Classic Doctor Who

In 1963 nobody could have forseen what Doctor Who would become. It was a very low budget childrens TV series and like most TV shows there were some difficulties in getting it on air. The first episode was initially rejected and had to be completely remade. The remade first episode was shown on 23rd November 1963 with a contract for just 13 episodes in total.

The episode is a gem of 1960s television. It is set in contemporary England and sets a scene of mystery and intrigue which comes to a perfect cliffhanger climax. I cannot imagine anybody watching this and not wanting to see what happens next week.

The original concept was to make the program educational, exploring both history and science. The concept changed some years later. The first episode leads into a nice 3 part historical drama set in prehistoric Britain.

The next story was the biggest turning point in Doctor Who history. December 21st 1963 saw the public birth of a television icon that would last for another 46 years and still counting. Over the following weeks as the story unfolded "Dalek" became a household word and school playgrounds were full of children pretending to be Daleks. As the toy industry caught on to what was happening Dalek toys became commonplace everywhere.

Further episodes of Doctor Who were commissioned and other Dalek stories were planned for season 2. A feature length film was produced starring Peter Cushin.

The future of Doctor Who was secure.

William Hartnell was the star of the show and played The Doctor for just under 3 years. Hartnell was not a young man and his health was in question. What is to be done when a show is so popular and the longevity of the leading actor is in question?

Well in science fiction anything can happen and in Doctor Who it does happen. The Doctor regenerates. As his body gets weaker and dies it changes into a new body with a completely new appearance and a completely new character.

Regeneration was a new idea. Nobody really knew whether audiences would accept a new different Doctor.

Nobody had need to worry, with a new leading actor (Patrick Troughton) Doctor Who was as popular as ever.

Sadly many of the early Doctor Who episodes are missing and as time continues it seems likely that most of these will remain missing for ever.

The reason for these losses is a short sited policy of the BBC in the 1970s to get rid of any programs which were deemed to be obsolete. With the introduction of colour television nobody in authority saw the value of keeping black and white programs Tape recordings were therefore wiped clean and film rolls were incinerated.

Doctor Who was very heavily hit by this policy as were most other BBC shows from this era.

Thankfully whilst distruction was in full swing the policy was reversed. Many programs which were sheduled to be destroyed have been saved and although we can lament the permanent loss of a lot of BBC television heretage much has now been recovered.

We can enjoy watching beautifully restored original recordings of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton thanks to the wonderful work of the Doctor Who Restoration Team. Much of it is missing, but what survives is very well worth watching.

January 1970 saw another change of Doctor and a change to production in colour. Compared to Troughton, Jon Pertwee played a flambouyant character who carried the program onwards despite the difficulties of working in a new medium.

Low-budget monsters looked okay in monochrome but in colour many of the monsters just looked silly.

Doctor who is often critisized for its cheap unrealistic monsters, but these critics are really missing the point. The ridiculous monsters are part of the charm. Doctor who isn't about realism, its about telling a story and the writers of Doctor Who had some brilliant stories to tell.

Don't let the low budget production spoil it for you. Laugh at the monsters and enjoy the stories!

From the middle of the 1980s onwards Doctor Who was in decline. Viewing figures were falling. Changing Doctors didn't help. Moving the viewing time certainly didn't help. In my view the writers were not producing a constant stream of good stories any more. The program had had a good run and the BBC were reluctant to put any more money into it.

December 1989 saw the end of a 26 year run of Doctor Who and despite the problems towards the end it finished with a really good story. For many fans this was and still is the end of real Doctor Who.

Personally I'm not sad that it finished. I believe it had an excellent run which was probably dragged on for a little too long. Most of it is available on DVD and more are becoming available each month. There is no reason to lament something that we can enjoy again and again.