When I read one of the comments on my post about the return of Doctor Who, it occurred to me that not everyone reading this blog may be aware of who or what it is.

“Doctor Who” was a BBC science fiction series which ran from the mid-1960s (several years before Star Trek) until 1989. The main character (he’s always called “The Doctor,” never “Doctor Who”) is an alien called a Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey. He was played by seven different actors in the original series — none of whom looked remotely like any of the others. The first time they needed to recast the role, they simply decided that Time Lords can “regenerate” their physical form. It’s since been clarified that this can happen 12 times (a total of 13 different bodies).

The Doctor travels through time and space in his TARDIS, a vessel which appears from the outside to be the size and shape of a phone booth. It looks like a British police call box, which was a common sight on London streets at the time the show first went on the air. Inside, of course, it’s much roomier than its outside form would suggest. The TARDIS simply materializes at a destination, much like the away teams in “Star Trek” beaming down somewhere.
The Doctor generally travels with at least one companion, usually an Earthling (and if there’s only one, it’s generally a beautiful woman). The companions have changed frequently over the years.

The original BBC series, once it outgrew its original intent as a children’s show, had cheesy special effects but the characters and inventive plot twists more than made up for it. Many people remember the Daleks, goofy-looking stomach-high conical robots which were precursors of R2-D2 (except that the Daleks are villains).

Doctor Who began airing on public TV stations in the U.S. in the late 1970s, I think; I was first exposed to it while at college in the early 1980s. The best-known and best-loved of the various Doctors, at least here in the states, was Tom Baker, a curly-headed, droopy-eyed fellow whose costume included an extremely long multi-colored scarf. (Each incarnation of the Doctor has his own sense of style.)

In 1996, an American studio filmed a “Doctor Who” TV movie in Canada which was meant as the pilot to a new series. The series never got off the ground, although the TV movie aired on the Fox Network. That movie had a prologue featuring the last Doctor from the original series but quickly depicted his regeneration into the actor who would have played him in the new series.

Finally, to the delight of Who fans everywhere, the BBC re-launched the series last year, introducing a ninth actor to the role. But, to the frustration of American fans, the show wasn’t immediately picked up by any U.S. outlet. It’s taken us about a year to get it.

Meanwhile, the actor who has appeared in the role for the past year has already decided to move on, and so the Brits will be getting to know the 10th Doctor just as we are being introduced to the ninth one.

By the way, the reference to the “ninth” and “10th” doctors is a bit misleading. There were a couple of theatrical movies in the 1960s starring Peter Cushing in the title role, but they’re not part of the continuity of the TV series and so fans generally don’t count them. (Cushing’s “Doctor Who” isn’t even an alien, just an Earthling who has invented a time machine. And, unlike the TV character, people actually call him “Doctor Who.”) Also, there have been a few stunt episodes in which, through a time travel plot twist, various “versions” of the Doctor interacted with each other. Because of the death of William Hartnell, the very first Doctor, the 20th anniversary reunion “The Five Doctors” included a lookalike actor playing Hartnell’s character. But he’s not counted as another Doctor; he was just the second person to portray the First Doctor. Got it?

There have also been other actors, including Richard E. Grant, who have given voice to the Doctor on BBC Radio or animated web site projects.

I feel like such a geek.