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[[File:The_12_Doctors.png|frame|Not pictured: The War Doctor, the Thirteenth
{{quote|''He saves worlds, rescues civilizations, defeats terrible creatures, and [[The Last of These Is Not Like the Others|runs a lot]]. Seriously, there's an ''outrageous'' amount of running involved.''
|'''Donna Noble'''
Since its debut on 23 November 1963 on [[The BBC|BBC television]], the British sci-fi series ''Doctor Who'' has thrilled, entertained, and [[Nightmare Fuel|terrified]] three generations of fans worldwide. It takes place in and established the [[Whoniverse]], which has a [[Broad Strokes|very loose and lax continuity]], even discounting the [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe|Expanded Universe]]. It is the longest running sci-fi series in the world, bar none—in fact, the latest three actors to play the title role were all born after it started.
The premise of the show is simple enough: it follows the adventures of a renegade [[Time Lord]], the Doctor, and his various companions through time and space. Travelling in his time machine, the TARDIS, he meets many foes, ranging from heavily armoured robots to microbes and pollen to - well, members of his own race. The TARDIS and the Doctor's recurring enemy the Daleks have become British cultural icons and it is fair to suggest that the overwhelming majority of Britons would instantly recognize both. It is, in fact, difficult to over-state the extent to which ''Doctor Who'', ostensibly a slightly daft children-oriented sci-fi show, has become a part of the British cultural landscape. It casts as much a shadow over British culture, as one Anthropology Professor put it, as ''[[Star Trek]]'' casts over American culture; more so, in fact, as while acknowledged fans of ''[[Star Trek]]'' are still rather consistently made fun of by mainstream culture, ''Doctor Who'' is beloved by Britons of all ages and demographics. Including, as it happens, [[
The show originally ran from 1963 to 1989 (with an 18 month hiatus in 1985-6 caused by [[Executive Meddling]], during which it "rested"). A canon [[Made for TV Movie]], created [[Backdoor Pilot|as a pilot]] for a revival, aired in 1996, but nothing else resulted.
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Between 2001 and 2003, [[The BBC]] produced a series of webcasts which it considered in every way an official continuation of the series (insofar as the Beeb ever indicates what is and isn't canon). It is possible more would have been made but for a very exciting development on the television front:
In 2005, a [[Revival]] began. It's presented a continuation of the old series (rather than being a [[Continuity Reboot]]), with the Ninth Doctor being a direct successor to the original series incarnations ''and'' the 1996 movie's Doctor. The revival series has radically upgraded production values, shorter story arcs but much more continuity throughout, and it introduced deeper [[Character Development]] and romance to the series. The revival's sixth series finished airing October 2011. The old series lasted 26 seasons, and the new episodes are called "series". Officially, the show went from Season 26 to ''Series'' 1, and so on.
The show has spawned several spinoffs within its [[Whoniverse]], which tend to cross over with the main show. The main ones are:
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* [[Alan Fridge]]: Joke announcement by [[Steven Moffat]] on [[Outpost Gallifrey]].
* [[Aliens of London]]: [[Doctor Who/Recap/S27/E04 Aliens of London|Episode of the same name]].
* [[Bigger on the Inside]]: Well, aren't ''you'' going to say it about the TARDIS?
* [[Bow Ties Are Cool]]: [[Catch Phrase]] of the Eleventh Doctor.
* [[The Brigadier]]: Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, recurring character.
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** The Simm incarnation of the Master seems to have made his catchphrase "Oh NO you DON'T!"
* [[Catfolk]]: The Sisters of Plentitude in the episodes "New Earth" and "Gridlock".
* [[Chaos Entity]]: The Black Guardian embodies the force of chaos in the universe and uses this element throughout it.
* [[Character Development]]: The First Doctor started off as someone, who'd in a moment of desperation, tried to bash in a injured man's skull in, to escape the present danger. He was stopped by a Human who called him on this, even though he was someone the Doctor had belittled as beneath him until then. This might explain why all of his later companions are mostly Human, because they do ''stop'' him, when he goes too far. [[Russell T. Davies]] and [[Steven Moffat]]'s runs seem to embrace this interpretation.
** Some companions also get their fair share. Notable examples from the revived series include Jack Harkness, Donna Noble and Rory Williams.
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** Son of Mine, '''''SIR''''', from "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S29/E08 Human Nature|Human Nature]]", '''''SIR''''', and ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S29/E09 The Family of Blood|The Family of Blood]]'', '''''SIR'''''.
** '''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S29/E13 Last of the Time Lords|HERE. COME. THE. DRUMS!]]''' The Master knows it's '''''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S30/E17 E18 The End of Time|DINNERTIME!!]]'''''
** '''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S17/E05 The Horns of Nimon|Myyyyyyy DREEEAAAAMS of CONNNNN-QUEEEST!!!!]]'''
* [[Christmas Episode]]: The aforementioned comedy episode, "The Feast of Steven", the first (and, until New Who, only) episode to air on Christmas Day, which had no continuity to the main serial ''The Daleks' Master Plan''. In New Who, an annual series of specials, which between 2005 and 2009 doomed London (usually, but not always present day London) in some way. Aliens also threaten the Earth in 2011's episode, though it's not the primary plot.
* [[Cliffhanger Copout]]: The programme did this many times. The most (in)famous is probably from ''Dragonfire'', in which The Doctor dangles himself over a precipice because the episode was coming to an end, and [[Pseudo Crisis|just...climbs out of it next episode]].
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*** The actions of Cribbins' character as detailed above avert the phenomenon by which Luke Skywalker, upon {{spoiler|climbing into the gunner's chair in the ''Millennium Falcon'', was able to work the thing on the first try without being told}}. Wilfred {{spoiler|screams frantically for instructions, and gets them}}, but fortunately they aren't all that complex.
** "The Stolen Earth", where Rose and the Doctor are running to each other in the street and a Dalek attacks, feels to some like a homage to ''[[West Side Story]]''.
** "The Beast Below" has a fairly ambitious quotient of these. There's ''[[Star Wars]]'' (the royal [[Action Girl]], the heroes landing in the garbage chute, "you're my only hope", the villain looks like an expy for Grand Moff Tarkin, finding oneself inside the digestive tract of a giant space creature), ''[[Discworld]]'' (the [astral plane] ship that was never meant to fly, the space whale that looks just the ones in ''[[
** The name and garbs of the [[Church Militant|army]] in '"The Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone" is obviously a shout-out to the [[Warhammer 40,000|Imperial Guard]], although with quite different ranks.
** River's relationship with the Doctor, a woman who falls in love with a time traveller and meets him in the wrong order throughout her life is a pretty obvious shout-out to ''[[The Time Traveler's Wife]]''.
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{{reflist}}
{{Doctor Who Franchise}}
{{BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Series}}
{{TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever}}
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