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Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterrestrial being called the Doctor, part of a humanoid species called Time Lords. The Doctor travels in the universe and in time using a time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS, which externally appears as a British police box. While travelling, the Doctor works to save lives and liberate oppressed peoples by combating foes. The Doctor often travels with companions.

Beginning with William Hartnell, fourteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; as of 2024^[update], Ncuti Gatwa leads the series as the Fifteenth Doctor. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the series with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation, a plot device in which, when a Time Lord is fatally injured, their cells regenerate and they are reincarnated, into a different body with mannerisms and behaviour, but the same memories, explaining each actor's distinct portrayal, as they all represent different stages in the life of the Doctor and, together, they form a single lifetime with a single narrative. The time-travelling nature of the plot means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet. In 2017, Jodie Whittaker, as the Thirteenth Doctor, became the first woman to be cast in the lead role.

The series is a significant part of popular culture 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 has been listed in Guinness World Records 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 and book sales. (Full article...)

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Recognized quality articles

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"Nightmare in Silver" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and was first broadcast on BBC One on 11 May 2013. It was written by Neil Gaiman and directed by Stephen Woolfenden.

In the episode, the alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companion Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman) bring two kids Angie (Eve de Leon Allen) and Artie (Kassius Carey Johnson) to an extraterrestrial theme park, where an army of cyborgs called Cybermen reawaken centuries after their defeat in a war. The Cybermen discover the Doctor, and attempt to transform him into a "Cyber-Planner", which creates a split personality fighting for control of the Doctor's body with a game of chess. (Full article...)
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Adam Mitchell is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Bruno Langley. Adam is introduced in the first series of the programme's revival as the second television companion of the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston). However, unlike the Ninth Doctor's primary companion, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), who provided an effective human contrast to the Doctor's centuries-old alien, Adam was created to provide an example of an inept time traveller.

The character is introduced as a boy genius from the year 2012 who attracts the attention of the Doctor's traveling companion Rose after she and the Doctor meet him in his place of work. Despite Rose's willingness to accept Adam as a fellow traveller, the Doctor is sceptical. After Adam attempts to use information from the future for his own gain, the Doctor throws Adam out of the TARDIS and sends him home. This was the first example of the Doctor forcing a companion to leave because of negative behaviour. (Full article...)
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"The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2005. This episode features the first full-episode appearance of David Tennant as the Doctor. It is also the first specially produced Christmas special in the programme's history, commissioned following the success of the first series earlier in the year, to see how well the show could do at Christmas. It was written by showrunner and executive producer Russell T Davies and was directed by James Hawes.

In the episode, principally set in London, the newly regenerated Tenth Doctor is out of action, leaving Rose, Mickey and Jackie to combat the invasion of an alien race known as the Sycorax. The Sycorax demand that either humanity have to surrender half of themselves as slaves or one third of them will die through the Sycorax's blood control. (Full article...)
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Captain John Hart, played by James Marsters, is a fictional character from the BBC science fiction television programme Torchwood. He is introduced in the episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang"—the first episode of Torchwood's second series. Whilst the character has not featured subsequently to the second series finale, he went on to appear in a Torchwood Magazine comic strip and Marsters has stated his interest in reprising the role on more than one occasion.

In his first appearance, John Hart is as a rogue Time Agent and former partner of the series' lead male character Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) both professionally and sexually. Whilst the original function of the Time Agency—stated to have ceased operation by the time Hart appears —is left unspecified, John's own backstory is briefly given: as well as having had a relationship with Jack, he has been in rehab for an addiction to alcohol, drugs, sex and murder. John leaves Earth disgraced after his initial self-interested plot is foiled by Harkness' Torchwood team, though returns in the series finale "Exit Wounds" where he is eventually given a chance to redeem himself. (Full article...)
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"The Devil's Chord" is the second episode of the fourteenth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. Released alongside "Space Babies," it was written by Russell T. Davies, directed by Ben Chessell. The episode was released on BBC iPlayer in the United Kingdom on 11 May 2024 and Disney+ in the United States on 10 May.

The story sees the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) go to see the British rock band the Beatles in 1963, only to find that the world has lost interest in music as they are confronted by the mysterious Maestro (Jinkx Monsoon). (Full article...)
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"Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" is the tenth episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 27 April 2013 on BBC One and was written by Stephen Thompson and directed by Mat King.

