TV SERIES · 1963– · UK
Doctor Who
156 archived facts 7 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (156)
- #001
The original, unbroadcast pilot from September 1963 was thought to be lost, but it survived by chance after being rediscovered in a mislabelled film can. It was eventually shown on BBC2 in 1991 as a tribute to the Lime Grove studios.
- #002
When the script called for him to read out coordinates to program the TARDIS, Tom Baker would sometimes rattle off a string of digits that was in fact the phone number of the Doctor Who production office; nobody ever noticed.
- #003
Asteroid 3325, a small main-belt asteroid discovered in 1984, was named "TARDIS" after the Doctor's time/space machine.
- #004
The BBC holds the copyright to the design of the Police Box used as the TARDIS's design. It was purchased from the Metropolitan Police.
- #005
The distinctive TARDIS sound effect is officially classified as a piece of music and was created in 1963 by Brian Hodgson of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop by rubbing the bass strings of a piano with a key and playing it back at 10% speed.
- #006
It is the longest-running science fiction series ever made for television.
- #007
The Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, is the son-in-law of the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison.
- #008
Many actors were considered for the role of the Doctor over the years. Ron Moody turned the role down twice. He was the first choice after Hartnell left but declined (as did Peter Jeffrey), and he turned down the chance again in 1969 when Troughton departed. Graham Crowden declined the role of the Fourth Doctor because he would not commit to the series for three years. The veteran British comedian Richard Hearne was also approached for the Fourth Doctor but refused because he wanted to play the part in the style of his famous character Mr Pastry. Michael Bentine was also offered the Fourth Doctor but insisted on being involved in writing the scripts.
- #009
Tom Baker had two scarves of different lengths. The shorter one was used for location filming to stop the actor catching his scarf on anything while walking.
- #010
The series was originally conceived as an educational programme for children, and co-creator Sydney Newman had no intention of featuring "bug eyed monsters." The first episodes featured cavemen. But when the Daleks were introduced, the programme's approach changed forever. Even so, for several seasons the series continued to alternate between science fiction and purely historical stories.
- #011
Originally, the Doctor's time machine, the TARDIS, was meant to take on a different appearance to blend in with its surroundings wherever and whenever it materialised, thanks to its "chameleon circuit." However, it was decided that constantly changing an ordinary prop would be too expensive. So it was decided that the circuit had broken down permanently due to the TARDIS's age, thereby preserving the 1963 Police Call Box appearance.
- #012
In the 1960s television editing was very difficult, and so (as in most other British TV series of the time) many early episodes were recorded "as live." If actors fluffed their lines, others had to cover for them. There are several obvious examples in the series, such as in "The Web Planet" when actor William Hartnell forgot his lines and lead actor William Russell prompted him by asking, "What galaxy is that in then, Doctor?" To facilitate this recording style, actors were given a four-day rehearsal period (Monday to Thursday), followed by a camera rehearsal on Friday and the actual studio recording on Friday evening. Saturdays were usually spent on location inserts for future episodes, and actors were given Sunday off before the process began again on Monday morning for the next episode. Although editing techniques improved over the years, studio scenes were generally recorded almost live using a multi-camera system until the series ended in 1989.
- #013
William Hartnell had a habit of questioning plot inconsistencies and character anomalies. His attention to detail gave him such continuity that he even knew what each button on the TARDIS console did. In fact, in the series' early days, Hartnell predicted that it would run for years.
- #014
Contrary to popular belief, the Daleks' design was never based on a real pepper pot and was designed around a seated person. The pepper pot was used by designer Raymond Cusick to demonstrate how he envisaged it moving. A Dalek used in the series was five feet six inches tall, four feet long and three feet wide, and weighed 336 pounds. The operator inside worked the Dalek gun, plunger, eyestalk and lights, while a voice artist in the corner of the studio spoke into a ring modulator to give the Dalek its voice. Because the lights had to work in sync with the voice, the operator inside had to learn the lines even though he did not speak them.
- #015
Two reasons are given for the first episode of the first serial being repeated the following week: a) it aired the day after the assassination of John F. Kennedy and therefore drew fewer viewers than expected. B) There was a widespread power cut and the event was not seen nationwide.
- #016
Jon Pertwee had incredible difficulty learning some of the technobabble the Doctor was famous for, so the crew hid cue cards around the set.
- #017
The famous theme music won the award for best science fiction theme tune in an online poll held for the Total Sci-Fi website in 2009.
- #018
When the series aired in the United States, many stations did not show it in the half-hour, cliffhanger format. Instead, a "movie version" made up of all the episodes of one adventure would be shown, with the cliffhanger endings edited out. Because the number of episodes used to tell a story could vary (usually four, but sometimes 6, 7 or only 2), the length of the "movie versions" varied too. For this reason many stations showed the film versions at weekends, late at night or early in the morning, when their schedules were more flexible.
- #019
Only three Dalek costumes from the 1960s survive today. One such original prop was cut open so that children could climb inside and see what it was like to be a Dalek at the Doctor Who exhibition in Blackpool. Another of the Dalek costumes is kept in a glass case under the stairs at the Southampton branch of the forbidden planet science-fiction shop. The Blackpool exhibition, however, is no longer open.
