"Doctor Who" (1963) TV series 1963-1989

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Creator:

Sydney Newman

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26

Release Date:

29 September 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The adventures of an eccentric renegade time traveling alien and his companions.

Plot Keywords:

Space Hero | Man With No Name | Scientist Hero | Multiple Actors For One Character | Extraterrestrial Hero

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Tom Baker	...	The Doctor / ... (173 episodes, 1974-1981)
William Hartnell	...	Dr. Who / ... (136 episodes, 1963-1973)
Jon Pertwee	...	The Doctor / ... (129 episodes, 1970-1983)
Patrick Troughton	...	Dr. Who / ... (127 episodes, 1966-1985)
Frazer Hines	...	Jamie McCrimmon (117 episodes, 1966-1985)
Nicholas Courtney	...	Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart / ... (107 episodes, 1965-1989)
Elisabeth Sladen	...	Sarah Jane Smith (81 episodes, 1973-1983)
Jacqueline Hill	...	Barbara Wright / ... (80 episodes, 1963-1980)
William Russell	...	Ian Chesterton (77 episodes, 1963-1965)
Katy Manning	...	Jo Grant (77 episodes, 1971-1973)
Pat Gorman	...	Cyberman / ... (75 episodes, 1964-1985)
John Scott Martin	...	Dalek / ... (74 episodes, 1965-1988)
John Levene	...	Sergeant Benton / ... (73 episodes, 1967-1975)
Peter Davison	...	The Doctor / ... (70 episodes, 1981-1984)

Also Known As:

Dr. Who (UK) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

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

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

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

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

Singapore:PG | USA:TV-PG | Argentina:13 | UK:PG | Australia:PG (some episodes) | Australia:M (some episodes) | Australia:G (some episodes)

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

When designer Matt Irvine was asked to build the K9 prop for the serial "The Invisible Enemy", no one told him it would be required beyond that story. Thus, the prop Irvine designed was only capable of traversing the studio floor and proved useless when brought on location for subsequent stories. Irvine eventually built a second K-9 that could cover rougher ground.

Quotes:

Omega: My brothers became Time Lords, while I was abandoned and forgotten.
The Doctor: No, not forgotten. All my life I've known of you, and cherished you as our greatest hero.
Omega: A hero?
[shouts]
Omega: I should have been a God!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Whose Line Is It Anyway?: (#1.5)" (1988)

Soundtrack:

Incidental Music (1989)

a lifetime's worth of entertainment...

Doctor Who ran for 26 years, and its last episode was as fresh and imaginative as its first.

The show chronicles the adventures of a time-and-space traveling alien who wanders the universe battling evil conquerors, ruthless corporations, and other exploiters of the innocent and oppressed. Every few weeks, the Doctor would travel to a different planet or time, allowing the show's cast, setting, and tone to constantly change. Even the Doctor himself was periodically replaced by a new actor, "regenerating" his body whenever he was on the verge of death. This format gave the show an amazing freshness and allowed it to last for over a quarter of a century without becoming stale.

Since the show's cancellation, Doctor Who has been sustained by hundreds of books and radio shows. Although the concept is beginning to seem a bit old now, great "Who" stories are still coming out all the time.

Television remains the ultimate format for Doctor Who, however, and the series has something to offer for just about everyone. The early episodes, starring William Hartnell, were mysterious and realistic in tone, and are terribly underrated by the show's fans. Tom Baker, the most popular Doctor internationally, had a succession of wild and colorful adventures that are more entertaining and a lot funnier than most of the sitcoms on TV today. In its dying days, when Sylvester McCoy was in the lead role, Doctor Who became highly allegorical and politically charged.

Every Doctor's era has some merit, though some are obviously more inspired than others. In the early 70s and early 80s in particular, the show suffered from some poor production values and repetitive plots, but even the bad episodes are fun to watch and often redeemed by some strength – good performances, an interesting plot twist, etc.

Lovers of modern, flashy science fiction will probably laugh Doctor Who off the screen because of its modest special effects, but nevertheless it remains one of the most visually inventive TV shows ever made. Episodes like Tomb of the Cybermen and Remembrance of the Daleks contain unforgettable images that stack up to anything Hollywood produced on a 100x bigger budget. If you want to pick the show's visuals apart, you can, but you'll be doing yourself a disservice if you don't suspend your disbelief and allow yourself to be drawn into the Doctor's universe.

I may be in the minority, but I enjoyed the 1996 TV Movie that attempted to resurrect Doctor Who years after its cancellation. I don't buy the argument that Doctor Who couldn't survive in today's big-budget entertainment arena. The intelligence of the X-Men and Spider-Man movies has convinced me that a slick, cerebral version of Doctor Who could be produced today that would be faithful to the not-so-slick, cerebral original. But regardless of whether Doctor Who returns or not, it remains one of the great TV shows of all time. It still wins awards even today, and enjoys widespread popular and critical acclaim. Even Doctor Who's detractors only serve to prove that the show is famous enough to draw criticism!

In short, Doctor Who is smart, fun, and endlessly creative. It has kept me entertained for over fifteen years, and my enthusiasm for it has barely waned. Science fiction is in a dumb rut right now, so you could do a lot worse than look back at this show, one of the genre's crowning achievements.