Doctor Who? And How Big It Is!

Doctor Who has been a very big thing to the science fiction world since 1963, when it started it was immediately very popular among families; it’s made itself a big household name.

It started in 1963 since then in was in black in white. In 1970’s it changed to colour and the ratings were amazing until the 1980’s when ratings started to flop and people didn’t like Doctor Who as much in those days. They thought the acting was terrible and cheesy and that’s what brought the hiatus in 1985 then the producer of show wanted to give it another go. It came back in 1986 and even then still the ratings were very bad so in 1989 they pulled the plug on the show. Nearly 10 years later an American director wanted to bring the show back in American form and that’s where the Doctor Who movie came into the picture. It starred Paul McGann as the Doctor and that was his only TV appearance as the Doctor; even when the show got high ratings the BBC still said no. But 9 years later, in 2003, another a man called Russell T Davies had a brilliant idea for the show and the BBC liked it and from him they built props costumes and started finding the 9^th Doctor in March 2005.

The Daleks are mainly the favourite monster connected to the show, when people see a Dalek they love it the attention is crazy fans go wild. Companions are very popular and that what keeps the show going the fact that a human being travelling around with a alien in a blue wooden box is very exciting, Russell T Davies thought it would be a good idea to make a spin off show aimed for a mature audience. It was made in 2006 and was very popular and it was called (TORCHWOOD).It was based on the Doctor Who Character Captain Jack Harkness, this story was set in Cardiff. The story purpose is mainly on protecting the earth from hostile alien creatures that have a plan to destroy the world so its torchwoods job to stop them. This series made more characters and storylines for the audience to love and hate. It’s currently on its 3rd series and has been running for 4 years.

In 2007 Russell then thought after the HUGE success of TORCHWOOD to make another spin off. But this time it was aimed for a younger audience this was called The Sarah Jane Adventures. This was based on a classic Doctor Who Character Sarah Jane Smith. The Sarah Jane Adventures, currently on its 3rd series and running for its 2nd year. were mainly based on her and her fellow gang members saving the world from monsters and aliens across the universe. It's mainly the same theme as Torchwood except the aliens are cheesier and aimed for children, although adult Doctor Who fans watch because it contains many Doctor Who references. The aliens that feature in Sarah Jane are mainly recycled from the parent show Doctor Who.

The Merchandise in Doctor Who is ever expanding from action figures to costumes to bedroom furniture to kitchen ware. These collectable items go so far back to the 60's when the first Doctor started and its name is technically everywhere you go, shops, pubs, houses, schools even playgrounds. The kids in the playground are normally running around playing Doctor Who with all the costumes and gear from the show.

The name Doctor Who has featured in many shows like Tom Baker's character being in The Simpsons and it was spoofed for Comic Relief in 1997 by Rowan Atkinson, and Children in Need normally features spoofs from the show. Comedians frequently make jokes about Doctor Who. Example:

Why did the Dalek apply for a job in pest control?
He liked the job description - "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

This current series has run from 2005 and it’s still running today and its current series is the 5th one with the new Doctor, Matt Smith and new companion Karen Gillian.

Characters are normally recognised like Billie Piper who played Rose Tyler in 2005 to 2009 in the current Doctor Who series. When Billie is normally walking around town shopping and a fan sees her, the fan will shout out her character’s name instead of her REAL name! 

by Graham Lanfear