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Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterrestrial being called the Doctor, part of a humanoid species called Time Lords. The Doctor travels in the universe and in time using a time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS, which externally appears as a British police box. While travelling, the Doctor works to save lives and liberate oppressed peoples by combating foes. The Doctor often travels with companions.

Beginning with William Hartnell, fourteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; as of 2024^[update], Ncuti Gatwa leads the series as the Fifteenth Doctor. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the series with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation, a plot device in which, when a Time Lord is fatally injured, their cells regenerate and they are reincarnated, into a different body with mannerisms and behaviour, but the same memories, explaining each actor's distinct portrayal, as they all represent different stages in the life of the Doctor and, together, they form a single lifetime with a single narrative. The time-travelling nature of the plot means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet. The Doctor can also change ethnicity or gender; in 2017, Jodie Whittaker became the first woman cast in the lead role, and in 2024, Gatwa became the first black actor to headline the series.

The series is a significant part of popular culture in Britain and elsewhere; it has gained a cult following. It has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching the series. Fans of the series are sometimes referred to as Whovians. The series has been listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science-fiction television series in the world, as well as the "most successful" science-fiction series of all time, based on its overall broadcast ratings, DVD and book sales. (Full article...)

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The fourth series of British science fiction television programme Doctor Who was preceded by the 2007 Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes aired, starting with "Partners in Crime" on 5 April 2008 and ending with "Journey's End" three months later on 5 July 2008. The series incorporates a loose story arc consisting of recurring mentions of the disappearance of various planets and moons.

"Partners in Crime" marked the debut of Donna Noble, as played by Catherine Tate, as a full-time companion to the Tenth Doctor, after she first appeared in the 2006 Christmas special, "The Runaway Bride". Freema Agyeman also returns as the Doctor's companion Martha Jones from the previous series. John Barrowman, Elisabeth Sladen, Noel Clarke and Camille Coduri also returned to appear in the series finale, as well as Billie Piper, who appeared as Rose Tyler in six episodes of the series. (Full article...)
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"Gridlock" is the third episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 April 2007. It was written by Russell T Davies and directed by Richard Clark.

The episode is set five billion years in the future on the planet New Earth, one of the many planets humanity had settled on. In the episode, alien time traveller The Doctor (David Tennant) and his new travelling companion Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) discover the remainder of humanity on the planet live in perpetual gridlock within the Motorway, a highway system beneath the city state of New New York. When Martha is kidnapped, the Doctor races to find her before she enters the dangerous "fast lane". (Full article...)
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"Planet of the Ood" is the third episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 19 April 2008.

The episode takes place in the year 4126 on the Ood-Sphere, the titular planet of the episode. The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and his companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) investigate Ood Operations, a company that is selling the Ood as a servant race, to discover the reason the Ood are happy to serve. When they find a group of unprocessed Ood, they become horrified at the alterations performed and resolve to free the Ood. (Full article...)
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"A Christmas Carol" is an episode of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. It is the sixth Doctor Who Christmas special since the programme's revival in 2005, and it was broadcast on 25 December 2010 on both BBC One and BBC America, making it the first episode to premiere on the same day in both the United Kingdom and United States. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes.

In the episode, a crashing space liner with more than four thousand people on board has been caught in a strange cloud belt. The alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) lands on the planet below and meets the miserly Kazran Sardick (Michael Gambon), a man who can control the cloud layer but refuses to help. Inspired by Charles Dickens's 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, the episode has the Doctor attempting to use time travel to alter Kazran's past and make him kinder so that he will save the spaceship. (Full article...)
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Melanie "Mel" Bush is a fictional character played by Bonnie Langford in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Mel is a computer programmer from the 20th century who is a companion of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, first appearing on-screen when the Sixth Doctor showed an adventure with her to the Time Lords in order to prove that he would become a better person in the future. Following this, she is shown accompanying the Doctor as a companion, with no further explanation given as to how she met the Doctor.

Despite initial plans for the character's meeting with the Sixth Doctor to be depicted on-screen, the departure of Sixth Doctor actor Colin Baker made this unable to happen. Due to changes in script production, Mel's character was altered to adapt to whatever script she was in, resulting in a lack of a character arc. Langford departed the role of Mel in 1987's Dragonfire; following this, Langford reprised the role of Mel in several audio drama productions produced by Big Finish Productions and made a cameo appearance in the 2022 serial "The Power of the Doctor." Mel went on to appear in a recurring role in following episodes of the series, where the character's backstory and personality were fleshed out in these episodes in greater depth than in her prior appearances. (Full article...)
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"Boom Town" is the eleventh episode of the first series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. The episode was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2005. It was written by executive producer Russell T Davies and directed by Joe Ahearne.

