Introduction

This page and the pages that follow are dedicated to one of the best Science Fiction Programs in the history of television. That program is, of course, Doctor Who. The other number one Science Fiction Program is Star Trek.

Why is Doctor Who equal to Star Trek?

• The series first aired in 1963 four years before Star Trek and produced new episodes until 1989.
• Time Travel

In 1963 someone at the BBC came up with an idea for a TV series about a being who look like a human male, but he was from another planet. This being would be able to travel through time and space in a Police Box. Thus, the series Doctor Who and the character of The Doctor was born. There was one problem, however, no one else at the BBC wanted to produce the series. First, production of the pilot, An Unearthly Child starring William Hartnell as The Doctor, was the responsibility of the Drama Department. But, they did not want anything to do with it. Next, it was passed off to the Children's Department, and they did not want anything to do with it either. But, in the end they produced the pilot. When the pilot aired, however, it went over like a lead balloon. It was not until the second show The Dead Planet also called The Daleks, the first in which the Daleks appeared, that the series took off. From that point on The Doctor's audience grew not only in England, but in the United States too. It took about seventeen years for the series to come to America on PBS. After twenty-six years and seven Doctors the series stopped production in 1989. It lasted that long because it appealed to the audience's sense of right and wrong, and it took them from the past, to the present, and beyond.

Links

The Main Dr. Who Guide | Dr. Who Links | Doctor Who on Amazon