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Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a "Time Lord"—
a time travelling, humanoid alien known as "the Doctor". He explores the universe in his 'TARDIS', a sentient time-travelling space ship. Its exterior
appears as a blue British police box, a common sight in Britain in 1963, when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, the
Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilisations, help ordinary people, and right wrongs. Eleven actors have headlined the series
as the Doctor. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the show as regeneration, a life process of Time Lords through
which the character of the Doctor takes on a new body and, to some extent, new personality, which occurs when sustaining injury which would be fatal
to most other species. Although each portrayal is different, and on occasions the various incarnations have even met one another, they are all
meant to be aspects of the same character. The Doctor is currently portrayed by Matt Smith, who took up the role after David Tennant's final appearance
in an episode broadcast on 1 January 2010.Characters
• THE DOCTOR - As a Time Lord, the Doctor has the ability to regenerate his body when near death. Introduced into the storyline as a way of continuing the series when the writers were faced with the departure of lead actor William Hartnell in 1966, it has continued to be a major element of the series, allowing for the recasting of the lead actor when the need arises. The serials The Deadly Assassin and Mawdryn Undead and the 1996 TV film suggest that a Time Lord can regenerate 12 times, for a total of 13 incarnations.
First Doctor - William Hartnell
Second Doctor - Patrick Troughton
Third Doctor - Jon Pertwee
Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker
Fifth Doctor - Peter Davison
Sixth Doctor - Colin Baker
Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
Eight Doctor - Paul McGann
Ninth Doctor - Christopher Eccleston
Tenth Doctor - David Tennant
Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
• THE COMPANIONS - The Doctor almost always shares his adventures with up to three companions, and since 1963 more than 35 actors have been featured in these roles.
Source: Google ImagesSusan Foreman - played by Carole Ann Ford; granddaughter and original companion of the First Doctor.
Barbara Wright - played by Jacqueline Hill; she is teaching history at Coal Hill School in London in 1963, working with science teacher Ian Chesterton.
Ian Chesterton - played by William Russell; is a science teacher at the Coal Hill School and works with Barbara Wright, a history teacher.
Romana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar - As a Time Lady, Romana is able to regenerate, having had two on-screen incarnations with somewhat different personalities (dubbed Romana I and Romana II); played by Mary Tamm (Romana I) and Lalla Ward (Romana II); a Time Lady from the planet Gallifrey, she is a companion to the Fourth Doctor.
Sarah Jane Smith - played by Elisabeth Sladen; An investigative journalist; is one of the Doctor's longest serving companions.
Jo Grant - played by Katy Manning.
Rose Tyler - played by Billie Piper; companion of Nine and Ten; In the series' narrative, Rose is introduced as a 19-year-old working class shop assistant from London, introduced along- side her own supporting cast in the form of her mother Jackie Tyler and her boyfriend Mickey Smith. Over the course of the first series Rose's human actions and responses contrast against the Doctor's alien perspectives. He comes to value and depend on her and sacrifices his Ninth incarnation for her. Rose grows increasingly trusting of the new Doctor and comes to realise she has fallen in love with him. The two appear to be forever separated in the 2006 series two finale, although Rose eventually made a temporary return late in the fourth series in which her relationship to the Doctor is given resolution.
Mickey Smith - played by Noel Clarke; The character is introduced as the working class boyfriend of Rose Tyler. Donna Noble - Within the series' narrative, Donna begins as an outspoken mid-30s Londoner, whose view of the universe is small in scope. Although she at first finds alien time traveller the Doctor terrifying, their initial encounter leaves her unsatisfied, and she decides to travel alongside him when the next opportunity arises. Her very human perspective saves the Doctor's life when they first meet, and persuades him to act more compassionately and make exceptions to conventions in order to save individual lives; Likewise, Donna becomes a more worldly and heroic individual, and the pair develop a strong friendship. It is Donna who ultimately saves the universe in the fourth series' conclusion, although tragically at the cost of the memories of her travels with the Doctor. In a contrast to the Tenth Doctor's prior companions, who both harboured romantic feelings for him, Donna and the Doctor shared a strictly friendly relationship, and she does not feel the need to prove herself to travel with the Doctor; the Doctor refers to her as his "best mate".
Amelia "Amy" Pond - played by Karen Gillan; Amelia Pond is introduced in the first episode of the fifth series (2010), "The Eleventh Hour", as a seven year old girl living with only her aunt when the Doctor crashes into her backyard one night.he asks him to investigate an unusual crack in her wall, but he is interrupted by the TARDIS' cloister bell. He promises Amelia that he will return in 'five minutes', but is inadvertently late by twelve years. In the intervening period, the Doctor is believed by Amelia's family and friends to be her imaginary friend; her insistence that he is real leads to her being treated by psychiatrists. When the Doctor returns, Amy is nineteen years old, but becomes the Doctor's companion when she is 21.
Rory Williams - played by Arthur Darvill; As Amy Pond's fiancé, Rory is initially insecure because he believes Amy secretly loves the Doctor more. Later, however, he proves to be a hero in his own right and he and Amy marry. The couple conceive a daughter aboard the Doctor's time machine, the TARDIS, while in the time vortex, but their baby is kidnapped at birth. In "A Good Man Goes to War", Rory and Amy discover their time-traveler friend River Song is actually their daughter Melody Pond. The Doctor and River marry in "The Wedding of River Song", and Rory becomes the Doctor's father-in-law. In "The Angels Take Manhattan", the fifth episode of the seventh series, he and Amy are transported back in time by a Weeping Angel, leading to the couple's departure from the series. A gravestone reveals that he died at the age of 82.
River Song/Melody Pond - played by Alex Kingston; River Song was introduced to the series as an exper- ienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS. Because River Song is a time traveller herself, her adventures with the Doctor occur out-of-synchronisation; their first meeting (from the audience's persp- ective) is his first and her last. In later appearances, River is a companion of the Doctor in his eleventh incarnation, portrayed by Matt Smith.
Clara Oswin Oswald - played by Jenna-Louise Coleman; The character is first introduced as "Oswin Oswald" in the first episode of the seventh series, "Asylum of the Daleks". She is the last survivor of a starship that crashed into the Asylum, a prison planet for Daleks that have gone insane. When the Doctor attempts to rescue her, he discovers to his horror that she had already been captured and fully converted into a Dalek cyborg. Faced with the truth, Oswin is nearly over- come by her Dalek personality, though she still possesses human emotions and is unable to kill the Doctor. With her last act, she hacks into the Dalek telepathic network and erases their memories of the Doctor. She is reintroduced as "Clara" in the 2012 Christmas special "The Snowmen", her first as the Doctor's companion, a young barmaid and governess in 1892.
