Doctor Who

T
he story of the famous Time Lord begins back in 1963. The programme almost never got started - the first episode was overshadowed by the assassination of President Kennedy! However it was repeated the next week and a legend began.

Doctor Who was initially intended to be an educational show, introducing children to history through the medium of science fiction and a time machine. Hence quite a few of the early stories starring William Hartnell are dry "historicals". The show really took off with the introduction of the Daleks. These ruthless killing machines with their mechanical cry of "Exterminate!" became an instant hit.

Doctor Who almost ended in 1966 when Hartnell decided to leave the show. The BBC made what was then an unprecedented move - replace the lead actor with someone completely different! Thus Patrick Troughton became the second Doctor and began a tradition of "regeneration" that has allowed the show to outlive many of its early stars.

By the 1980s Who was running into problems. The low-budget effects couldn't compete with high-tech movies and US TV shows and many of the stories were of questionable quality. The BBC finally canned the show in 1989.

An attempt to resurrect Doctor Who was made in 1996 with a one-off TV special starring Paul McGann. Unfortunately this UK-US co-production left many fans dissatisfied and no further new episodes were made. The show appeared dead.

But you can't keep a good Time Lord down. BBC Wales took the brave decision to commission a brand new Doctor Who series. This was overseen by writer Russell T. Davies and starred Christopher Eccleston. It was shown in 2005 and was an immediate hit. The Doctor was back - and it was about time.

David Tennant took possession of the Tardis in 2006 and has proved extremely popular with both new viewers and old timers like me.

Tennant was the tenth official Doctor. For details of all ten see Doctor Who - The Doctors

Image: Doctor Who - The Complete Third Series

Despite all the changes in Doctor Who over the years one thing has remained the same: The Tardis. The Doctor's space-time craft which looks like a 1950s British police box!

Why this shape? Because a properly functioning Tardis has a "chamelon circuit" that allows it to blend into the background. Unfortunately the Doctor's old type-40 Tardis developed a fault in the chameleon circuit and got stuck in the shape of a blue police box.

The Tardis is also bigger inside than out. This, we are told, is because it's "dimensionally transcendendent".

Photo Credit: aussiegall (Creative Commons)

Over the years the Daleks have constantly tried to exterminate the Doctor - yet in reality they have made him the success he is today. A great hero needs great villains and the Daleks are the greatest!

The Daleks were originally created by the late Terry Nation in 1963. Their back-story has evolved over time, much like the Daleks themselves. Essentially they are "little green blobs in bonded polycarbide armour".

Early daleks had a minor drawback in that they couldn't climb stairs - the 1988 story Remembrance of the Daleks introduced Daleks that could levitate. Today's Daleks can happily fly.

In the classic series, the Daleks were originally created by an evil genius called Davros. As I write (2007) there are rumours that Davros might be due to return soon. I hope so.

If you like Daleks, check out my Dalek Video Showcase.

Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans are scary monsters. But for pure evil genius you need... a Time Lord.

The Master was introduced in the 1971 Jon Pertwee story "Terror of the Autons". Like the Doctor he is a renegade Time Lord. Like the Doctor he is a genius. Unlike the Doctor he is totally evil.

The Master was initially played by actor Roger Delgado. Unfortunately Delgado was killed in a car crash in 1973 and the character disappeared from the show.

The Master reappeared briefly in 1976 before returning properly in 1981 played by Anthony Ainley. Ainley's Master looked remarkably similar to Delgado's physically, however the character was much darker.

The Master appeared again in the 1996 TV movie, but I for one prefer to forget about that incarnation.

The new Who saw the Master return in 2006 under the guise of "Mister Saxon". John Simm played a younger Master who combined humour with total insanity and pure evil.

More information: The Master

There's some uncertainty about the Doctor's "real" name. Some people believe it to be "John Smith". That's incorrect.

John Smith is simply a pseudonym the Doctor uses when forced by petty officials to give a "real" name. To the best of my knowledge it was first used by Patrick Troughton in The War Games. Since then it has become something of a running joke in the series, a recent example being the David Tennant story "Human Nature".

Here in the UK John Smith is such a common name that it's often associated with someone who doesn't want to reveal their true identity. The name has an "Everyman" quality.