Ebook: Doctor Who: a history

Airing the day after JFK's assassination, the first episode, & quot;An Unearthly Child, & quot; humbly launched one of the entertainment world & rsquo;s first super-brands. We begin with a look at the programming of the day and the original pitch documents for this family show before delving into the Daleks, which almost didn't make the cut. After three years, 1st Doctor William Hartnell left, prompting the BBC to recast their hit rather than ending it, giving us the first & quot;regeneration & quot; and making television history. We follow the succession of doctors & mdash;including 3rd Doctor Jon Pertwee, exiled to Earth with his Moriarty in The Master & mdash;and see how the program reflected the feminism of the 1970s while gaining mainstream popularity with 4th Doctor Tom Baker ... until declining support from the BBC led to cancelation. Yet millions worldwide continued to enjoy the Whoniverse in syndication, novels, audio dramas, comics and Doctor Who Magazine. A new age dawned in 2005 with 9th Doctor Christopher Eccleston and a serious special effects budget. 10th Doctor David Tennant helped rocket the series back to international popularity and a new era of spinoffs. With Matt Smith as 11th doctor, the show has become a success here in America, where it was long considered just a cult classic. Featuring discussions of the show's concepts and characters and interviews and insights from producers, writers, and actors from across the years; current and former editors and writers of Doctor Who Magazine; and the titular heroes themselves, here is a rich, behind-the-camera investigation into the dazzling multiverse of Doctor Who.;Introduction -- Building the show -- Sidebar: the music of Who -- Who is the doctor -- Sidebar: the hero with no name -- Rise of the monsters -- An educational crew -- The TARDIS and time travel -- Violence and endings -- Sidebar: the cybermen -- Life is renewal -- Time-locked! -- The first master -- Doctor meets doctor -- Sidebar: season 6B -- "I walk in eternity" -- The journalist, the warrior, the lady of time -- Sidebar: the time lords -- A new style -- The new beginning -- A volcanic experience -- High camp and time's champion -- Sidebar: Benny and Canon -- The wilderness years -- The many lives of the eighth doctor -- Sidebar: half human? -- The last of the time lords -- Sidebar: new TARDIS, new screwdriver -- The Renaissance -- Sidebar: the new age of spin-offs -- Sidebar: the woman doctor -- Something borrowed, something new.