What It's About: The Doctor -- the last of the Time Lords -- travels through space and time, using ingenuity to foil the forces of destruction and domination. Normally he travels with a companion, who helps keep him grounded. The Doctor is over 900 years old and is able to survive death by regenerating into a new body; his ship, the TARDIS, is bigger on the inside than the outside and, though it should be able to change its outward appearance, is stuck in the form of a blue police telephone box from the mid-20th century.
Origins: The current incarnation of Doctor Who, which launched in 2005, is a resumption of the original Doctor Who series, which ran from 1963 to 1990. During the course of this original series, seven actors, starting with William Hartnell, played the Doctor; an Eighth Doctor appeared in a 1996 TV movie. When the show was relaunched in 2005, executive producer Russell T. Davies decided that essential continuity would be maintained and that the new star, Christopher Eccleston, would be the Ninth Doctor; the season numbering, however, was restarted at one for the new series. David Tennant became the Tenth Doctor in 2006.
The Doctor: The Doctor is always a larger than life character, often seeming quirky or even mad to confuse and distract his adversaries; at the same time he reveals to us his loneliness as an ancient wanderer and his undying fury at injustice. This combination and his commitment to nonviolence makes each Doctor, as interpreted by the actor playing him to varying degrees of excess, a powerfully magnetic individual; this has been particularly true for the Tenth Doctor, who now often comes out on top when fans are polled about their favorite Doctor.
Other Popular Characters: The Doctor's alienness draws viewer identification to the companions, of whom there have been scores over the years. In the new series Billie Piper wowed a large contingent of fans as Rose for the first two seasons; she was replaced by Martha (Freema Agyeman). Rose's family, including her mother Jackie (Camille Coduri) and boyfriend Mickey (Noel Clarke), also hit it off with fans, as did the one-time rogue Captain Jack Harkness (who got his own spin-off, Torchwood). The Doctor's enemies have always been extremely popular, starting with the Daleks, first introduced back in the second story of the original series.
Flavor: Doctor Who, in contrast to a some science-fiction fare, is built around the idea that the hero solves crises without resorting to violence. As such the Doctor's quirky personality and alien behavior become an essential part of his arsenal, which means that confrontations can involve a heady mix of off-kilter humor, sudden reversals, and clever ploys; but for all his outlandishness he takes his responsibility to protect the innocent extremely seriously. While the Doctor's dynamic with his companion sometimes has a tone that could be called romantic, the Doctor consistently stands aloof from emotions of this sort.
Network: Doctor Who is shown on Sci Fi. For showtimes see When It's On.
