brien is a fictional character created by Chris Chibnall and portrayed by Bradley Walsh in the long-running British sci-fi television series '' Doctor Who''. A retired bus driver from Essex who is in remission from cancer, the character ...

(

Bradley Walsh Bradley John Walsh (born 4 June 1960) is an English actor, comedian, singer, television presenter, and former professional footballer. Walsh is known for his roles as Danny Baldwin in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2004–2006), a ...

Yasmin Khan Yasmin Khan is a historian of British India and Associate Professor of History at Kellogg College, Oxford. Education and career Born in 1977 to Pakistani and Anglo-Irish parents in Kingston-upon-Thames, Khan completed her BA in history at S ...

(

Mandip Gill Mandip Kaur Gill (born 5 January 1988) is an English actress. Her first television role came in 2012 when she was cast as Phoebe McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. After departing the series in 2015, Gill went on to have guest r ...

), and Dan Lewis (

John Bishop John Marcus Bishop (born 30 November 1966) is an English comedian, presenter, actor and former footballer. Bishop formerly played football as a midfielder for Winsford United F.C., Crewe Alexandra F.C., Runcorn F.C., Rhyl F.C., Witton Al ...

). Some companions have gone on to reappear, either in the main series or in spin-offs. Sarah Jane Smith became the central character in ''

'' (2007–2011) following a return to ''Doctor Who'' in 2006. Guest stars in the series include former companions Jo Grant, K9, and

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, generally referred to simply as the Brigadier, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', created by writers Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln and ...

(

Nicholas Courtney William Nicholas Stone Courtney (16 December 1929 – 22 February 2011) was an Egyptian-born British actor. He was known for his long-running role as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Ea ...

). The character of Jack Harkness also served to launch a spin-off, ''

'' (2006–2011), in which Martha Jones also appeared.

Adversaries

When Sydney Newman commissioned the series, he specifically did not want to perpetuate the cliché of the " bug-eyed monster" of science fiction. However, monsters were popular with audiences and so became a staple of ''Doctor Who'' almost from the beginning. With the show's 2005 revival, executive producer Russell T Davies stated his intention to reintroduce the classic

icons An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...

of ''Doctor Who''. The

Auton The Autons are an artificial life form from the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and adversaries of the Doctor. They were originally created by scriptwriter Robert Holmes for Jon Pertwee's first serial as the Doctor, ' ...

s with the Nestene Consciousness and

s returned in series 1,

in series 2, the

Macra Macra is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about northwest of Cuneo. Macra borders the following municipalities: Celle di Macra, Marmora, Sampeyre, San Dam ...

and the Master in series 3, the Sontarans and

in series 4, and the

s including

Rassilon Rassilon is a fictional character in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of Time Lord society on the planet Gallifrey and its first lea ...

in the 2009–2010 Specials. Davies' successor, Steven Moffat, has continued the trend by reviving the

Silurians The Silurians are a race of reptilian humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. The species first appeared in ''Doctor Who'' in the 1970 serial '' Doctor Who and the Silurians'', and were created ...

in series 5, Cybermats in series 6, the Great Intelligence and the

Ice Warrior The Ice Warriors are a fictional Extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial race of List of reptilian humanoids, reptilian humanoids in the long-running British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' ...

s in Series 7, and

Zygon The Zygons are an extraterrestrial race in the long-running British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. The Zygons have shape-shifting abilities, allowing them to replicate the appearance of another being. Limited by the sma ...

s in the 50th Anniversary Special. Since its 2005 return, the series has also introduced new recurring aliens:

Slitheen The Slitheen are a fictional family of massive, bipedal extraterrestrials from the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and are adversaries of the Ninth Doctor and later Sarah Jane Smith. The Slitheen are of the egg-laying ...

(Raxacoricofallapatorians),

Ood The Ood are an alien species with telepathic abilities from the long-running science fiction series '' Doctor Who''. In the series' narrative, they live in the distant future (circa 42nd century). The Ood are portrayed as a slave race, natura ...

Judoon The Judoon are a fictional extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial species of mercenary police from the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'' and Spin-off (media), its spin-offs, first appear ...

Weeping Angel The Weeping Angels are a race of predatory creatures from the long-running science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. They were introduced in the 2007 episode "Blink", making repeat appearances in later episodes. They also appeared in the spin-off s ...

s and the Silence. Besides infrequent appearances by enemies such as the Ice Warriors,

Ogron Ogrons are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Ogrons are low-intelligence, ape-like hominids who live in scattered communities on the rocky planet Ograviss, on the outer fringe ...

s, the Rani, and

Black Guardian This is a list of villains from the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. For other, related lists, see below. See also * List of ''Doctor Who'' supporting characters * List of ''Doctor Who'' henchmen * Lis ...

, three adversaries have become particularly iconic: the Daleks, the Cybermen, and the Master.

Daleks

The Dalek race, which first appeared in the show's second serial in 1963, are ''Doctor Who''s oldest villains. The Daleks are

Kaled The Daleks ( ) are a Extraterrestrial life in popular culture, fictional extraterrestrial race of mutant (fiction), mutants from the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The mutated remains of ...

s from the planet

Skaro Skaro is a fictional planet in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was created by the writer Terry Nation as the home planet of the Daleks. In ''The Daleks'' (1963–64), Skaro is described as being the twelfth ...

, mutated by the scientist

and housed in mechanical armour shells for mobility. The actual creatures resemble octopuses with large, pronounced brains. Their armour shells have a single eye-stalk, a sink-plunger-like device that serves the purpose of a hand, and a

directed-energy weapon A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include w ...

