Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that answer the question.
Query: Who created the Doctor Who character?
The character of the Doctor was created by BBC Head of Drama, Sydney Newman. The first format document for the programme that was to become "Doctor Who" – then provisionally titled "The Troubleshooters" – was written in March 1963 by C. E. Webber, a staff writer who had been brought in to help develop the project. Webber's document contained a main character described as "The maturer man, 35–40, with some 'character twist.' " Newman was not keen on this idea and – along with several other changes to Webber's initial format – created an alternative lead character named Dr Who, a crotchety older man piloting a stolen time machine, on the run from his own far future world. No written record of Newman's conveyance of these ideas – believed to have taken place in April 1963 – exists, and the character of Dr Who first begins appearing in existing documentation from May of that year.
When Lambert arrived at the BBC in June 1963, she was initially given a more experienced associate producer, Mervyn Pinfield, to assist her. "Doctor Who" debuted on 23 November 1963 and quickly became a success for the BBC, chiefly on the popularity of the alien creatures known as Daleks. Lambert's superior, Head of Serials Donald Wilson, had strongly advised against using the script in which the Daleks first appeared, but after the serial's successful airing, he said that Lambert clearly knew the series far better than he did, and he would no longer interfere in her decisions. The success of "Doctor Who" and the Daleks also garnered press attention for Lambert herself; in 1964, the "Daily Mail" published a feature on the series focusing on its young producer's looks: "The operation of the Daleks ... is conducted by a remarkably attractive young woman called Verity Lambert who, at 28, is not only the youngest but the only female drama producer at B.B.C. TV ... [T]all, dark and shapely, she became positively forbidding when I suggested that the Daleks might one day take over "Dr. Who"."
The concept of a female Doctor was first mentioned in 1981, when Tom Baker suggested his successor might be female, after announcing the end of his tenure as the Fourth Doctor. Producer John Nathan-Turner later discussed the possibility of casting a woman as the Sixth Doctor to replace the departing Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor, claiming it was feasible but not something he was considering at the moment. In October 1986, during the transmission of Colin Baker's final season as the Sixth Doctor, series creator Sydney Newman wrote to BBC Controller Michael Grade, with a suggestion that "at a later stage Doctor Who should be metamorphosed into a woman". Dawn French, Joanna Lumley, and Frances de la Tour were suggested by Newman in 1986 for the role, but were dismissed by the BBC. Lumley later appeared as a satirical version of the Thirteenth Doctor in the 1999 Comic Relief special "The Curse of Fatal Death". Arabella Weir also played an alternate Third Doctor in the "Doctor Who Unbound" Big Finish episode "Exile". Neither portrayal is typically considered to be within the show's main continuity. Producer Jane Tranter also considered casting Judi Dench as the Ninth Doctor. Helen Mirren was suggested for the role of the Twelfth Doctor.
The Second Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series "Doctor Who". He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton.
"Doctor Who" has appeared on stage numerous times. In the early 1970s, Trevor Martin played the role in "Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday". In the late 1980s, Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker both played the Doctor at different times during the run of a play titled "Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure". For two performances, while Pertwee was ill, David Banks (better known for playing Cybermen) played the Doctor. Other original plays have been staged as amateur productions, with other actors playing the Doctor, while Terry Nation wrote "The Curse of the Daleks", a stage play mounted in the late 1960s, but without the Doctor.
Sabbath is the name of a recurring villain from the Eighth Doctor Adventures — spin-off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series "Doctor Who". The character was created by Lawrence Miles and first appeared in "The Adventuress of Henrietta Street". Originally, Miles had intended Sabbath to be a one-off character, but BBC Books editor Justin Richards asked to use the character in a continuing story arc.
Doctor Who, also referred to as Doctor Who: The Movie to distinguish it from the television series of the same name, is a 1996 television film continuing the British science fiction television series "Doctor Who". It was developed as a co-production between BBC Worldwide, Universal Studios, 20th Century Fox, and the American network Fox. It premiered on 12 May 1996 on CITV in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (which was owned by WIC at the time before being acquired by Canwest Global in 2000), 15 days before its first showing in the United Kingdom on BBC One and two days before being broadcast in the United States on Fox. It was also shown in some countries for a limited time in cinemas.
