The transition from one actor to another, and the differing approach to the role that they bring, is written into the plot of the show as regeneration into a new incarnation, a life process of Time Lords through which the Doctor takes on a new body and, to some extent, new personality. This has allowed for the recasting of the actor various times in the show's history, as well as the depiction of alternative Doctors either from the Doctor's relative past or future. While each actor's portrayal differs, they are all intended to be aspects of the same character, and form part of the same storyline. The time-travelling nature of the plot means that on occasion, story arcs have involved different Doctors meeting each other.
The regeneration from the Eleventh Doctor to the Twelfth slightly differs from the other regenerations from the revived series. During "The Time of the Doctor", the Eleventh Doctor reveals that he has used all his regenerations and is in fact in his thirteenth and final body. At the conclusion, the Time Lords grant him a new regeneration cycle, and he begins his thirteenth regeneration in the explosive manner that has become tradition. However, as this regeneration is the first in a new cycle, it initially only "resets" his current body back to its youthful appearance (the Doctor referring to this as the cycle "breaking in"), and the eventual transition to the Twelfth Doctor happens with a flash and the actor suddenly lurching back, standing back up to reveal the new Doctor.
Twelve actors have headlined the
series as the Doctor so far.
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| 1963 - 1966 |
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| Second Doctor 1966 - 1969 |
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| Third Doctor 1971 - 1974 |
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| Fourth Doctor 1974 - 1981 |
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| Fifth Doctor 1981 - 1984 |
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| Sixth Doctor 1984 - 1986 |
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| Seventh Doctor 1987 - 1989,1996 |
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| Eighth Doctor 1996 |
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| Ninth Doctor 2005 |
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| Tenth Doctor 2005 - 2010 |
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| Eleventh Doctor 2010 - 2013 |
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| 2013 - |
The one thing that changes more frequently than the Doctor himself is his companions.
First Doctor's Companions:
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| Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) . |
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| Ian Chesterton (William Russell) . |
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| Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) . |
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| Vicki Pallister (Maureen O'Brien) . |
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| Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) . |
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| Katarina (Adrienne Hill) . |
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| Dorothea "Dodo" Chaplet (Jackie Lane) . |
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| Sara Kingdom (Jean Marsh) . |
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| Polly Wright (Anneke Wills) . |
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| Benjamin "Ben" Jackson (Michael Craze) . |
Second Doctor's Companions:
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| Polly Wright (Anneke Wills) . |
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| Benjamin "Ben" Jackson (Michael Craze) . |
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| James Robert "Jamie" McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) |
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| Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling) . |
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| Zoe Herriot (Wendy Padbury) . |
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| Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) |
Third Doctor's Companions:
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| Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) |
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| Dr. Elizabeth "Liz" Shaw (Caroline John) . |
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| Josephine "Jo" Grant (Katy Manning) . |
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| Sergeant John Benton (John Levene) . |
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| Captain Mike Yates (Richard Franklin) . |
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| Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) . |
Fourth Doctor's Companions:
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| Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) . |
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| Surgeon Lieutenant Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) |
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| Romanadvoratrelundar "Romana" I (Mary Tamm) |
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| Romanadvoratrelundar "Romana" II (Lalla Ward) |
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| Leela (Louise Jameson) . |
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| K-9 Mark I . . |
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| K9 Mark II . . |
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| Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) . |
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| Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) . |
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| Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) . |
Fifth Doctor's Companions:
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| Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) . |
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| Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) . |
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| Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) . |
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| Vislor Turlough (Mark Strickson) . |
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| Kamelion (voiced by Gerald Flood) . |
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| Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown (Nicola Bryant) . |
Sixth Doctor's Companions:
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| Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown (Nicola Bryant) . |
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| Melanie Jane Bush (Bonnie Langford) . |
Seventh Doctor's Companions:
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| Melanie Jane Bush (Bonnie Langford) . |
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| Dorothy Gale "Ace" McShane (Sophie Aldred) . |
Eighth Doctor's Companions:
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| Chang Lee (Yee Jee Tso) . |
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| Dr. Grace Holloway (Daphne Ashbrook) . |
Ninth Doctor's Companions:
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| Adam Mitchell (Bruno Langley) . |
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| Jaqueline Andrea Suzette "Jackie" Tyler (Camille Coduri) |
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| Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke) . |
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| Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) . |
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| Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) . |
Tenth Doctor's Companions:
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| Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) . |
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| Jaqueline Andrea Suzette "Jackie" Tyler (Camille Coduri) |
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| Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke) . |
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| Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) . |
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| Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) . |
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| Wilfred "Wilf" Mott (Bernard Cribbins) . |
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| Rosita Farisi (Velile Tshabalala) . |
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| Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) . |
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| Jackson Lake (David Morrissey) . |
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| Jenny (Georgia Moffett) . |
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| Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson (Sophia Myles) . |
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| Astrid Peth (Kylie Minogue) . |
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| Captain Adelaide Brooke (Lindsay Duncan) . |
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| Lady Christina de Souza (Michelle Ryan) . |
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| River Song aka Melody Pond (Alex Kingston) |
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| Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) . |
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| K-9 Mark III . . |
Eleventh Doctor's Companions:
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| River Song aka Melody Pond (Alex Kingston) |
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| Amelia Jessica "Amy" Pond aka Amelia Williams (Karen Gillan) |
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| Canton Everett Delaware III (Mark Sheppard) . |
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| Brian Williams (Mark Williams) . |
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| Craig Owens (James Corden) . |
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| Rory Arthur Williams aka Rory Pond (Arthur Darvill) |
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| Kazran Sardick (Michael Gambon) . |
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| Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh) . |
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| Commander Strax (Dan Starkey) . |
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| Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart) . |
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| Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) . |
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| Angie Maitland (Eve De Leon Allen) . |
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| Artie Maitland (Kassius Carey Johnson) . |
Twelfth Doctor's Companions:
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| Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) . |
The TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental, meaning it’s bigger on the inside than the outside. The interior exists in a different, relative dimension to the exterior. In the very first story it was established that the TARDIS usually changes its exterior appearance on each trip to blend in with its surroundings. The Doctor later stated that it was the broken chameleon circuit that caused it to be stuck in the shape of an old style police box. One of the very few things that has remained consistent in Doctor Who is the police box TARDIS exterior.