. Their main weakness is their eyestalk; attacks upon them using various weapons can blind a Dalek, making it go mad. Their chief role in the series plot, as they frequently remark in their instantly recognisable metallic voices, is to "exterminate" all non-Dalek beings. They even attack the

s in the Time War, as shown during the 50th Anniversary of the show. They continue to be a recurring 'monster' within the Doctor Who franchise, their most recent appearance being the 2022 episode "

". Davros has also been a recurring figure since his debut in ''

Genesis of the Daleks ''Genesis of the Daleks'' is the fourth serial of the twelfth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was written by Terry Nation and directed by David Maloney, and originally broadcast in six weekly parts fr ...

'', although played by several different actors. The Daleks were created by the writer

(who intended them to be an allegory of the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

) and BBC designer

Raymond Cusick Raymond Patrick Cusick (28 April 1928 – 21 February 2013) was a designer for the BBC. He is best known for designing the Daleks, a race of aliens who move around in tank-like travel machines, for the science fiction television series ''Doctor ...

. The Daleks' début in the programme's second serial, ''

'' (1963–1964), made both the Daleks and ''Doctor Who'' very popular. A Dalek appeared on a postage stamp celebrating British popular culture in 1999, photographed by

Lord Snowdon Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, (7 March 1930 – 13 January 2017), was a British photographer and filmmaker. He is best known for his portraits of world notables, many of them published in ''Vogue'', ''Vanity Fai ...

. In "

Victory of the Daleks "Victory of the Daleks" is the third episode in the fifth series of British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Andrew Gunn, it was first broadcast on BBC One on 17 April 2010. In the epis ...

" a new set of Daleks were introduced that come in a range of colours; the colour denoting its role within the species.

Cybermen

Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's Counter-Earth, twin planet Mondas that began to implant more and more artificial parts into their bodies. This led to the race becoming coldly logical and calculating cyborgs, with emotions usually only shown when naked aggression was called for. With the demise of Mondas, they acquired Telos as their new home planet. They continue to be a recurring 'monster' within the ''Doctor Who'' franchise. The 2006 series introduced a new variation of Cybermen. These Cybus Cybermen were created in a parallel universe (fiction), parallel universe by the mad inventor John Lumic; he was attempting to preserve the humans by transplanting their brains into powerful metal bodies, sending them orders using a mobile phone network and inhibiting their emotions with an electronic chip.

The Master

The Master is the Doctor's archenemy, a renegade

who desires to rule the universe. Conceived as "Professor Moriarty to the Doctor's Sherlock Holmes", the character first appeared in 1971. As with the Doctor, the role has been portrayed by several actors, since the Master is a Time Lord as well and able to regenerate; the first of these actors was Roger Delgado, who continued in the role until his death in 1973. The Master was briefly played by Peter Pratt and Geoffrey Beevers until Anthony Ainley took over and continued to play the character until Doctor Who's hiatus in 1989. The Master returned in the 1996 television movie of ''Doctor Who (1996 film), Doctor Who'', and was played by American actor Eric Roberts. Following the series revival in 2005, Derek Jacobi provided the character's re-introduction in the 2007 episode "Utopia (Doctor Who), Utopia". During that story, the role was then assumed by John Simm, who returned to the role multiple times throughout the

's tenure. As of the 2014 episode "Dark Water (Doctor Who), Dark Water", it was revealed that the Master had become a female incarnation or "Time Lady", going by the name of "Missy" (short for Mistress, the feminine equivalent of "Master"). This incarnation is played by

. Simm returned to his role as the Master alongside Gomez in the tenth series. The Master returned for the 2020 Doctor Who (series 12), twelfth series with Sacha Dhawan in the role. The character had dubbed himself the "Spy Master" referencing a role he had taken with MI6.

Music

Theme music

The Doctor Who theme music, ''Doctor Who'' theme music was one of the first electronic music signature tunes for television, and after more than a half century remains one of the most easily recognised. The original theme was composed by Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, with assistance from Dick Mills, and was released as a single on Decca F 11837 in 1964. The Derbyshire arrangement served, with minor edits, as the theme tune-up to the end of Doctor Who (season 17), season 17 (1979–1980). It is regarded as a significant and innovative piece of electronic music recorded well before the availability of commercial synthesisers or multitrack mixers. Each note was individually created by cutting, splicing, speeding up and slowing down segments of Magnetic tape sound recording, analogue tape containing recordings of a single plucked string, white noise, and the simple harmonic waveforms of Tone generator, test-tone oscillators, intended for calibrating equipment and rooms, not creating music. New techniques were invented to allow Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing of the music, as this was before the era of multitrack tape machines. On hearing the finished result, Grainer asked, "Jeez, Delia, did I write that?" She answered, "Most of it." Although Grainer was willing to give Derbyshire the co-composer credit, it was against BBC policy at the time. Derbyshire would not receive an on-screen credit until the 50th-anniversary story "The Day of the Doctor" in 2013. A different arrangement was recorded by Peter Howell (musician), Peter Howell for season 18 (1980), which was in turn replaced by Dominic Glynn's arrangement for the season-long serial ''

'' in

(1986). Keff McCulloch provided the new arrangement for the Seventh Doctor's era, which lasted from Doctor Who (season 24), season 24 (1987) until the series' suspension in 1989. American composer John Debney created a new arrangement of Ron Grainer's original theme for '' Doctor Who'' in 1996. For the return of the series in 2005, Murray Gold provided a new arrangement which featured sampling (music), samples from the 1963 original with further elements added; in the 2005 Christmas episode "The Christmas Invasion". A new arrangement of the theme, once again by Gold, was introduced in the 2007 Christmas special episode, "Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who), Voyage of the Damned"; Gold returned as composer for the 2010 series. He was responsible for a new version of the theme which was reported to have had a hostile reception from some viewers. In 2011, the theme tune charted at number 228 of radio station Classic FM's Hall of Fame, a survey of classical music tastes. A revised version of Gold's 2010 arrangement had its debut over the opening titles of the 2012 Christmas special "The Snowmen", and a further revision of the arrangement was made for the 50th Anniversary special "

