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Sunday 23 November 2008

45 Years of Time Travel

Think back... forty-five years ago... not a special date to people of the time... but the birth of a legend... a Time Lord... from the planet Gallifrey... a man... called... the Doctor...
We're only five years away from the big 50, but 45 seems to also be a big number. On this day, as you might have guessed, forty-five years ago, the first ever episode of Doctor Who broadcast on television, with the story 'An Unearthly Child'. How many of you viewing this site now were alive then, sitting down to watch this strange show, just after 5:15pm on the 23rd November in the year 1963? Does that seem a long time ago? Or feel like no time at all? Then back to now, in 2008. The last full episode we have watched is Journey's End that received a fantastic number of viewers, hit the number one spot on television for that week, and the whole show is more popular than it has ever been! Doesn't this make you proud of the show we are now part of in some way? Well, it should!
Since 1963, we have seen 10 Doctors, 9 regenerations, 202 stories, scary and tremendously designed monsters, companions come and go, so much excitement, too much to write, and of course, the Doctor's Tardis. Along with the show itself, the Tardis appeared in the first episode, and has been in most since (or mentioned). Sometimes, though, the 3rd Doctor had to go without it while he was stuck on Earth. The exterior has mostly stayed the same, but the interior (bigger on the inside, in case you hadn't noticed) has changed a lot. Now with a 'coral' layout, it looks amazing. The Doctor has been played by ten actors at the moment. They are William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. They have all had their own different personalities.
Doctor Who hardly stopped on television up until 1989, when after the first seven Doctors, the show just suddenly stopped. many people thought from then on, there would be nothing. They thought that it was the end of Doctor Who, but they were very wrong. Well, they were right up until 2005, as the TV Movie in 1996 wasn't really a proper Doctor Who 'on tv' show. It was just one night, made by America, with a completely new Doctor and companion, and then nothing happened at the end of that. In the early 2000s there were rumours about the show returning with a head-writer called Russell T. Davies, who had previously written Queer as Folk. Yeah yeah, good joke... In fact it wasn't! The series was confirmed later to be returning in 2005, but nobody really knew what to expect. For once, no wobbly sets, some very professional acting and loads of money poured into the show. Many people thought it was only going to last a year, but then Series 2 came and went, then Series 3 and now Series 4, and now it's the best programme ever (in a Whovian's mind)!
I don't really know what else to put. I haven't had enough time to think about something really special for this post, but go and do something fun today!
And so, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOCTOR WHO!!!!!
Just wait for 50 years... but will this site still be running? Who knows!
Please Comment! Thanks!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy 45th Anniversary Doctor Who. To celebrate I will be watching An Unearthly Child today at 5:15pm.

Kyle
Doctor Who Mad Online

Becky said...

Great, detailed post. Well done, a fascinating read.

Happy birthday Dr Who!

Bex
The-OncomingStorm

Conor said...

Happy Birthday Doctor Who!