These archived essays were written by your editors in a younger and more innocent time and place. We present them as a time capsule of a sillier day, and one in which it seemed as though Doctor Who‘s final days on TV had been and gone…
Doctor Who‘s adventures began with two contemporary school teachers stumbling into a police television box, actually a spaceship, also the home of one of their pupils, who turned out to be from a distant planet in the far-off future, and not from Coal Hill as she had previously claimed. From the very beginning, Doctor Who was a whole new approach to science fiction.
It is immediately apparent that the show was created and treated as a drama, not far-fetched science fiction: never in the opening episode do the limits of credibility seem stretched, and yet reading the above summary you’d be forgiven for a lack of belief. This page is a brief, general history of the television programme Doctor Who, and is intended as an introduction for those unfamiliar with its background.
Doctor Who‘s early appeal may simply have been its originality and ability to entertain all ages. The programme’s format had been expertly tailored to provide family enjoyment – different ages could identify with Susan the inquisitive teenager, with the caring, knowledgeable teachers Ian and Barbara, and be intrigued by the mysterious Doctor of the show’s title. Within this basic structure came week after week of variety – historical costume drama, Carry-On-style comedy, science fiction action adventure: the Doctor Who slot was a limitless cabaret, fronted by recognisable and identifiable ‘friends’.
When the series was commissioned in 1963, it was not expected to last beyond a handful of episodes. Nonetheless, audiences lapped up the first season, and another was quickly planned for 1964/5. A large part of the unexpected sucess had been the Daleks, surprisingly inhuman monsters which had become an instant hit with children everywhere. All four leading characters stayed with the show, but as time went on, and it became clear that Doctor Who was gaining a devoted following, the actors became tired of their limited roles, and left, one by one. Susan’s role was quickly filled with another enthusiastic teenager – just as Ian’s departure saw the arrival of another young man to ‘fill the part’ of the action hero. These changes were entirely reasonable to the audience, made little difference for the writers, and many actors came to and from the show without drastically affecting its structure. But when the ageing actor playing the Doctor felt it was time to leave, the producers technobabbled their way out of a tricky situation. Rather than end the series – which was, by 1966, a component feature of Saturday nights, it was decided that the Doctor (about whom next to nothing had been revealed) had it in his power to exchange his body for new, should it begin to “wear thin”. In this way, ‘Doctor Who’ strided into 1966, with two modern-day companions and a new face for the Doctor.
The inclusion of so many monster stories in the 1966 / 67 series began to lead the show away from its vaguely educational beginnings, and firmly into the realm of science fiction adventure. Instead of enforcing the ‘something for everyone’ guideline by alternating action stories with historical ones, writers concentrated on making their stories accessible on more than one level, sneaking intellectual sub-plots into horror tales for children. Yet after several more years, it was decided to drastically re-work the show’s foundations. An epic, ten week story in 1969 revealed that the Doctor was on the run from his own people, the Time Lords, beings of infinite power and wisdom. In the final episode, they placed him on trial for “interference in the affairs of other peoples and planets”, and exiled him to Earth without the powers of his time machine.
From 1970, comic actor Jon Pertwee starred as the Doctor, working for the fictional United Nations Intellegence Taskforce, as the series aired in colour for the first time. This realistic, Earthly setting was a return to the Drama-come-Sci-fi origins of the show – an approach still largely unparalleled on television. Knowing that having a different alien invasion every week would appear slightly too far fetched, the Doctor was given a long standing nemesis, the Master, who would lead a succession of threats against the Doctor whilst on Earth, and continue to oppose him once his travels in space began again, as they did in 1973. When Tom Baker adopted the lead role in 1974, the programme entered its most successful era. Taking the show away from the James-Bondian exploits of his predecessor, Baker traveled through Victorian London, gothic mansions, countless alien cities and even Paris in what has become known by the public as the ‘classic years’ of Doctor Who.
It was at this time that the BBC Film and Videotape Library realised that only 102 of 380 episodes from 1963 – 1974 still existed in their archives. The films had either been destroyed or recorded over, once it was felt that they held no further marketing or repeat value. BBC Worldwide still held copies of selected episodes, and foreign TV stations to whom batches of programmes had been sold returned several more; but unfortunately, many stories failed to re-appear. Even today, despite the occasional lucky find at private auctions or in falsely labeled film cans, there are still over 100 black and white episodes of Doctor Who missing. In 1980, a new producer with bold ideas took control of the programme. Stating correctly that the show had become tired, he changed many visual and superficial aspects of the series – including the incidental music and the Doctor’s costume – but left the show’s basic formats untouched. Tom Baker had become bored of his role, and three more Doctors kept the series alive throughout the 80s
Ironically, the producer’s desire to embrace previously stated continuity, and re-visit characters and storylines from earlier episodes – in a blatant attempt to win support and respect from the fans – meant that the casual viewer was immediately alienated. Ratings fell steadily, and even an 18 month suspension, intended to iron out violence that had spoiled the 1985 season, and re-invent the show as traditional family viewing, failed to bring back the programme’s golden ratings. The unwillingness of the programme to re-invent itself for the 1980s, in fear of upsetting the fans, meant that it’s ideas remained stale and uninteresting to audiences more captivated by Star Trek and Star Wars. With it’s unchanging budget and melodramatic acting, Doctor Who became regarded as an embarrassment. The BBC decided in 1989 that the series was no longer able to support itself, and not even the Doctor Who Appreciation Society – who had campaigned heavily when the 18 month break had been announced – seemed bothered by the loss.
Sadly, the largely un-noticed 1989 season had been one of the best for years. Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor had matured into a darker character before, and a trilogy of excellent storylines had seen him manipulating his young companion, a streetwise but emotional 1980s girl named Ace. After two years of Doctor Who drought, Virgin books began publishing bi-monthly, full-length novels, continuing from where the TV series had ended. After a decade of slating the programme it followed, fandom found itself without much to do and fell in love with itself, inspiring a new wave of appreciation for the series’ past. By the time of the 30th Anniversary in 1993, the Virgin New Adventures were a monthly venture unto themselves, fans had begun to heavily re-evaluate the TV series as a whole, and BBC Video had released a substantial amount of past stories for sale. The absence of any new episodes hardly seemed important.
Nevertheless, rumours continued to mount about a possible movie version of Doctor Who and in 1996 Fox and BBC Worldwide did indeed combine to produce an 85 minute film starring accomplished actor Paul McGann. Although not culminating in a new series, the TV Movie was the catalyst for a new range of original novels from BBC Books. Virgin, unwilling to abandon their New Adventures universe, continued their series without the Doctor (to avoid copyright problems with BBC Worldwide, who after years of ignoring Doctor Who were now reluctant to let anyone else have him). This range, headed by ex-NA companion Bernice Summerfield, was so successful that in 1998, Big Finish Productions began to record audio plays of selected novels – and the BBC, impressed with the enterprise, granted them a licence to record new Doctor Who audio stories featuring past – and future – Doctors. With the future of the programme on television seeming less and less likely, the travels of the TARDIS might well end their days on audio…