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| TARDIS Seasons One – Three (1963 – 1966) |
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| TARDIS Seasons Four – Thirteen (1966 – 1976) |
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| TARDIS Seasons Four – Thirteen (1976 – 1980) |
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| TARDIS Season Eighteen – Twenty Six (1976 – 1980) |
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| TARDIS 1996 TV Movie |
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| TARDIS Series One – Five (2005 – 2010) |
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| TARDIS Series Five |
The TARDIS interior on the whole remained pretty consistent for the first 26 years. More recently there have been more dramatic changes with a range of different ideas and styles.
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| Season One – Six TARDIS Interior |
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| Season Seven TARDIS Interior |
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| Season Eight – Eleven TARDIS Interior |
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| Season Nine TARDIS Interior |
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| Season Thirteen TARDIS Interior |
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| Season Fourteen TARDIS Interior |
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| Season Fifteen – Nineteen TARDIS Interior |
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| Season Twenty TARDIS Interior |
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| Season Twenty One – Twenty Six TARDIS Interior |
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| 1996 TARDIS Interior |
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| Series One TARDIS Interior |
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| Series Five – Seven TARDIS Interior |
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| Series Seven TARDIS Interior |
Originally the Doctor was on the run from the Time Lords, during the end of the Doctors second regeneration they caught up with him. Because of all the crimes he’d committed, interfering with other cultures they forced him to regenerate and then exiled him to Earth in the 1970′s. During the Doctors exile on Earth he worked for U.N.I.T. With the TARDIS no longer working the Doctor used Bessie to travel about on Earth.
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| Bessie |
Doctor Who has been around for 50 years and has one of the biggest fandoms behind it ranging in age so it’s not surprising that spin-offs have been created.
The Sarah Jane Adventures first aired as an hour long special episode on new years day 2007. A full series followed later that year. The show has introduced a range of new characters into the Doctor Who universe.
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| Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) . |
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| Luke Smith (Thomas Knight) . |
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| Maria Jackson (Yasmin Paige) . |
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| Clyde Langer (Daniel Anthony) . |
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| Rani Chandra (Anjli Mohindra) . |
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| Sky (Sinead Michael) . |
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| K-9 (Voiced by John Leeson) . |
Friends and Family
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| Alan Jackson (Joseph Millson) . |
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| Chrissie Jackson (Juliet Cowan) . |
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| Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) . |
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| Carla Langer (Jocelyn Jee Esien) . |
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| The Doctor (David Tennant) . |
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| The Doctor (Matt Smith) . |
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| Gita Chandra (Mina Anwar) . |
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| Haresh Chandra (Ace Bhatti) . |
Torchwood first aired in 2006.
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| Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) . |
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| Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) . |
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| Rhys Williams (Kai Owen) . |
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| Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd) . |
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| Dr. Owen Harper (Burn Gorman) . |
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| Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori) . |
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| Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) . |
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| Suzie Costello (Indira Varma) . |
K9 and Company, A Girl’s Best Friend was the first TV spin off from Doctor Who. This pilot episode was shown on Monday 28 December 1981, a series was planned but never pursued.
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| Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) . |
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| K-9 (voice by John Leeson) . |
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| Aunt Lavinia Smith (Mary Wimbush) . |
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| Brendan Richards (Ian Sears) . |
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| George Tracey (Colin Jeavons) . |
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| Commander Bill Pollock (Bill Fraser) . |
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| Henry Tobias (John Quarmby) . |
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| Howard Baker (Neville Barber) . |
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| Peter Tracey (Sean Chapman) . |
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| Juno Baker (Linda Polan) . |
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| Sergeant Vince Wilson (Nigel Gregory) . |
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| P.C. Carter (Stephen Oxley) . |
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| Lilly Gregson (Gillian Martell) . |
Despite being off the air for most of the 1990's the BBC was still supportive of Doctor Who in other media. The BBC started releasing new official story books and experimenting with animated episodes on the newly formed BBC website. When Doctor Who returned in 2005 the BBC continued to be experimental. In 2006 there were TARDISODES, mini prequels to each episode of series 2. More recently these have returned in the forms of mini episodes. New animations have also been created including Dreamland and downloadable games from the BBC website.
Several unofficial stories have also been produced straight to video including an Auton
series and Downtime which featured the Yeti. In the 1960s two movies
were created from Dalekmania unconnected with the BBC TV series. More
recently in 2009 Bob Baker and Paul Tams gave K9 his own spin-off show
with a second series in the works.
The Doctor Who universe has also been geared towards younger viewers in Children In Need, Totally Doctor Who, and Blue Peter. Totally Doctor Who ran for two series looking behind the scenes. Blue
Peter has always been very supportive of Doctor Who right from the
1960s.
If you are a true Whovian, and you love to read, you might want to check this out.
Doctor Who Book Checklist
I had planned on including a complete list, with pictures and info, of aliens and monster from the Doctor Who Universe. To be honest, I have lost my steam at this current time. I hope to get around to it in the near future. Until such time, here is the Wiki list for you to view at your leisure.
List of Doctor Who Universe Creatures and Aliens