" in November 2013. Versions of the "Doctor Who Theme" have also been released as pop music. In the early 1970s, Jon Pertwee, who had played the Third Doctor, recorded a version of the Doctor Who theme with spoken lyrics, titled, "Who Is the Doctor". In 1978, a disco version of the theme in the UK, Denmark and Australia by the group Mankind, which reached number 24 in the UK charts. In 1988, the band The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (later known as The KLF) released the single "Doctorin' the Tardis" under the name The Timelords, which reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in Australia; this version incorporated several other songs, including "Rock and Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter (who recorded vocals for some of the CD-single remix versions of "Doctorin' the Tardis"). Others who have covered or reinterpreted the theme include Orbital (band), Orbital, Pink Floyd, the Australian string ensemble FourPlay Electric String Quartet, Fourplay, New Zealand punk band Blam Blam Blam, The Pogues, Thin Lizzy, Dub Syndicate, and the comedians Bill Bailey and Mitch Benn. Both the theme and obsessive fans were satirised on ''The Chaser's War on Everything''. The theme tune has also appeared on many compilation CDs, and has made its way into mobile-phone ringtones. Fans have also produced and distributed their own remixes of the theme. In January 2011, the Mankind version was released as a music download, digital download on the album ''Gallifrey And Beyond''. On 26 June 2018, producer Chris Chibnall announced that the musical score for Doctor Who (series 11), series 11 would be provided by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire alumnus Segun Akinola.

Incidental music

Most of the innovative incidental music for ''Doctor Who'' has been specially commissioned from freelance composers, although in the early years some episodes also used Royalty free music, stock music, as well as occasional excerpts from original recordings or cover versions of songs by popular music acts such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys. Since its 2005 return, the series has featured occasional use of excerpts of pop music from the 1970s to the 2000s. The incidental music for the first ''Doctor Who'' adventure, ''An Unearthly Child'', was written by Norman Kay (composer), Norman Kay. Many of the stories of the

period were scored by electronic music pioneer Tristram Cary, whose ''Doctor Who'' credits include ''The Daleks'', '' Marco Polo'', ''The Daleks' Master Plan'', ''The Gunfighters'' and ''The Mutants''. Other composers in this early period included Richard Rodney Bennett, Carey Blyton and Geoffrey Burgon. The most frequent musical contributor during the first 15 years was Dudley Simpson, who is also well known for his theme and incidental music for ''Blake's 7'', and for his haunting theme music and score for the original 1970s version of ''The Tomorrow People''. Simpson's first ''Doctor Who'' score was ''Planet of Giants'' (1964) and he went on to write music for many adventures of the 1960s and 1970s, including most of the stories of the Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker periods, ending with ''The Horns of Nimon'' (1979). He also made a cameo appearance in ''The Talons of Weng-Chiang'' (as a Music hall conductor). In 1980 starting with the serial ''The Leisure Hive'' the task of creating incidental music was assigned to the Radiophonic Workshop. Paddy Kingsland and Peter Howell (musician), Peter Howell contributed many scores in this period and other contributors included Roger Limb, Malcolm Clarke (composer), Malcolm Clarke and Jonathan Gibbs (composer), Jonathan Gibbs. The Radiophonic Workshop was dropped after 1986's ''

'' series, and Keff McCulloch took over as the series' main composer until the end of its run, with Dominic Glynn and Mark Ayres also contributing scores. From the 2005 revival to the 2017 Christmas episode " Twice Upon a Time", all incidental music for the series was composed by Murray Gold and Ben Foster (orchestrator), Ben Foster, and has been performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from the 2005 Christmas episode "The Christmas Invasion" onwards. A concert featuring the orchestra performing music from the first two series took place on 19 November 2006 to raise money for Children in Need. David Tennant hosted the event, introducing the different sections of the concert. Murray Gold and

answered questions during the interval and

s and

appeared whilst music from their stories was played. The concert aired on BBC Red Button, BBCi on Christmas Day 2006. A Doctor Who Prom (2008), Doctor Who Prom was celebrated on 27 July 2008 in the Royal Albert Hall as part of the annual BBC Proms. The BBC Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic Choir performed Murray Gold's compositions for the series, conducted by Ben Foster, as well as a selection of classics based on the theme of space and time. The event was presented by

and guest-presented by various other stars of the show with numerous monsters participating in the proceedings. It also featured the specially filmed mini-episode "Music of the Spheres (Doctor Who), Music of the Spheres", written by Russell T Davies and starring David Tennant. On 26 June 2018, producer Chris Chibnall announced that the musical score for the eleventh series would be provided by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire alumnus Segun Akinola. Six soundtrack releases have been released since 2005. The Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack, first featured tracks from the first two series, the Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack - Series 3, second and Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack - Series 4, third featured music from the third and fourth series respectively. The Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack - Series 4: The Specials, fourth was released on 4 October 2010 as a two disc special edition and contained music from the 2008–2010 specials (''The Next Doctor'' to "The End of Time (Doctor Who), End of Time Part 2"). The Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack - Series 5, soundtrack for Series 5 was released on 8 November 2010. In February 2011, a soundtrack was released for the 2010 Christmas special: "A Christmas Carol", and in December 2011 the Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack - Series 6, soundtrack for Series 6 was released, both by Silva Screen Records. In 2013, a 50th-anniversary boxed set of audio CDs was released featuring music and sound effects from Doctor Who's 50-year history. The celebration continued in 2016 with the release of Doctor Who: The 50th Anniversary Collection Four LP Box Set by New York City-based Spacelab9. The company pressed 1,000 copies of the set on "Metallic Silver" vinyl, dubbed the "Cyberman Edition".

Viewership

United Kingdom

Premiering the day after the

, the first episode of ''Doctor Who'' was repeated with the second episode the following week. ''Doctor Who'' has always appeared initially on the BBC's mainstream

channel, where it is regarded as a family show, drawing audiences of many millions of viewers; episodes were also repeated on BBC Three (former), BBC Three, before it transitioned to an BBC Three (online), online-only channel. The programme's popularity has waxed and waned over the decades, with three notable periods of high ratings.; The first of these was the "Dalekmania" period (), when the popularity of the Daleks regularly brought ''Doctor Who'' ratings of between 9 and 14 million, even for stories which did not feature them. The second was the mid to late 1970s, when Tom Baker occasionally drew audiences of over 12 million. During the ITV (TV network), ITV network strike of 1979, viewership peaked at 16 million. Figures remained respectable into the 1980s, but fell noticeably after the programme's 23rd series was postponed in 1985 and the show was off the air for 18 months. Its late 1980s performance of three to five million viewers was seen as poor at the time and was, according to the BBC Board of Control, a leading cause of the programme's 1989 suspension. Some fans considered this disingenuous, since the programme was scheduled against the soap opera ''Coronation Street'', the most popular show at the time. During Tennant's run (the third notable period of high ratings), the show had consistently high viewership; with the Christmas specials regularly attracting over 10 million. The BBC One broadcast of "Rose (Doctor Who episode), Rose", the first episode of the 2005 revival, drew an average audience of 10.81 million, third highest for BBC One that week and seventh across all channels. The current revival also garners the highest audience

of any drama on television.

International

''Doctor Who'' has been broadcast internationally outside of the United Kingdom since 1964, a year after the show first aired. , the modern series has been broadcast in more than 50 countries. The 50th anniversary was broadcast In 94 countries and screened to more than half a million people in cinemas across Australia, Latin America, North America and Europe. The scope of the broadcast was a world record, according to ''

''. ''Doctor Who'' is one of the five top-grossing titles for BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm. BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith (BBC executive), John Smith has said that ''Doctor Who'' is one of a small number of "Superbrands" which Worldwide will promote heavily. Only four episodes have premiere showings on channels other than

. The 1983 20th anniversary special ''

'' had its début on 23 November (the actual date of the anniversary) on a number of PBS stations two days before its BBC One broadcast. The 1988 story ''Silver Nemesis'' was broadcast with all three episodes airing back to back on Television New Zealand, TVNZ in New Zealand in November, after the first episode had been shown in the UK but before the final two instalments had aired there. Starting with the 60th anniversary specials in 2023, ''Doctor Who'' will be released on Disney+ outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Oceania

New Zealand was the first country outside the United Kingdom to screen ''Doctor Who'', beginning in September 1964, and continued to screen the series for many years, including the new revived series that aired on Prime (New Zealand TV channel), Prime Television from 2005–2017. In 2018, the series is aired on Fridays on TVNZ 2, and on TVNZ On Demand on the same episode as the UK. The series moved to TVNZ 1 in 2021. In Australia, the show has had a strong fan base since its inception, having been exclusively first run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) since January 1965. The ABC has periodically repeated episodes; of note were the daily screenings of all available classic episodes starting in 2003 for the show's 40th anniversary and the weekly screenings of all available revived episodes in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary. The ABC broadcast the modern series' first run on ABC1 and ABC Me, with repeats on ABC2 and streaming available on ABC iview.

Americas

The series also has a fan base in the United States, where it was shown in Broadcast syndication, syndication from the 1970s to the 1990s, particularly on PBS stations. TVOntario picked up the show in 1976 beginning with '' The Three Doctors'' and aired each series (several years late) through to series 24 in 1991. From 1979 to 1981, TVO airings were bookended by science-fiction writer Judith Merril who introduced the episode and then, after the episode concluded, tried to place it in an educational context in keeping with TVO's status as an educational channel. Its airing of ''The Talons of Weng-Chiang'' was cancelled as a result of accusations that the story was racism, racist; the story was later broadcast in the 1990s on cable station YTV. CBC began showing the series again in 2005. The series moved to the Canadian cable channel Space (Canadian TV channel), Space in 2009. Series three began broadcasting on CBC on 18 June 2007 followed by the second Christmas special, "The Runaway Bride (Doctor Who), The Runaway Bride" at midnight, and the Sci Fi Channel began on 6 July 2007 starting with the second Christmas special at 8:00 pm E/P followed by the first episode. Series four aired in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel (now known as Syfy), beginning in April 2008. It aired on CBC beginning 19 September 2008, although the CBC did not air the "Voyage of the Damned" special. The Canadian cable network Space (now known as CTV Sci-Fi Channel) broadcast "The Next Doctor" (in March 2009) and all subsequent series and specials.

Asia

Series 1 through 3 of Doctor Who were broadcast on various NHK channels from 2006 to 2008 with Japanese subtitles. Beginning on 2 August 2009, upon the launch of Disney XD in Japan, the series has been broadcast with Japanese dubbing.

