Portal:Doctor Who

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Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series first broadcast by the BBC in 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson, follows the adventures of the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being from a humanoid species known as Time Lords. The Doctor travels through space and time using a time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS, which has an exterior that resembles a British police box. The Doctor encounters various civilisations, which they seek to protect by outwitting foes and solving crises. The Doctor usually travels with a companion.

Beginning with William Hartnell, fourteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; the most recent being Ncuti Gatwa, who portrayed the Fifteenth Doctor from 2023 to 2025. The transition between actors is woven into the story via the plot device of regeneration. When a Time Lord is fatally injured or weakened by old age, their cells regenerate into a new body; while they retain their memories, their personality changes. The different portrayals function as distinct stages within a single, continuous narrative. Due to time travel, these different incarnations occasionally cross paths.

A British popular culture staple with a global cult following, the show has shaped generations of British television professionals. 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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"The Zygon Invasion" is the seventh episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 October 2015, and written by Peter Harness and directed by Daniel Nettheim. The episode is the first episode of a two-part story, the second part being "The Zygon Inversion", which aired on 7 November. In the episode, a peace treaty agreed between humans and shapeshifting aliens called Zygons in the 2013 episode "The Day of the Doctor" has started to fail. A radicalised splinter group of Zygons, seeking to no longer hide among humans but be themselves, takes over Zygon High Command, and seeks to invade present-day Earth and neutralise military organisation UNIT. The alien time traveller the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) attempts to keep the peace.

The story was conceptualised by showrunner Steven Moffat, who was deeply impressed by the Zygons' debut story, 1975's Terror of the Zygons, and sought to write a sequel story featuring them that would touch on numerous real-world topics. Moffat asked Harness to help him with writing the overall story, and the two worked together to produce both "The Zygon Invasion" and its second part. The story also focuses heavily on Ingrid Oliver's character Petronella Osgood, (Full article...)
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The second season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 1964 and 1965. The season began on 31 October 1964 with Planet of Giants and ended with The Time Meddler on 24 July 1965. Like the first season, production was overseen by the BBC's first female producer Verity Lambert. Story editor David Whitaker continued to handle the scripts and stories during early production, handing over to Dennis Spooner as the season began to air; Spooner subsequently left his role by the season's end, and was replaced by Donald Tosh for its final serial. By the season's end, Lambert was the only remaining production member from the team responsible for creating the series.

The season continued to star William Hartnell as the first incarnation of the Doctor, an alien who travels through time and space in his TARDIS, which appears to be a British police box on the outside. Carole Ann Ford continued her role as the Doctor's granddaughter Susan Foreman, who acts as his companion alongside her schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, portrayed by William Russell and Jacqueline Hill, respectively. Ford departed the series at the conclusion of the season's second serial, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, replaced by Maureen O'Brien as Vicki in the following story, The Rescue. Towards the end of the season, Russell and Hill also depart in the final episode of The Chase, replaced by Peter Purves as Steven Taylor. Hartnell remained as the only original cast member. (Full article...)
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"Twice Upon a Time" is a special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2017 as the programme's thirteenth Christmas special. The episode was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Rachel Talalay. It features the final regular appearance of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, the first official appearance of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, and also stars David Bradley as the First Doctor. Pearl Mackie stars as the Twelfth Doctor's former companion Bill Potts, while his other companions make guest appearances – Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald and Matt Lucas as Nardole. Mark Gatiss plays a First World War British army captain who is revealed to be a family member of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

The episode is a continuation of "The Doctor Falls", and takes place during the final serial of the First Doctor, The Tenth Planet (1966); footage from The Tenth Planet is used in the special. "Twice Upon a Time" is Capaldi's fourth and final Christmas special as the Twelfth Doctor, and was the last Doctor Who story to be written and produced by Moffat while he was the show's executive producer and chief writer. After the special's broadcast, Moffat was succeeded as executive producer and showrunner by Chris Chibnall. (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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"For Tonight We Might Die" is the first episode of the British science-fiction television series Class, a spin-off series of Doctor Who. It was written by Patrick Ness and directed by Ed Bazalgette. It was released online by BBC Three on 22 October 2016 to generally positive critical reviews.

In the episode, a group of students are forced to work together when the school comes under siege by an alien race called the Shadow Kin ahead of the school's autumn prom. The episode features a guest appearance by Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. (Full article...)
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The 2023 specials of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who are three special episodes that aired between 25 November and 9 December 2023, to celebrate the programme's 60th anniversary. They were written by Russell T Davies and marked the start of his second tenure as showrunner, having served in the role from the start of Doctor Who's revival in 2005 until leaving in 2010. The specials were broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and on Disney+ internationally.