- #020
The BBC announced in February 1985 that the series would be put on an 18-month hiatus. It returned to the air in September 1986. After the series ended in 1989, fans tried again to bring it back but failed. There were numerous false starts during attempts to make a feature film based on the series. In the early 1990s it was widely reported that Steven Spielberg was interested in making a film version and that a number of script treatments were written. Ultimately, in 1996 the American Fox Network co-produced and broadcast (with the BBC) a TV movie that failed to launch a new series. In late 2003 the BBC finally announced it would air a new Doctor Who series in 2005.
- #021
The character of the Doctor was originally conceived by the production team as a grandfather figure, and the first three actors to play the Doctor — William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee — were all over 45 when they took the role. Later, however, the part became associated with younger actors, all of whom were under 45 when cast. The youngest so far was Peter Davison, who was only 29 when he was cast. The tendency to cast actors in their twenties, thirties or early forties continued through Doctor Who: The Movie (1996) and Doctor Who (2005), until Peter Capaldi was cast in the role in 2013 at the age of 55, making him the oldest actor to take on the part since Hartnell.
- #022
The format of the entire series consisted of exciting adventure serials. Each of the Doctor's adventures was told across several half-hour episodes, each ending on a cliffhanger. Each season of the series was divided into several stories, usually taking 4 to 6 episodes to play out; on screen each episode began with the title of the story (one of them being "The Android Invasion"), followed by the story's writer, and then which part of the story the viewer was watching (for example "Part One"). This method of titling was not established until late in the third season; before that, each episode was given its own individual title. As a result, there are no 'official' story titles for the earliest adventures, though semi-official ones are consistently used on DVDs, in books and so on.
- #023
Had the series' pilot episode not been re-edited on the advice of BBC executives, it would have been the first transmitted version. It was shown once on British television in 1991 and remains the only surviving episode held in its original, unedited 1960s format.
- #024
The original version of Ron Grainer's theme music was created electronically in 1963 by Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, making it one of the first TV themes created in this way. Ron Grainer tried to have Delia Derbyshire credited as co-writer of the music to record her contribution, but internal BBC policies that did not allow technicians to receive artistic credit prevented him from doing so.
- #025
Writer Terry Nation came up with the idea of the Daleks' wheeled movement after seeing the Georgian State Dancers in a theatre: they wore floor-length skirts and bent their knees slightly to glide as if they were on wheels.
- #026
None of the UNIT army uniforms are available, as they were all thrown away.
- #027
In an interview, Peter Cushing stated that after appearing as the Doctor in the series' 1960s film adaptations, he was offered the lead role three times: the series' producers asked him to play the second, third and fourth Doctors, and he turned them all down because he did not want to make a long commitment to a television programme. He later regretted the decision.
- #028
The version of the Doctor Who logo used from 1970 to 1973 during the Jon Pertwee era would later reappear as the logo of the 1996 revival film and then once again become the official logo on most Doctor Who merchandise. As of 2005, it is used as the official logo of the "classic series", while a brand-new logo is used on all merchandise related to the 2005 revival.
- #029
The motorised K-9 prop was extremely heavy, so a hollow version was built for scenes in which the actors had to carry it.
- #030
In the 1986 season, Michael Jayston played a potential future incarnation of the Doctor known as the Valeyard, who exists between the Doctor's twelfth and thirteenth incarnations. In the 50th anniversary special in 2013, John Hurt was the main guest star, playing the War Doctor, who exists between the Doctor's eighth and ninth incarnations and is likewise not an official incarnation of the Doctor.
- #031
In 2014, the creator of the Daleks and the mad scientist character Davros was voted TV's third worst villain in Channel 5's countdown TV's Worst Villains (2014).
- #032
Jon Pertwee's Doctor reflected the popularity of James Bond, and his era saw a significant increase in filmed action scenes. During this period the series even had a regular stunt team called Havoc, founded by Derek Ware. Pertwee brought his love of fast cars, motorbikes, boats and aircraft to the character's action-oriented version.
- #033
After Nicholas Courtney died in 2011, Colin Baker became President of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society.
- #034
Verity Lambert regarded Tom Baker's portrayal of the Doctor as the best after William Hartnell's original Doctor.
- #035
The Third Doctor's car, Bessie, appeared several times bearing the registration "WHO 1". That particular plate had already been bought by another party, so the BBC could not acquire it for the series. Instead they used a fake "WHO 1" plate on private roads, and the car's real "MTR 5" plate was used only in long shots.
- #036
In a 2013 interview, Peter Davison expressed regret that, unlike the revived Doctor Who (2005), flirtation and sexual tension between the Doctor and his companions were never allowed. Davison claimed the original series "never quite mastered the whole idea of companionship". Davison also claimed that his producer, John Nathan-Turner, would not even let him put his arms around his female companions as the Doctor, for fear that viewers might think there was something sexual in their relationship. Davison said he was "quite jealous" that the revived series allowed the Doctor to French kiss his companions.
- #037
The first six seasons of Doctor Who were mostly recorded on black-and-white 405-line videotape, though some later episodes were shot on 625-line tape and others directly on 35 mm film. All original videotape copies of these black-and-white episodes were wiped. Episodes from that period survive today only in the form of telerecordings, also known as kinescopes.
- #038
Several versions of the theme melody were used over the years; the most famous ran from 1963 to 1980, albeit with a slight rearrangement and the addition of an echo-room effect in 1966. A disco version of the song became a hit in the UK in 1978, and an electronic version reached number one in 1988.
- #039
Although Doctor Who is often described as a children's programme, it was actually devised by BBC Head of Drama Sydney Newman and was always made within the BBC's drama department for 26 years. The series' appeal to adults was confirmed in 1969 when an Audience Research survey commissioned by new producer Barry Letts found that 58 percent of its viewers were over 15. Robert Holmes, the series' script editor between 1974 and 1977, admitted in a newspaper interview that he and producer Philip Hinchcliffe saw the core audience as intelligent fourteen-year-olds and that he personally believed the series was not suitable for children under 14 unless under strict parental guidance.
- #040
The Second Doctor could have been a very different character. At various stages he was to be a grumpy sea captain, to have a sardonic Sherlock Holmes-style wit, to wear a Harpo Marx-like wig and even to be a rough caricature of the Arabian Nights. It was Sydney Newman who suggested the cosmic hobo type. Playing the recorder was Patrick Troughton's idea.
- #041
Jon Pertwee left the series in 1974 after five years, following the death of his friend Roger Delgado, Katy Manning's departure and the exits of Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks from their producer and script editor roles. When his request for a pay rise was refused, he decided to move on.
- #042
The character of Doctor Who ranked 22nd on TV Guide's list of the "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends" (1 August 2004 issue).
- #043
Only six of the actors who played the Doctor had their pictures shown in the opening title sequence: Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy. Of these six, only Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker had their opening images updated during the series' run. Pertwee is the only Doctor Who actor to appear in a full-body pose, in his updated 1973 title sequence. Tom Baker is the only Doctor who does not smile in his opening photograph, although he does smile in the updated title sequence of the 1980-81 series. Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy are also the only Doctors whose opening images move: Baker's begins with a closed-mouth smile that turns into a grin, and McCoy's image winks at viewers.
- #044
Doctor Who has been influenced by the Western genre. The Doctor resembles the Stranger who comes from the wilderness of the desert to a town. He has no name and no clear past, but the town is in crisis and he is the right person to solve its problems before disappearing again. He can help the community and set it back on the right path for his own reasons and perhaps at some cost, but there is no way for him to fit into that community.
- #045
Jon Pertwee and Sylvester McCoy are the only two Doctors who did not return on screen using the actor from their previous incarnation. Colin Baker refused to appear in the sequence involving his regeneration into Sylvester McCoy, so McCoy performed both parts of the sequence wearing a wig to resemble Baker.
- #046
Co-creator Sydney Newman, who also devised The Avengers (1961), never received an on-screen credit as the creator of the series or its later spin-off films. Newman later took legal action against the BBC in an attempt to be recognised as the series' creator, but he was unsuccessful.
- #047
Ian Marter, who played Surgeon Lieutenant Harry Sullivan, also wrote novelisations of many Doctor Who stories.
- #048
Ron Moody was offered the role of the Third Doctor after his success in Oliver! (1968) but turned it down. In interviews he said that declining the role of the Third Doctor was the worst thing he had ever done professionally, and that he kicks himself every time he hears the familiar Doctor Who theme melody.
- #049
Across all seven incarnations of the Doctor, there was at least one serial in which the Daleks appeared as the main villains. However, the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors faced the Daleks only once.
- #050
Romana goes through several consecutive "versions" until she chooses a regeneration approved by herself and the Doctor. This second Romana leaves by exiting the TARDIS with K-9 Mark II to travel to "E-Space."
- #051
Doctor Who ranked 18th on TV Guide's list of the "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!" (30 May 2004 issue).
- #052
In the serial The Deadly Assassin: Part One (1976), it was established that Time Lords have only 12 regenerations. However, the 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors (1983) also revealed that the Time Lords' High Council could offer a new regeneration life cycle.
- #053
Across the series' 26-season run, every season had at least one new writer.
- #054
Sylvester McCoy hated the question-mark-covered sweater he wore.
- #055
Nyssa, played by Sarah Sutton, was not originally intended to be a companion, and was one of the few Doctor Who characters not owned by the BBC.
- #056
Peter Davison said Nyssa was his favourite companion. When John Nathan-Turner tried to write her out of the series, he intervened several times.
- #057
Louise Jameson initially wore brown contact lenses because they were thought to suit her character better. Jameson, however, found the lenses very uncomfortable and seriously considered leaving the series. Horror of Fang Rock: Part Four (1977) explains that Leela was blinded by an explosion so that she could keep her natural blue eyes, but she regains her sight a moment later, causing her eyes to change from brown to blue.
- #058
Filming began on Shada, Douglas Adams's third and final script for the series, but it was never completed because of industrial action that shut down the BBC Television Centre studios. In 1992 the existing material was released direct-to-video as Doctor Who: Shada (1992), with Tom Baker providing narration to fill the gaps. Paul McGann also appeared in the webcast version, Doctor Who: Shada (2003). In the summer of 2017 it was newly recorded with the original cast's dialogue, newly filmed with live-action material, newly recorded with incidental music and sound effects, and given a new 2D animation inserted between the original live-action sequences to complete the missing episodes.
- #059
In real life, Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor) and Louise Jameson (Leela) are very good friends.
- #060
Tom Baker went on record saying that working on the series for seven years was the best period of his life.
- #061
Louise Jameson named her son Tom Jameson, after Tom Baker.
- #062
The last three actors to play the Doctor — Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy — were avid viewers of the series in its early years, and all of them named Patrick Troughton as their favourite Doctor.
- #063
Peter Davison (the Fifth Doctor), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) and John Leeson (K-9) are the only actors to play the same character in both this series and Doctor Who (2005).
- #064
During Sylvester McCoy's tenure as the Doctor, Sophie Aldred, who played the Doctor's companion Ace, Anthony Ainley, who played the Master, and McCoy himself all share the same birthday (20 August).
- #065
Michael Grade, Controller of BBC One (1984-1987), put the series on an 18-month hiatus in early 1985, explaining his decision at the time by claiming the series was producing disappointing ratings (averaging around seven million in this period) and accusing it of being too violent, of losing its imagination and intelligence, and of the people making it being indifferent. He said that since 1985 he had wanted to cancel the series outright, because its cheap production values could not compete with Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). After pressure from fans and a campaign in the British press, Grade brought the series back the following year after the hiatus, but insisted that its star, Colin Baker, be replaced at the end of that season. Grade, together with BBC Head of Drama Jonathan Powell, approved the selection of Sylvester McCoy as the new Doctor and oversaw his first season in the role before leaving for Channel Four in 1987. Powell replaced Grade as BBC One Controller and oversaw two more seasons with McCoy before the series was permanently cancelled in 1989 by Peter Cregeen, the BBC's new Head of Series, who had inherited very low ratings for four seasons since Grade (of these four seasons, only two episodes drew more than six million viewers, proving that the hiatus and Colin Baker's subsequent dismissal had completely failed to increase the series' appeal). The last three seasons were scheduled against Coronation Street (1960), the most popular series on the BBC's rival channel ITV.
- #066
William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton are the only actors to play the Doctor who did not appear in every episode of their tenure. This was due to the extremely demanding production schedule of the 1960s, which had eased considerably by the time Jon Pertwee took on the role at the end of the decade.
- #067
The Seventh Doctor's Panama hat actually belonged to Sylvester McCoy.
- #068
The Whomobile was in fact never called by that name. Its makers referred to it as The Alien, but it was never named on screen.
- #069
Actors considered for the role of the Second Doctor included Rupert Davies, Valentine Dyall (who would later play the Black Guardian and Slarn) and Sir Michael Hordern. All of them declined because they did not want to commit to a long-running series.
- #070
Ace's distinctive jacket was Sophie Aldred's idea.
- #071
At the end of Planet of Fire: Part Four (1984), the Doctor promises Peri that he will take her back to America when her travels with him end three months later. At the end of The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Fourteen (1986), it is revealed that Peri, believed killed by Lord Kiv when her body was taken over by him, is in fact very much alive and has married King Yrcanos. Peri's family never learned what became of her. Early in Planet of Fire: Part Four (1984), Peri is rescued by Turlough, who saves her from drowning as she tries to swim to shore after her stepfather Howard leaves her stranded on his boat. Peri's family and the authorities had assumed that Peri may have drowned while trying to swim to shore and that her body was never found, or that Peri left Lanzarote with some English children for Morocco and never returned to the United States.
- #072
Verity Lambert cast William Hartnell as the Doctor after seeing him in This Sporting Life (1963). Hartnell, who had played tough-guy roles for years (policemen, gangsters, soldiers and so on), saw the part as a relief.
- #073
During William Hartnell's era, the First Doctor had two companions who were stranded on another planet in Season 2: Vicki had crash-landed her spaceship on Dido, and Steven Taylor had crash-landed on Mechanus.
- #074
Sylvester McCoy's 100-year-old grandmother died before McCoy was cast as the Seventh Doctor, and McCoy drew on the sorrow of her outliving many people and friends for the darker side of his version of the Doctor.
- #075
The day after Patrick Troughton's death, the Chicago public television station paid tribute to his memory by broadcasting The Three Doctors: Episode One (1972).
- #076
According to Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor's signature scarf was made by a woman named Begonia Pope. She was unsure how long the scarf should be, so she used all the wool she had been given, resulting in an unusually long scarf. The producers liked the design and decided to use it.
- #077
According to those who worked with him on the series, Tom Baker refused to say goodbye to anyone on the day he left.
- #078
Leslie French and Cyril Cusack both turned down the role of the First Doctor before William Hartnell was asked.
- #079
Richard Griffiths was considered to play the Fifth Doctor and the Eighth Doctor.
- #080
Only the Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, never had a serial in which the main villains were the Cybermen. However, when he returned to the series in 1983 for The Five Doctors (1983), he finally had a scene with the Cybermen.
- #081
A four-part story written for Season 27, titled "Ice Time", was never made because the series was cancelled; it was planned as Ace's farewell story, in which the Doctor and Ace fought two groups of Ice Warriors in 1960s London and which would have ended with Ace leaving the TARDIS to join the Time Lord Academy on Gallifrey.
- #082
By playing the Doctor for seven seasons, Tom Baker broke the previous record set by Jon Pertwee, becoming the only actor to play the Doctor for more than five seasons and eventually surpassing William Hartnell's total episode count. Although Colin Baker said he wanted to break this record, Baker's unbroken seven years in the role remains a record that has stood ever since.
- #083
The First, Third and Fourth Doctors are the only Doctors to have served for more than three seasons.
- #084
Roger Delgado wanted to leave the series and was to reprise the role of the Master in one more story, which would have written him out completely before Delgado's death.