In the episode, the alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) forces a salvage crew (played by Ashley Walters, Mark Oliver, and Jahvel Hall) to rescue the Doctor's companion Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman). Clara is lost in the depths of the sentient spaceship and time machine the TARDIS after its engines become damaged by the salvage crew's beam. (Full article...)
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"Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008. The episode placed emphasis on the Tenth Doctor, with his companion, Donna Noble playing a minimal role. As a result, this episode has been described as being "companion-lite", in contrast to the usual "Doctor-lite" episodes.

The episode is largely set on board a small touring vehicle that stops in the middle of a tour on the hostile surface of the planet Midnight and has its cockpit destroyed with its driver and mechanic still inside by an unseen entity. The entity is depicted only through sound effects and by its possession of one of the vehicle's passengers, Sky Silvestry, who repeats the words of the other passengers on board. (Full article...)
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"Army of Ghosts" is the twelfth and penultimate episode in the second series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who which was first broadcast on BBC One on 1 July 2006. It is the first episode of a two-part story; the concluding episode, "Doomsday", was first broadcast on 8 July.

The episode is set in London, some time after the events of the 2006 episode "Love & Monsters". In the episode, the Cybermen come to Earth from a parallel world by following a spherical ship through an interdimensional breach. The Torchwood Institute intends to open this breach further for use as an energy source. (Full article...)
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The second series of British science fiction programme Doctor Who began on 25 December 2005 with the Christmas special "The Christmas Invasion". A regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast weekly in 2006, starting with "New Earth" on 15 April and concluding with "Doomsday" on 8 July. In addition, two short special episodes were produced; a Children in Need special and an interactive episode, as well as thirteen minisodes titled Tardisodes. It is the second series of the revival of the show, and the twenty-eighth season overall.

It is the first series to feature David Tennant as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in his TARDIS, which appears to be a British police box on the outside. The Doctor continues to travel with his companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), with whom he has grown increasingly attached. They also briefly travel with Rose's boyfriend Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke), and Rose's mother Jackie (Camille Coduri). The series is connected by a loose story arc consisting of the recurring word "Torchwood". This is also the first series to be preceded by a Christmas special, the success of "The Christmas Invasion" led to the Christmas special becoming an annual tradition. (Full article...)
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"The Doctor's Wife" is the fourth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was broadcast on 14 May 2011 in the United Kingdom, and later the same day in the United States. It was written by Neil Gaiman and directed by Richard Clark.

In the episode, an entity called the House (voiced by Michael Sheen) lures the alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) to an asteroid outside the universe, by sending a distress call to the Doctor's time machine, the TARDIS. The House removes the matrix of the TARDIS and places it in the body of a woman named Idris (Suranne Jones), who proceeds to help the Doctor prevent House from escaping its pocket universe with the TARDIS. (Full article...)
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The first series of the 2005 revival of the British science fiction programme Doctor Who began on 26 March 2005 with the episode "Rose". This marked the end of the programme's 16 year absence from episodic television following its cancellation in 1989, and the first new televised Doctor Who story since the broadcast of the television movie starring Paul McGann in 1996. The finale episode, "The Parting of the Ways", was broadcast on 18 June 2005. The show was revived by longtime Doctor Who fan Russell T Davies, who had been lobbying the BBC since the late 1990s to bring the show back. The first series comprised 13 episodes, eight of which Davies wrote. Davies, Julie Gardner and Mal Young served as executive producers, Phil Collinson as producer.

The show depicts the adventures of a mysterious and eccentric Time Lord known as the Doctor, who travels through time and space in his time machine, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s British police box. With his companions, he explores time and space, faces a variety of foes and saves civilizations, helping people and righting wrongs. (Full article...)
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The 2013 specials of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who are two additional episodes following the programme's seventh series. In addition to the traditional Christmas episode broadcast on 25 December 2013, a feature of the revived series since 2005, there was also a special celebrating the 50th anniversary of the programme broadcast on 23 November 2013, both airing on BBC One.

On 2 April 2013 production of "The Day of the Doctor" began and production of the Christmas episode, "The Time of the Doctor", began in September 2013. Two supplemental episodes were also filmed alongside the specials; "The Night of the Doctor" and "The Last Day" were both produced as lead-in mini-episodes for the 50th anniversary special, and were released online days before the special's broadcast. The two special broadcast episodes were initially released in separate home media sets, before being released together alongside the mini-episodes in a collector's boxset. (Full article...)
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"Partners in Crime" is the first episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 5 April 2008. The episode reintroduced actor and comedian Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, who had previously appeared in the 2006 Christmas Special "The Runaway Bride". In the episode, Donna and the alien time traveller the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) meet while separately investigating Adipose Industries, a company that has created a revolutionary diet pill. Together, they attempt to stop the death of thousands of people in London after the head of the company, the alien Miss Foster (Sarah Lancashire), creates short white aliens made from human body fat. The episode's alien creatures, the Adipose, were created using the software MASSIVE, commonly used for crowd sequences in fantasy and science fiction films.