David Tennant and Catherine Tate returned to the series as part of the 60th anniversary. Tennant starred as the Fourteenth Doctor for the first time, having previously portrayed the Tenth Doctor, while Tate reprised her role as Donna Noble. Miriam Margolyes and Neil Patrick Harris guest starred as the voice of the Meep and the Toymaker, respectively, alongside returning cast members Jacqueline King, Karl Collins, Bernard Cribbins (in his final role), Jemma Redgrave, and Bonnie Langford, as well as newcomers Ruth Madeley, Yasmin Finney, and Ncuti Gatwa, the latter of whom making his debut as the Fifteenth Doctor, who would star in the fourteenth series. (Full article...)
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The Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Natives of Mars, the Ice Warriors wear bio-mechanical armour to protect themselves from attack and temperature fluctuations. In their debut, the 1967 serial The Ice Warriors, they fought the Second Doctor. Two years later, they reappeared in The Seeds of Death. In 1972's The Curse of Peladon, they were allied with the Doctor, reverting to antagonists in The Monster of Peladon two years later. The Ice Warriors did not appear again on-screen until the show's 2005 revival series in the episode "Cold War" (2013), followed by the 2017 episode "Empress of Mars". They have also appeared in spin-off media for the series.

Writer Brian Hayles created the Ice Warriors out of his interest in life on Mars at a time when the production team was looking for new recurring antagonists. The Ice Warriors were conceived as something akin to cyborg Vikings. Designer Martin Baugh, inspired by their name and influenced by crocodiles, designed them to appear reptilian; this prevented the species from being visually similar to another fictional species who were cyborgs, the Cybermen. The costumes for the Ice Warriors often proved heavy and cumbersome for actors during filming. For the show's 2005 revival, showrunner Steven Moffat originally did not want the Ice Warriors to return, only allowing them to come back after writer Mark Gatiss pitched the idea of an Ice Warrior outside its shell. The Ice Warriors received a design overhaul for the revival but were largely the same visually; "Cold War" also showcased the creature beneath the armour. (Full article...)
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"Space Babies" is the first episode of the fourteenth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. It was written by Russell T Davies and directed by Julie Anne Robinson. The episode was released alongside the next episode, "The Devil's Chord", on BBC iPlayer in the United Kingdom on 11 May 2024 and in the United States on Disney+ on 10 May 2024. A broadcast on BBC One followed later in the evening on 11 May.

The episode, which takes place immediately after the events of "The Church on Ruby Road", follows an alien time traveller known as the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), as they travel to a space station and discover a baby farm. Together, they learn that the babies are under threat by a creature dubbed "the Bogeyman". (Full article...)
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"The Eleventh Hour" is the first episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 3 April 2010. The episode, written by then-new head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat and directed by Adam Smith, saw a complete change in cast and production crew.

In the episode, the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) crashes the TARDIS into the small English village of Leadworth, where he meets a young Scottish girl named Amelia Pond (Caitlin Blackwood). The Doctor is forced to leave in order to repair damage to the TARDIS caused during his recent regeneration and crash, but promises Amelia he will return in five minutes. However, he arrives twelve years late and is confronted by the grown-up Amelia, now known as Amy (Karen Gillan), who does not trust him. He attempts to regain her trust to help return the shape-shifting alien Prisoner Zero to the galactic police, the Atraxi, before they destroy the Earth for harbouring Prisoner Zero. (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.

Former story editor Spooner was commissioned to write The Time Meddler by producer Verity Lambert. He wanted the show to move away from full historical stories, instead blending them with futuristic topics. He studied the Doctor's background 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. The Time Meddler was the first serial to feature Purves in a 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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Enlightenment is the fifth serial of the 20th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC1 from 1 to 9 March 1983. It was the 127th serial of the series, and was written by Barbara Clegg and directed by Fiona Cumming, making it the first serial to be both written and directed by women.

In the serial, the alien time traveller the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and his companions Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and Vislor Turlough (Mark Strickson) encounter a group of god-like immortals who are racing historical sailing vessels from Earth through space, crewed by humans they had plucked out of time, in an attempt to win the prize of enlightenment. Turlough is under the control of the Black Guardian (Valentine Dyall), but struggles with the Guardian's orders to kill the Doctor. Enlightenment is the third of three loosely connected serials where the Black Guardian attempts to compel Turlough to kill the Doctor. (Full article...)
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The Daleks (/ˈdɑː.lɛks/ , DAH-leks) are a fictional extraterrestrial race who appear in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. They first appeared in the 1963 Doctor Who serial The Daleks. The Daleks are a highly xenophobic militant race who seek to destroy all non-Dalek life in the universe. They serve as the archenemies of the series' protagonist, the Doctor, who often comes into conflict with the Daleks throughout the show.