- #085
The Daleks' Master Plan, The War Games, The Key to Time and The Trial of a Time Lord are the longest stories in the original series, running more than 6 to 7 episodes. The Daleks' Master Plan had 12 episodes, The War Games 10 episodes, The Key to Time 26 episodes and The Trial of a Time Lord 14 episodes. The Key to Time (Season 16) and The Trial of a Time Lord (Season 23) were each a single story with a recurring narrative thread. In Season 16, the Fourth Doctor, Romana I and K9 II are sent by the White Guardian on a mission to find and recover the six segments of the Key to Time, and in Season 23 the Sixth Doctor is put on trial again by the Time Lords. Recordings from the Doctor's past, present and future are shown and used as evidence against the Doctor, who is accused of interfering in the affairs of other planets.
- #086
Lois Lane from the "Superman" comics was a major influence behind Sarah Jane Smith.
- #087
In the background to the Doctor and Susan's arrival in 1963, Susan had chosen the name Susan Foreman. Viewers never learn Susan's real name. In the 20th anniversary special, when the First Doctor and Susan find themselves on Gallifrey in the Death Zone, the Doctor calls her Susan, but not by her real name. However, in the "Roses" audio production, it is revealed that Susan's real name is Arkytior, which means "Rose" in High Gallifreyan. The Ninth and Tenth Doctors' companion was named Rose Tyler.
- #088
Derrick Sherwin, who was the series' story editor during the Patrick Troughton era and designed the UNIT template for the Jon Pertwee years, twice offered to produce the series independently when he realised in the 1980s that the BBC wanted to cancel it. His offers were rejected by Michael Grade and later by Peter Cregeen, the BBC's Head of Series.
- #089
Katarina (Adrienne Hill) was the first companion to be killed, jettisoned out of an airlock in The Traitors (1965) after being taken hostage by Kirksen.
- #090
Towards the end of the series' Patrick Troughton era, story editor Derrick Sherwin felt that Doctor Who would benefit from being set more on Earth, as this would make it more real and believable. He devised UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) as a group the Doctor could be allied with on Earth. The new actor cast as the Doctor, Jon Pertwee, greatly preferred stories set on Earth and was put at ease working alongside familiar actors playing UNIT regulars, such as Nicholas Courtney, John Levene and Richard Franklin. Pertwee later said that if the decision had been his, he would have made stories set on Earth. The Pertwee era's producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks felt it was important to return the Doctor to space travel and to set stories on other planets. However, UNIT would continue to appear regularly in the series until the new production team of Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes took over and wrote them out in Tom Baker's second season.
- #091
John Nathan-Turner cast Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, having worked with him on All Creatures Great & Small (1978) when Nathan-Turner was a production unit manager. Nathan-Turner said he chose Davison because he had "the right combination of light humour, drama and realism," was very popular with children and had a large following among female viewers.
- #092
Sophie Aldred presented the CBBC programme Corners (1987) between seasons of Doctor Who. While rehearsing a version of the programme, Aldred received a phone call from Sylvester McCoy, who told her the BBC had cancelled the series.
- #093
According to numerous accounts from directors and other actors, both William Hartnell and Tom Baker earned reputations on the series as authoritarian, cantankerous and difficult to work with. In Hartnell's case, this was worsened by his declining health.
- #094
When Patrick Troughton decided to leave the series but then refused to go, Frazer Hines was offered the chance to stay. His agent wanted him to take other work, and he was also inclined to leave at the same time as his friends Patrick Troughton and Wendy Padbury (he had stayed specifically to do so, which meant the proposed replacement for Jamie, Nik, was never needed).
- #095
Anneke Wills disliked working with William Hartnell, strongly objecting to his right-wing political views and to the tense atmosphere on set.
- #096
William Hartnell believed the series would be enjoyed by children more than anyone else and stood firmly behind that view. Although he agreed to appear in the tenth-anniversary special The Three Doctors: Part One (1972), in the early 1970s (while Jon Pertwee was playing the Doctor) he gave a newspaper interview in which he expressed sadness that he felt the series was no longer made for children. He added that as a result he now hardly ever watched it.
- #097
Patrick Troughton was filming a "Hammer" film in Ireland when he was offered the chance to succeed William Hartnell.
- #098
For the series' tenth anniversary, William Hartnell was too ill to take part in The Three Doctors: Part One (1972) as required. As a result, he was filmed separately from the other actors during pre-production. This footage was later edited into the story, and Hartnell appeared interacting with Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee on a small screen.
- #099
Peter Davison's real surname is Moffett, but he had to change it so as not to be confused with the director Peter Moffatt, with whom he worked on All Creatures Great & Small (1978) and later on Doctor Who (1963).
- #100
Innes Lloyd, a producer in the 1960s, had a policy of using well-known actors in guest roles to increase the series' dramatic appeal. The series' final producer, John Nathan-Turner, also particularly enjoyed using big names, especially from the world of comedy. In the series' final seasons, in an attempt to halt the decline in ratings, he turned increasingly to stunt casting. These guest stars included Joan Sims, Richard Briers, Ken Dodd, Peggy Mount, Nicholas Parsons, Gareth Hale and Norman Pace.
- #101
When Andrew Cartmel took over as script editor, he aimed to make the Doctor a mysterious character again. Across Seasons 25 and 26, hints emerged that the Doctor was older and far more powerful than he was thought to be. This was called the 'Cartmel Masterplan'. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled before anything came of it.
- #102
For the role of the Seventh Doctor, John Nathan-Turner was actively looking for an actor reminiscent of the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton. He felt the man he wanted for the role was Sylvester McCoy, and McCoy took on the role of the Doctor after Nathan-Turner saw him in a stage version of the Pied Piper.