A comic strip also regularly appeared in the pages of "Doctor Who Magazine". This began as a Marvel Comics publication under the name "Doctor Who Weekly" in 1979 (soon changing to "Doctor Who Monthly"), and the magazine continued to be published after the programme ceased production in 1989. The comic strip has usually featured the current Doctor in a series of adventures independent of the novels and the audios, and with another companion, though several crossovers with the worlds of the audio and literary "Doctor Who" and the comics have occurred. Creators who have worked on the "Doctor Who Magazine" strip include such notables as writer Alan Moore and artists Dave Gibbons, Mike McMahon, and John Ridgway. Selected stories were reprinted in North America by Marvel Comics, which was also the publisher of "Doctor Who Magazine" at the time. "Marvel Premiere" #57 (December 1980) was the first Doctor Who comic published in North America. When "Doctor Who Magazine" was published by Marvel, some characters occasionally crossed over between the "Doctor Who" comic and other titles published by Marvel UK; these include the froglike Venusian businessman Josiah Dogbolter and the robotic bounty hunter Death's Head. In the "Flood Barriers" feature in the trade paperback "Doctor Who: The Flood", it is revealed the comic strip was given the opportunity to show the regeneration of the Eighth Doctor into the Ninth Doctor.
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 into a new incarnation, a plot device in which a Time Lord "transforms" into a new body when the current one is too badly harmed to heal normally. Each actor's portrayal is unique, but all represent stages in the life of the same character. Together, they form a single lifetime with a single narrative. The time-travelling feature of the plot means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet. The Doctor is currently portrayed by Jodie Whittaker, who took on the role after Peter Capaldi's exit in the 2017 Christmas special "Twice Upon a Time".
There have also been many references to "Doctor Who" in popular culture and other science fiction, including "" ("") and "Leverage". In the Channel 4 series "Queer as Folk" (created by later "Doctor Who" executive producer Russell T. Davies), the character of Vince was portrayed as an avid "Doctor Who" fan, with references appearing many times throughout in the form of clips from the programme. In a similar manner, the character of Oliver on "Coupling" (created and written by current show runner Steven Moffat) is portrayed as a "Doctor Who" collector and enthusiast.
References to "Doctor Who" have also appeared in the young adult fantasy novels "Brisingr" and "High Wizardry", the video game "Rock Band", the Adult Swim comedy show "Robot Chicken", the "Family Guy" episodes "Blue Harvest" and "420", and the game "RuneScape". It has also be referenced in "Destroy All Humans! 2", by civilians in the game's variation of England, and multiple times throughout the "Ace Attorney" series.
On 16 July 2017, Whittaker was announced as the Thirteenth Doctor in the science fiction television series "Doctor Who"; she is the first woman to play the title role. She had previously worked with incoming "Doctor Who" showrunner Chris Chibnall on "Broadchurch". She admitted that she had to "tell a lot of lies" after being cast to keep the information secret and used the codeword "Clooney" when talking about the role. She urged fans not to be afraid of her gender, saying ""Doctor Who" represents everything that's exciting about change. The fans have lived through so many changes, and this is only a new, different one, not a fearful one." Chibnall said that he always wanted a woman for the part and that Whittaker was their first choice.
An early televised "Doctor Who" spoof was on the Michael Bentine sketch show "It's a Square World" in December 1963, only a few weeks after the series first aired. Season 6, Episode 8, broadcast on New Year's Eve, featured Clive Dunn playing a scientist called Doctor Fotheringown ("Doctor Who?" / "No, not Doctor Who, Doctor Fotheringown!"), for which Dunn wore William Hartnell's First Doctor costume and wig. The sketch, which was recorded on 16 and 20 December 1963, also featured Wilfrid Brambell and Patrick Moore.
Jodie Whittaker took over the role as the Thirteenth Doctor in the 2017 Christmas special. In addition to the above-listed actors, others have played versions of the Doctor for the duration of particular storylines.
Notably, John Hurt guest starred as the War Doctor in the closing moments of the 2013 episode "The Name of the Doctor", the webcast "The Night of the Doctor" and the 50th Anniversary episode "The Day of the Doctor". The War Doctor is an incarnation existing between those of McGann and Eccleston. Hurt was never the programme's lead actor; his Doctor was retroactively inserted into continuity for the programme's 50th anniversary, and was written so as not to disturb the ordinal naming of the established Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors. In the 1986 serial "The Trial of a Time Lord", Michael Jayston played the Valeyard, an amalgamation of the Doctor's darker sides from between his twelfth and final incarnations.
In Canada, TVOntario aired the program starting in 1976 with "The Three Doctors" and continued with the rest of the original series on a weekly basis until 1990 with series airing two to three years behind the BBC. TVO was also available to many viewers in the United States living in states bordering the Great Lakes. In order to fulfill the network's originally strict mandate as an educational broadcaster, TVO's transmissions of the Third Doctor's stories were hosted by Dr. Jim Dator, a futurist teaching to the University of Toronto, while the first three seasons of Fourth Doctor stories were hosted by science fiction writer Judith Merril, who called herself the "UnDoctor". Both hosts would fill out the show's half-hour time slot through introductions and longer extros which would analyze and discuss the episode critically for several minutes often explaining how a story was at variance with scientific concepts, how it related to science fiction genres, or putting the episodes in a socio-political context. Afterward, this broadcast requirement was relaxed and the extra time was used for the network's standard short subject programming such as "Eureka!". TVO continued to broadcast "Doctor Who" until it lost the rights to the programme in 1990.
Hines' "Doctor Who" debut came in 1966, when he was cast to play the part of Jamie McCrimmon, the companion of the Second Doctor (played by Patrick Troughton). Originally intended as a one-off guest character, Jamie joined the regular cast and appeared in the series from 1966 to 1969. Hines reprised the role in a cameo in the 20th anniversary serial "The Five Doctors" (1983) and as a guest star in "The Two Doctors" (1985). Hines would appear in 117 episodes of "Doctor Who" in all—more than any other "companion" actor in the history of the series. The only actors appearing in more episodes are those who played the first four Doctors. Many of the episodes featuring Jamie no longer exist in the BBC's collection.
When the BBC revived "Doctor Who" in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor and with Russell T. Davies as producer, the ABC responded by scheduling the series in the prime-time 7:30pm Saturday slot. Following the UK broadcast by less than two months, Series 1 of the new "Doctor Who" premiered in Australia with the first episode, "Rose", on 21 May 2005, going on to win its timeslot in four out of five capital cities.
Patrick Troughton was a familiar face on BBC TV from playing the Second Doctor in "Doctor Who"; a contemporary "Blue Peter" feature on the drama makes the connection that in the role of Cole Hawlings, the kindly Punch and Judy Man, Troughton was playing another mysterious, scruffy time traveller. Renny Rye noted that Troughton "who was my favourite Doctor Who...had a quality that is unsurpassed, I think, as someone to pull you into a tale."
The character of Emily Blandish was created by Daniel O'Mahony for the Telos "Doctor Who" novella "The Cabinet of Light". Shortly after the novella was published, it was announced that BBC Enterprises would not be renewing Telos' licence to produce "Doctor Who" novellas. Telos subsequently announced that they would begin producing a series of "Part mystery, part detective story, part dark fantasy, part science fiction"  novellas that would continue the spirit of the "Doctor Who" novellas. This was the "Time Hunter" range, which continued the adventures of Emily and Honoré Lechasseur.
"Doctor Who" has been satirised and spoofed on many occasions by comedians including Spike Milligan (a Dalek invades his bathroom — Milligan, naked, hurls a soap sponge at it) and Lenny Henry. Jon Culshaw frequently impersonates the Fourth Doctor in the BBC "Dead Ringers" series. "Doctor Who" fandom has also been lampooned on programs such as "Saturday Night Live", "The Chaser's War on Everything", "Mystery Science Theater 3000", "Family Guy", "American Dad!", "Futurama", "South Park",
"Community" as Inspector Spacetime, "The Simpsons" and "The Big Bang Theory". As part of the 50th anniversary programmes, former Fifth Doctor Peter Davison directed, wrote and co-starred in the parody "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot", which also starred two other former Doctors, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, and cameo appearances from cast and crew involved in the programme, including showrunner Steven Moffat and Doctors Paul McGann, David Tennant and Matt Smith.
Davies's initial idea for the programme had been a part-documentary, part-drama called "The Legend Begins", which would have mixed interviews with those responsible for the creation of "Doctor Who" with a dramatised strand showing how these events took place. This later evolved into a proposal called "Eulogy for the Doctor", which would have featured several actors who had appeared in the series as the Doctor's companions returning to their roles for a drama linking between archive clips from the series. Eventually, all of these ideas were scaled-down or abandoned in favour of a more straightforward documentary format. The idea of a drama depicting the origins of "Doctor Who" would, however, later be used for the programme's fiftieth anniversary in 2013, when the one-off special "An Adventure in Space and Time" was broadcast on BBC Two.
