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There was a bit of a brouhaha last year when the Guinness Book of Records announced that the longest running science fiction TV series had been awarded to Stargate: SG-1. The record was 203 episodes, beating the previous holder (the X-files) by just one episode.

That is, until fans from around the world pointed out that there was another contender, which had more episodes than both series put together: Doctor Who (723 episodes as of September 2006, and counting).

First aired in 1963 in the UK, the series follows the adventures of The Doctor, a mysterious alien who travels through time and space in his ship, the TARDIS (An acronym for 'Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space). In the initial episodes, the ship was disguised as a 1950's police telephone box, but due to a fault has remained in that shape ever since. Despite the exterior only being about the size of a call box, the cavernous interior is far larger.

In his travels the Doctor acquires (and loses) a number of travelling companions, visits alien worlds, defeats evil beings, and prevents (and sometimes causes) alterations to history. Recurring enemies which has entered the popular subconscious are the Daleks, a mutated race of evil squidlike creatures encased in armoured travelling machines, and the Cybermen, a species of human-like beings who have gradually replaced their bodies with machinery, to become emotionless automatons.

The role of the Doctor was originally played by William Hartnell, who left the series after a few seasons due to ill health. He was replaced by a much younger actor, Patrick Troughton, and the character's change of appearance was explained by him undergoing a complete physical renewal. This 'regeneration' became a repeatedly clever way to replace the main actor when they wished to move on to other things, and was later explained as being an inherent ability of the Doctor's people, the Time Lords. This is part is what has managed to keep the show fresh and popular, as each subsequent actor has brought his own interpretation and character to the role. To date, in the official TV version, ten actors have reprised the role, the latest being David Tennant, star of BBC TV's 'Casanova'.

The series was originally put on hiatus in 1989, and did not return to the screens (barring an abortive attempt in the US 1996) until 2005, since when it has undergone a major revival. One of the major criticisms of the 'old' series were the creaky, low-budget sets and monsters, but these are noticeably gone, with a much higher production budget in the new series. Weekly viewing figures in the UK average around nine million viewers, and a fourth season is currently in production.

Learn more about this author, Dave Simmons.
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