Portal:Doctor Who

The Doctor Who Portal

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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Recognized quality articles

Image 1
"The Giggle" is the third and final of the 60th anniversary specials of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, written by Russell T Davies, directed by Chanya Button and broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 December 2023. It features the final regular appearances of David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, introduces Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and guest stars Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker, a character last seen in The Celestial Toymaker (1966). The episode also features the return of Jemma Redgrave and Bonnie Langford as UNIT commander Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Mel Bush, respectively.

Set directly after the events of "Wild Blue Yonder", the episode sees the Doctor, Donna and UNIT confronting the return of the Doctor's old enemy, the Toymaker, who is behind a series of signals in a form of a "giggle" being transmitted, causing the human race to go insane over their opinions. (Full article...)
Image 2
"Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008. It is the second of a two-part story; the first part, "Silence in the Library", aired on 31 May; it was Moffat's last written story before replacing Russell T Davies as head writer and showrunner starting from the fifth series in 2010.

In the episode, the time-travelling temp Donna Noble is trapped inside a virtual reality in a planet-sized library's hard drive in the 51st century and has false memories implanted of a married life. At the same time, another time traveller, the Tenth Doctor, seeks to rescue Donna and thousands of other humans saved inside the library hard drive while being pursued by a microscopic swarm known as the Vashta Nerada. The episode also features the death of River Song, who goes on to become a recurring character. She is an archaeologist who has a close relationship with the Doctor, but because of the non-linearity of this partnership, the Doctor in the episode has only just met River. (Full article...)
Image 3
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, an 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...)
Image 4
"To the Last Man" is the third episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was first broadcast on BBC Two on 30 January 2008. The episode was written by returning series guest writer, Helen Raynor, directed by Andy Goddard and produced by Richard Stokes. As with all episodes of Torchwood's first two series, "To the Last Man" featured series regulars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori and Gareth David Lloyd, with Mori's character Toshiko Sato given the main focus.

The narrative centres on the intersection of Toshiko's romance with Tommy Brockless (Anthony Lewis), a cryogenically frozen soldier from World War I, and a number of hazardous time slips from 1918. As the impending crisis becomes more severe, Toshiko must choose between the man she has fallen in love with and the world at stake. Tommy eventually elects to return to 1918, where Toshiko knows he will be executed because of his shellshock. (Full article...)
Image 5
The Daleks' Master Plan is the fourth serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Terry Nation and Dennis Spooner and directed by Douglas Camfield, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in twelve weekly parts from 13 November 1965 to 29 January 1966. It was the show's longest serial until 1986 and remains the longest with a single director. In the serial, the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) and Katarina (Adrienne Hill) become embroiled in the Daleks' scheme to design the ultimate weapon. They are joined by Bret Vyon (Nicholas Courtney) and Sara Kingdom (Jean Marsh).

The serial was commissioned due to the Daleks' popularity, and was preceded by an additional episode, "Mission to the Unknown". Nation shared the workload by writing six episodes while former script editor Spooner wrote the other six. The seventh episode's Christmas Day broadcast prompted the production team to write a self-contained comedic story, which ends with the Doctor addressing the audience. The Daleks' Master Plan is the first story to feature companion deaths: Katarina, proving difficult to write, was killed and replaced by Sara, who was also later killed. It marks Courtney's first appearance in Doctor Who ; he returned in 1968 to portray recurring character Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. (Full article...)
Image 6
"The End of the World" is the second episode of the first series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. Written by executive producer Russell T Davies and directed by Euros Lyn, the episode was first broadcast on BBC One on 2 April 2005 and was seen by approximately 7.97 million viewers in the United Kingdom.

In the episode, the alien time traveller the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) takes his new companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) five billion years into the future where many rich alien delegates have gathered on a space station called Platform One to watch the Sun expand into a red giant and destroy the Earth, but the human guest Lady Cassandra (Zoë Wanamaker) is plotting to profit from the event by fabricating a hostage situation. (Full article...)
Image 7
"Voyage of the Damned" is an episode of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. First broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2007, it is the third Doctor Who Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005. The episode was written by Russell T Davies and directed by James Strong.

In the episode, the alien businessman Max Capricorn (George Costigan) seeks revenge on his company after it votes him out. He sets a starship replica of the RMS Titanic on a collision course with Earth to frame the board of directors for killing the humans on Earth. The episode features the only performance in Doctor Who by the Australian singer and actress Kylie Minogue, who plays the waitress Astrid Peth. Davies described her casting as a "very exceptional case", having written the part of Astrid specifically for Minogue. (Full article...)
Image 8
Rhys Alun Williams, portrayed by Kai Owen, is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. The character is introduced in the premiere episode as the co-habiting boyfriend of the principal character Gwen Cooper. Initially a recurring character, Rhys' role is increased after the second series; actor Kai Owen is given star billing from the show's third series — a five-part serial subtitled Torchwood: Children of Earth — onwards. The character has gone on to appear in expanded universe material such as the Torchwood novels and audiobooks, comic books and radio plays.

Throughout the first series (2006), Rhys is initially unaware of Gwen's vocation as a Torchwood agent, believing her to work in generic special forces. Gwen's relationship with Rhys languishes while she is unable to communicate fully with him, but in the early part of series two (2008) he discovers the truth, and from then on in their relationship is revitalised; the two enter a marriage based on honesty later in the series. In the third series (2009) Rhys becomes directly involved in assisting the Torchwood team in lieu of a fourth team member. In the show's fourth series — a 2011 BBC/Starz co-production — Rhys again finds himself having to assist Torchwood, though he would rather live a domestic life with Gwen and their daughter Anwen. (Full article...)
Image 9
The 2008–2010 specials of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who are a series of five specials that linked the programme's fourth and fifth series. The specials were produced in lieu of a full series in 2009, to allow the new production team for the programme enough time to prepare for the fifth series in 2010, in light of Russell T Davies's decision to step down as showrunner, with Steven Moffat taking his place in the fifth series. Preceded by the 2008 Christmas Special, "The Next Doctor", the first special, "Planet of the Dead", was aired on 11 April 2009, the second special "The Waters of Mars", was aired on 15 November 2009, with the last special, the two-part episode "The End of Time", broadcasting over two weeks on 25 December 2009 and 1 January 2010.

The specials started production in April 2008 for "The Next Doctor", and filming for "The End of Time" began in March 2009. Two supplemental episodes were also filmed alongside the specials. "Music of the Spheres" was filmed for the 2008 Doctor Who Prom in July 2008, and the animated six-episode serial Dreamland was produced for the BBC's Red Button service, which was released over six consecutive days in November 2009. Midway through the sequence of specials (commencing with "Planet of the Dead"), production switched to filming in high-definition. (Full article...)
Image 10
Galaxy 4‍ is the first serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by William Emms and directed by Derek Martinus, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 11 September to 2 October 1965. In the serial, the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) and Steven (Peter Purves) arrive on an arid planet, where they encounter the beautiful but dangerous Drahvins and the hideous but friendly Rills, two crash-landed species in conflict with one another. Both species wish to escape as the planet is set to explode in two dawns, but the Drahvin leader Maaga (Stephanie Bidmead) wants only her people to make it out alive.

Emms, an avid Doctor Who viewer since its beginning, was commissioned to write Galaxy 4 by outgoing story editor Dennis Spooner after submitting an unsolicited story idea: show two conflicting races—one beautiful and one ugly—and flip convention by making the beautiful race evil. Spooner's successor Donald Tosh handled the bulk of the rewrites. Although Verity Lambert was credited as producer, Galaxy 4 was the first serial to be produced by her successor John Wiles. Mervyn Pinfield was originally assigned to direct the story but his failing health shortly into production prevented him from continuing, and he was replaced by Derek Martinus, a new director. Galaxy 4 was the penultimate serial of the show's second recording block but was pushed to open the third season. Filming took place at the Television Centre in July 1965. (Full article...)
Image 11
"The Time of Angels" is the fourth episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 24 April 2010 on BBC One. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by showrunner Steven Moffat and directed by Adam Smith; the second episode, "Flesh and Stone", aired on 1 May. Moffat utilised the two-part episode to bring back a couple of his previous creations: the Weeping Angels from his series 3 episode "Blink", and River Song (Alex Kingston) from the series 4 episodes "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead".

The episode is partly set in the 51st century. In the episode, the Eleventh Doctor—a time travelling alien played by Matt Smith—and his companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) are summoned by River Song, a mysterious woman from the Doctor's future. She takes them to the planet Alfava Metraxis, where the spaceship Byzantium has crashed. Hidden inside is a Weeping Angel, a creature that can only move when unobserved by others. With the help of Father Octavian (Iain Glen) and his militarised clerics, the Doctor, Amy and River Song travel through a stone labyrinth to reach the ship. On the way, they discover that all the statues in the maze are Angels, which are slowly restoring and planning to trap them in the labyrinth. (Full article...)
Image 12
"The Angels Take Manhattan" is the fifth episode of the seventh series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on BBC One on 29 September 2012. It is the last in the first block of episodes in the seventh series, followed by the 2012 Christmas special "The Snowmen". The episode was written by head writer Steven Moffat and directed by Nick Hurran.

