Iconic TV Series

Doctor Who – My Time Travels as 50 Years a Fan

Doctor Who is the world’s longest-running continuous TV sci-fi drama series. It is one of my all-time favourite TV shows.

It continues to be popular and has become a cult TV mainly in the UK and to some extent in the USA and is gaining popularity around the world.

Today sees the good Doctor celebrating 50 years on TV.

Doctor Who first appeared on BBC television at 17:16: GMT on 23 November 1963.

The BBC bosses wanted a half-hour programme to fill in between the sports programme ‘Grandstand’ and the pop quiz show ‘Juke Box Jury’ (a new group called The Beatles were to figure large in Juke Box Jury and other pop shows of the time…the rest being history!).

A science fiction(sci-fi) show was suggested and program boss Sidney Newman and his team came up with the idea of a grumpy old man who with his grand-daughter (both not from the earth) toured time and space. Verity Lambert was the first Producer and Waris Hussein was the Director of the first few episodes of newly named series, Doctor Who.  Sidney originally wanted the Doctor to travel in history to teach younger viewers; he did not like the idea of time travel to the future with  robots, bug-eyed monsters etc. Verity managed to persuade him that such should be included as story lines to make Dr Who more interesting than just doing time hops in history.

To create futuristic foes for the Doctor, Verity selected the brilliant Terry Nation, a genius TV novelist writer and creator. Terry created the ultimate monsters who terrified us young viewers to the early Doctor Who!

His creation the Daleks became legendary as they were a different kind of creature from previous sci fi aliens. I also liked the Cybermen brilliantly created by Kit Pedler and Ice Warriors of Mars.

The iconic theme music was created by Ron Grainer and incidental music was created by  The BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

In the early 1960s, UK TV generally was still new  to a mass public. I was aged 8 when I started watching the fascinating first episodes of this new sci-fi series and have watched it ever since, seeing Doctors come and go.

The first series was called ‘An Unearthly Child’. It featured the Dr and his granddaughter Susan exploring various eras on earth. They were from the future and another planet.

We learned more details about the enigmatic Doctor, his race and origins as the series continued over the years. We knew that like his species he has two hearts and a slightly different metabolism to humans.exremely long lived  being over a  1000 years!

The Dr and Susan had landed their time ship in a scrap metal yard in 1960s London. Their time ship is called the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension In Space). The TARDIS has a ‘Chameleon Circuit’ which means it can change size and shape to be disguised/camouflaged.

The Dr was a rogue ‘Time Lord’, who we learn, in later series, was from Gallifrey, a planet of ancient  advanced human like beings who could control and safeguarded time travel.

The Doctor had stolen the TARDIS in order to travel in space and time. However his TARDIS was faulty and could not be controlled. It subsequently randomly traveled at any time or to any location space.

The Dr and his future companions who traveled with him for the amazing adventures had to wait and see where in time & space the TARDIS landed. Only in later series did the Dr gain control over the TARDIS’s navigation.

Also the TARDIS’S Chameleon Circuit broke and the time ship could not change from the disguise the Dr first selected when on 1960s earth, which was the now-iconic blue police phone box.

From the 1920s to 1980s the police phone box was used by police officers on beat patrol to communicate with their police station before individual wireless radio technology was invented). Police boxes were a familiar sight in UK cities, towns etc.

As there was no computer-generated imaging (CGI of SFX) in the 1960s, special effects were created by ingenious & imaginative designers and craftsmen, working on a tight budget. They would make accurate models and studio set construction. The TARDIS defied normal earth known physics as it was far bigger on the inside than the outside

Dr Who costume designers were creative. I was lucky as my parents took me to see a Dr. Who exhibition in the late 1960s. I saw the various costumes studio sets etc., close up. The evil Cybermen costumes for example used vacuum cleaner hoses and cut in half small plastic balls (tennis size) painted sliver that were then attached to the silver costume ‘cyber’ suits. These details could not be seen on early TV. 

What helped make the series sustainable were the original stories & good acting that held the viewer.

The first series proved very popular with an incredible 12 million audience ( majority of the viewing population in early days of TV).

The first actor to play the Doctor was the great Bill Hartnell who left the series after a brilliant three years, due to ill-health – how could the series carry on with no Doctor! (not Doctor No from James Bond). The writers and creators came up with the idea that Dr Who could ‘regenerate’ a new body when he died. This allowed Dr Who to continue when future actors decided how long they would like to play the part. Each regenerated Doctor retained most memories and character traits of their previous incarnations, (but courtesy of the actors playing him)  also added their own personality traits, quirkiness, eccentricity, etc. I have my favourite but like them all as for what they bring to each to the role.

New generations enjoy watching Doctor Who and long may it continue. What is the future of the Doctor? Will there be a Doctor Who centenary in 2063?

Who knows 😉

William Hartnell 1963–1966 as the first Doctor.

