Portal:Doctor Who

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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. In 2017, Jodie Whittaker, as the Thirteenth Doctor, became the first woman to be cast in the lead role.

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 Eleventh Hour" is the first episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 3 April 2010. The episode, written by then-new head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat and directed by Adam Smith, saw a complete change in cast and production crew.

In the episode, the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) crashes the TARDIS into the small English village of Leadworth, where he meets a young Scottish girl named Amelia Pond (Caitlin Blackwood). The Doctor is forced to leave in order to repair damage to the TARDIS caused during his recent regeneration and crash, but promises Amelia he will return in five minutes. However, he arrives twelve years late and is confronted by the grown-up Amelia, now known as Amy (Karen Gillan), who does not trust him. He attempts to regain her trust to help return the shape-shifting alien Prisoner Zero to the galactic police, the Atraxi, before they destroy the Earth for harbouring Prisoner Zero. (Full article...)
Image 2
"Let's Kill Hitler" is the eighth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, Space and BBC America on 27 August 2011. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Richard Senior.

In the episode, alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and her husband Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) crash land in 1938 Berlin when the TARDIS is hijacked by Amy and Rory's childhood friend, Mels (Nina Toussaint-White). They accidentally save Adolf Hitler (Albert Welling) who was scheduled for torture by the Teselecta, a time-travelling justice department. When shot by Hitler, Mels unexpectedly regenerates into River Song, the grown version of Amy and Rory's child who had been taken away from them. As River is a criminal herself due to her future execution of the Doctor, the Teselecta pursue her instead, whilst the Doctor faces death from her poisoned lipstick. (Full article...)
Image 3
"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 4
The Sensorites is the seventh serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Peter R. Newman and directed by Mervyn Pinfield and Frank Cox, the serial was first broadcast on BBC1 in six weekly parts from 20 June to 1 August 1964. In the serial, the First Doctor (William Hartnell), his granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford), and her teachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) visit a planet known as the Sense-Sphere to find the cure to a disease afflicting the alien race the Sensorites.

Newman's story for the serial was inspired by 1950s films set during World War II, exploring the notion of soldiers who continued to fight after the war. Pinfield was chosen to direct the first four episodes due to his directing style, while Cox directed the final two episodes. Designer Raymond Cusick avoided the use of right angles in his set designs, recalling Antoni Gaudí's work on the Sagrada Família. The serial premiered with 7.9 million viewers but failed to maintain these figures due to the holiday sports season. Retrospective response for the serial was generally positive, and it later received several print adaptations and home media releases. (Full article...)
Image 5
Astrid Peth is a fictional character played by Kylie Minogue in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is a one-off companion of the Tenth Doctor who appears in the episode "Voyage of the Damned", which was first broadcast in the UK on 25 December 2007. Minogue's casting in the role was a major coup for Doctor Who, her fame attracting much publicity for "Voyage of the Damned". Subsequently, much of the episode's success in terms of viewing figures was attributed to Minogue's appearance in the role. (Full article...)
Image 6
"Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" is the tenth episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 27 April 2013 on BBC One and was written by Stephen Thompson and directed by Mat King.

In the episode, the alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) forces a salvage crew (played by Ashley Walters, Mark Oliver, and Jahvel Hall) to rescue the Doctor's companion Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman). Clara is lost in the depths of the sentient spaceship and time machine the TARDIS after its engines become damaged by the salvage crew's beam. (Full article...)
Image 7
"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 three episode "Blink", and River Song (Alex Kingston) from the series four 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 8
Genesis of the Daleks is the fourth serial of the twelfth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was written by Terry Nation and directed by David Maloney, and originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975 on BBC1.

In the serial, the alien time traveller the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and his human travelling companions Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) are directed by the Time Lords to the planet Skaro at the time of the Daleks' creation to prevent them from becoming the dominant race in the universe. (Full article...)
Image 9
"Day One" is the second episode of the first series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. Directed by Brian Kelly, the episode was first broadcast on the digital channel BBC Three on 22 October 2006 with the series pilot, "Everything Changes", and later repeated on terrestrial channel BBC Two on 25 October. It was the first work in the Doctor Who universe to be written by future Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall.

The episode centres on Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) working her first case with the alien hunters Torchwood in Cardiff, when she lets loose a purple alien gas^{[broken anchor]} that survives on the energy of orgasms. Over the course of the episode, the team hunt for Carys before the gas kills her. (Full article...)
Image 10
"Blink" is the tenth episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 9 June 2007 on BBC One. The episode was directed by Hettie MacDonald and written by Steven Moffat. The episode is based on a previous short story written by Moffat for the 2006 Doctor Who Annual, titled "'What I Did on My Christmas Holidays' By Sally Sparrow".

