10 More Underhyped Shows That Blew Everyone Away
7. Doctor Who
In 1963, a timeslot opened for the BBC, and the channel got to work looking for a piece of children's entertainment that would fill the gap between the popular sports programme Grandstand and the panel show Juke Box Jury.
Producers Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson banded together to bring a filler show to life, and they ended up creating Doctor Who - a fun slice of family entertainment about a time-travelling alien, originally intended to be an educational series about history and science.
Since it was designed as passable filler, the BBC weren't too concerned about ratings or fan reception, and not only did they not market it, they actually cancelled it before the first episode even aired.
Releasing episodes until the thirteenth instalment made the BBC realise they could keep it going a little longer, which proved a genius move in hindsight, because the show had become an overnight sleeper hit. And save for a brief hiatus, the show has been running consistently for over fifty years, and stands tall as one of the most famous TV series ever made.