Home media

A wide selection of serials is available from BBC Video on DVD, on sale in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the United States. Every fully extant serial has been released on VHS, and BBC Worldwide continues to regularly List of Doctor Who DVD releases, release serials on DVD. The 2005 series is also available in its entirety on Universal Media Disc, UMD for the PlayStation Portable. Eight original series serials have been released on Laserdisc and many have also been released on Betamax tape and Video 2000. One episode of Doctor Who (The Infinite Quest) was released on VCD. Only the series from 2005 onwards are also available on Blu-ray, except for the 1970 story ''Spearhead from Space'', released in July 2013 and the 1996 TV film '' Doctor Who'' released in September 2016. Over 600 episodes of the classic series (the first 8 Doctors, from 1963 to 1996) are available to stream on BritBox (launched in 2017) and Pluto TV. From 2020, the revival series is available for streaming on HBO Max, as well as spinoffs ''Sarah Jane Adventures'' and ''Torchwood''.

Adaptations and other appearances

Dr. Who films

There are two Dr. Who feature films: ''Dr. Who and the Daleks'', released in 1965 and ''Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.'' in 1966. Both are retellings of existing television stories (specifically, the first two Dalek serials, ''

'' and ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth'' respectively) with a larger budget and alterations to the series concept. In these films,

plays a human scientist named "Dr. Who" who travels with his granddaughter, niece, and other companions in a time machine he has invented. The Dr. Who (Dalek films)#Other appearances, Cushing version of the character reappears in both comic strips and a short story, the latter attempting to reconcile the film continuity with that of the series. In addition, several planned films were proposed, including a sequel, ''The Chase'', loosely based on the The Chase (Doctor Who), original series story, for the Cushing Doctor, plus List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films#Proposed films, many attempted television movie and big screen productions to revive the original ''Doctor Who'', after the original series was cancelled.

starred in Doctor Who (film), the only television film as the eighth incarnation of the Doctor. After the film, he continued the role in audio books and was confirmed as the eighth incarnation through flashback footage and a mini episode in the 2005 revival, effectively linking the two series and the television movie. In 2011, David Yates announced that he had started work with the BBC on a ''Doctor Who'' film, a project that would take three or more years to complete. Yates indicated that the film would take a different approach from ''Doctor Who'', although then ''Doctor Who'' showrunner

stated later that any such film would not be a reboot of the series and that a film should be made by the BBC team and star the current TV Doctor.

Spin-offs

''Doctor Who'' has appeared on stage numerous times. In the early 1970s, Trevor Martin played the role in ''Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday''. In the late 1980s, Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker both played the Doctor at different times during the run of a play titled ''Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure''. For two performances, while Pertwee was ill, David Banks (British actor), David Banks (better known for playing

) played the Doctor. Other original plays have been staged as amateur productions, with other actors playing the Doctor, while

wrote ''The Curse of the Daleks'', a stage play mounted in the late 1960s, but without the Doctor. A pilot episode ("A Girl's Best Friend") for a potential spin-off series, ''K-9 and Company'', aired in 1981, with

reprising her role as companion

and John Leeson as the voice of K9, but was not picked up as a regular series. Concept art for an animated ''Doctor Who'' series was produced by animation company Nelvana in the 1980s, but the series was not produced. Following the success of the 2005 series produced by Russell T Davies, the BBC commissioned Davies to produce a 13-part spin-off series titled ''

'' (an anagram of "Doctor Who"), set in modern-day

and investigating alien activities and crime. The series debuted on BBC Three (former), BBC Three on 22 October 2006.

reprised his role of

from the 2005 series of ''Doctor Who''. Two other actresses who appeared in Doctor Who also star in the series; Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper, who also played the similarly named servant girl Gwyneth in the 2005 ''Doctor Who'' episode "The Unquiet Dead", and Naoko Mori who reprised her role as Toshiko Sato first seen in "Aliens of London". A second series of ''Torchwood'' aired in 2008; for three episodes, the cast was joined by Freema Agyeman reprising her ''Doctor Who'' role of

. A third series was broadcast from 6 to 10 July 2009, and consisted of a single five-part story called ''Children of Earth'' which was set largely in London. A fourth series, ''Torchwood: Miracle Day'' jointly produced by BBC Wales, BBC Worldwide and the American entertainment company Starz debuted in 2011. The series was predominantly set in the United States, though Wales remained part of the show's setting. ''

'', starring

who reprised her role as investigative journalist

, was developed by CBBC (TV channel), CBBC; a special aired on New Year's Day 2007 and a full series began on 24 September 2007. A second series followed in 2008, notable for (as noted above) featuring the return of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. A third in 2009 featured a crossover appearance from the main show by David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. In 2010, a further such appearance featured

as the Eleventh Doctor alongside former companion actress

reprising her role as

. A final, three-story fifth series was transmitted in autumn 2011 – uncompleted due to the death of Elisabeth Sladen in early 2011. An animated serial, ''The Infinite Quest'', aired alongside the 2007 series of ''Doctor Who'' as part of the children's television series ''Totally Doctor Who''. The serial featured the voices of series regulars David Tennant and

but is not considered part of the 2007 series. A second animated serial, ''Dreamland (Doctor Who), Dreamland'', aired in six parts on the BBC Red Button service, and the official ''Doctor Who'' website in 2009. ''

'', featuring students of Coal Hill School, was first aired on-line on BBC Three from 22 October 2016, as a series of eight 45 minute episodes, written by Patrick Ness. Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor appears in the show's first episode. The series was picked up by BBC America on 8 January 2016 and by

a day later. On 7 September 2017, BBC Three controller Damian Kavanagh confirmed that the series had officially been cancelled. Numerous other spin-off series have been created not by the BBC but by the respective owners of the characters and concepts. Such spin-offs include the novel and audio drama series ''Faction Paradox'', ''Iris Wildthyme'' and ''Bernice Summerfield''; as well as the made-for-video series ''P.R.O.B.E.''; the Australian-produced television series ''K-9 (TV series), K-9'', which aired a 26-episode first season on Disney XD (UK & Ireland), Disney XD; and the audio spin-off ''Counter-Measures''.

Aftershows

When the revived series of ''Doctor Who'' was brought back, an aftershow series was created by the BBC, titled ''Doctor Who Confidential''. There have been three aftershow series created, with the latest one titled ''Doctor Who: The Fan Show'', which began airing from the tenth series. Each series follows behind-the-scenes footage on the making of ''Doctor Who'' through clips and interviews with the cast, production crew and other people, including those who have participated in the television series in some manner. Each episode deals with a different topic, and in most cases refers to the ''Doctor Who'' episode that preceded it.

Charity episodes

In 1983, coinciding with the series' 20th anniversary, ''

'' was shown as part of the annual BBC Children in Need Appeal, however it was not a charity-based production, simply scheduled within the line-up of Friday 25 November 1983. This was the programme's first co-production with Australian broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC. At 90 minutes long it was the longest single episode of ''Doctor Who'' produced to date. It featured three of the first five Doctors, a new actor to replace the deceased William Hartnell, and unused footage to represent Tom Baker. In 1993, for the franchise's 30th anniversary, another charity special, ''

'', was produced for Children in Need, featuring all the surviving actors who played the Doctor and a number of previous companions. It also featured a crossover with the soap opera '' EastEnders'', the action taking place in the latter's Albert Square location and around Greenwich. The special was one of several special 3D programmes the BBC produced at the time, using a 3D system that made use of the Pulfrich effect requiring glasses with one darkened lens; the picture would look normal to those viewers who watched without the glasses. In 1999, another special, ''Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death, Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death'', was made for

and later released on VHS. An affectionate parody of the television series, it was split into four segments, mimicking the traditional serial format, complete with cliffhangers, and running down the same corridor several times when being chased (the version released on video was split into only two episodes). In the story, the Doctor (Rowan Atkinson) encounters both the Master (Jonathan Pryce) and the

s. During the special the Doctor is forced to regenerate several times, with his subsequent incarnations played by, in order, Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and Joanna Lumley. The script was written by

, later to be head writer and executive producer to the revived series. Since the return of ''Doctor Who'' in 2005, the franchise has produced two original "mini-episodes" to support Children in Need. The first, which aired in November 2005, was an Doctor Who: Children in Need, untitled seven-minute scene that introduced

as the

. It was followed in November 2007 by "

", a 7-minute scene that featured the Tenth Doctor meeting the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison. A set of two mini-episodes, titled Space and Time (Doctor Who), "Space" and "Time" respectively, were produced to support

. They were aired during the Comic Relief#2011 event, Comic Relief 2011 event. During ''Children in Need 2011'', an exclusively filmed segment showed the Doctor addressing the viewer, attempting to persuade them to purchase items of his clothing, which were going up for auction for Children in Need. ''Children in Need 2012'' featured the mini-episode "The Great Detective (Doctor Who), The Great Detective".

Spoofs and cultural references

''Doctor Who'' has been satirised and spoofed on many occasions by comedians including Spike Milligan (a Dalek invades his bathroom—Milligan, naked, hurls a soap sponge at it) and Lenny Henry. Jon Culshaw frequently impersonates the Fourth Doctor in the

...
''Dead Ringers (comedy), Dead Ringers'' series. Doctor Who fandom, ''Doctor Who'' fandom has also been lampooned on programs such as ''Saturday Night Live'', ''The Chaser's War on Everything'', ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'', ''Family Guy'', ''American Dad!'', ''Futurama'', ''South Park'', ''Community (TV series), Community'' as Inspector Spacetime, ''The Simpsons'' and ''The Big Bang Theory''. As part of the 50th anniversary programmes, former Fifth Doctor Peter Davison directed, wrote and co-starred in the parody ''The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot'', which also starred two other former Doctors, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, and cameo appearances from cast and crew involved in the programme, including showrunner

and Doctors Paul McGann, David Tennant and Matt Smith. The Doctor in his fourth incarnation has been represented on several episodes of ''The Simpsons'' and Matt Groening's other animated series ''Futurama''. A fan of ''Doctor Who'' since childhood, Groening favours Tom Baker's fourth Doctor, with ''Simpsons'' writer Ron Hauge stating, "There are several ''Doctor Who'' actors but Tom Baker is the one we always go with." There have also been many references to ''Doctor Who'' in popular culture and other science fiction, including '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' ("The Neutral Zone (Star Trek: The Next Generation), The Neutral Zone") and ''Leverage (American TV series), Leverage''. In the Channel 4 series ''Queer as Folk (UK TV series), Queer as Folk'' (created by later ''Doctor Who'' executive producer Russell T. Davies), the character of Vince was portrayed as an avid ''Doctor Who'' fan, with references appearing many times throughout in the form of clips from the programme. In a similar manner, the character of Oliver on ''Coupling (British TV series), Coupling'' (created and written by

) is portrayed as a ''Doctor Who'' collector and enthusiast. References to ''Doctor Who'' have also appeared in the young adult fantasy novels ''Brisingr'' and ''High Wizardry'', the video game ''Rock Band (video game), Rock Band'', the Adult Swim comedy show ''Robot Chicken'', the ''Family Guy'' episodes "Blue Harvest (Family Guy), Blue Harvest" and "420 (Family Guy), 420", and the game ''RuneScape''. It has also been referenced in ''Destroy All Humans! 2'', by civilians in the game's variation of England, and multiple times throughout the ''Ace Attorney'' series. ''Doctor Who'' has been a reference in several political cartoons, from a 1964 cartoon in the ''Daily Mail'' depicting Charles de Gaulle as a Dalek to a 2008 edition of ''This Modern World'' by Tom Tomorrow in which the Tenth Doctor informs an incredulous character from 2003 that the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party will nominate Barack Obama, an African-American as its presidential candidate. The word "TARDIS" is an entry in the ''Shorter Oxford English Dictionary'', and the iOS dictionary.