In the episode, alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) takes his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and her husband Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) to Central Park. While Rory goes to get coffee, recurring monsters, the Weeping Angels, send Rory back to 1938, where he is reunited with River Song (Alex Kingston), Amy and Rory's daughter. Amy and the Doctor attempt to rescue Rory, but the Doctor realises along the way that this adventure will be his last with Amy and Rory. Actors Gillan and Darvill both departed the series during this episode. (Full article...)
Image 13
Rose Tyler is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was created by series producer Russell T Davies and portrayed by Billie Piper. With the revival of Doctor Who in 2005, Rose was introduced as a new travelling companion of the series protagonist, the Doctor, in his ninth and tenth incarnations. The companion character was key in the first series to introduce new viewers to the mythos of Doctor Who, which had not aired regularly since 1989. Rose became the viewers' eyes into the new world of the series from the companion's perspective. Piper received top billing alongside Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant for the duration of her time as a regular cast member. The character was a series regular for all of Series 1 (2005) and 2 (2006). Piper later reprised the role in a supporting capacity in Series 4 (2008) and the New Year's special "The End of Time" (2010). Piper further played a sentient weapon called the Moment, which utilises Rose's image, in the 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor" (2013).

In the series' narrative, Rose is introduced in the eponymous series one premiere as a teenage working class shop assistant from London, alongside her own supporting cast in the form of her mother Jackie Tyler (Camille Coduri) and her boyfriend Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke). Over the course of the first series, Rose's human actions and responses contrast with the Doctor's alien perspectives. Rose grows increasingly trusting of the Doctor and comes to realise she has fallen in love with him. He comes to value and depend on her and sacrifices his Ninth incarnation for her. Rose forms a similar bond with the new Doctor, but the two appear to be forever separated in the series two finale, although Rose's temporary return in the fourth series gives her relationship with the Doctor a resolution. (Full article...)
Image 14
"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...)
Image 15
"Destination: Skaro", also known as "Doctor Who Children in Need Special 2023", is a 5-minute mini-episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It first aired on 17 November 2023, on BBC One as part of the 2023 Children in Need special. "Destination: Skaro" is the second television appearance of David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and preceded Doctor Who's sixtieth anniversary specials. In the episode, a newly regenerated incarnation of the Doctor mistakenly lands on Skaro at the time Davros is creating the Daleks. It was written by Russell T Davies, the Doctor Who showrunner, and directed by Jamie Donoughue. The special received positive reviews but was met with criticism from some fans for the changes made to Davros. (Full article...)

More recognized articles

edit

Selected story

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.

More selected stories

edit

Related portals

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the villain of a Doctor Who story reappeared after 49 years?
... that Susan Twist portrayed seven different roles in the eight episodes of Doctor Who's fourteenth series?
... that the Beep the Meep puppet created for "The Star Beast" took six people to operate?
... that William Hartnell was the only original Doctor Who cast member who remained by the end of the second season?
... that according to writer Russell T Davies, he conceived elements of the Doctor Who episode "Empire of Death" decades before he wrote it?
... that due to legal and union restrictions, the production team for the Doctor Who episode "Space Babies" occasionally had to replace real babies with props?

edit

Selected quote

“

There's something that doesn't make sense. Let's go and poke it with a stick.

”

— Eleventh Doctor, Amy's Choice

More selected quotes

edit

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

edit

More did you know?

... that although £5 tickets were available for the Doctor Who Prom, tickets were touted on eBay for £250?

... that the first spin-off of Doctor Who, K-9 and Company only ever had a pilot episode, A Girl's Best Friend?
... that the War Doctor (played by John Hurt, pictured), introduced in The Night of the Doctor, is a "dark doctor" who will "bring an ancient battle to its devastating conclusion"?

More Did you know facts

edit

Topics

edit

Things you can do

Where possible, replace fair use images on Doctor Who pages with free content.
Ensure that all remaining fair use images on Doctor Who pages are appropriately tagged with valid fair use rationales.
Make sure that all of the featured and good Doctor Who articles contain reliable, inline citations.
Help expand any Doctor Who lists to include a reasonable mixture of both in-universe and out-of-universe information.
Add information about production and reception to all episode and serial pages to do with Doctor Who, Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures.