10 Things Everyone Always Gets Wrong About Doctor Who

It can't be overstated how insane it is that Doctor Who has been on the air for 59 years. Most TV shows are lucky to get four or five, and yet, here we are, about to celebrate the Doctor's 60th anniversary - and let's hope there's another 60 to come.

Because 59 years is such a long time, those early days of the show are almost mythic at this point, and certain factoids about them have become twisted. There's the one about Ridley Scott being the designer of the Daleks (he wasn't), and it's often forgotten that Ron Grainer wasn't the sole creator of that iconic theme tune - Delia Derbyshire also shares in that credit, having provided the unforgettable sounds that formed its basis.

Another prominent misconception involves the date on which the first-ever Doctor Who episode was beamed into British homes. With An Unearthly Child famously airing on the exact same weekend as the Kennedy assassination in November 1963, you'll often find people saying that both of these events also happened on the exact same day. In reality though, the assassination happened on 22 November, while the world was introduced to William Hartnell's First Doctor on the following day.

Of course, this unfortunate timing meant that Doctor Who was greatly overshadowed (the death of a U.S. President dominated the public consciousness more so than the debut of a quaint British sci-fi show) but there was nonetheless an entire day separating these events.