Doctor Who - Fandom

On 23 November 1963, the day after President John F Kennedy was assassinated, the UK was introduced to Doctor Who. At the time, the show was an entirely new and innovative concept, blending science fiction with historical drama.

The first episode received relatively low ratings, reaching just 9% of the UK's audience, but the show’s premise piqued the curiosity of many viewers.

This audience research report gives an insight into the impact of The Doctor’s first appearance.

“It was all good, clean fun and I look forward to meeting the nice Doctor’s planetary friends next Saturday, whether it be in the ninth or the ninety-ninth century A.D”, wrote a retired Naval Officer.

Six million people watched the first Doctor Who story and the new fans (many of them children) sent letters to The Doctor.

In this clip, first broadcast on Radio Wales in 1993, William Hartnell’s granddaughter, Jessica Carney, tells Nicholas Courtney about the fan letters that her grandfather received after the initial shows.

The intention was for Doctor Who to be a family friendly programme, designed to appeal to a wide audience. Children were big fans of the show.

Some storylines, however, were more child-friendly than others. In these clips from Thanks for the Memory and The Lively Arts: Whose Doctor Who, both broadcast in 1977, mothers and schoolchildren give a sense of just how brave they were (or weren’t) when watching Doctor Who.

Late to the party, but no less enthusiastic, the American sci-fi community took Doctor Who to their hearts.

In the summer of 1983, South East at Six News travelled to a 'Whovian Festival' in New York. This was one of the first International Doctor Who conventions captured on film. It featured eager fans, merchandise stalls and guest appearances by the Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen, who played his companion, Sarah Jane Smith.

Meanwhile, back in Britain, members of the Merseyside Doctor Who Appreciation Society were grilling two of the show’s writers, husband and wife team, Pip and Jane Baker.

Here Chris Chibnall criticises The Trial of the Time Lord from 1986. Chris would later become Head Writer and Executive Producer of Doctor Who from 2018 to 2021.

Thirty years on from that first International Doctor Who convention in New York, The Doctor finally conquered Earth. In 2015, Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Steven Moffat embarked on a global tour to key cities including Cardiff, London, Seoul, Sydney, New York, Mexico City and Rio.