Doctor Who

Doctor Who is an award winning British science fiction TV series produced by the BBC. For the main character go to The Doctor.

The First Doctor
Doctor Who reached first our screens in November 1963. The first episode was titled "An Unearthly Child", and starred William Hartnell as The Doctor. During this time The Doctor was revealed to travel Time and Space in a vehicle called a TARDIS, standing for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. Hartnell (a Second World War veteran) was 55 when he took the role, and lasted for three years. His poor health lead him to retire, but the BBC bosses were reluctant to let him go, the series having become very popular. In a brave decision John Wiles and Innes Lloyd, the shows producers decided to hire Patrick Troughton as The Doctor in Hartnell's place.

The Second Doctor
Patrick Troughton took over as The Doctor in the episode "The Tenth Planet". A complete change of look and personality for The Doctor was explained away by the alien nature of The Doctor. Established character actor Troughton played The Doctor for three years, before moving on to other parts. His regeneration was caused by the Doctor's people (The Time Lords of the planet Gallifrey) from whom he was a fugitive, exiling him to Earth for interfering with the lesser races.

The Third Doctor
Popular comedy actor Jon Pertwee became The Doctor in 1970, heralding a new era in the history of the show. After the first episode the series and all subsequent ones were shot in colour. For much of his four year run Pertwee's Doctor was trapped on 1970's Earth by the Time Lords, although this had more to do with budget constraints. After his defeat of the rogue Time Lord Omega in the 10th anniversary episode "The Three Doctors" he was again allowed his freedom.

The Fourth Doctor
Tom Baker is the actor credited with the longest running screen role (seven consecutive years) as The Doctor, although some fans feel that the Eighth Doctor has had the longest run to date, by starring in a large number of audio adventures. Baker was hugely popular, and during his stint audience figures peaked. Two of his companions have also remained deeply embedded within the public consciousness. These were K-9, a robotic dog, and Sarah Jane Smith, a young reporter, both of whom starred in their own spin off series. Baker's distinctive appearance in the role -- a tall, gangly figure with curly hair, a toothy grin and a very long scarf -- was for a long time and for many remains the iconic representation of the Doctor.

The Fifth Doctor
In 1981 Tom Baker had decided to move on, and in his place a young actor named Peter Davison was chosen to play The Doctor. Davison had come to prominence as Tristan Farnon, the young trainee vet, in the adaptations of James Herriot's popular series of books. Davison's Doctor was much more thoughtful and sensitive than the previous incarnations, tending to react to situations, rather than initiate them. Interestingly it was during his run as The Doctor that the first death of a regular companion since Katarina and Sara (in the First Doctor story The Daleks' Master Plan) occurred. Adric, who had begun his travels with the Fourth Doctor, was killed when the defeated Cybermen's ship crashed into prehistoric earth.

The Sixth Doctor
In 1984, Peter Davison decided to move on and Colin Baker was cast as the Doctor. It was decided to make this Doctor rougher around the edges and more unstable and violent, as evidenced by the costume he wore; a multicoloured 'tasteless' patchwork frock coupled with yellow-and-black striped trousers. Unfortunately, an increased focus on violence coupled with audiences rejecting the newly unlikeable Doctor saw ratings and audience appreciation figures drop; the show was put on an eighteen month hiatus, and Baker was eventually fired from the role -- the first and only of the actors playing the Doctor to suffer this.

The Seventh Doctor
Cast after Colin Baker was fired from the role, Sylvester McCoy's first season has been generally regarded by Who fandom as a drop in quality, with a top-heavy focus on inappropriate camp and 'pantomine' humour. His later seasons saw the character evolve into a brooding man of mystery with a tendency to manipulate the people around him like chess pieces. Although widely well-regarded, the show lost mainstream audiences during this time and was eventually put on semi-permanent hiatus. This Doctor had a continued presence through an expanded universe of novels which featured him as the main character and adapted the television series for more adult audiences.

The Eighth Doctor
Paul McGann played the Doctor only once on television -- in a 1996 TV movie co-produced between the BBC and Universal -- and the character was mainly fleshed out in a series of novels, audio plays and comic strips. As such, while he has the least amount of television appearances of any of the actors to play the Doctor, some cite the Eighth Doctor as the longest-lasting Doctor due to the length of time between his appearance and the new series (nine years).

The Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor appeared from 26 March-18 June 2005 and was played by Christopher Eccleston. This incarnation has a pronounced Northern accent, large ears, and a prominent nose. He's often aggressively, nearly manically cheerful and enjoys quirky non sequiturs, but has a tendency for depression as well that he tries to mask. The Doctor is often impatient with humans and other lesser sentients. He likes bananas and the word "Fantastic!"

The Tenth Doctor
This incarnation of the Doctor appeared for the first time on the 18th June 2005, played by David Tennant, and is the current Doctor. He appears to be somewhat easy-going, quite cheerful and extremely talkative. This, combined with an ability to change moods in the blink of an eye, gives him a decided psychological advantage over those who oppose him, as his barrage of words and unpredictable actions make them quite wary. He has somewhat more of a ruthless edge than his predecessor.

Daleks
See the separate entry on Daleks

Lost Episodes
In some continua, various episodes from the Hartnell and Troughton eras have been lost. Which ones vary from continuum to continuum. Sometimes, if the soundtracks still exist, the episodes can be reconstructed by animation (as episodes one and four of The Invasion were in the Real World and the lost episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan were in Potterverse).

Torchwood
See the Torchwood article.

In the Mirror Multiverse
In the mirror multiverse, the show is called "Master Who." It is not known if it actually stars The Master or if The Doctor is called "The Master" there. (Recent developments would hint at the latter).

Agents Native to Doctor Who

 * Charlie
 * Light Fixture
 * Morgan
 * Omicron
 * The Agent
 * The Disentangler