More visibly, many Australians – or Britons with some connection to Australia – have appeared on-screen in "Doctor Who". The 1963 serial "The Daleks" featured several Australian actors: John Lee played Alydon, while Robert Jewell and Kevin Manser made their first contributions as Dalek operators, roles they revisited numerous times throughout the 1960s. Ilona Rodgers played Carol in the 1964 serial "The Sensorites" - Rodgers relocated to Australia in the late-1970s, then to New Zealand in the mid-1980s. Australian actor Ray Barrett played Bennett/Koquillion in the 1965 serial "The Rescue". Australian actor David Nettheim and the South African-born Australian actor Bill Kerr both portrayed Australian characters in the 1967 serial "The Enemy of the World". New Zealand-born actress Louise Pajo played Gia Kelly in the 1969 serial "The Seeds of Death" - Pajo completed her training in the UK before relocating to Australia during the 1970s. Katy Manning played companion Jo Grant 1971–73 and later lived in Australia for many years, becoming an Australian citizen and the patron of the Doctor Who Club of Australia. Australian actor Kevin Lindsay played Cho-Je in "Planet of the Spiders", as well as various Sontarans in both "The Time Warrior" and "The Sontaran Experiment". Australian actress Janet Fielding played companion Tegan 1981–84, while Fielding's contemporary Mark Strickson played companion Turlough 1983–84 - Strickson lived in Australia for many years before settling in New Zealand. British actress Liza Goddard played Kari in the 1983 serial "Terminus" - Goddard moved to Australia with her family in 1965 after her father's appointment as the ABC's Head of Drama and later starred in the first two seasons of "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo", before returning to the UK in 1969. Australian singer and actress Kylie Minogue played Astrid Peth in the 2007 Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned" and Australian actor Peter O'Brien played Ed Gold in the 2009 special "The Waters of Mars".
Australia itself has also featured in "Doctor Who" more than once, though without ever having been filmed or produced locally. The Second Doctor 1967–68 serial "The Enemy of the World" was set on and near an unnamed Australian beach in 2018 and featured a cast of characters who were supposed to be Australian, though virtually all were played by British actors. As well, in the Fifth Doctor 1982 serial "Four to Doomsday", the main villain, Monarch, was said to have visited Earth in the distant past, gathering 'samples' of the local people as he went; included in his collection was an Aboriginal tribal elder and his tribesmen, following Monarch's visit to the Australian continent.
A scene from the first episode of Series 10, "The Pilot" (premiered in Australia on April 16, 2017) was shot near Circular Quay, Sydney; the first "Doctor Who" scene shot in Australia.
A number of characters created for original "Doctor Who" fiction have been spun off into series of their own, such as the comic book "Miranda" based upon a character created for Lance Parkin's novel "Father Time", though the comic was not a success and was cancelled after three issues. First Mad Norwegian Press and later Random Static published a series of "Faction Paradox" books, based on the characters created by Lawrence Miles for the novel "Alien Bodies", and also republished one of the Bernice Summerfield novels originally published by Virgin. Twenty-First Century Publishers are due to publish a novel featuring the character Guy de Carnac, who was introduced in the 1995 "Doctor Who" novel, "Sanctuary."
Professor Urban Chronotis is a fictional character created by Douglas Adams. He was originally created for the 1979 "Doctor Who" serial "Shada", starring Tom Baker and Lalla Ward. However, the filming of the serial was never completed due to a strike. Adams then re-used the character and many of the themes from "Shada" in his novel "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency", first published in 1987. In both versions, Chronotis is a clandestine time-traveller, whose time machine (or TARDIS, as they are termed in "Doctor Who") is disguised as his college rooms.
The character of Doctor Psycho was created by William Moulton Marston, creator of Wonder Woman and author of her original adventures. Marston, a psychologist, created Doctor Psycho as a murderous psychopath with an intense hatred of women. The character was partly inspired by actor Lon Chaney ("Man of a thousand faces") and partly by Marston's undergraduate advisor Hugo Münsterberg, who was opposed to women's suffrage and feminism, and was into metaphysics. Doctor Psycho was also one of several villains created for Wonder Woman who were occultists, beguiling the masses for their own self-enriching purposes.
From 1966 until the following year Davis was the story editor of the popular BBC science-fiction series "Doctor Who", for which he created the character Jamie McCrimmon and co-created the popular cybernetic monsters known as the Cybermen, who continue to make appearances in the show, having been revived in the new run. His fellow co-creator of these creatures was the programme's unofficial scientific adviser Dr. Kit Pedler. Following their work on "Doctor Who" the pair teamed up in 1970 to create the science-fiction programme "Doomwatch". "Doomwatch" ran for three seasons on BBC One from 1970 to 1972 and spawned a novel written by Davis and Pedler, a subsequent cinema film and a 1999 revival on Channel 5.