Channel Button

There are 17 articles on this title. You are reading the article ranked and rated #1 by Helium's members.

Entertainment   >

TV Show Reviews

Get a Widget for this title

Television reviews: Doctor Who

It was the 23rd November 1963, and before people had decent TV guides; families up and down England gathered round to watch the new medical show, Doctor Who; boy were they in for a shock.

Doctor Who, or The Doctor as he is only ever addressed is a time traveller. With the aid of his time machine known as The Tardis (Tardis stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) the Doctor travels through time and space solving mysteries and generally being of aid everywhere he goes.

In 1963 the Doctor was played by William Hartnell, and as the series began he travelled with his Grand Daughter Susan. But it was not long before they were joined by Barbara and Ian and the quartet travelled backward and forwards in time as well as to other planets. As the series progressed many of the characters departed and were replaced by other characters. Back in the day when the travelling companions were not as important as the Doctor two of his fellow travellers Katarina and Sarah Kingdom both died. Popular enemies of the Hartnell era were The Daleks, and The Meddling Monk a fellow Timelord like the Doctor played by Carry On star Peter Butterworth. By 1966 William Hartnell was becoming ill, filming was often stopped and sometimes episodes never even featured the Doctor due to Hartnell's ill health. Having survived The Daleks a number of times, it was the Doctor's first battle with The Cybermen that caused the first big change in the shows history. Having previously just been a traveller in time it was decided to make the Doctor something else, he became known as a Timelord the good thing about being a Timelord was that when the Doctors body was worn out (or he was badly hurt) he would transform into another person, something known as regeneration. This allowed the popular show to continue after Hartnell had left.

In 1966 Patrick Troughton became the Doctor, sadly more than a third of the adventures featuring Troughton are lost, because when colour television came about the BBC believed that old Black & White shows would never be watched again, the result a big bonfire of old shows. Trougton's Doctor was more humorous than Hartnell's who played the role for the most part as a miserable old man. No sooner had Troughton taken on the role than plans were afoot to change the show; a big point was to destroy the Daleks, as the producers felt they had become as big as the show itself. To compensate for the loss the Cybermen became the big enemy of the Troughton era. New enemies were


Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

Television reviews: Doctor Who

  • 1 of 17

    by Spencer Hawken

    It was the 23rd November 1963, and before people had decent TV guides; families up and down England gathered round to watch

    read more

  • 2 of 17

    by Stuart Watkin

    Ten Doctors, forty four years, canceled twice and still going strong. The adventures of Britain's favourite time traveling

    read more

  • 3 of 17

    by Dave Simmons

    There was a bit of a brouhaha last year when the Guinness Book of Records announced that the longest running science fiction

    read more

  • 4 of 17

    by Marcelle Mccallum

    As a child, my mother used to wait eagerly for the next installment of Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space. As a child,

    read more

  • 5 of 17

    by David Furritus

    Doctor Who will always be an important part of my life.

    The show is timeless (no pun intended) and is without a doubt the

    read more

View All Articles on:
Television reviews: Doctor Who

Add your voice

Know something about Television reviews: Doctor Who?
We want to hear your view. Write_penWrite now!

Helium Debate

Cast your vote!

Does reality TV really reflect reality ?

Click for your side.

101711

Featured Partner

The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR)

The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR) is a national forum that promotes the development, implementation...more

What is Helium? | Buy Web Content | Contact Us | Privacy | User agreement | DMCA | User Tools | Help | Community | Helium’s Official Blog | Link to Helium

Helium, Inc.
200 Brickstone Square Andover, MA 01810 USA