- Doctor Who
-
a BBC television science-fiction series made for older children and also popular with many adults. The main character was Doctor Who himself, who travelled through time and space in a machine called the Tardis. In his adventures he had to fight many strange enemies, including the Daleks and the Cybermen. It was shown from 1963 to 1989 and a new series was announced in 2004.
* * *
▪ British television programBritish science-fiction television series produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The show's original run lasted 26 years, from 1963 to 1989. Remembered for its primitive special effects and interesting story lines, Doctor Who became a landmark of British popular culture.Doctor Who chronicled the adventures of an eccentric, time-traveling scientist from the remote planet Gallifrey, home to the Time Lords. The Doctor, a Time Lord himself, traveled through time and space in his unique craft, the TARDIS, an acronym for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. With an interior larger than its exterior, the TARDIS could take various shapes to blend into its environment. Although capable of whisking the Doctor and his passengers to anywhere and any time in the universe, the craft was frequently parked on Earth in the form of a blue police box. Whether in England or in the far reaches of space, the Doctor and his colleagues battled a multitude of evils, including robots, monsters, and a twisted Time Lord.Certain adversaries recurred throughout the series, most notably the Daleks, genocidal aliens armoured in robotlike suits who sought the extermination of life forms inferior to themselves. The original Doctor was played by William Hartnell until 1966, when the show revealed that Time Lords had the ability to regenerate themselves when near death. Their reincarnated forms appeared as different people, although they retained the same memories and skills. This plot twist allowed different actors to assume the title role. The original series eventually featured seven different Doctor Whos.Doctor Who engendered numerous spin-offs in different media, and the original series itself was not so much cancelled as postponed. The BBC began producing new episodes in 2005.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
