Doctor Who chronicled the adventures of an eccentric time-traveling scientist from the remote planet Gallifrey, home of the Time Lords. The Doctor, a Time Lord himself, traveled through time and space in his unique craft, the TARDIS, an acronym for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. With an interior larger than its exterior, the TARDIS could take on various shapes to blend into its environment. Although capable of whisking the Doctor and his passengers to any time and any place in the universe, the craft was frequently parked on Earth in the form of a blue police box. Whether in England or in the far reaches of space, the Doctor and his colleagues battled a multitude of evils, including robots, monsters, and a twisted Time Lord. Certain adversaries recurred throughout the series, notably the Daleks, genocidal aliens armored in robot like suits who sought the extermination of life-forms inferior to themselves.
The original Doctor was played by William Hartnell until 1966, when the show revealed that Time Lords had the ability to regenerate themselves when near death. Their reincarnated forms appeared as different people, although they retained the same memories and skills. This plot twist allowed different actors to assume the title role. The original series eventually featured seven different Doctors. |
Season 1 |