The Daleks were created by Terry Nation, who, between jobs, wrote their debut serial. Drawing on the cultural memory of the Nazi Party in Britain, Nation based the Daleks on them. He wished for a completely inhuman design, which would end up being designed by Raymond Cusick. Doctor Who, initially an educational show, only ran Nation's serial due to lacking any other options for production. However, the Daleks were a success with viewers and greatly boosted series viewership, kicking off a period referred to as Dalekmania, during which the Daleks and their battle armour became highly popular among the British public. The Daleks subsequently became major recurring antagonists in the programme, and would be brought back in a variety of fashions across the show's more than 60-year history. (Full article...)
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"Something Borrowed" is the ninth episode of the second series of the British science-fiction television series Torchwood. It was first broadcast on BBC Three on 5 March 2008 and repeated on BBC Two one week later. The episode was written by Phil Ford of Coronation Street fame, directed by Ashley Way and produced by Richard Stokes. The episode featured the five initial series regulars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori and Gareth David Lloyd plus recurring actor Kai Owen in a central role.

The episode centres on the marriage of the alien hunter Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) to the transport manager Rhys Williams (Kai Owen). The wedding is complicated by Gwen's sudden impregnation by an alien, though she resolves to see the day through. When the nuptials are interrupted by an attack from the biological mother of the alien fetus (played successively by Colette Brown, Nerys Hughes and John Barrowman), Rhys, Gwen, and Gwen's teammates at Torchwood must neutralise the threat. Gwen and Rhys ultimately marry, and the wedding guests have their memories wiped. (Full article...)
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Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor

The Fifteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a millennia-old alien Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, with somewhat unknown origins, who travels in time and space in their TARDIS, frequently with companions. Usually, at the end of each incarnation's life, the Doctor regenerates; as a result, both their physical appearance and personality change. However, the Fifteenth Doctor emerged unconventionally, via "bi-generation", in which he split from the body of his predecessor, the Fourteenth Doctor (David Tennant), rather than replacing him, allowing both incarnations to co-exist. The Fifteenth Doctor is portrayed by Ncuti Gatwa, who is the first black man and the first openly queer actor to portray the role. Gatwa portrayed the character in the fourteenth and fifteenth series of the show's 2005 revival.

The Fifteenth Doctor has been characterised as more emotionally open than many previous incarnations. Throughout the Fifteenth Doctor's time on the show, he travels with companions Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) and Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) while they face off against various antagonists, including a recurring Pantheon of Gods and their leader, Sutekh (Gabriel Woolf), as well as renegade Time Lord the Rani (Anita Dobson and Archie Panjabi) and the banished Time Lord founder Omega (Nicholas Briggs). He also engages in a romantic relationship with the character Rogue (Jonathan Groff), marking the first time in the series the Doctor has engaged in a romantic relationship with another man. After triggering his regeneration to alter reality and bring back a child he had in a fantasy world created by the Rani, the Fifteenth Doctor regenerates into a character portrayed by Billie Piper. (Full article...)
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"The Girl Who Waited" is the tenth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One and BBC America on 10 September 2011. It was written by Tom MacRae and was directed by Nick Hurran.

In the episode, the alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) takes his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and her husband Rory (Arthur Darvill) to the planet Apalapucia for a holiday, but they find that the planet is on quarantine as the two-hearted natives are susceptible to a deadly plague. Amy accidentally gets separated from the Doctor and Rory but, when they try to rescue her, they arrive 36 years later in her timeline. The older Amy does not trust the Doctor, who is forced to remain on the TARDIS as he also has two hearts, and will not allow the Doctor and Rory to leave and rescue her at the correct point in her timeline. (Full article...)

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The Space Museum is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from April 24 to May 15, 1965. The story is set on the planet Xeros, a subjugated planet in the Morok Empire, now home to a vast museum and a young, rebellious population.

The Doctor and his companions experience something strange after they land on the planet Xeros. Shattered glass mends itself, footprints fail to materialize in the sand, and everything is silent. And then, inside a gigantic museum, they find something even more alarming: themselves.

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that three-quarters of Doctor Who's longest story are missing?
... that a 1980 Doctor Who serial was written by a seventeen-year-old fan of the show?
... that two-thirds of the six-week budget allocated to the filming of a Doctor Who episode was used up in only three days?
... that ducks, an owl, a horse and a baby were utilized for the opening scene of a Doctor Who episode?
... that the Doctor Who episode "Lux" is set in Miami, Florida, despite being filmed in Penarth, Wales?
... that the Fugitive Doctor was the first time The Doctor in Doctor Who was portrayed by a black actor?

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On my travels to Cathay, Ian, I have come to believe many things I'd previously doubted. For instance, when I was a boy in Venice, they told me that in Cathay there was a stone that burned. I did not believe, but there is such a stone: I have seen it. And if stone burns, why not a caravan that flies? Birds fly; I have even seen fish that fly. You are asking me to believe that your caravan can defy the passage of the sun? Move not merely from one place to another, but from today into tomorrow, today to yesterday? No Ian, that I cannot believe.

”

— Marco Polo, Marco Polo

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More did you know?

... that "The Fires of Pompeii", an episode in the British TV show Doctor Who, is the first appearance of Karen Gillan as the Soothsayer?
... that Roald Dahl Plass, a plaza in Cardiff Bay, has been used as the setting for both Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood?
... that for his role in the Doctor Who serial The Aztecs, actor John Ringham was told to "make all the children in the country hate you"?

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