DOCTOR WHO
10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT…
THE new Doctor Who will be revealed in a special live programme tonight.
The half- hour BBC1 show ( 7pm) will feature an interview with the new lead star, as well as 11th Doctor Matt Smith and exec producer Steven Moffat.
It’s believed the new Doctor will be announced in the special show – rather than as the usual post- regeneration surprise – because Beeb bosses feared their identity would leak.
“The decision is made and the time has come to reveal who’s taking over the Tardis,” said Moffat.
There’s obviously a lot of interest about the sonic screwdriver wielder. But what do non- Who folk know about the mysterious doc? Here are 10 things we found out: 1 When the series was created by Head of Drama at the BBC, Sydney Newman, the show’s aim was to inform and educate children about science and history, using time travel and figures like Marco Polo. 2 To save space, the BBC taped over 103 early episodes of Doctor Who. The Beeb would love to get copies of these again. God knows why – early Doctor Who was shit. 3 The Daleks’ creator, Terry Nation, originally based the aliens on the Nazis. Like the Nazis, the Daleks also hate Jews. 4 Tom Baker, who played the Fourth Doctor, was “intensely Catholic” but said he joined a monastery when he was 15 as a way of getting out of Liverpool. 5 The Fourth Doctor met his end falling from the Jodrell Bank radio telescope in Cheshire. He regenerated as the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, but was nowhere near as good. 6 Doctor Who fans are called “Whovians”. They can also be described as virgins. 7 The Master – the Doctor’s arch enemy – was originally intended to be the Doctor’s brother. 8 Stephen Fry was invited to write an episode for season 28. The 1920s- based episode penned by the mega- brainy Fry was too complicated – even by the standards of Byzantine Who plots. 9 Master tapes of Doctor Who were labelled Torchwood – an anagram of Doctor Who – to prevent them being stolen. Torchwood became a spin-off show, with added bumming. 10 Like Dr Feelgood, Doc Cox and the Doctor out of Doctor and the Medics, the Doctor is not a real doctor – but he does have a St John’s Ambulance first aid certificate.