- #103
A direct-to-video feature film called "Dark Dimension" was planned to celebrate the series' 30th anniversary, but it was never made; it would have featured the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors, Ace, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, the Daleks and the Cybermen, and the story would have focused on the Fourth Doctor's regeneration being halted so that he dies, creating a dark dimension and leaving the Doctor tasked with correcting time. His future incarnations would continue to exist.
- #104
John Nathan-Turner was the series' longest-serving producer (1980 - 1989). Unfortunately, Nathan-Turner was given little regard by senior BBC executives, and after the series was cancelled he never worked as a producer on television again, though he did produce several Doctor Who-related videos and the 30th-anniversary spoof Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time (1993).
- #105
In an interview, Deborah Watling noted that Patrick Troughton was like a second father to her.
- #106
The cancelled 27th season would have seen the Seventh Doctor test whether Ace was suitable enough to join the Time Lord academy on Gallifrey.
- #107
Patrick Troughton grew tired of the intense production schedule and feared being typecast if he stayed in the role for more than three years, which led to his decision to leave in 1969. According to Terrance Dicks, towards the end of Troughton's era the script situation was also chaotic under Peter Bryant and Derrick Sherwin. When Dicks became the sole script editor under producer Barry Letts, he made it a priority to sort out the script situation and make it more efficient. This meant building a regular group of writers he could rely on and avoiding rewrites as much as possible. In an interview, Dicks said he believed a script should work by the second draft.
- #108
When Jon Pertwee took on the role, he told the press he would give the Doctor a more contemporary look. This included updating the character's costume.
- #109
Following Derrick Sherwin's death in 2018, Philip Hinchcliffe became the series' last surviving producer.
- #110
According to Lalla Ward, the writers did not even dare to attend the script readings that Tom Baker took part in, because he was known to be "scathing" when he disliked something in a script. She also said she never heard him say anything bad about the actors in the cast, but that he could be "absolutely lethal" with directors.
- #111
Ian Chesterton was named after the writer G. K. Chesterton.
- #112
Loana, the protagonist of the book One Million Years B.C. (1966), is considered a major influence behind Leela.
- #113
Adric, companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, was based on the Artful Dodger from Charles Dickens's novel "Oliver Twist".
- #114
When Tom Baker announced in 1980 that he was leaving the series, he suggested to the press that his successor could be a woman. In 2017, on Doctor Who (2005), this finally came true when Chris Chibnall cast Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor.
- #115
During his record seven-year tenure as the Doctor, Tom Baker worked with four different producers: Barry Letts (who cast him and produced his first story), Philip Hinchcliffe, Graham Williams and John Nathan-Turner. Baker later described Hinchcliffe, producer of his first three seasons, as "amazing" and called that period his favourite era of the series. He described the next producer, Williams, as "absolutely devoted" but lacking Hinchcliffe's abilities, though he admitted Williams let him "get away with murder". He admitted that his final producer, Nathan-Turner, made changes he did not agree with and that they "did not see eye-to-eye really about very much". He later said they became good friends and forgot their disagreements. Baker admitted he may have stayed in the role too long by one season.
- #116
In an interview, Louise Jameson admitted that her favourite Doctor was William Hartnell.
- #117
The series was reportedly originally pitched as a 'hard science fiction' TV series.
- #118
The 1978 "Key to Time" arc came about because Graham Williams wanted to do something different for the series. He decided to make an entire season into one big story, something that would not be done again until "The Trial of a Time Lord" in 1986. The "Key to Time" arc's story concerned the White Guardian sending the Doctor, K9 and new companion Romana to search for all six segments of a cube called the "Key to Time" and prevent it from falling into the hands of the Black Guardian.
- #119
Opinions on the series' final years remain divided. It is believed that Colin Baker's Doctor was too unlikeable to work properly, that budget restrictions were often all too obvious (the frequently static direction did not help), that Peri and Mel were annoying companions, and that Sylvester McCoy's era in particular suffered from stories that did not make enough sense (even McCoy admitted that his favourite story, Ghost Light: Part One (1989), was one he did not understand). Terrance Dicks said: "There was undoubtedly a decline. I think the people working on it, particularly John Nathan-Turner, were not up to the job. Colin Baker, for instance, never got the chance not to wear that silly costume, which I thought was a great shame. I was sorry, but I wasn't surprised when they took him out." Mark Gatiss once commented: "When the programme was cancelled everything was undoubtedly getting better, but there was still a kind of mixed quality, almost perversity. A refusal to tell a simple story, which I found very annoying."
- #120
After Elisabeth Sladen left the series, Tom Baker became gloomy and withdrawn. During their first season together, Louise Jameson felt she was not being treated well. She kept confronting Baker about this and their working relationship began to improve. Baker, on the other hand, had no problems working with Mary Tamm and Lalla Ward.
- #121
Both William Hartnell's and Patrick Troughton's penultimate stories as the Doctor are pirate stories. The Smugglers: Episode 1 (1966) was set in 17th-century Cornwall, where the Doctor, Ben and Polly encountered pirates led by Captain Samuel Pike, and The Space Pirates: Episode 1 (1969) was set in space in the future. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe were trapped on a space beacon attacked by pirates led by Caven. Both stories are lost from the BBC archives.