The episode is set in Cardiff in the early 21st century, six months after the 2005 episode "World War Three". In the episode, the criminal alien Slitheen named "Margaret Blaine" (Annette Badland) attempts to gain her freedom after being captured and detained by the alien time traveller the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston). (Full article...)
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Prom 13: Doctor Who Prom was a concert showcasing incidental music from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, along with classical music, performed on 27 July 2008 in the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of the BBC's annual Proms series of concerts. The Doctor Who Prom was the thirteenth concert in the 2008 Proms season, and was intended to introduce young children to the Proms.

The Doctor Who Prom showcased the work of Murray Gold, who has composed the incidental music for Doctor Who since its return in 2005. Other classical pieces were also played. The concert was conducted by Ben Foster and Stephen Bell, and performed by the BBC Philharmonic. It was presented by actress Freema Agyeman, who played companion Martha Jones on Doctor Who. Other Doctor Who actors and performers dressed as Doctor Who monsters also made appearances on stage and in the audience. The concert included video montages of scenes from Doctor Who and a specially filmed "mini-episode" of Doctor Who called "Music of the Spheres", which was presented on a screen above the orchestra and included live interactive elements. (Full article...)
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"The Almost People" is the sixth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 May 2011. It is the second episode of a two-part story written by Matthew Graham and directed by Julian Simpson which began with "The Rebel Flesh".

Following from "The Rebel Flesh", alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) are on an acid-pumping factory on a remote island in the 22nd century where the crew of the factory create "Gangers", the Flesh duplicates they control. However, a solar storm has caused the Gangers to become sentient, and the Doctor must prevent a war breaking out between the humans and Gangers. (Full article...)
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"The Crimson Horror" is the eleventh episode of the seventh series of the British science-fiction drama Doctor Who. It was written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Saul Metzstein, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 May 2013. It marks the 100th episode, including specials, since the return of Doctor Who on 26 March 2005.

Set in 1893 Yorkshire, the episode features the Victorian-era detectives Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh), Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart), and their alien butler Strax (Dan Starkey). The first half of the episode focuses on the detectives' search for their missing friend, the alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith).
In the second half, they team up with the Doctor and his companion Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman) to prevent a plot by the chemist and engineer Mrs Gillyflower (Diana Rigg), who wishes to start a new world by wiping out all of humanity, apart from a community she deems as being "perfect". (Full article...)
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"The Lodger" is the eleventh episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 12 June 2010. It was written by Gareth Roberts, who based the story on his 2006 Doctor Who Magazine comic strip "The Lodger".

The episode features the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) stranded on Earth and separated from his companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), when an unknown force prevents his time travelling spaceship, the TARDIS, from landing. To investigate, he moves into the flat of Craig Owens (James Corden) and attempts to fit in with ordinary humans while unknowingly playing matchmaker for Craig and his good friend Sophie (Daisy Haggard). (Full article...)
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"Aliens of London" is the fourth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television show Doctor Who after its revival in 2005. First broadcast on 16 April 2005 on BBC One, it was written by Russell T Davies and directed by Keith Boak. It is the first in a two-part story, concluding with "World War Three".

The episode is set in London one year after the 2005 episode "Rose". In the episode, the alien crime family the Slitheen fake a spaceship crash-landing in the River Thames, putting the Earth on high alert. The Slitheen use the crashed spaceship to lure experts of extraterrestrial life including the "ultimate expert", the alien time traveller the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), into a trap inside 10 Downing Street. (Full article...)
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The Sensorites is the seventh serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Peter R. Newman and directed by Mervyn Pinfield and Frank Cox, the serial was first broadcast on BBC1 in six weekly parts from 20 June to 1 August 1964. In the serial, the First Doctor (William Hartnell), his granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford), and her teachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) visit a planet known as the Sense-Sphere to find the cure to a disease afflicting the alien race the Sensorites.

Newman's story for the serial was inspired by 1950s films set during World War II, exploring the notion of soldiers who continued to fight after the war. Pinfield was chosen to direct the first four episodes due to his directing style, while Cox directed the final two episodes. Designer Raymond Cusick avoided the use of right angles in his set designs, recalling Antoni Gaudí's work on the Sagrada Família. The serial premiered with 7.9 million viewers but failed to maintain these figures due to the holiday sports season. Retrospective response for the serial was generally positive, and it later received several print adaptations and home media releases. (Full article...)
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"Vincent and the Doctor" is the tenth episode of the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 5 June 2010. It was written by Richard Curtis and directed by Jonny Campbell and featured an uncredited guest appearance from actor Bill Nighy.

