The franchise spawned by the main television programme includes dozens of distinct ranges of spinoffs in televised, audio and print media.
Though the classic series is fondly remembered by fans of a certain age, the new series has been far more consistently popular with the British public, and is usually the highest-rated scripted drama - outside of perennially popular soap operas - in the weeks that it is on the air. The current form of the programme - sometimes called the "new series" - has been produced by BBC Wales and aired on BBC One since 2005.
A failed revival, in the form of a Universal-BBC co-production, came in 1996 - but the resulting one-off telemovie is often considered a part of the classic series. The original run of the programme was from 1963 to 1989, and is often called the "classic series" or "classic Doctor Who". It has had two - some argue three - major production periods. On average, the main cast completely changes once every three or four years - a significant factor in the longevity of the programme. The cast is rounded out by one or more " companions", often females. In order to accommodate cast changes, the narrative allows the Doctor to regenerate into an essentially new person on occasion. Since Doctor Who's revival in 2005, its production has been primarily based in Wales by BBC Wales, with its soundtrack regularly performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales since 2006. It has become such an iconic shape in British culture that it is currently the intellectual property of the BBC rather than its actual makers, the Metropolitan Police Service. This ship - which looks like a small, London police box on the outside - has nearly infinite dimensions on the inside. They travel through space and time in a time machine they call the TARDIS. It centres on a time traveller called " the Doctor", who seemingly comes from a race of beings known as Time Lords.
You may wish to consult Doctor Who (disambiguation) for other, similarly-named pages.ĭoctor Who is both a British television series and a global multimedia franchise created and controlled by the BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation).