- The title of the first episode, An Unearthly Child, referred to the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan, who attended school on Earth and astounded teachers with her alien intelligence. The timing of the broadcast was a little unfortunate since it was the day after the Assassination of John F Kennedy, which eclipsed it somewhat, so it was shown again the following week before the second episode. The first episode to be filmed in colour was Spearhead From Space.
- The word TARDIS is an acronym for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It's common knowledge that it is bigger on the inside than on the outside, but here are some lesser known facts. The sound it makes was produced by rubbing a key along the bass strings of piano and messing around with the recording. Why does it look like a police box? It's not actually meant to. A TARDIS has a "chameleon circuit" which should make it blend into the environment it finds itself in by looking like something which would normally be found there. However, when the Doctor visited 1960s Earth, the chameleon circuit broke, so the TARDIS got stuck in that form. TARDIS, along with Dalek, are both Doctor Who words which have made it into the Oxford English Dictionary. Finally, the TARDIS has an Asteroid named after it: Asteroid 3325, a small main belt asteroid discovered in 1984.
- The series was first created by Head of Drama at the BBC, Sydney Newman, and was intended to be an educational programme for children. The time travel aspect was included so children could learn about historical figures as well as science. However, due to the time travel, the show is banned in China, because the authorities there don't want to promote the idea that history could be re-written.
- The character of the doctor was inspired to some extent by Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps it isn't surprising, then, that one of the actors to turn the role down was Benedict Cumberbatch. Other actors who declined include Ron Moody (Fagin), Geoffrey Bayldon, Bill Nighy and Hugh Grant. Robbie Williams might have been the voice of the Doctor in an animated series, but wasn't available. Michael Jackson and Bill Cosby were once considered to play the part in a feature film. The idea of a female Doctor isn't new, either – it was first suggested by Sydney Newman in the 1980s when the ratings for the original show were plummeting.
- The iconic theme music was composed by Ron Grainer and created by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. There have been any number of remixes of it. In 2010, a version was performed at the Glastonbury Festival by the band Orbital, with a special guest performing with them – Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor.
- Matt Smith is the youngest actor to play The Doctor, starting at 26 years old. The oldest was William Hartnell, who took the role at the age of 55. Peter Capaldi, also 55 when he took the role, was a few months younger. The actor who played the Doctor longest was Tom Baker (seven years) while the shortest stint was Paul McGann, who starred in just one feature-length episode in 1996. Although in one 1976 episode, some even earlier than William Hartnell incarnations appeared briefly on screen, who were members of the production team. Peter Capaldi (The 12th Doctor) and Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) both had bit parts in an earlier episode called The Fires of Pompeii; both Capaldi and David Tennant were huge fans as teenagers. Capaldi, at 14, aspired to be the head of the Doctor Who Fan Club and was seriously miffed when that role went to Keith Miller instead.
- Who or what is the Doctor, anyway? We know he's a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, but we don't know his real name. The Master, River Song and Clara Oswald are among the few who know it. He may actually be a real doctor – in a 1967 episode called The Moonbase, he claimed to have obtained a medical degree in Glasgow in 1888, studying under Lister. You may know that the Doctor has two hearts, but lesser known facts are that Time Lords have "respiratory bypass system" that allows them to go without air for much longer than a human, an internal body temperature of 15-16C, and the ability to absorb, withstand, and expel large amounts of radiation. The Doctor has been married three times that we know of - to Queen Elizabeth I, Marilyn Monroe, and River Song.
- The regeneration idea came in 1966 when William Hartnell was going to have to give up the role because of failing health. Regeneration meant that the BBC could carry on making the show using a different actor in the lead role. Internal memos of the time claimed the process was based on “a bad LSD trip”, ie, a horrible experience. Usually, the outgoing Doctor would return for one episode for a transition scene. However, Colin Baker, who was miffed because he'd been blamed for low ratings and had been fired, refused to co-operate – so Sylvester McCoy, his replacement, had to play both roles, wearing a wig so he'd look like Baker.
- Torchwood is a spin off series of Doctor Who and is an anagram of it. Originally, Torchwood was used as a code name for the first series, to prevent the tapes from being stolen in transit and pirated.
- A whole lot of episodes from the 60s and 70s are missing. The BBC wiped several of the tapes in order to re-use them or save space. While audio recordings of all the episodes exist, the video tapes for many are gone forever. The first episode was thought to have gone forever, until it was found in a mislabelled film can in 1978. The BBC are always on the lookout for any old recordings of episodes featuring the first two Doctors, and they still occasionally turn up, one as recently as 2011. So if you have such a recording in your attic, the BBC would love to hear from you.
See also: Daleks
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