23rd November 1963/2013
Doctor Who was first broadcast on BBC One at 5.15pm on Saturday November 23, 1963.
Created as an educational family show to fit between the football results and evening entertainment programmes, Doctor Who was the brainchild of Canadian TV producer and BBC Head of Drama, Sydney Newman. When the First Doctor William Hartnell wanted to leave the series after three years, the idea of renewing their leading man was born. After an initial run of 26 years, the series was rested. It returned for a one-off TV movie featuring the Eighth Doctor in 1996. Doctor Who was fully resurrected in 2005 and has gone from strength to strength ever since. In its 50th anniversary year, the series is watched by an estimated 80 million viewers in 206 countries. It has been honoured by Guinness World Records as both the longest running and most successful science-fiction series in the world. |
the event
The Doctor Who 50th Celebration was a three day event at ExCeL celebrating 50 years of the world’s longest running sci-fi drama, Doctor Who in November 2013.
The event brought over 20,000 fans to east London over the anniversary weekend and featured cast and crew from the very first episode to the most recent. Matt Smith, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy led the all-star cast and were joined by Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat, Bernard Cribbins, Carole Ann Ford and many more. bringing back the oldThe celebration saw the return of the 8th Doctor (Paul Mcgann) in a mini episode prequel to the special where we saw him return to Karn to regenerate into the War Doctor.
We also saw the return of David Tennant's 10th Doctor to join John Hurt and Matt Smith in the special. The 10th Doctor was always going to come back at some point so what better time than the 50th celebration! Last but certainly not least, what anniversary would be without a classic Doctor. Tom Baker made a return as the curator of the National Gallery, taking a moment with Smith to talk about the name of the painting, Gallifrey Falls No More! |
No. You see, that's where everybody's wrong. It's all ONE title: "Gallifrey Falls No More". Now... what would you think that means, eh? |