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Doctor Who is the longest running science fiction show in the world. It's an award-winning British science fiction television programme, (And a 1996 television film), produced by the BBC. (British Broadcasting Corporation.)
The programme originally ran from 1963 to 1989. A television film was made in 1996, and the programme was successfully relaunched in 2005, produced in-house by BBC Wales. (Some development money for the new series is contributed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which is credited as a co-producer, although they do not have creative input into the show.)
The programme takes us through the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller who calls himself, "The Doctor".
The Doctor is a member of an alien race called Time Lords, from the planet of Gallifrey. They are the oldest race in the Universe.
Time Lords never reveal their birth name to anyone. For reasons that have never been explained. Instead they choose one for themselves and are known as that for their whole lives, even by their own people. It has been postulated that Time Lords are given a name at birth but choose their own name when they come to a certain age.
The Time Lords have a strict policy of non interference in other worlds affairs. Instead choosing to watch and allow the universe to continue, as it will. The Doctor, while still young, (in his hundreds), was unable to agree with this ideal of his people, so he stole a Type 2 obsolete TARDIS, (An Intergalactic Time and Space Ship), and ran away. He believes some things have to be put right or stopped from happening at all and so he does just that.
He has been running ever since.
His people and a race called The Daleks fought in, "The Last Great Time War". The Daleks are an insane race of creatures that have the fundamental believe that all life, except for them is inferior and so all other life in the universe should be exterminated. Therefore, their only function and reason for being is to annihilate all other life.
This war was never shown in the show, so nothing much is known about it at all, but apparently happened during the shows hiatus, between the 1996 television movie and the shows return in 2005.
The entire Dalek race, the planet of Gallifrey and all the Time Lords were destroyed in The Last Great Time War. The Doctor fought with his people and was the only survivor.
Thus he travels the universe, space and time, the last of his kind, in his time and space ship. Where he, more often than not, finds himself in epic adventures of one kind or another.
Time Lords don't die as humans and many other races do. The Doctor simply explained that the Time Lords found a way to cheat death. So, at the moment of critical mortal injury or when death is upon them, they "regenerate" into a whole new person, with all the memories and some random character traits of previous incarnations, but with a personality new and unique to each incarnation.
It is akin to your mind being suddenly shifted into a whole new person. You remember everything of who you are right now. But you are a new person completely.
So therefore The Doctor is always and paradoxically the same man, but a whole new person.
One thing that can be noted is that The Doctor appears to become younger every time he regenerates. There was a Time Lord known as The Master, who we have seen many times in the show and he also appears to have gotten younger with each regeneration. But we are not sure if this is a normal process for Time Lords, as The Doctor and The Master are the only member of the species we have seen through so many regenerations. It could also be that with each regeneration The Doctor doesn't survive as long as he did in previous incarnations, therefore doesn't have time to age into an older person.
The Time Lords have absolutely no control over how they will change or what into. Their new personality and physical shape is completely random. Thus it is impossible to predict the type of person internally and externally that they will become following a regeneration.
When he becomes a new incarnation, he changes the style of clothes he wears and sometimes changes the whole look of the inside of the TARDIS too, to match his new personality. He calls the latter, a change of Desktop Theme.
Because he is intrinsically lonely, he often travels with Companions that he has picked up along the way. Sometimes by accident and some he asks outright to travel with him. Some say no, some say yes. Sometimes these Companions are human, sometimes aliens. They travel together, solving problems and righting wrongs. Though inevitably, these Companions leave him for one reason or another, are lost or are killed and he is left by himself time and time again. Something he finds very painful.
The Doctor has a soft spot for Earth and humans in particular. He was marooned here by his people in the 1970's for a couple of years and formed a strong bond with our race. He also has said he likes us because we look "Time Lord" and so, over his 900+ years of travelling he has held Earth in great affection and visits our planet often. Thus the majority of his Companions have been human, from anywhere in history, current day and the future of our planet.
So far we have seen 10 incarnations of The Doctor. Hence the longevity of the show. 46 years and counting...
The shows 10th incarnation of The Doctor, is currently portrayed by David Tennant. He leaves the role at the end of 2009 and thus the Doctor will regenerate into the 11th incarnation, that will be played by actor Matt Smith.
The stolen time and space ship that the Doctor travels in is called The TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space)
The TARDIS is much, much larger on the inside than the outside. The outside is the size and looks like a 1950's Earth, English Police Call box. (Pictured above) The Doctor can make the TARDIS appear however he wants outside, so it will blend in wherever he materialises. (Although it is a ship, it doesn't actually fly, it vanishes in one place and appears in another). It got stuck in the Earth, English Police Box shape a long time ago and he quite likes it. Thus he chooses not to fix the "Chameleon Circuit" and change it. Though some of his past incarnations have changed the appearance, but only briefly and then returned it to his favourtie look.
The TARDIS appears to function and continue to "live" with a psychic link between it and the Doctor, his Companions and others around him at the time. It translates alien languages and writing wherever he goes, directly into his mind and anyone travelling with him. However, when the Doctor is badly injured or just following a regeneration, this appears to have a negative effect on TARDIS, often systems on-board start failing and it appears to be "dying", and the translation capabilities are badly impaired. When he recovers the TARDIS returns instantly to its former state and glory.
Doctor Who has also spawned spin-offs in multiple media, including the current television series Torchwood, (An adult show) and The Sarah Jane Adventures, made for Children's Television.
The programme is listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction television series in the world [1] and is also a significant part of British popular culture.
In Britain and elsewhere, the show has become a cult television favourite and has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching the series.
It has received recognition from critics and the public as one of the finest British television programmes ever to be made, including a BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series in 2006 and many other awards including best Actor, several times since.
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