Museums and exhibitions

There have been various exhibitions of ''Doctor Who'' in the United Kingdom, including the now closed exhibitions at: * Land's End (Cornwall) * Blackpool * Llangollen * Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow * Coventry Transport Museum, Coventry * Centre for Life, Newcastle upon Tyne * Melbourne, Australia * Kensington Olympia Two, London * Longleat, which ran for 30 years. *

(the city where the series is filmed). The Cardiff exhibition closed on 9 September 2017.

Merchandise

Since its beginnings, ''Doctor Who'' has generated hundreds of products related to the show, from toys and games to collectible picture cards and postage stamps. These include board games, card games, gamebooks, computer games, roleplaying games, action figures and a pinball game. Many games have been released that feature the Daleks, including Dalek#Computer games, Dalek computer games.

Audio

The earliest ''Doctor Who''–related audio release was a 21-minute narrated abridgement of the First Doctor television story ''The Chase (Doctor Who), The Chase'' released in 1966. Ten years later, the first original Doctor Who audio was released on LP record; ''Doctor Who and the Pescatons'' featuring the Fourth Doctor. The first commercially available audiobook was an abridged reading of the Fourth Doctor story ''State of Decay (Doctor Who), State of Decay'' in 1981. In 1988, during a hiatus in the television show, ''Slipback'', the first radio drama, was transmitted. Since 1999, Big Finish Productions has released several different series of Doctor Who audios on CD. The earliest of these featured the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors, with Paul McGann's Eight Doctor joining the line in 2001. Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor began appearing for Big Finish in 2012. Along with the main range, adventures of the First, Second and Third Doctors have been produced in both limited cast and full cast formats, as well as audiobooks. The 2013 series ''Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctor, Destiny of the Doctor'', produced as part of the series' 50th Anniversary celebrations, marked the first time Big Finish created stories (in this case audiobooks) featuring the Doctors from the revived show. Along with this, in May 2016, the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, appeared alongside Catherine Tate in a collection of three audio adventures. In August 2020, Big Finish announced a new series of audios beginning release in May 2021, featuring Christopher Eccleston reprising his role as the Ninth Doctor. In addition to these main lines, both the BBC and Big Finish have produced original audio dramas and audiobooks based on spin-off material, such as ''Torchwood'' and ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' series. The main range, Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures, holds the ''Guinness World Record'' for the longest-running science fiction audio play series. In 2022, BBC Sounds began airing ''Doctor Who: Redacted'', a 10-episode podcast written by Juno Dawson and starring Charlie Craggs and

. The podcast focuses on a trio of friends who host a paranormal conspiracy podcast, "The Blue Box Files", and end up getting involved in much more than they expected.

Books

''Doctor Who'' books have been published from the mid-sixties through to the present day. From 1965 to 1991 the books published were primarily novelised adaptations of broadcast episodes; beginning in 1991 an extensive line of original fiction was launched, the Virgin New Adventures and Virgin Missing Adventures. Since the relaunch of the programme in 2005, a new range of novels have been published by BBC Books. Numerous non-fiction books about the series, including guidebooks and critical studies, have also been published, and a dedicated ''Doctor Who Magazine'' with newsstand circulation has been published regularly since 1979. This is published by Panini, as is the ''Doctor Who Adventures'' magazine for younger fans. See also: * List of Doctor Who novelisations, List of ''Doctor Who'' novelisations * List of Doctor Who anthologies (2009–present), List of ''Doctor Who'' anthologies (2009–present) * ''Eighth Doctor Adventures'' * ''Past Doctor Adventures'' * ''New Series Adventures''

Video games

Numerous ''Doctor Who'' video games have been created from the mid-80s through to the present day. A ''Doctor Who'' game was planned for the Sega Mega Drive but never released. One of the recent ones is a match-3 game released in November 2013 for iOS, Android (operating system), Android, Amazon App Store and Facebook called ''Doctor Who: Legacy (video game), Doctor Who: Legacy''. It has been constantly updated since its release and features all the Doctors as playable characters as well as over 100 companions. Another video game instalment is LEGO Dimensions – in which Doctor Who is one of the many "Level Packs" in the game. The pack contains the Twelfth Doctor (who can reincarnate into the others), K9, the TARDIS and a Victorian London adventure level area. The game and pack released in November 2015. ''Doctor Who: Battle of Time'' was a digital collectible card game developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment and released for iOS and Android (operating system), Android. It was soft-launched on 30 May 2018 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand, but was shutdown on 26 November of that same year. ''Doctor Who Infinity'' was released on Steam (service), Steam on 7 August 2018. It was nominated for "Best Start-up" at The Independent Game Developers' Association Awards 2018.