"Partners in Crime" features the return of three recurring characters: Jacqueline King reprises her role as Sylvia Noble from "The Runaway Bride"; Bernard Cribbins reprises his role as Wilfred Mott from "Voyage of the Damned", to replace the character of Geoff Noble after actor Howard Attfield died; and Billie Piper briefly reprises her role as Rose Tyler for the first time since the second series' finale "Doomsday" (2006), in a scene that was not included in preview showings. (Full article...)
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"The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. First broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2011, it is the seventh Doctor Who Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Farren Blackburn. Internationally, the special was shown on BBC America in the United States and on Space in Canada the same day as the British broadcast, with ABC1 in Australia showing it one day later.

In the special, alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) is the caretaker of recently widowed Madge Arwell (Claire Skinner) and her children Lily (Holly Earl) and Cyril (Maurice Cole) during their holiday vacation in 1941 Britain. The Doctor plans to take them on a treat to a snowy planet through a portal in a present he has placed under the Christmas tree, but Cyril opens it before Christmas and wanders through. While looking for him, the others learn that the trees of the planet are about to be melted down with acid rain for energy. (Full article...)
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The Time Meddler is the ninth and final serial of the second season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Dennis Spooner and directed by Douglas Camfield, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 3 to 24 July 1965. Set in Northumbria in 1066, before the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the serial features the time traveller the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) and Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) as they attempt to outwit the time traveller the Monk (Peter Butterworth), who is plotting to change the course of European history by wiping out King Harald Hardrada's Viking invasion fleet, leaving Harold Godwinson and the Saxon soldiers fresh to defeat William of Normandy and the Norman soldiers at the Battle of Hastings.

Spooner, who was leaving his role as story editor before this serial, was commissioned to write The Time Meddler by producer Verity Lambert. Spooner wanted the show to move away from full historical stories, instead hoping to blend them with futuristic serials. He studied the background of the Doctor in the writers' guide to create his antithesis, the Monk. The Time Meddler was the first serial under new story editor Donald Tosh, and the crew was joined during production by John Wiles, who was soon to replace Lambert as producer. The serial was produced at a low cost to offset the increased budget of the previous serial, The Chase; Camfield opted to forgo a traditional incidental score, instead using stock music and some percussive drumbeats played by Charles Botterill. The Time Meddler was the first serial to feature Purves in his main role as Steven, having been introduced in The Chase. Filming for the serial took place at Television Centre from June to July 1965. (Full article...)

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Selected story

"Mission to the Unknown" is a single-episode Doctor Who story. It is notable as the only such installment in the original run of the series, and also for not featuring any of the regular characters, including the Doctor, although William Hartnell is still credited on-screen.

The story concerns three men struggling to repair their crashed spaceship in a hostile jungle on the planet Kembel. It serves as a prelude to the later serial, The Daleks' Master Plan.

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that while filming the Doctor Who serial The Myth Makers, William Hartnell was jealous of being upstaged by the other actors?
... that due to legal and union restrictions, the production team for the Doctor Who episode "Space Babies" occasionally had to replace real babies with props?
... that before writing The Space Museum, Glyn Jones had never seen Doctor Who?
... that the fifteen bags of seaweed used as set dressing for the Doctor Who serial The Web Planet emanated an overpowering vegetable smell under the hot studio lights?
... that three-quarters of Doctor Who's longest story are missing?
... that William Hartnell was the only original Doctor Who cast member who remained by the end of the second season?

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Selected quote

“

Emotions! Love, pride, hate, fear! Have you no emotions, sir?

”

— First Doctor, talking to a Cyberman, The Tenth Planet

“

I love a Happy Medium

”

— Ninth Doctor, The Unquiet Dead

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Events

**Recent scheduled events**
Date	Event
29 August 2022	Another SMTV Live crossover episode
1 January 2022	2022 specials
December 2021	Big Finish audio play The Year of Martha Jones [1]
February 2022	Second volume of the Big Finish audio play The Lone Centurion [2]
May 2022	Series 2 of the audio play Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures

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More did you know?

... that the first episode of the first Doctor Who series had to be rerecorded because the TARDIS doors would not close?
... that the assassination of John F. Kennedy overshadowed the launch of the first season of Doctor Who?
... that the TARDIS's Fast Return Switch featured in the Doctor Who serial The Edge of Destruction appeared to have a label written in felt-tip pen?

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