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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 2023, 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. Each actor's portrayal is distinct, but all represent stages in the life of the same character 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. In 2017, Jodie Whittaker became the first woman to be cast in the lead role as the Thirteenth Doctor.

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...)

Recognized quality articles

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"The Girl Who Waited" is the tenth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One and BBC America on 10 September 2011. It was written by Tom MacRae and was directed by Nick Hurran.

In the episode, the alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) takes his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and her husband Rory (Arthur Darvill) to the planet Apalapucia for a holiday, but they find that the planet is on quarantine as the two-hearted natives are susceptible to a deadly plague. Amy accidentally gets separated from the Doctor and Rory but, when they try to rescue her, they arrive 36 years later in her timeline. The older Amy does not trust the Doctor, who is forced to remain on the TARDIS as he also has two hearts, and will not allow the Doctor and Rory to leave and rescue her at the correct point in her timeline. (Full article...)
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"Something Borrowed" is the ninth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was first broadcast on BBC Three on 5 March 2008 and repeated on BBC Two one week later. The episode was written by Phil Ford, directed by Ashley Way and produced by Richard Stokes. The episode featured the five initial series regulars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori and Gareth David Lloyd plus recurring actor Kai Owen in a central role.

The episode centres on the marriage of the alien hunter Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) to the transport manager Rhys Williams (Kai Owen). The wedding is complicated by Gwen's sudden impregnation by an alien, though she resolves to see the day through. When the nuptials are interrupted by an attack from the biological mother of the alien fetus (played successively by Collette Brown, Nerys Hughes and John Barrowman), Rhys, Gwen, and Gwen's teammates at Torchwood must neutralise the threat. Gwen and Rhys ultimately marry, and the wedding guests have their memories wiped. (Full article...)
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"The Bells of Saint John" is the sixth episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. It premiered in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2013 on BBC One; the episode was the first of the second half of the series. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Colm McCarthy.

The episode marks the third appearance of Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara Oswald, but her first official appearance as the Eleventh Doctor's new companion. The story focuses on alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his search for Oswald, following two previous encounters with her in different moments of time, both ending in her death. Finding a third version in present-day London, he soon becomes involved in saving her and the rest of Earth from Miss Kizlet (Celia Imrie) and her employer, the Great Intelligence, as they use the world's Wi-Fi to upload people to a datacloud via robots known as Servers, casually referred to as Spoonheads. (Full article...)
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The Romans is the fourth serial of the second season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Dennis Spooner and directed by Christopher Barry, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 16 January to 6 February 1965. In the serial, the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his new companion Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) investigate intrigue surrounding the death of a lyre player en route to perform at the palace of Nero (Derek Francis) in Rome, while companions Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) are captured by slave traders and sold respectively as a galley slave (later a gladiator) and as a body slave to Nero's wife Poppaea (Kay Patrick).

The Romans was envisioned as the first Doctor Who serial with a humorous tone, originally intended to parody the 1951 film Quo Vadis. The story presents real historical characters in a fictitious manner. The serial was produced in a six-episode block with the preceding story, The Rescue, to introduce new companion Vicki. It features the design work of Raymond Cusick, and the incidental music was composed by Raymond Jones in his first work for the series. The Romans premiered with 13 million viewers, continuing the high viewership of the previous serial, which it maintained across the four weeks. Reviews were generally positive, with praise for the performances and characterisation, though its comedic tone received mixed responses. The serial was later novelised and released on VHS and DVD. (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. The episode was well-received for its central theme of slavery. (Full article...)
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"The God Complex" is the eleventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 17 September 2011. It was written by Toby Whithouse and directed by Nick Hurran.