Chronology and canonicity

Since the creation of the ''Doctor Who'' character by BBC Television in the early 1960s, a myriad of stories have been published about ''Doctor Who'', in different media: apart from the actual television episodes that continue to be produced by the BBC, there have also been novels, comics, short stories, audio books, radio plays, interactive video games, game books, webcasts, DVD extras, and stage performances. The BBC takes no position on the Canon (fiction), canonicity of any of such stories, and producers of the show have expressed distaste for the idea of canonicity.

Awards

The show has received List of awards and nominations received by Doctor Who, recognition as one of Britain's finest television programmes, winning the 2006 British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series and five consecutive (2005–2010) awards at the National Television Awards during

' tenure as executive producer. In 2011,

became the first Doctor to be nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor, BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor and in 2016,

became the first female to receive a BAFTA nomination for the series, getting a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work as The Master (Doctor Who)#Missy, Missy. In 2013, the Peabody Awards honoured ''Doctor Who'' with an Institutional Peabody "for evolving with technology and the times like nothing else in the known television universe." The programme is listed in ''

'' as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world, the "most successful" science fiction series of all time—based on its overall broadcast ratings,

and book sales, and iTunes traffic— and for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama with its The Day of the Doctor, 50th anniversary special. During its original run, it was recognised for its imaginative stories, creative low-budget special effects, and pioneering use of electronic music (originally produced by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop). In 1975, Doctor Who (season 11), Season 11 of the series won a Writers' Guild of Great Britain award for Best Writing in a Children's Serial. In 1996, BBC television held the "Auntie Awards" as the culmination of their "TV60" series, celebrating 60 years of BBC television broadcasting, where ''Doctor Who'' was voted as the "Best Popular Drama" the corporation had ever produced, ahead of such ratings heavyweights as '' EastEnders'' and ''Casualty (TV series), Casualty''. In 2000, ''Doctor Who'' was ranked third in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century, produced by the British Film Institute and voted on by industry professionals. In 2005, the series came first in a survey by SFX magazine, ''SFX'' magazine of "The Greatest UK Science Fiction and Fantasy Television Series Ever". In Channel 4‘s 2001 list of the 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows, ''Doctor Who'' was placed at number nine. In 2004 and 2007, ''Doctor Who'' was ranked number 18 and number 22 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it as the number 6 sci-fi show. The revived series has received recognition from critics and the public, across various awards ceremonies. It won five BAFTA TV Awards, including British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series, Best Drama Series, the highest-profile and most prestigious British television award for which the series has ever been nominated. It was very popular at the BAFTA Cymru, BAFTA Cymru Awards, with 25 wins overall including Best Drama Series (twice), Best Screenplay/Screenwriter (thrice) and Best Actor. It was also nominated for 7 Saturn Awards, winning the only Saturn Award for Best International Series, Best International Series in the ceremony's history. In 2009, ''Doctor Who'' was voted the 3rd greatest show of the 2000s by Channel 4, behind ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' and ''The Apprentice (UK TV series), The Apprentice''. The episode "Vincent and the Doctor" was short list, shortlisted for a Mind Award at the 2010 Mind Mental Health Media Awards for its "touching" portrayal of Vincent van Gogh. It has won the Short Form of the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, the oldest science fiction/fantasy award for films and series, six times since 2006. The winning episodes were "

"/"The Doctor Dances" (2006), "The Girl in the Fireplace" (2007), "Blink (Doctor Who), Blink" (2008), "The Waters of Mars" (2010), "The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang (Doctor Who), The Big Bang" (2011), and "The Doctor's Wife" (2012). The 2016 Christmas special "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" is also a finalists for the 2017 Hugo Awards. Doctor Who star Matt Smith won Best Actor in the 17th National Television Awards, 2012 National Television awards alongside Karen Gillan who won Best Actress. ''Doctor Who'' has been nominated for over 200 awards and has won over a hundred of them. As a British series, the majority of its nominations and awards have been for national competitions such as the BAFTAs, but it has occasionally received nominations in mainstream American awards, most notably a nomination for "Favorite Sci-Fi Show" in the 2008 People's Choice Awards and the series has been nominated multiple times in the Spike Scream Awards, with Smith winning Best Science Fiction Actor in 2011. The Canadian Constellation Awards have also recognised the series.

Explanatory notes

References

Citations

Cited texts

* * * * *

External links

Official websites

* *
''Doctor Who''
at BBC Worldwide * Archived websites
1963–19962005–20072008

Production website

Reference websites

nbsp;– synopses of all media based on the series (1963–2012) * ''Doctor Who'' at IMDb
196319962005
* * {{Authority control Doctor Who, 1960s British drama television series 1960s British science fiction television series 1963 British television series debuts 1970s British drama television series 1970s British science fiction television series 1980s British drama television series 1980s British science fiction television series 1989 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series 2000s British science fiction television series 2005 British television series debuts 2010s British drama television series 2010s British science fiction television series 2020s British drama television series 2020s British science fiction television series Adventure television series BAFTA winners (television series) BBC Cymru Wales television shows BBC high definition shows BBC Television shows Black-and-white British television shows British science fiction television shows British television series revived after cancellation British time travel television series English-language television shows Fiction about intergalactic travel First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Hugo Award-winning television series Mass media franchises introduced in 1963 Nonlinear narrative television series Peabody Award-winning television programs Saturn Award-winning television series Soft science fiction Space adventure television series Television series about extraterrestrial life Television series about parallel universes Television series by BBC Studios Television series created by C. E. Webber Television series created by Donald Wilson (writer and producer) Television series created by Sydney Newman Television series produced at Pinewood Studios Television series set in the future Television series set on fictional planets Television shows adapted into comics Television shows adapted into films Television shows adapted into novels Television shows adapted into video games Temporal war fiction

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Meetings of different incarnations

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