Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a BBC science fiction television programme originally created in 1963. It centres around a character named the Doctor, who travels around the universe in a time machine called the TARDIS ("Time and Relative Dimensions in Space"), which resembles a 1940s British Police phone box, but is considerably larger on the inside than it is on the outside.

The programme ran for twenty-six seasons between 1963 and 1989, at which point it was cancelled indefinitely. Various forms of the series continued after the cancellation, with popular series of novels published by Target (later Virgin) and then BBC Books, along with audio serials and re-releases of past episodes on VHS and DVD. Since 2005, a "new series" has been produced by BBC Wales.

The Doctor has the ability to regenerate his body when mortally weakened, a useful plot device that has allowed the role to be played on TV by ten different actors so far.

The Doctors

William Hartnell (1963-66)

The first actor to play the Doctor portrayed him as a cantankerous old man. Initially a somewhat dark character, he became more grandfatherly in later episodes. Hartnell's era introduced the most well-known of the Doctor's foes, the Daleks.

Patrick Troughton (1966-1969)

Troughton's Doctor was an impish figure, whose gimmicks included playing the recorder. In this period, much of which is lost, the program felt the influence of Star Trek somewhat.

Jon Pertwee (1970-1974)

The third Doctor was Earth-bound for much of his tenure, a move that was partly motivated by budgeting constraints in production. In the stories themselves, this was explained by the Doctor's race - the Time Lords - imposing an exile upon him due to alleged crimes prosecuted in The War Games. During this time, the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce ("UNIT") was a key element of plots - the Doctor was officially UNIT's scientific advisor, but he frequently attempts to break free of the Time Lords' imposition of exile.

Tom Baker (1974-1981)

Arguably the most well-known Doctor, Baker, with his seven-foot long scarf and fondness for jelly babies played the role for longer than any other actor. Considered to be an "eccentric" character, he was capable both of representing human attributes and being aloof and of being detached from others around him.

Peter Davison (1981-1984)

The fifth Doctor became something of a vulnerable character, which was a conscious decision by the production team (led by John Nathan-Turner) to remove the aura of invincibility that they had felt was becoming part of the Doctor's characterisation with Tom Baker. Shown to be a keen cricket fan, the Doctor was arguably more human than any of his predecessors and often relied more on his companions to assist throughout his missions.

Colin Baker (1984-1986)

The sixth Doctor was premised around being the antithesis of his predecessor, with his garish and colour-mismatched costume reflecting the vast contrast with the mild-mannered fifth Doctor. In terms of characterisation, the Doctor became something of an unstable character, often violently responding to people and events around him.

Sylvester McCoy (1987-1989)

After the departure of Colin Baker, McCoy's depiction of the Doctor saw the series shift mood considerably. Early stories within the era depicted a somewhat comic and light-hearted Doctor, but over time the Doctor's character became steadily darker - a development that has been commonly described as making the Doctor a manipulating, scheming character who influenced events like a chess game.

Paul McGann (1996)

McGann played the role for a television movie, with the creation of a new series by US producers dependent on the success of the movie. This was never made. The Doctor himself was perhaps more human than any other, with the revelation that he was "half-human" on his mother's side and displaying far greater emotional response than in the past.

Christopher Eccleston (2005)

The first Doctor in the "new series" created by Russell T. Davies, Eccleston's portrayal saw much of the eccentricity of the past integrated into the ninth regeneration of the Doctor. An indefinite amount of time has elapsed since he was last seen on television screens, and it is clear that the events of the Time War have scarred him: he is the last of the Time Lord race. His character reflected a manic unpredictability that saw him capable of both compassion and apathy while maintaining a love-hate relationship with humans.

David Tennant (2006-)

The current actor playing the Doctor was also well-known beforehand (Casanova, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). His portrayal is more humorous and vivacious than Eccleston's.

Political and social themes

Many stories in the series have subtle or overt political and social themes. The inspiration for these range from the debate over the United Kingdom's entry into the Common Market (The Curse of Peladon, 1972) to the Iraq War (Aliens of London/World War Three, 2005). Writers in The Guardian have described the show as an example of the BBC pumping out "relentless socialist propaganda". However, on a few occasions the show has taken more conservative viewpoints.

Enemies as political allegories

The show's most iconic recurring enemies, the Daleks and the Cybermen, can be seen as satirising right and left wing. In a recent episode, the Daleks - Doctor Who's most dangerous enemy, a race of creatures who are physically shriveled and weak but contained within an armored tank-like body - take over Manhattan. They ruthlessly exploit workers engaged in construction and repair on the Empire State Building. This was reported in the British newspaper The Independent as a metaphor for the rampant abuse of capitalism. Meanwhile, the Cybermen, who are humans remade into cyborgs with no free will, show how collectivism destroys individual spirit.

Environmentalism

The Green Death (1973) emphasised the dangers of pollution and big business - while the following year's Invasion of the Dinosaurs featured a contrasting menace - pro-environment extremists.

The origins debate

Many plotlines in Doctor Who refer to Evolution. The show's time travel has often been used to travel into times in the past which are inconsistent with a Young Earth. Indeed, the very first story from 1963 was referred to by some internal BBC documents as "100,000 BC". Recent episode The Runaway Bride (2006) showed the formation of the Earth "four and a half billion years ago".

However, Doctor Who sometimes supports the idea of Intelligent Design. According to the show, many advanced aliens have intervened in Earth's history and the development of mankind. However, these tend to be evil, suggesting that the programme takes a Manichean viewpoint. God and Jesus are never mentioned.

The show also contradicts Christian eschatology by portraying humanity as present in the far future (including the year 5 billion AD and 100 trillion AD), contradicting prophecies found in the Book of Revelation.

Homosexual agenda

The executive producer of the revived show, Russell T. Davies, is an "out" homosexual and several fans have accused him of using the show to promote a deliberate homosexual agenda.

Examples include:

• Recurring character Captain Jack Harkness (played by another "out" homosexual, John Barrowman) is bisexual (he will "dance with anyone") and this is presented as a consequence of his coming from the more liberal 51st Century.
• The villainous Cassandra, a satire on cosmetic surgery, was born male implying that one of her many operations was a sex change
• Gay marriage shown as normal in the future through the portrayal of an elderly lesbian couple
• A fictionalised version of the great writer William Shakespeare is bisexual
• The episode The Idiot's Lantern (2006) shows a homosexual teen rebelling against proper parental authority
• In 42 (2007) Martha Jones asks a guest character whether he has a girlfriend or a boyfriend

Transmission

Among other countries, Doctor Who can be seen on:

• BBC One in the UK
• CBC Television in Canada
• SciFi Channel in the US
• ABC in Australia

Other countries to receive Doctor Who include the Netherlands, France, Denmark and Russia.