60 Years of Doctor Who
- Publication: My Weekly
- Date: 2023-10-31
- Author:
- Page: 22
- Language: English
As the trailblazing series turns 60, we look back at who was Who in the world's longest-running science fiction TV show
Everyone has their favourite Doctor. For many it is the "timey-wimey" tenth Doctor, played by David Tennant.
He was the first to fall in love with his assistant, Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper. Their tragic separation had the nation more engrossed than his battles with his arch enemies, the Daleks.
When it was announced that Tennant was returning to the TARDIS after 13 years for three special episodes to mark the 60th anniversary, the fandom went wild.
With over 800 episodes of Doctor Who programming available on BBC iPlayer from November 1, Whovians can obsess to their (two) hearts' content.
Older viewers may look back fondly on the Doctors of their youth, from wide-eyed Tom Baker with his 12ft scarf and robot dog companion K9, to the karate-chopping, tweed cape-wearing Jon Pertwee with his yellow vintage car, Bessie.
The series was dreamed up by the BBC's head of drama Sydney Newman, and brought to life by producer Verity Lambert.
"I was given a piece of paper that said there was a man who has come from we-know-not-where, with a spaceship he doesn't know how to work," Lambert recalled.
When it launched on November 23, 1963, few could have imagined that the Saturday teatime tale of a crotchety time traveller in a police box would enthral generations to come.
The world was reeling from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy the day before, and few tuned in. Within weeks, though, the Doctor met his most famous foes, the Daleks, and the show became a sensation.
Ironically, the metal monsters that have spent the past six decades trying to exterminate the Doctor saved the show from cancellation!
William Hartnell was hugely popular as the first Doctor, but the schedule took a toll on his health. It could have been the end of Doctor Who.
Instead, the producers came up with an idea that ensured the show could run without end: the Doctor's ability to regenerate.
Hartnell metamorphosed into Patrick Troughton, who played the recorder, dressed like a tramp, and battled robot yeti in the London Underground. He was followed in the '70s by Pertwee and Baker. Each gave the Doctor a new personality.
"It kind of licensed me to be my own rather silly but good-natured, jolly self," said Baker.
Peter Davidson, fresh from playing a vet in All Creatures Great and Small, played the Doctor as an Edwardian cricketer. Colin Baker, lumbered with the most ridiculed of the Doctor's outfits, made sarcastic and bombastic.
Sylvester McCoy made him cynical, manipulative and sometimes sinister.
Alongside the Doctors came a parade of memorable companions. The kilt-wearing Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines); the knife-throwing Leela (Louise Jameson); and the streetwise teen with a fondness for explosives, Ace (Sophie Aldred).
Unfortunately, by the '80s, the show was losing viewers. Its special effects looked wobbly next to the big screen sci-fi of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In 1989 it was taken off air.
Luckily, the Doctor had a few more regenerations up his sleeve. In 2005, Doctor Who rematerialised with Christopher Eccleston as a chirpy and sometimes chippy Northern Doctor in a trendy black leather jacket, with Billie Piper at his side.
There was shock when Eccleston resigned after one season, but the show went into its most popular period when Tennant took his place.
Matt Smith followed as the series' youngest lead and Peter Capaldi reinvented the character yet again as the cantankerous 12th Doctor.
In 2017, Jodie Whittaker proved a woman could steer the TARDIS as well as any man. Her first episode, The Woman Who Fell To Earth, might be one of the best introductions to any Doctor. She also presided over one of the best Dalek stories, Resolution – in which we saw a new side to the evil outer space pepperpots!
The secret of Doctor Who's success is its capacity for continual change. After Tennant's return for the 60th anniversary, a new Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, is set to take the series in yet another new direction. Hold tight!
Captions:
David Tennant and Billie Piper, the dream team
William Hartnell was hugely popular as the first
Roger Delgado as the Master
Best Of Friends
Elisabeth Sladen came to fame as the Doctor's longest-serving companion, Sarah Jane Smith. Introduced as a plucky investigative journalist in the Jon Pertwee era, Sarah Jane continued alongside Tom Baker's Doctor in some of the series' most memorable stories: Genesis of the Daleks, The Brain of Morbius and The Seeds of Doom.
She returned in the relaunched Doctor Who, meeting David Tennant's Doctor in the episode School Reunion. She proved so popular that she was given her own series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, in which she worked with her fourth Doctor, played by Matt Smith.
Caption: Elisabeth Sladen and Tom Baker
Best Of Enemies
In 1971, the Doctor met an enemy who would rival the Daleks and Cybermen as his most enduring foe.
Originally played by Roger Delgado, the Master was as suave and clever as John Pertwee's Doctor, but utterly evil and bent on world domination. Also a Timelord, the Master has regenerated many times with Anthony Ainley, Derek Jacobi and John Simm stepping into his shoes.
Michelle Gomez reinvented the character as Missy – short for Mistress – and Sacha Dhawan was the most recent actor to play the part.
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- APA 6th ed.: (2023-10-31). 60 Years of Doctor Who. My Weekly p. 22.
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