Intrigued by an ominous figure in Vincent van Gogh's June 1890 painting The Church at Auvers, alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) go back in time to meet van Gogh (Tony Curran) and discover that Auvers-sur-Oise has been plagued by an invisible creature, known as the Krafayis, which only van Gogh can see. The Doctor and Amy work with van Gogh to defeat the Krafayis, but in their attempt to have van Gogh realise his legacy through bringing him to the future they ultimately realise that not all of time can be rewritten and there are some evils which are out of the Doctor's reach. (Full article...)
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The Ninth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Christopher Eccleston during the first series of the show's revival in 2005.

Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels in time and space in the TARDIS, frequently with companions. At the end of his life, the Doctor regenerates into a new version of himself, with a changed physical appearance and personality. Eccleston's incarnation of the Doctor is a war-torn loner who is more pragmatic and less eccentric than his previous selves, fiercely determined to protect the innocent at all costs, and prone to using humour to mask the trauma he suffers from as a result of the Time War. Preceded in regeneration by the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) and the War Doctor (John Hurt), he is followed by the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant). (Full article...)
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The ninth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who premiered on 19 September 2015 with "The Magician's Apprentice" and concluded on 5 December 2015 with "Hell Bent". The series was led by head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, alongside executive producer Brian Minchin. Nikki Wilson, Peter Bennett, and Derek Ritchie served as producers. The series is the ninth to air following the programme's revival in 2005, and is the thirty-fifth season overall.

This is the second series starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in his TARDIS, which is disguised as a British police box. It also stars Jenna Coleman as the Doctor's companion, Clara Oswald, for her third and final series in the role. Also playing a major recurring role in the series is Maisie Williams as Ashildr, a Viking girl made immortal by the Doctor, which leads to major events resulting from her encounters with the Doctor. The series' main story arc revolves around the mystery of a being called the Hybrid, the combination of two great warrior races. The Doctor's investigation into this being ultimately leads him back to his home planet of Gallifrey, which returns fully in the series. (Full article...)

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The Edge of Destruction (also known as Inside the Spaceship, among other titles) is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in 2 weekly parts on February 8 and February 15, 1964.

After the First Doctor's failed efforts to regain control of the TARDIS's faulty control system in The Daleks result in an explosion causing everyone to black out, the Doctor and his companions find themselves trapped in the craft. Strange occurrences cause them to suspect the TARDIS has been infiltrated or worse — that one of the crew members has sabotaged the TARDIS.

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that "Mission to the Unknown" is the only Doctor Who serial not to feature the Doctor at all?
... that the Beep the Meep puppet created for "The Star Beast" took six people to operate?
... that Irish writer Dave Rudden has written a juvenile fantasy trilogy as well as several stories in the Doctor Who universe?
... that working broadcast journalists were used as extras for the portions of the Doctor Who episode "73 Yards" that were filmed at the BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House?
... that the Doctor Who episode "The Devil's Chord" references the events of an episode that aired more than sixty years before?
... that Disney+ released a promotional poster for the Doctor Who Christmas special "Joy to the World" with the title spelled incorrectly?

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On my travels to Cathay, Ian, I have come to believe many things I'd previously doubted. For instance, when I was a boy in Venice, they told me that in Cathay there was a stone that burned. I did not believe, but there is such a stone: I have seen it. And if stone burns, why not a caravan that flies? Birds fly; I have even seen fish that fly. You are asking me to believe that your caravan can defy the passage of the sun? Move not merely from one place to another, but from today into tomorrow, today to yesterday? No Ian, that I cannot believe.

”

— Marco Polo, Marco Polo

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Events

**Recent scheduled events**
Date	Event
29 August 2022	Another SMTV Live crossover episode
1 January 2022	2022 specials
December 2021	Big Finish audio play The Year of Martha Jones [1]
February 2022	Second volume of the Big Finish audio play The Lone Centurion [2]
May 2022	Series 2 of the audio play Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures

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More did you know?

... that for his role in the Doctor Who serial The Aztecs, actor John Ringham was told to "make all the children in the country hate you"?
... that the budget for the Doctor Who serial The Daleks allowed for only four Daleks (one pictured) to be made?
... that actress Carole Ann Ford described her character in the Doctor Who serial The Keys of Marinus as "pathetic"?

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