It's not an exaggeration to describe Doctor Who as a British Institution. For the past 50 years it has been thrilling audiences with adventures in time and space, and continuously reinventing itself; the show viewers enjoy today is rather different from when it started. What has remained constant however is that it follows the curious Doctor, who with the help of his trusty blue TARDIS, Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space to give it its full title, has saved the universe from monsters, aliens, and picked up a few companions along the way. Not a lot was known about the Doctor back in the beginning, and names such as "Time Lord" and "Galiffrey" were slowly introduced to the audience's vocabulary as the show progressed. Over 150 serial stories were produced and broadcast during its initial 26 year run, each generally comprising between three and six 25 minute episodes. After cancellation there were many attempts to keep the spirit alive and bring the show back, which included a one-off TV movie, before the celebrated revival that brought the show to a whole new generation. Presented to you here is a year by year guide of how the world wide phenomenon evolved from the humblest of beginnings.
1963
It all began when An Unearthly Child was broadcast on 23rd November, and Saturday evenings were never the same again. When teachers Ian and Barbara follow an enigmatic student to her 'home' in a junkyard, they stumble upon a now familiar Police Box that is somehow bigger on the inside. It is here they meet Susan Foreman's grandfather, played by William Hartnell, who is an even more mysterious figure and calls himself the Doctor. The adventures got off to a quick start with a TARDIS they were unable to control, and in only their second serial the Doctor and his companions landed on their first alien planet, one that would be revisited time and time again. With the help of Skaro's most famous inhabitants, the Daleks, the show was assured a place on TV sets as Britain's favourite for years to come...