Not for the first time, I have had a question asked on a thread about my avatar “who is Dr Who?” so here is an explanation for anyone interested,
If you have the ability to download the latest episode “The Christmas Invasion” and your appetite is, in any way, wetted by this post I recommend
that you watch it, the very first adventure of the tenth doctor. What do I mean TENTH Doctor? Read on;
Doctor Who is the longest running Sci Fi Show in the world, the first ever episode was broadcast in November 1963, the day after President Kennedy was
assassinated and it continued for 26 consecutive seasons until 1989, then it was revived for a joint BBC-Fox TVM in 1996 before finally returning to
its rightful place as a weekly BBC series in March 2005.
The premise of the show is a mysterious traveller, a renegade timelord from the planet Gallifrey who stole a type 40 TARDIS (Time And Relative
Dimensions In Space) which, as its name implies can travel anywhere in time and Space. It also has the ability to disguise itself to blend in with its
surroundings, however whilst in 1960’s London this ‘Chameleon Circuit’ failed and was never repaired, hence the TARDIS always looks like a blue
police box. The Doctor is a renegade because his race have a strict non-interference policy in the affairs of the universe, however the Doctor (never
actually called ‘Doctor Who’ – the title of the show is a question you see?) cannot simply stand by when there is evil to be defeated!
When the show started in 1963 the Doctor was played by William Hartnell, then very well known for his villainous and sergeant major roles, playing the
Doctor took him in a new direction;
When he decided to leave the show in 1966 the BBC faced a dilemma as they didn’t want this, by now, hugely successful show to die so they hit upon a
brilliant solution. Rather than simply re-casting, they made it part of the mythology of the show that when a timelord is mortally wounded his body
regenerates into a new form, at a stroke another layer was added to the show and it could continue for as long as the BBC saw fit!
Thus the second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton, made his appearance at the end of ‘The Daleks Master Plan’ in a now iconic regeneration
sequence.
When Troughton left at the end of 1969 the show simply required a further regeneration sequence and this has been the pattern ever since and rather
than the star leaving the show being a traumatic experience for fans, the regeneration is always eagerly anticipated!
Here are the remaining Doctors to date;
Third Doctor – Jon Pertwee 1970-74
Fourth Doctor – Tom Baker 1974-81
Fifth Doctor – Peter Davison 1981-84
Sixth Doctor – Colin Baker – 1984-87
Seventh Doctor – Sylvester McCoy 1987-96
Eighth Doctor – Paul McGann 1996
Ninth Doctor – Christopher Eccleston 2005
Tenth Doctor – David Tennant 2005-?
As you can imagine, over the past 42 years the show has built up a whole mythology which I cannot hope to explain here, but it is easily accessible to
those who wish to know more; the official BBC online archive contains almost everything you would wish to see, including video clips, and comedy
mickey-takes, just follow the link below to find the site.
www.bbc.co.uk...
[edit on 30-12-2005 by waynos]