Doctor Who has now been lighting up our screens for 51 years (prolonged hiatuses notwithstanding) but way back when it was merely a brand new beast trying to stand its ground amidst the rocky landscape of the televisual market. And it did all right, didn't it? An Unearthly Child aired on BBC One at 5.17pm on 23rd November 1963 and it's safe to say that nothing was ever the same again. Over half a century later, the show is one of the most formidable franchises on TV with a growing global audience of 70 million viewers. Not too shabby for something that all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, eh?
Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.
