Here’s some little tidbits that you may or may not be aware of regarding Doctor Who.

Please feel free to add your own facts, and tidbits, in the comments…

• The first episode of Doctor Who, starring William Hartnell, was broadcast on November 23, 1963
• Before the first show went out, Donald Baverstock, the chief of programmes for BBC1, told the production team that more “historical and scientific hokum” and less “prosaic dialogue” was required
• The BBC thought that the programme was proving so expensive to make that it might not be able to go beyond four episodes. Donald Baverstock wrote in 1963: “Such a costly serial is not one that I can afford”
• Tom Baker, right, who occupied the Tardis between 1974 and 1981, is generally considered the longest-serving Doctor
  • Tom Baker is actually the longest running Doctor only when addressing the number of seasons…
  • David Tennant actually holds the lead for the most episodes on “screen” (eg. TV)
  • Sylvester McCoy holds the record for being the longest serving Current Doctor on screen, at over 8 years, due to his time on the series, and then the gap until the Television Movie…  As well as his time with Big Finish.
  • Paul McGann holds the record for the longest time as the current Doctor Across media (Novels, Audio), at over eight years.
  • But of course, these statistics are open to manipulation, and can be viewed in many different ways…
  • And who knows what records Matt Smith will hold.
• Doctor Who originally ran for 26 seasons on BBC1 until 1989, when it was controversially dropped
• Paul McGann starred as the Doctor in a one-off film version in 1996
• The Tardis cost £4,328 to build
• The ethereal theme tune was the first in the world to be made up entirely from electronic sounds
• Interest among children in the Sixties declined if the Daleks weren’t in storylines
• Billie Piper appeared as Rose Tyler in the revived series for 27 episodes, this includes every episode from “Rose”, to “Doomsday”, but does not include flashbacks in the later episodes.
• Currently two Doctor Who novels or short stories have been adapted for use in the revived TV series.
  • Human Nature was adapted into “Family of Blood” and “Human Nature”.
  • Blink was loosely based off of Steven Moffat’s “What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow”. Sally Sparrow was adapted, the Weeping Angels were not in the short story.
• How many actors have played the Doctor
  • Eleven
    • William Hartnell – 1963 to 1966
    • Patrick Troughton – 1966 to 1969
    • Jon Pertwee – 1970 to 1974
    • Tom Baker – 1974 to 1981
    • Peter Davison – 1981 to 1984
    • Colin Baker – 1984 to 1986
    • Sylvester McCoy – 1987 to 1989, 1996
    • Paul McGann – 1996
    • Christopher Eccleston – 2005
    • David Tennant – 2005 to 2010
    • Matt Smith – 2011 – ongoing