The first actor and best choice  to play the first Doctor was veteran actor  Bill Hartnell. Bill  portrayed the Dr as an arrogant, irritable, eccentric old  man but he showed a kinder side and with a twinkle in his eyes he defined the role and template for future Doctors.  The viewers did not know much about the Dr, where he came from, his real name and his purpose in travelling in time and space.
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The second Doctor was played by Patrick Troughton  (1966–1969). He needed to be a great Doctor to follow Bill Hartnell. Regenerating the role from Hartnell could have been a catastrophe but it was magic and engaged the viewers from the start. Patrick was & still is my favourite Doctor. Bumbling, scruffy and affable with a keen sharp mind (I think like later US TV Detective Columbo).  Troughton’s Doctor was more of a best mate to his companions – his friendship with Jamie McCrimmon one of the most enduring in the show’s history. Patrick’s children went to my Secondary school and were a few year above me.
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Doctor number three was Jon Pertwee (1970–1974) . He was  suave, dandyish, cool and elegant even in a crisis (almost like John Steed in the Avengers), he was a dab hand at Venusian Aikido (a martial art successfully deployed without ruffling his trademark velvet suit). In his first adventures, the Time Lords disabled the Tardis, exiling him to Earth, so he travelled around in a  canary yellow vintage motor car he called ‘Bessie’ making him more immediate and saving the BBC a fortune in scenery.
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Doctor number four was Tom Baker (1974–1981).  Tom played the Doctor for the longest stint so far. He is one of the most popular doctors. Tom played him as  weird, dangerous and unpredictable. A louche, bohemian.  His scarf and hat were inspired by a Toulouse-Lautrec painting of cabaret singer Aristide Bruant).  He had the eccentricity of Troughton with the authority of Pertwee.
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Doctor number five; Peter Davison (1981–1984) ushered in an era of a slightly darker  Dr Who with grittier stories, matching the mood of 1980s Britain.  He was steady, reassuring and gave us a friendly, accessible cricket loving  Doctor. Davison’s Doctor had charm, calm and moral indignation.

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As Doctor number six; Colin Baker (1984–1986)  was never going to be conventional. He was short-tempered, arrogant  harking back to Hartnell.   His first story saw him strangle his assistant, so here was a Doctor we were not meant to like. After a very long run ,the series was beginning to struggle with interest from the viewers and BBC.  Colin made a good job of the Doctor, but never had the chance to expand the character.

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The seventh  Doctor played  by  Sylvester McCoy (1987–1989, 1996) . He bought the same bumbling trait as Troughton  but added more of the hint of  darkness within the Doctor. A pity this could not be expanded. The BBC finally  lost interest in Dr Who at this time and in 1989 the series  was cancelled and put on hold.

My wife Jean saw Sylvester McCoy the at the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead,  London, (X-ray Department), She looked and saw it was the Doctor.  He looked at her  too and knew she  recognised him and smiled. She was too shy to say anything but she said that she was thinking that the medical doctors of Royal Free Hospital will know that one of their patient’s is a Doctor too and  has  two hearts.  LOL

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The BBC attempted to bring back the good Doctor in a TV movie made in 1996 . It was supposed to lead to an new TV series but  sadly did not happen. Dr Who fan and others did not like the Doctor kissing his companion. Worse, new fans spent the first half getting used to McCoy. But Paul McGann (1996)  was a great Doctor – handsome, wild, energetic, heroic. a tantalising reminder of what might have been with a follow-up TV series.
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After a near nine-year hiatus, Christopher Eccleston (2005) brought the Doctor in the 21st Century.  The new series had excellent CGI, effects and acting. Chris  was cool, gritty and calm and no real traits from past Doctors.   His friendship with companion Billie Piper was inspired.  It was such a shame he only made one series.  He had a lot more to bring to the character and we were looking forward to more. He was Jean’s (a casual Dr Who watcher)  favourite Doctor.

The new Doctor Who producer and screenwriter, Russell T Davies created a renaissance with his new Doctor  and captured an admiring new younger audience and the plaudits of us veteran ‘Whovians’ by breathing new life into the Time Lord!   This was a reboot that  cast away much of the old ways.

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As Eccleston brought the Doctor storming back, it was David Tennant (2005–2010) who ensured that the show was a Saturday-night must-see.
Tennant’s love for the series was always evident. He was a proto geek, all energy. His enthusiasm carried us along too. Again Pre-Ecclestone Doctors’ character traits also absent.
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The 11th Doctor Matt Smith (2010-2013)  is leaving Dr Who in the Christmas episode following the 50th-anniversary episode.  Some viewers did not warm to Matt’s slapstick and manic meandering.  But Smith managed to be both comic and tragic, also displaying some of the darkness and angst the Doctor harbours. Smith is the only Doctor who surprised us on occasion. He was unique and I liked him in the role.

Eleven Doctors become 12 as superb actor John Hurt joins the Doctors roll and role call! He is one of my favourite actors and is well respected.

Does this make him the secret ninth Doctor remains unclear?  He recently was shown as regeneration between eighth Doctor Paul McGann and  Christopher Eccleston (now 10th). It appears that John was regenerated as a secret ‘warrior’ Doctor, who in order to save billions of species has to destroy both the Daleks and his own race the Time Lords in the Time War, which would encompass the rest of the galaxy.      

Peter Capaldi (2014 – ) has been named as the new Doctor Who. He is a well-known actor and will bring interesting character traits to the Doctor, which we look forward to.

In the Doctor Who canon, the Doctor can only regenerate 12 times in a Time Lord’s lifetime.  Peter is the 12th actor to play him  so will he be the very last Doctor!?

I am sure the writers will come up with something to circumnavigate this,  as long as it does not upset the die-hard Dr. Who fans and purists who like continuity.