In the episode, the alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his human companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) find themselves trapped in what appears to be a 1980s hotel with constantly changing corridors. They meet other humans and an alien who have also appeared in the hotel, without any idea how they arrived. The Doctor learns that each hotel room contains the greatest fear of someone who has been in the hotel, and that a Minotaur-like creature (played by Spencer Wilding) is feeding off their faith. (Full article...)
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Jenny, portrayed by Georgia Tennant (credited as Georgia Moffett, then her maiden name), is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She appeared in the episode "The Doctor's Daughter", originally broadcast 10 May 2008. Jenny is the daughter of the series protagonist the Doctor, a product of altered DNA extracted from a tissue sample of his tenth incarnation's hand. The character was created by writer Stephen Greenhorn.

Georgia Tennant (then-Moffett) was cast as Jenny after auditioning for a smaller part in the episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp", and impressing the series producers. The character was generally well received by reviewers, with many speculating that she would return to the franchise. Moffett also expressed an interest in this possibility. (Full article...)
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"Mission to the Unknown" is the second serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Derek Martinus, the single episode was broadcast on BBC1 on 9 October 1965. The only standalone regular episode of the show's original run, it serves as an introduction to the 12-part story The Daleks' Master Plan. It is notable for the complete absence of the regular cast and the TARDIS; it is the only serial in the show's history not to feature the Doctor at all. The story focuses on Space Security Agent Marc Cory (Edward de Souza) and his attempts to warn Earth of the Daleks' plan to take over the Solar System.

After the show's second production block was granted an additional episode, outgoing story editor Dennis Spooner commissioned Nation to write an extra episode as a cutaway to set up The Daleks' Master Plan. Nation wrote the episode while considering a Dalek-focused spin-off; he used film character James Bond as inspiration for Marc Cory. "Mission to the Unknown" was produced by the same team as its predecessor, Galaxy 4, in a five-week period that concluded the show's second production block; the two serials were held back to open the third season. Failing health prevented original director Mervyn Pinfield from continuing, replaced by Martinus. Production took place at the Television Centre in August 1965. (Full article...)
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Gwen Cooper is a fictional character portrayed by Welsh actress Eve Myles in the BBC science-fiction television programme Torchwood, a spin-off of the long-running series Doctor Who. The lead female character, Gwen featured in every episode of the show's 2006–2011 run, as well as two 2008 crossover episodes of Doctor Who. Gwen appears in Expanded Universe material such as the Torchwood novels and audiobooks, comic books and radio plays.

Within the series narrative, Gwen is a South Wales Police officer who discovers the mysterious Torchwood Institute, into which she is recruited by Jack Harkness (John Barrowman). Gwen initially operates as a field agent, bringing a humane and rounded approach to the team's investigations of the extraterrestrial. Gwen's work begins to take a toll on her personal life in the first series (2006), but her marriage to Rhys (Kai Owen) keeps her grounded, even as her responsibilities increase in Series 2 (2008). In Children of Earth (2009) and Miracle Day (2011), after Torchwood is destroyed to conceal a government conspiracy, a much hardened Gwen operates under her own mandate as the world undergoes crises linked with unprecedented alien threats. (Full article...)
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Enlightenment is the fifth serial of the 20th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC1 from 1 to 9 March 1983. It was the 127th serial of the series, and was written by Barbara Clegg and directed by Fiona Cumming, making it the first serial to be both written and directed by women.

In the serial, the alien time traveller the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and his companions Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and Vislor Turlough (Mark Strickson) encounter a group of god-like immortals who are racing historical sailing vessels from Earth through space, crewed by humans they had plucked out of time, in an attempt to win the prize of enlightenment. Turlough is under the control of the Black Guardian (Valentine Dyall), but struggles with the Guardian's orders to kill the Doctor. Enlightenment is the third of three loosely connected serials where the Black Guardian attempts to compel Turlough to kill the Doctor. (Full article...)
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"Cyberwoman" is the fourth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by James Strong, the episode was first broadcast on the digital channel BBC Three on 5 November 2006, and later repeated on terrestrial channel BBC Two on 8 November.