In the episode, the Tenth Doctor—a time travelling alien played by David Tennant—is trapped in 1969 and tries to communicate with a young woman in 2007, Sally Sparrow (Carey Mulligan), to prevent the statue-like Weeping Angels from taking control of the TARDIS. Sparrow and her best friend's brother, Larry Nightingale (Finlay Robertson), must unravel a set of cryptic clues sent through time by the marooned Doctor, left in DVD Easter eggs. (Full article...)
Image 11

Minogue in 2020

Kylie Ann Minogue (/mɪˈnoʊɡ/; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fashion world as a major style icon. Her numerous accolades include two Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards and eighteen ARIA Music Awards. Minogue is Australia's highest-selling female recording artist, with sales surpassing 80 million records worldwide, thereby highlighting her significant commercial success. In 2024, Time named her one of the most influential people in the world.

Born and raised in Melbourne, Minogue first achieved recognition starring as Charlene Robinson in the Australian soap opera Neighbours (1986–1988). She began her music career in the late 1980s, releasing four bubblegum and dance-pop-influenced studio albums under PWL. By the early 1990s, Minogue had amassed several hit singles in Australia and the UK, including "The Loco-Motion", "I Should Be So Lucky", "Especially for You", "Hand on Your Heart" and "Better the Devil You Know". Taking more creative control over her music, she signed with Deconstruction Records in 1993 and released the albums Kylie Minogue (1994) and Impossible Princess (1997). (Full article...)
Image 12
Enlightenment is the fifth serial of the 20th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC1 from 1 to 9 March 1983. It was the 127th serial of the series, and was written by Barbara Clegg and directed by Fiona Cumming, making it the first serial to be both written and directed by women.

In the serial, the alien time traveller the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and his companions Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and Vislor Turlough (Mark Strickson) encounter a group of god-like immortals who are racing historical sailing vessels from Earth through space, crewed by humans they had plucked out of time, in an attempt to win the prize of enlightenment. Turlough is under the control of the Black Guardian (Valentine Dyall), but struggles with the Guardian's orders to kill the Doctor. Enlightenment is the third of three loosely connected serials where the Black Guardian attempts to compel Turlough to kill the Doctor. (Full article...)
Image 13
"The Snowmen" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on Christmas Day 2012 on BBC One. It is the eighth Doctor Who Christmas special since the show's 2005 revival and the first to be within a series. It was written by head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat and directed by Saul Metzstein, with the special produced in August 2012, and filmed on location in Newport, Wales and Bristol.

Set in the Victorian era, the story sees the Doctor (Matt Smith), an alien time traveller, retired and in hiding. He is soon forced out of hiding to investigate mysterious, sentient snowmen that are building themselves and meets Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman), a governess also investigating the snowmen. With the help of allies – Silurian Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh), her human wife Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart), and Sontaran Strax (Dan Starkey) – they discover that the snowmen are being animated by the Great Intelligence (voiced by Ian McKellen) with the help of a man named Dr Simeon (Richard E. Grant). (Full article...)
Image 14
"The Almost People" is the sixth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 May 2011. It is the second episode of a two-part story written by Matthew Graham and directed by Julian Simpson which began with "The Rebel Flesh".

Following from "The Rebel Flesh", alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) are on an acid-pumping factory on a remote island in the 22nd century where the crew of the factory create "Gangers", the Flesh duplicates they control. However, a solar storm has caused the Gangers to become sentient, and the Doctor must prevent a war breaking out between the humans and Gangers. (Full article...)
Image 15
"A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011. It served as a mid-series finale. The episode was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Peter Hoar.

The episode follows the cliffhanger of "The Almost People", which reveals Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) had been operating a Flesh duplicate of herself and is in fact held in a remote location and about to give birth. Alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy's husband, Rory (Arthur Darvill), muster an army of allies and set out to find both Amy and her child, a girl named Melody Pond. (Full article...)

More recognized articles

edit

Selected story

The Myth Makers is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from October 16 to November 6, 1965. The story is set in Homeric Troy. This serial sees the last appearance of Maureen O'Brien as Vicki and the introduction of Adrienne Hill as the Doctor's newest companion, Katarina.

The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven become involved in the siege of Troy. The story alters the fates of a few characters from the original literature. Vicki remains behind and becomes immortalised as the mythical character Cressida.

More selected stories

edit

Related portals

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that William Hartnell was the only original Doctor Who cast member who remained by the end of the second season?
... that "Mission to the Unknown" is the only Doctor Who serial not to feature the Doctor at all?
... that according to writer Russell T Davies, he conceived elements of the Doctor Who episode "Empire of Death" decades before he wrote it?
... that while filming the Doctor Who serial The Myth Makers, William Hartnell was jealous of being upstaged by the other actors?
... that the fifteen bags of seaweed used as set dressing for the Doctor Who serial The Web Planet emanated an overpowering vegetable smell under the hot studio lights?
... that the Doctor Who episode "The Devil's Chord" references the events of an episode that aired more than sixty years before?

edit

Selected quote

“

Emotions! Love, pride, hate, fear! Have you no emotions, sir?

”

— First Doctor, talking to a Cyberman, The Tenth Planet

“

I love a Happy Medium

”

— Ninth Doctor, The Unquiet Dead

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.