DOCTOR WHO 101
"I am not a student of human nature.. I am a professor of a much wider academy of which human nature is merely a part." ~The Doctor ("Evil of the Daleks")
If you're not entirely familiar with Doctor Who, then you may not understand what all the fuss is about! Here's your chance to familiarize yourself with all the basic information about the series.
Below is general information about the series overall. The images in the sidebar will take you to more detailed info pages for each Doctor, with a breakdown of the highlights from each era, images, a complete list of stories in order by season, and viewing recommendations from members of Atlanta Outworlders.
Other topics:
Monsters/Aliens (under construction)
Villains (coming soon)
Quick Facts:
* Doctor Who is the longest-running science fiction show in the world...ever. It ran consecutively for 26 years, from 1963 - 1989. In March of 2005 it returned to the airwaves with new episodes and a new Doctor.
* The original series was made up of multi-episode stories (episodes are 25 minutes in length). In the mid-70s, the standard story length became 4 episodes. The shortest story thus far is "Mission to the Unknown" from 1965—one episode, which served as the prelude to the the epic "The Dalek Masterplan." The record for longest story ever is debatable. "Masterplan" was a single 12-episode story. "The Trial of a Timelord" from 1986 was 14 episodes, but was constructed of 4 shorter, interwoven stories.
* The new series is comprised primarily of single 45-minute episodes with the occasional 2-parter.
* The series was filmed in black and white for the first 6 years. In 1970, with the start of Season 7 and the introduction of a new lead actor, the series began filming in colour.
* The main character, known as the Doctor (his real name's never been revealed), is a time traveler from the planet Gallifrey, home to a race who call themselves Time Lords. A very advanced race, they discovered the secret of time travel eons ago, and have since set themselves up as the guardians of the web of time. They practice a very strict policy of non-intervention. It is their job to monitor, and get involved only to prevent others from endangering the time lines.
* The Doctor does not adhere to this policy of non-intervention. He believes, like Spider-man, that "great power brings with it great responsibility." He is something of a renegade, choosing to travel throughout time and space, having adventures, championing the rights of the marginalized and exploited, and basically making himself a nuisance of oppressors and evil doers.
* The Doctor travels around in a time/space machine called a TARDIS (which stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space). He sort of "borrowed" this unit when he left Gallifrey, and it has never been in the best working condition. For instance, it has the very clever ability to camouflage itself to blend into whatever environment the Doctor travels to. Unfortunately, its "chameleon circuit" is faulty, and the TARDIS is stuck in the shape of British police telephone box.
* The TARDIS, clever machine that it is, is larger on the inside than on the outside, because the inside exists in a different dimension than the outside.
* Part of the longevity of the series is owed to an equally clever notion called regeneration. When the Doctor (in fact, any Time Lord) is injured and reaches the point of death, he goes through a bodily regeneration...which allows a different actor to step into the role. Time Lords can regenerate 12 times, for a total of 13 lives.
* The Doctor has been played on television by 10 different actors. They are:
o William Hartnell (1963 - 1966) [Season 1 through the beginning of Season 4] more
o Patrick Troughton (1966 - 1969) [Season 4 through Season 6] more
o Jon Pertwee (1969 - 1974) [Season 7 through Season 11] more
o Tom Baker (1974 - 1981) [Season 12 through Season 18] more
o Peter Davison (1982 - 1984) [Season 19 through Season 21] more
o Colin Baker (1984 - 1986) [final story of Season 21 through Season 23] more
o Sylvester McCoy (1987 - 1989) [Season 24 through Season 26] more
o Paul McGann (1996) [made-for-television movie] more
o Christopher Eccleston (2005) more
o David Tennant (2005 - 2007 at least) more
* The Doctor is not the only renegade Time Lord, and he has gone up against others who are ousted from Time Lord society for less than noble reasons. So far, he's met the Monk (in the 60s), the Master (in the 70s and 80s), and the Rani (in the 80s). Of these, by far the major figure is the Master, who has been painted as sort of the equal and opposite of the Doctor...sort of the Doctor's Moriarty.
* The Doctor usually travels with one or more companions (more), people that he encounters during his jaunts. These range from Sara Kingdom, who was introduced and killed within the same story, to Jamie McCrimmon, who was on the show for a total of 20 stories (just under 3 years).
* In addition to the Monk, Master and Rani, one of the Doctor's traveling companions was also a Time Lord: Romanadveratrelundar (or Romana for short). She also regenerated and thus was played by two different actresses.
* The Doctor has faced many of his enemies (more) repeatedly. Without question, the most persistent (and popular) threats have been the Daleks and the Cybermen. To a lesser degree are the Sontarans, the Silurians and the Sea Devils, the Autons, and the Ice Warriors, amongst many others.
