Times change, and Doctor Who changes with them – literally. What began as a curious science fiction television show for the BBC in 1963 has now evolved into an ever-expanding franchise – encompassing a variety of spinoff series, comic books, radio dramas, novelizations, non-fiction books, video games, and an endless stream of merchandise. While it was originally created by Sydney Newman, C.E Webber, and Donald Wilson, a variety of creative minds have left their mark on the property, and the latest passing of that baton is set to bring the biggest changes of all.
Its original run – iconic theme tune and all – began on November 23rd, 1963, and continued until 1989. A TV movie followed in 1996, then the TARDIS fell silent, until Russell T. Davies fired it up again in 2005. Since that reboot, Doctor Who has remained a fixture on the screens of fans around the world and shows no signs of fading from view. In fact, the entire storytelling endeavour is about to make a leap of epic proportions.
Before that leap, though, scheduled for December 25th, let’s take a look at this TV phenomenon as a whole, catching up on the history of The Doctor, before looking at what we can expect next from the flagship show.
In short, this is everything you need to know about Doctor Who.