As the series progressed the relationship between the kidnapper and the kidnapped changed. Circumstances had thrown them together, into danger, into life threatening situations. Over the months, respect, trust and friendship had developed. The two teachers had educated the Doctor, taught him to care and to have responsibility, and in return they had learned to trust the old man. But underneath the narrative was always the premise that Ian and Barbara longed to return home. Back to the world they knew and to friends and family. Instead they had been flung around the universe, visited alien planets such as Skaro, Vortis and Marinus, and times far distant from their own, meeting Aztecs, Romans and Crusaders. There had been hopeful moments, when they thought they might be back, but moments dashed when realisation set in and the couple resigned themselves to more adventures..

It is ironic that the travellers final return, the solution to their predicament, came not from the Doctor, but from his greatest enemy. It was the Daleks time ship that finally allowed the couple to return home. Returning to London in the 1960's. The Doctor was left with his companion Vicki. No more would the series be the constant endeavour to get the pair home. Doctor Who would now become the Doctor, travelling with his companions in Space and Time.

The loss of Ian and Barbara came about with the decision of William Russell and Jacqueline Hill to leave the series at the end of their second year contract. The series had by now run to 77 episodes, produced on a weekly basis in an almost continuous production run. It was a gruelling schedule that left the actors totally tied to the series. It was William Russell who decided to leave first, telling producer Verity Lambert in Feburary that he wouldn't be continuing for a third year. As a result Terry Nation was asked to write in an new character into the final episode of The Chase. An astronaut who would become the new male companion to the Doctor. Jacqueline Hill was more unsure about leaving, but by May has also taken the decision to go. On May 6th the couple travelled around London with a photographer taking pictures for the montage of their arrival back in London. The couple recorded their final episode on 4th June 1965 in Riverside Studio 1.

The departure of the two actors was deeply felt by William Hartnell. For an actor who like having people around whom he knew and who knew him, the loss of the two stalwarts of the series would be difficult to handle. It came after Carole Ann Ford had departed from the series and amid changes in the production team, with producer Verity Lambert planning to move on. William Russell takes up the story. On her departure from the series Jacqueline Hill took a break from acting to raise a family. She had been married to director Alvin Rakoff since 1958, a year after appearing in his BBC adaptation of Rod Serling's American TV play Requiem For A Heavyweight. Together they had two children, Sasha and John. She returned to acting the 1970's, appearing as Lady Capulet in her husbands production of Romeo & Juliet for the BBC. Other roles included appearances in Angels, Tales of the Unexpected and Paradise Postponed. In 1980 she became to first Doctor Who companion to return to the series playing a different role, when she appeared as Lexa in the 1980 Fourth Doctor story Meglos. In 1993 she died of breast cancer at the tragically young age of 63.

William Russell was the best known of the original companions, famous for his roles in series such as The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, long before he joined the TARDIS crew. As a result he quickly won a part in a new spy series Breaking Point following his departure from Doctor Who. Other roles followed including a long run in Harriet's Back in Town for Thames Television, and appearances in Van der Valk, Whodunnit?, Disraeli: Portrait of a Romantic, Shoestring, The Black Adder, Casualty and Heartbeat. In 1992 he played Ted Sullivan in ten episodes of Coronation Street. Russell has reprised the role of Ian Chesterton in various audio adventures. In 2013 he had a cameo in the drama detailing the origins of Doctor Who, playing Harry, the Security Guard, in An Adventure in Space and Time, the drama that saw Jamie Glover play a younger version of himself. In 1988 his second wife, Balbina Gutierrez, gave birth to a son. Alfred Enoch is now an actor, well known for playing Wes Gibbins in the ABC legal drama How to Get Away with Murder. Meanwhile William Russell himself celebrated his ninetieth birthday last year, and still regularly attends Doctor Who conventions.

And what of Ian and Barbara, what happened to them following their departure from the Doctor. The characters have flourished in various novels and fan fiction. In 2013 they met the eleventh Doctor in Hunters of the Burning Stone , a comic story in Doctor Who Magazine written to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the show. In the Television series itself the Chairman of the Governors of Coal Hill School, as shown in The Day of the Doctor, is one I Chesterton.

But the real clue to their future came in Russell T Davies's episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures, The Death of the Doctor. According to Sarah Jane The actors, and the characters they portrayed, left an indelible mark on the series. The Doctor was left clearly hurt and upset by their departure. At the end of the episode he spoke for us all. .

