10 Doctor Who Facts Most Fans Don't Know

Ridley Scott isn't the only legendary Hollywood director to have had a brush with Doctor Who and the Daleks.

In 1965 - while the BBC was airing Doctor Who's epic serial The Daleks' Master Plan - one Stanley Kubrick was mounting his iconic sci-fi movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The production design of Kubrick's film was hugely influential on release, and still influences the design of sci-fi blockbusters today.

So, it's surprising that Kubrick's production team reached out to a cheap teatime TV show for help in achieving the film's groundbreaking sci-fi aesthetic. Following the broadcast of episode 5 of the 12-part serial, a member of Kubrick's team contacted the episode's director, Douglas Camfield, to discuss how he'd achieved certain effects.

That episode follows on from when Katarina became the first Doctor Who companion to be killed off, after ejecting herself (and her captor) out of an airlock. This sequence drew the attention of Kubrick's team, who wanted to know how the bodies of Katarina and her captor floating in space were filmed. They were also interested in how he achieved the molecular dissemination effect - similar to Star Trek's transporter technology.

Given Doctor Who's reputation for having wobbly sets and cheap effects, it's heartening to know that Stanley Kubrick's team recognised the inventiveness of the show!