- #122
After Sophie Aldred finished filming Dragonfire: Part One (1987), the producers told her to lose weight. Aldred, who had had an eating disorder as a child, was so angry at this request that she put on extra weight to annoy the producers.
- #123
Doctor Who (2005) Doctors Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith and Jodie Whittaker were all born during the run of the original series.
- #124
The costume of Mavic Chen, the treacherous Guardian of the Solar System in the epic Dalek Masterplan story, was based on the banner of a medieval English knight.
- #125
In 1986, six stories had been written for Season 23, but the plans were cut short when the BBC announced that the series would be taken off air for 18 months because it had become too violet. The six stories that were written but never filmed are: "Nightmare Fair", in which the Doctor and Peri battle the Celestial Toymaker in Blackpool; "The Ultimate Evil", in which the Doctor and Peri learn that an evil alien dwarf is using a deep space beam to turn the peaceful inhabitants of a holiday planet into raging killers; "Yellow Fever and How to Cure It", in which the Doctor and Peri fight Autons in Singapore; "Mission to Magnus", in which the Doctor and Peri learn that Sil is working for the Ice Warriors; "The Hollows of Time", brought back by the Tractators; and "The Children of January", in which the Doctor and Peri encounter a fugitive proto-human race. When the series returned in 1986, Season 26 consisted of the single story "The Trial of a Time Lord", in which the Doctor is put on trial again by the Time Lords and recordings of events from his past, present and future in the Matrix are used as evidence against him, and the season ends with the Doctor discovering that the prosecutor, the Valeyard, is an evil future incarnation of himself and that the High Council used him to alter the evidence in the Matrix in order to cover up the Doctor's discoveries about the planet Ravalox. The season witnessed Nicola Bryant's dramatic departure as Peri and the introduction of the Doctor's new companion Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford), and it was also Colin Baker's final season in the role of the Doctor.
- #126
Five episodes were commissioned and written for Series 27, but they were never produced or filmed because the series was cancelled on 6 December 1989: "Earth Aid", Ben Aaronovitch's three-part story in which the Doctor and Ace fight the Atraxi on a spaceship. The four-part "Thin Ice" story written by Marc Platt saw the long-awaited return of the Ice Warriors, with the Doctor and Ace encountering them in the early 1960s, and the story ended with Ace's departure and the Doctor deciding to take her to Gallifrey so that she could join the Time Lord Academy. Andrew Cartmel's four-part story "Action At A Distance" introduced the Doctor's new companion, an upper-class cat burglar named Katie De Luna, with the Doctor and Katie helping Brigadier Bambera and UNIT investigate alien signals and deal with the mafia, and the Doctor fighting the Atraxi again. The story "Alixion", written by Robin Mukherjee, would have been the last Doctor Who story to date and would have ended the series entirely: in it, the Doctor and Katie encounter an abbess who feeds people to giant insects to nourish them with their elixirs and wants to feed on the Doctor, and it would have ended with the Doctor and Katie living to die another day and Katie questioning why everything has to die.
- #127
According to Sylvester McCoy in an interview, many people had told him years before he was cast in the role that he would make a really good Doctor Who.
- #128
Actor, comedian, writer and author Charlie Higson modelled the character Colin Hunt in The Fast Show (1994) on Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor). Colin Hunt has curly hair, wears a colourful shirt and yellow trousers, and is named 'Colin'.
- #129
After leaving Doctor Who, Matthew Waterhouse appeared in the 1984 science fiction film The Killing Edge, which follows a man searching for his family in a post-apocalyptic wasteland while fleeing deadly robots.
- #130
In real life, Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor) married Lalla Ward (Romana) in 1980, but they later divorced in 1982. Lalla Ward was born Sarah Ward. One of the Fourth Doctor's companions was Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), and the Fourth Doctor's later companion Nyssa of Traken was played by Sarah Sutton.
- #131
Tom Baker was unwell during the production of Season 18.
- #132
Seasons 24, 25 and 26 had a recurring story arc: the Seventh Doctor learns that Ace was brought to the Iceworld by a time storm (Dragonfire). A time storm brings Lady Peinforte to 1988 (Silver Nemesis), and Fenric explains that he used the time storm that brought Ace to the Iceworld so that she would travel with the Doctor and could be used as a weapon against him, and the Doctor admits that he has known everything from the moment he first met Ace and that Fenric was also behind the time storm that brought Lady Peinforte to 1988 (The Curse of Fenric).
- #133
There were 14 recurring story arcs across the series: Marc Cory and the Daleks' plan to use the Time Destructor (Season 3). The Daleks (Season 4). The Cybermen (Season 5). The Master (Season 8). The Time Lords send the Doctor and Jo to Peladon and Solos on missions (Season 9). The Doctor and Jo, having discovered the Master, work alongside the Daleks in the Master's plan to trigger a war between Earth and Draconia and follow the Daleks back to their base on Spiridon (Season 10). The Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry arrive at Nerva Beacon and leave it to prepare Earth for humanity's arrival at Nerva Beacon, returning after the Skaro mission (Season 12). When the Doctor is recalled to Gallifrey, he is forced to take Sarah Jane home and finds himself the prime suspect in the assassination of the Lord President of the High Council of Time Lords (Season 14). The White Guardian sends the Doctor, Romana and K-9 to find the six segments of the Key to Time (Season 17). The Doctor and Romana's trip to E-Space and the Master's return (Season 18). The Black Guardian uses Turlough as his agent to take revenge on the Doctor (Season 20). The Doctor is put on trial for his life by the Time Lords (Season 23). Ace is brought to Iceworld and Lady Peinforte is brought to 1988 by another Time Storm, behind which is Fenric (Seasons 24, 25 and 26).
- #134
It was revealed that Ace's mother's name was Audrey Dudman (née McShane).
- #135
Both Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker were cast by producers who were about to leave the series. Peter Bryant cast Jon Pertwee and never worked with him on the series, since he had departed before Pertwee's first serial went into production. Barry Letts chose Tom Baker and filmed his first serial before handing over to a new producer.
- #136
1980s producer John Nathan-Turner and script editor Eric Saward had problems in their professional relationship, which eventually led Saward to abruptly resign from the series in 1986 before completing the scripts for Season 23.
- #137
The series was always run by the BBC's staff producer. The producer was assisted by a script editor responsible for commissioning scripts and carrying out rewrites. Both Peter Davison and Steven Moffat (in Come in Number Five (2011)) said the series would have been better if it had been produced by a writer; they said this is one of the strongest aspects of the revived Doctor Who (2005), which has a writer as head producer and a "showrunner" in the American television style. Moffat says the script editors on the original series were "way down from where they should have been" when it came to making creative decisions about the series' production, while Davison said he felt his producer John Nathan-Turner was not qualified to steer the series as he should have because he was not a writer, and that he was therefore unhappy with the standard of much of the writing on the series during his time as the Doctor.
- #138
Famous actors who openly said they wanted to play the Doctor but could not be reached include Julian Glover and Nigel Havers. Andrew Sachs later said in an interview that he regretted not winning the role of the Seventh Doctor despite putting his name forward. After his guest appearance in 1985, left-wing alternative comedian Alexei Sayle also said he wanted to be the first "socialist" Doctor.
- #139
Both the Sixth Doctor's era and the Seventh Doctor's era ended on 6 December. Colin Baker's ended on 6 December 1986 with The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Fourteen (1986). Sylvester McCoy's ended on 6 December 1989 with Survival: Part Three (1989).
- #140
The First Doctor, William Hartnell, had many stories set in historical contexts as part of the series' educational remit. However, these were largely phased out during Patrick Troughton's era because producer Innes Lloyd disliked them and thought they did not perform well in the ratings. The Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, had only one historical story across his five seasons on the series: The Time Warrior: Part One (1973), a story set in medieval England.
- #141
The 1978 Key to Time season was devised by producer Graham Williams, and the series attempted such a story arc for the first time across a season. He decided that the Doctor, together with K-9 and his new companion Romana, would set out to find the six segments of the Key to Time.
- #142
Before the BBC One broadcast of The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Two (1986), there was a trailer for the children's show Eureka (1982). Sylvester McCoy, who appeared in the film, replaced Colin Baker as the Doctor.
- #143
While Vincent Price was filming in Britain on films such as The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Theatre of Blood (1973), he saw some episodes and tried to make an American adaptation of the series with himself playing the Doctor, but because he could not obtain the rights he made Time Express (1979) instead.
- #144
In Sarah Jane Smith's backstory: Sarah Jane was raised by Aunt Lavinia, and her parents died in a car accident three months after she was born.
- #145
Ace was born on 20 August 1970. This is never mentioned in the television series, which means Sophie Aldred was eight years older than her character.
- #146
The Doctor Who (2005) companions Billie Piper, Noel Clarke, Camille Coduri, John Barrowman, Catherine Tate, Freema Agyeman, Alex Kingston, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Jenna Coleman, Samuel Anderson, Pearl Mackie and Matt Lucas were all born during the run of the revived series.
- #147
In 1989, Louise Jameson took on the role of a doctor in a Friends Provident commercial.
- #148
The second companion to leave the series by dying was the young Adric, whose most notable feature appeared to be a gold badge for mathematical excellence. He was killed in Earthshock: Part Four (1982).
- #149
Sylvester McCoy plays the manipulative and cunning Seventh Doctor. The word 'sly' means 'having or showing a cunning and deceitful nature'.
- #150
The Fifth and Sixth Doctor's companion is Perpugilliam Brown, nicknamed "Peri". The Seventh Doctor's companion Ace comes from Perivale.
- #151
Julia Sawalha auditioned for the role of Ace.
- #152
The series was the subject of behind-the-scenes documentaries twice. The first was the BBC's own Whose Dr. Who (1977), which went behind the scenes of The Talons of Weng-Chiang: Part One (1977). The second was The Making of Doctor Who (1988), produced by the New Jersey Network in the United States, which covered the making of the 25th anniversary story Silver Nemesis: Part One (1988).
- #153
Iain Cuthbertson was considered to play the Fifth Doctor. He took the role of Garron in season 16.
- #154
Brian Blessed turned down the role of the Second Doctor due to scheduling conflicts. He took the role of King Yrcanos in season 23.
- #155
In 1988, Paramount began developing a Doctor Who feature film with Michael Jackson and Bill Cosby in mind for the lead, but the project was ultimately shelved.
- #156
The Seventh Doctor was initially considered to be a woman; Joanna Lumley, Dawn French and Frances de la Tour wanted the role. The Thirteenth Doctor became a woman, played by Jodie Whittaker. Lumley played a parody of the Doctor in Comic Relief: Doctor Who - The Curse of Fatal Death (1999).
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