Ian and Barbara leave the Doctor:
Having come into possession of a Dalek time travel machine, Barbara and Ian sense an opportunity to go home, but the Doctor is hesitant to let them go. There are no guarantees that the machine will work, but maybe Vicki can change the Doctor's mind? 

It was ten years ago today, on the 26th March 2005, that Doctor Who was reborn, in a new century, with a new Doctor, for a new generation.

In 2005 the series had been absent from British television screens for most of the previous fifteen years. "Rested" in 1989, the series was a nostalgic memory to a generation who grew up in the 60's, 70's and 80's. To some it was remembered with derision, talk of shaky sets and implausible monsters was apparent when the series was mentioned. But to others it was remembered with great affection, engendering warm feelings of affection with memories of winter evenings spent in the company of childhood friends.

When the series was dropped from the schedules it had very few friends at the top of the BBC. The series was considered past it, had run its course, and was yesterday's news. Very few thought it would ever return. In 1996 an attempt was made to relaunch the series in America. The 90 minute TV movie made by Fox was reasonably well received, but not successful enough for the producers to commission further episodes. To many this was the final nail in the coffin. The series was dead, it would not return.

But things change and the TV landscape in 2003 was now a very different beast. The team at the top had changed and a new generation had taken over. TV was now being run by the people who had grown up with the first few Doctors. Those who remembered how exciting Saturday evening could be, when the good Doctor would battle enemies on a weekly basis, sandwiched between episodes of Basil Brush and The Generation Game. BBC One was now being run by Lorraine Heggessey, a self confessed fan of the series who had stated publically that she wanted the show back on her network. Many doubted it would happen, but on Friday 26th September 2003 it was confirmed. Doctor Who would return.

The man entrusted with the regeneration was Russell T Davies, whose was previously best known for the seminal Channel 4 series Queer as Folk, about gay life in Manchester. He was joined as Executive producer by Julie Gardner, who had just returned to the BBC to produce the David Tennant series Casanova, following a spell working with Davies at London Weekend Television. Also on the team was Mal Young, who was best known for producing the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside. Meanwhile Linda Green producer Phil Collinson was recruited to produce the series.

Once it was known the series was returning, speculation began on just who would play the enigmatic Time Lord. Paul McGann was a tipped contender, having played the Doctor in the 1996 TV Movie, while William Hill made Alan Davies the 8-to-1 favourite to win the role. Richard E. Grant was an option as was Sean Pertwee, son of the late third Doctor. The Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker announced to BBC London News that Eddie Izzard had won the role. According to the Telegraph Bill Nighy was the choice of Davies and had been offered the role, while the Daily Mirror said it was EastEnders actor Shane Richie. Colin Baker weighed in to recommend a female Doctor in the form of Dawn French.

On Friday 19 March 2004 it was announced that acclaimed actor Christopher Eccleston would take on the role, with Davies telling the press:
Two months later Eccleston was joined by Billie Piper who was cast as Rose Tyler. Piper was best known as the youngest artist ever to debut at number one in the UK singles chart. Over the next few months more respected actors joined the cast, Noel Clark would play Micky, Camille Coduri would play Rose's mother while even song and dance man John Barrowman was rumoured to have signed up.

Old monsters would also be returning, with a very public battle taking place over the use of the Daleks in the new series. An agreement was finally reached in August with the Terry Nation estate to allow the infamous pepper pots to meet the new Doctor.

The series launched on BBC One, in ablaze of publicity, on Saturday 26th March. Viewers were warmed up with a preview at 5.25pm when Doctor Who: A New Dimension gave a taste of the series. After Strictly Dance Fever with Graham Norton, the British public finally got to meet the new Doctor at 7pm, when Doctor Who: Rose was screened. A technical error a few minutes into the programme caused audio of Norton to be overlaid on the episode, much to the distress of the production team.

No one knew if it would succeed. There were many who thought it would fail. But succeed it did. Rose achieved 10.81 million viewers, the seventh most watched programme of the week. A new generation took the Doctor to their hearts and in the intervening years the series has grown into one of the BBC's most valuable assets.

Over the past ten years we have travelled with five new Doctors and enjoyed 97 stories across 117 episodes. The series is now made in specially built studios on Cardiff Bay. We have been to concerts, read books, enjoyed quiz shows and visited exhibitions based on the series. The reborn series celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2013, with a massive convention in London, and a record breaking simultaneous transmission of the special anniversary episode was watched by millions around the world.

Series 9 is currently being filmed in Cardiff, the 35th since the series began.

