My Whovian Adventure, Part 1

 

It seems I have chosen an extremely appropriate time to begin my task of watching all episodes possible of "Doctor Who". Interestingly, 2013 marks the show's 50th anniversary, although it did go on hiatus from 1989 until a movie was made in 1996, and then again until the modern revival began in 2005. There have been 11 Doctors in all, spanning the length of the show's run. For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, I'll give you the Reader's Digest condensed version of what it's all about, kind of a 'Who's Who in Doctor Who'.


"Doctor Who" first aired on November 23rd, 1963 and was originally intended to be a children's show. Having watched those original episodes, I've got to say, either kids in the 60's had a better attention span than those today, or the plan failed miserably. But more on that later. There were 26 seasons in the original run (or Classic Who as it has come to be called), the 1996 movie and the current run is on its 6th season. Each season is made up of a number of serials (roughly 8 per season until the 7th Doctor when it was reduced to around 4), and each serial is made up of multiple episodes (some as few as 2 some, *gulp*, as many as 12). Are you confused yet? Sadly, in the 1960's and 70's, the BBC began destroying much of its older material in an effort to make more room, so much of the footage of the first 2 doctors was destroyed. Many of the episodes were found in possession of other studios and fans of the show, but 106 of the 253 episodes from the first 6 years of the show are gone. Some of them have been restored in audio form, which is an extremely challenging way for someone new to the show to experience the episodes. I have done it, so I know what I'm talking about.

  The Doctor is always referred to as "Doctor", 
although his name does appear in the credits as "Doctor/Dr. Who". He possesses the ability to regenerate, which explains why 11 different actors have played the role over the last 50 years. Although we don't find this out until later seasons, The Doctor is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He travels through both time and space in the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space), which is shaped like a 'police box' (looks like blue version of Superman's phone booth), items which were commonly seen in England in the 60's. The Doctor is accompanied by a number of 'companions' throughout the show's run, beginning with his granddaughter Susan and two of her teachers, Barbara and Ian. After the departure of Barbara and Ian, the number of companions reduces to 2 for the remainder of the episodes, one male and one female.



Each regeneration of The Doctor has his own quirks and habits, and some are favoured over others by the fans.  Here is a list of the Doctors in order and the lengths of their tenure.

The Doctors in order

First Doctor- William Hartnell, 1963-1966
Second Doctor- Patrick Troughton, 1966-1969
Third Doctor- Jon Pertwee, 1970-1974
Fourth Doctor- Tom Baker, 1974-1981
Fifth Doctor- Peter Davison, 1981-1984
Sixth Doctor- Colin Baker, 1984-1986
Seventh Doctor- Sylvester McCoy, 1987-1989 (and briefly in a regeneration scene in 1996)
Eighth Doctor- Paul McGann, 1996
Ninth Doctor- Christopher Eccleston, 2005
Tenth Doctor- David Tennant, 2005-2010
Eleventh Doctor- Matt Smith, 2010-present

That's it for my introductory post on my Whovian adventure. As I finish each Doctor I'll post my thoughts and progress.

Here's a link to the show's original theme. This is the full version, not the short one that appears at the beginning of each episode. I guarantee most of you will have heard it at one time or another.

Doctor Who Original Theme

For more information on The Doctor and his adventures check out this blog by Tansy Rayner Roberts. Her blog has really helped me navigate through the massive amount of information that was thrown at me as I started my quest.

A Modern Woman's Guide to Classic Who