DOCTOR WHO

Fascinating facts about the time-travelling icon The character of The Doctor was partly inspired by Sherlock Holmes

◆ Jodie Whittaker’s opening episode as the first female Doctor was the most watched episode in more than 10 years.

◆ Dr Who made its BBC debut on November 23, 1963… yes, 57 years ago!

◆ William Hartnell, who played the first Doctor, had health problems and bowed out in 1966, so the show’s writers decided to make regeneration part of The Doctor’s mythology.

◆ However, The Doctor did not become a Time Lord until 1969 and his home planet of Gallifrey was not mentioned until 1973.

◆ It was originally intended to be an educational show aimed at children, to teach them about science and history.

◆ Is The Doctor actually a doctor? “I took a degree once – in 1888, I think,” he said in a series 4 episode.

◆ The tenth Doctor married the fifth Doctor’s daughter! In other words, in real life, David Tennant is married to Georgia Moffett – who is the offspring of his predecessor Peter Davison.

◆ Voyage Of The Damned, the 2007 Christmas episode starring Kylie Minogue with David Tennant, is the second most watched episode with 13.31 million viewers.

◆ Benedict Cumberbatch and Hugh Grant both turned down the chance to play The Doctor.

◆ David Tennant was a massive Dr Who fan when he was a child, and became an actor specifically so that he could play The Doctor.

◆ One of Dr Who’s original creators was not happy about the Daleks – he hated what he called BEMs (bug-eyed monsters) – but they took off and captured the viewers’ imaginations.

◆ Operators controlled the Daleks from the inside, which was hot and cramped, and they needed about six hands to operate all the different levers!