The trip is not over, the adventure goes on...

Ten years ago tonight, Christopher Eccleston undertook his only major inteview to promote the forthcoming new series of Doctor Who on The Jonathan Ross Show. The programme saw him reflect on being a fan of the original run, and how he came to be involved in this new, fresh production under the helm of Russell T Davies, and included an extensive trailer highlighting what was to come over the next few weeks.

However, our Moment in Time recalls Eccleston's surprise as, when discussing forthcoming merchandise to tie in with the show, Ross produces the prototype of a toy expected out for Christmas, and he comes comes face-to-face with a 10" version of himself as the Doctor ...

It was forty years today that the Doctor, Sarah and Harry were 'hijacked' from their return transmat to the Ark, pitched headlong into a 'final' battle between the inhabitants of Skaro, and discover exactly how the Doctor's most formidable foe came to be ...

Script editor Terrance Dicks often recounts the tale of how, faced with another "by-the-numbers" Dalek tale from Terry Nation, he and producer Barry Letts instead asked the writer to come up with a new storyline, suggesting an exploration of the origins of the Daleks. Taken on by the incoming team of Robert Holmes and Philip Hinchcliffe, the story was to become a darker tale in keeping with their new "house-style", and also a showcase story for new Doctor Tom Baker. Although criticised as overtly violent at the time by the National Viewers and Listeners Association ("tea-time brutality for tots"), Genesis of the Daleks is these days considered a great success and highly regarded in fandom - often topping polls as a favourite - and has been repeated some four times on the main BBC "terrestrial" television channels, more than any other Doctor Who story.

The first episode establishes that the Thals and Kaleds (which as the Doctor notes, is an anagram of ...) have been at war for so long that neither side remembers how it started, but both sides want it to end, with the Kaleds relying on the inventions of their scientific elite and its head, Davros. As the story progresses it transpires that the Daleks are mutants, a genetic experiment to determine the ultimate form of the Kaled race, and are used as weapons to wipe out the Thal enemy. But Davros's manipulation of emotions within the mutants and their conditioning to not accept any other as equal led to them wiping out the remaining Kaleds and ultimately their creator before he could stop them himself ...

Or did they? Over the last forty years we've seen Davros become a dominant part of Dalek history, from being 'resurrected' during their ongoing war against the Movellans, and again 'rescued' as they break him out of confinement. He's then seen to be engaged in creating a new race of Daleks on Necros, captured by the Daleks to be put on trial, and then revealed to have become the Emperor to a renegade Dalek faction. Through Big Finish we learned more about his own origins. Then, some twenty years after his previous appearance on television, he was back, now a veteran of the Great Time War between the Daleks and the Time Lords, and confronting the Doctor and indeed Sarah again. But as he and his creations were once again defeated, it looked as if he had finally perished in flames ... but did he? Time will tell ...


However, our Moment in Time for today occurs at the finale to Genesis of the Daleks episode one, where through the eyes of Sarah we first get to see this scientific genius, and discover what it is that he's created ...

“Will this man influence young minds?”

That was the question asked of Canadian parents 50 years ago on January 23, 1965, when the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) became the first North American broadcaster to air Doctor Who. At this time, only two other markets outside the UK, New Zealand and Australia, had aired the show. Efforts to sell the low-budgeted series had failed in the US where glossier British imports like The Saint held sway. But the CBC was very much like the BBC and low-budgeted, studio-bound productions were common, so Doctor Who found a Canadian home.

The fact the series was in part devised by Canadian Sydney Newman, who had worked for the CBC until the late 1950s, likely was a selling point in its favour.

To mark the debut, the January 23, 1965 edition of CBC Times (long-defunct Canadian equivalent of Radio Times) got into the spirit by publishing a faux memo to the nation’s parents, “warning” them of the impending arrival of “Dr. Who” in their living rooms, illustrated with an image of William Hartnell and a pair of Sensorites.

Broadcasts began with An Unearthly Child, with the series scheduled at 5 p.m. on Saturdays, mimicking the BBC’s scheduling (some CBC affiliates aired it at different times). After episode 6 of The Daleks, however, the CBC took Doctor Who off the air for more than two weeks and when it returned it was in a new timeslot on Wednesday afternoons.

With many CBC stations broadcasting close to the border, some American markets, such as Seattle and Detroit, would have been able to see the show, nearly a decade before the Jon Pertwee-era episodes were finally syndicated there.

