Happy Birthday to the Creator - Sydney Newman

We'd like to pay a special birthday tribute to the original creator of Doctor Who, Sydney Newman, born 1 April 1917. As a self-confessed science fiction fanatic, Sydney Newman proposed the idea of a family orientated science-fiction drama to BBC Controller Donald Baverstock in order to fill the Saturday night scheduling gap between Grandstand and Juke Box Jury. As a result, he initiated the creation of Doctor Who and in 1963 the TV legend was born.

Working alongside other Doctor Who greats including Donald Wilson and C. E. Webber, it was Sydney Newman himself who created the idea of a time traveller called the 'Doctor', who navigates through time and space in a machine much larger on the inside than the outside. Once the principles behind Doctor Who were formalised, Sydney Newman then approached former colleague Verity Lambert who accepted the invitation to became not only the youngest producer, but also the only female producer working for the BBC at the time.

Sydney Newman has been remembered twice in Doctor Who since the shows regeneration in 2005, once in Human Nature where in his human form as John Smith, the Doctor refers to his parents as Sydney and Verity and again with the character Verity Newman in The End of Time.

Step back in time to 1963 with the BBC Archives which has a fantastic collection of original documents on 'The Genesis of Doctor Who - Creating a science fiction hero' which includes reports on whether the BBC should make science fiction drama as well as a summary of ideas for the new series.