Doctor Who

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This article is about the television series. For other uses, see Doctor Who (disambiguation).

Doctor Who

Doctor Who title card (2018–pres.)

Genre Science fiction

Drama

 Sydney Newman
Created by
 C. E. Webber
 Donald Wilson

Written by Various

Starring Various Doctors

(as of 2019, Jodie Whittaker)
Various companions
(as of 2019, Bradley Walsh, Tosin
Cole, Mandip Gill)

Theme music  Ron Grainer

composer

Opening theme Doctor Who theme music

Composer(s) Various composers

(since 2018, Segun Akinola)

Country of origin United Kingdom

Original language(s) English

No. of seasons 26 (1963–89)
+ 1 TV film (1996)

No. of series 11 (2005–pres.)

No. of episodes 851 (97 missing)

287 stories
(1963–89 episodes)
(2005–pres. episodes)

Production

Executive producer(s) Various

(as of 2018, Matt Strevens and Chris
Chibnall)

Camera setup Single- and multiple-camera setups[1]

Running time Regular episodes:

 25 minutes (1963–84, 1986–89)

 45 minutes (1985, 2005–17)
 50 minutes (2018–pres.)
Specials:
Various: 50–90 minutes

Production company(s) BBC Studios

Distributor BBC Studios

Release

Original network  BBC One (1963–pres.)

 BBC HD (2007–10)
 BBC One HD (2010–pres.)

Picture format  405-line Black-and-white(1963–67)

 625-line Black-and-white (1968–69)
 625-line PAL (1970–89)
 525-line NTSC (1996)
 576i 16:9 DTV (2005–08)
 1080pSF 16:9 HDTV (2009–17)
  1080pSF 2:1 HDTV (2018–pres.)

Audio format  Mono (1963–87)

 Stereo (1988–2008)
 5.1 Surround Sound (2009–pres.)

Original release  Classic era: 23 November 1963 –

6 December 1989
 Film: 12 May 1996
 Revived era: 26 March 2005 – present

Chronology

Related shows  K-9 and Company

 Torchwood
 The Sarah Jane Adventures
 K-9
 Class

External links

Doctor Who at the BBC

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC since 1963. The
programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called "the Doctor", an extraterrestrial being, to all
appearances human, from the planet Gallifrey. The Doctor explores the universe in a time-
travelling space ship called the TARDIS. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was
a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Accompanied by a number of
companions, the Doctor combats a variety of foes while working to save civilisations and help people
in need.
The show is a significant part of British popular culture,[2][3] and elsewhere it has gained a cult
following. It has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew
up watching the series.[4] The programme originally ran from 1963 to 1989. There was an
unsuccessful attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a backdoor pilot, in the form of a
television film titled Doctor Who. The programme was relaunched in 2005, and since then has
been produced in-house by BBC Wales in Cardiff. Doctor Who has also spawned
numerous spin-offs, including comic books, films, novels, audio dramas, and the television
series Torchwood (2006–2011), The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011), K-9 (2009–2010),
and Class (2016), and has been the subject of many parodies and references in popular culture.
Thirteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor. The transition from one actor to
another is written into the plot of the show with the concept of regeneration int