Ultimately, Doctor Who was destined for a short run on the CBC. After July 2, 1965, the show was abruptly cancelled after the conclusion of The Keys of Marinus (according to the research site BroaDWcast.org, it’s possible at least one affiliate was forced to pull the show midway through the serial). Ironically, the show was pulled before getting to The Sensorites, the storyline promoted in the original CBC Times memo.

Doctor Who would not be shown in Canada again until 1976 when local broadcasters in Vancouver and Ontario began showing the Pertwee era. The episodes aired by the CBC in 1965 (minus the now-lost Marco Polo, but finally including the long-delayed The Sensorites) would not be seen again until the youth-oriented cable network YTV began showing them in the late 1980s, followed by Space in 1997.

The CBC would play a role in the revival of Doctor Who in 2005, receiving a co-production credit for the first few seasons and airing the show in prime-time only a few weeks after the UK. For Series 1, the network recruited Christopher Eccleston to record special bumpers and intros and promotions for a visit-the-set contest sponsored by TV Guide; Billie Piper (donning an iconic Roots top) performed similar duties when The Christmas Invasion aired only one day after the UK. The CBC also produced its own behind-the-scenes featurettes that aired alongside the main show.

By 2008, however, interest in the series at the CBC (which had similarly supported, broadcast, and then cancelled Torchwood) had waned. With Series 2, the gap between UK and Canadian airings extended to months and the CBC split the season (years before the BBC ever did) between The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit. It skipped the 2007 Christmas special Voyage of the Damned altogether, and aired an international edit of Journey's End that was heavily criticized by Canadian fans. In early 2009, Space picked up the rights to air The Next Doctor and everything that followed. The CBC continued to air Modern Era reruns for the next couple of years on the main network and its digital network Bold, before quietly ending its run.

The CBC’s original broadcast of Doctor Who has retained some interest decades later due to the fact one story shown in its entirety was the now-lost Marco Polo. However, despite the fact the series aired on affiliates from St. John’s, Nfld., to Vancouver, B.C., to date no copy of this serial has emerged from the Great White North.

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Learn more about the history of CBC and Canadian broadcasts of Classic Era Doctor Who at BroaDWcast.org. The site, run by Jon Preddle, John Lavalie and Steven Warren Hill, is always on the hunt for information about non-UK broadcasts of Doctor Who, including those in Canada. The ongoing adventures of Doctor Who on television in North America can be followed via This Week in Doctor Who.

It was sixteen years ago that two fans in New Zealand were to discover that an episode of Doctor Who held by a local collector was to be an episode absent from the BBC Archives for over twenty years...

Originally recorded on the 5th March 1965 and broadcast on BBC1 a few weeks later on Saturday 27th, episode one of The Crusade, The Lion was wiped alongside a number of other first Doctor episodes as part of the standard videotape recycling practice by BBC Engineering on the 31st January 1969, as the story itself had been copied to film by BBC Enterprises for worldwide distribution and so was considered redundant. The story was to be seen in a number of countries over the course of a decade, but by the late 1970s it had been presumed that all copies distributed for broadcast had been returned and subsequently destroyed, though 'fortunately' a copy of episode three, The Wheel of Fortune, had survived in the BBC Film Library.

One of those copies had made its way to the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation during 1967, but the story wasn't broadcast in the end owing to it falling foul of censorship issues. As part of the agreement with BBC Enterprises once the rights to air had expired prints were either forwarded to another broadcaster or destroyed; however, The Lion slipped through the net, and when ultimately sent to a rubbish tip in 1974 as part of a clearance at NZBC it was amongst a number of films intercepted by a private collector.

Fast-forward to 1998 and the print caught the eye of film collector Bruce Grenville at a collectors convention - he was unaware that the episode had been "missing" for decades at that point, and decided to purchase it simply because he liked Doctor Who. It was shown by him on a number of occasions in the coming months to friends, eventually seen by Cornelius Stone who then mentioned it in conversation with fellow fan Neil Lambess - who realised that the episode in question might well be one missing from the BBC Archives, though it might well have simply been the existing The Wheel of Fortune instead.

Neil recollects the moment when he contacted Bruce for the first time:
Arrangements were made for him and fellow fan Paul Scoones to visit Bruce to see the episode in question, and on the 3rd January 1999 they sat down to watch ...


Paul successfully negotiated the loan of the film print, and it was formally returned to to Steve Roberts at the BBC on the 11th January 1999 for copying, whereupon a digital 'master' was taken. The recovery was celebrated on BBC1 in the United Kingdom on 10th February in the National Lottery show Amazing Luck Stories, and after restoration work was undertaken to clean the episode up it was released on VHS in October. In 2004 the episode saw further restoration work carried out for its release as part of the Lost in Time DVD collection of 'orphan' episodes in November 2004.

