Doctor Who World
Welcome to Doctor Who World!
If you've reached this page, you probably don't need to be told that it is devoted to the BBC's long-running science fiction television programme, Doctor Who.
Here you will find articles, news, viewpoints and links to all that proves that everything about Doctor Who is bigger inside than out.


The Creation of the Doctor

The Shifting Archetypes in Early 'Doctor Who'
We have seen in earlier articles that the Doctor began his life on the television screen in a role approximating that of a villain: he was an aggressive, mysterious old man who suddenly and impulsively kidnaps the two teachers who stumble into the Tardis, innocently seeking an explanation for the odd behaviour of one of their students.

'Rocky Jones, Space Ranger'
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, an American science fiction television serial originally broadcast in 1954, lasted for two seasons then dropped into obscurity. Neither ground-breaking nor particularly enthralling as far as story-telling goes, it may have one slight but completely unexpected claim upon today’s viewer.

The Context of 'Doctor Who' Part 9

The Context of 'Doctor Who' Part 6
Peter Davison, famous for playing veterinarian Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great And Small, wore an Edwardian cricketers’ uniform and adopted a more down-to-earth, physical approach when he took over the role of the Doctor. Producer John Nathan-Turner added a celery stick on Davison’s lapel to add whimsy - a sign that the understanding of what was happening with the programme was merely cosmetic.

The Context of 'Doctor Who' Part 4
Having overtly replaced its lead actor (Hartnell to Troughton) in 1966 using an invented plot mechanism which opened the door to a peculiar longevity for the show, then in 1969 reinventing itself as an Earth-based series of adventures, inverting everything that had made it successful, we have seen how Doctor Whounderwent two of the most radical experiments in television in the 1960s.

The Sigificance of 'The Ark in Space'

Why 'Doctor Who' Has Plot Holes
We’ve established earlier in this blog that the current version of Doctor Who is the creative child of Steven Moffat, and that, as a result of certain underlying presumptions on his part, some conscious and others not quite-so-conscious, the show has gone off on a particular tangent of which I am not particularly fond.

32 'Doctor Who' Quotes to Make You Smile
The Doctor: Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority.
The Doctor: Fear makes companions of all of us.
The Doctor: One day, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me I am not mistaken in mine.

Bigger Inside Than Out: The Attraction -and the Peril- of 'Doctor Who'
I was discussing the Doctor Who finale 'The Wedding of River Song’ (first broadcast in October 2011) with a friend and we agreed that the series was growing a little tiring after a while, constantly focusing on the Doctor and the ‘mystery’ of him. We wished we could just get in the Tardis, save the world and get back in the Tardis, like back in the ‘good old days’ (we were thinking of the very good, but very old, days of Patrick Troughton’s Doctor. We are very old fans).

The Implausible Girl, or Why 'Face the Raven' Didn't Work
If, like me, you’ve been a Doctor Who fan since 1963, you will have developed your own ’ret-conn’ mechanisms for either wiping your memory of certain stories, episodes or bits of episodes as you have gone along. It seems essential: in a history spanning more than fifty years and dozens of writers, actors and ‘show-runners’, it would be a miracle if the show maintained high quality and consistency all the time. So serious fans do this themselves in their heads. It’s quite a skill.

The Doctor as Rebel
Back in 2009, David Tennant was chosen as a 'dream headteacher’ in a survey of primary school children commissioned by the National College for the Leadership of Schools and Children's Services. The poll was designed to assess the impact headteachers have on pupils.

Lewis, the Wardrobe and the Police Box

The Perfect Companion Arc of Sarah Jane Smith
For me, the Golden Age of Doctor Who stretches from the beginnings of the show in 1963 right through to the moment that Sarah Jane Smith left the Doctor’s side in 1976. Within that period were many highs and lows, one of the highs being the time that Sarah Jane was aboard the Tardis from ‘The Time Warrior’ to her final appearance in the classic series, ‘The Hand of Fear’.
Coming soon from Clarendon House Publications:

Unearthly Child: Charting the Three Pillars of the BBC’s Long-running Programme ‘Doctor Who’
The Doctor has been having adventures on our television screens for over 50 years, and seems to win against all manner of adversaries - but hasn’t always succeeded with viewers. This book charts the three key factors that, when in place, virtually guarantee ratings’ triumphs - and, when missing, mean greater problems for the Doctor than anything his arch-foe the Daleks could dream up!
Stay tuned for the release date!