In the episode, Lisa Hallett (Caroline Chikezie), a half-converted Cyberman, attacks the base of the alien hunters Torchwood after secretly being housed there by her boyfriend Ianto Jones to make her fully human again. (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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"The Rebel Flesh" is the fifth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 21 May 2011 on BBC One and on BBC America in the United States. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by Matthew Graham and directed by Julian Simpson, concluded in "The Almost People".

In the episode, the TARDIS is hit by a solar storm, sending the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) to a monastery on an island on Earth in the 22nd century, which has been converted into a factory to pump acid off the island. To prevent death from the acid, the workers have utilised a "programmable matter" called the Flesh, which creates a doppelgänger (called "Ganger") controlled by the worker. As the solar storm hits, the Gangers become independent, and the Doctor, Amy and Rory must work to prevent the two groups from breaking into a war. (Full article...)
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Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. The character first appears in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and subsequently features in the remaining episodes of the first series (2005) as a companion to the series' protagonist, the Doctor. Subsequent to this, Jack became the central character in the adult-themed Torchwood, which aired from 2006 to 2011. Barrowman reprised the role for appearances in Doctor Who in its third, fourth, and twelfth series, as well as specials "The End of Time", and "Revolution of the Daleks".

In contrast to The Doctor, Jack is more of a conventional action hero, as well as outwardly flirtatious and capable of acts which The Doctor would view as less than noble. In the programme's narrative, Jack begins as a time traveller and con man from the 51st century, who comes to travel with the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and his companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). As a consequence of his death and resurrection in the Series 1 finale, "The Parting of the Ways", Jack becomes immortal and is stranded on 19th-century Earth. There he becomes a member of Torchwood, a British organization dedicated to combating alien threats. He spends over a century waiting to reunite with the Doctor, over which time he becomes the leader of the Torchwood branch in Cardiff. He later reunites with the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) for further stints on Doctor Who. Aspects of the character's backstory—both prior to meeting the Doctor, and during his many decades living on Earth—are gradually revealed over Torchwood (and to a lesser extent, Doctor Who) through the use of flashback scenes and expository dialogue. (Full article...)

Selected story

Galaxy 4 is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from September 11 to October 2, 1965.

The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven land on an unknown planet which will soon die on which the hideous Rills with their Chumbley robots, and the Drahvins had crashlanded. The Drahvins try to enlist the Doctor's help to destroy the "evil" Rills, but who are the real villains?

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the fifteen bags of seaweed used as set dressing for the Doctor Who serial The Web Planet emanated an overpowering vegetable smell under the hot studio lights?
... that William Hartnell was the only original Doctor Who cast member who remained by the end of the second season?
... that while filming the Doctor Who serial The Myth Makers, William Hartnell was jealous of being upstaged by the other actors?
... that after being wiped by the BBC, all four episodes of the Doctor Who serial The Time Meddler were discovered in Nigeria in 1984?
... that Irish writer Dave Rudden has written a juvenile fantasy trilogy as well as several stories in the Doctor Who universe?
... that depictions of a sexual relationship between Richard the Lionheart and his sister Lady Joanna were cut from the script of the Doctor Who serial The Crusade?

Selected quote

“

Let me tell you something about the human race. You put a mysterious blue box slap-bang in the middle of town, what do they do? Walk past it. Now stop your nagging. Let's go and explore.

”

— Ninth Doctor, Boom Town

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
February 2022	Second volume of the Big Finish audio play The Lone Centurion
May 2022	Series 2 of the audio play Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures

More did you know?

... that "The Unicorn and the Wasp" was the first comedic episode in the science fiction television series Doctor Who since the 1966 serial The Gunfighters?
... that Doctor Who executive producer Steven Moffat warned actor Matt Smith not to visit fan forums such as Gallifrey Base?
... that the Doctor Who story Planet of Giants was inspired by Rachel Carson's 1962 environmental science book Silent Spring?

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