Bruce says:
Summing up their experience of confirming the discovery, Paul says:

You can read how The Crusade was distributed around the world via BroaDWCast, and the full story of The Lion's recovery via the New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club.

On the 23rd November 2013 the world celebrated Doctor Who reaching its fiftieth anniversary, receiving a Guinness World Record as some 94 countries were officially recorded as having shown the anniversary episode. However, the 18th September 2014 sees another milestone celebrated as, fifty years ago, An Unearthly Child was to receive its first-ever international broadcast.

The country in question was New Zealand, with the Doctor's very first appearance outside the United Kingdom to be broadcast by Christchurch's CHTV-3. The episode was shown at 7:57pm, sandwiched between news programme NZBC Reports... and a documentary about Dr. Gordon Seagrave, The Burma Surgeon Today, and was introduced by the weekly magazine The New Zealand Listener as:


You can read the country's introduction to the Doctor from the Listener below.

It was fifty years ago today, on Saturday 12 September 1964, that first season of Doctor Who came to a close with the final episode of The Reign of Terror - Prisoners of Conciergerie.

Apart from one week's absence due to extended coverage of the Wimbledon tennis championships, the series has run continuously since it launched on that dark day in November when the world was still reeling from the death of President John F Kennedy. Forty-two episodes have been screened across 8 stories, which took our heroes from the temples of the Aztec empire to the twin star system of the Sense Sphere, from the dawn of human history to the petrified remains of Skaro, and from the Himalayas of Cathay to the jungles of Marinus. On their journey they met historical characters such as Marco Polo, Kublai Khan and Robespierre, as well as beings from beyond the stars.

The series has become a ratings success. From a quiet beginning with just 4.4 million viewers watching the debut show, the arrival of the Daleks has brought a surge in interest in the series, reaching a peak of 10.4 million watching in the winter months. As spring turned into summer ratings have declined, but are still very acceptable, with 6.4 million watching the final episode of the season.

The series is also gaining attention abroad, with sales in progress for Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Although the series went off air on 12th September, production has continued with two more stories being recorded up until the end of the current cast's contracts on 24 October 1964. The break in transmission has been agreed by Chief of Programmes Donald Baverstock, to enable the production team to pause and take stock and for the BBC to decide if it actually wants Doctor Who to continue...

...For the prospects for the series beyond 1964 are far from assured. The BBC is still unconvinced the series has a long term future. It has many enemies in the upper echelons of the Corporation, men and women who see science fiction as childish rubbish and who feel licence payers would be better served by a good Dickens. Then there is the problem that the initial cast contracts had been for one year. Any new contracts would need to be negotiated with the actors agents, with a substantial pay increase likely be demanded given the success of the show. Head of Drama Sydney Newman argues that any new contracts should be open ended, but this will require a vote of faith from Baverstock, a commitment that the show would continue for the foreseeable future, a commitment he is unable to give.

As 1964 progresses, the lack of clarity on the programmes future restricts the options of the production team. Doctor Who may not continue past those first 52 episodes - if it is to continue there is a desire to shake up the cast. In the summer, Head of Series Donald Wilson outlines the problems in a memo in which he said a decision must be taken by 7th July.
By the end of July no decision has yet been taken. The start of the second series has been put back to 31 October, allowing a 6 week break in transmission. Barbara has now been saved, but Susan will still be leaving the series at the end of the year (Carole Ann Ford had been increasingly disillusioned with the way Susan had developed, with the character becoming far less alien than original envisaged, and was keen to move on).

If the series is to continue, the issue with the artists' contracts needs to be addressed. Producer Verity Lambert urgently needs to know if the programme has a future. On Thursday 6th August she has sends a memo to the Serials Department organiser.
In response, Doctor Who is granted an extension of just four weeks, taking it to the end of January. Lambert prepares a discussion document on Tuesday 11 August setting out the stark options now facing Doctor Who, given its future was so uncertain.
Baverstock's assistant John Muir sent him a memo summarising the options available.
On Thursday 14 August Baverstock meets with Lambert and finally agrees to renew Doctor Who for a further thirteen weeks, with a possibility of an additional thirteen after that. He is clear, however, that artist costs must not increase.

Now that Lambert has permission to continue she can begin negotiations with the principle agents. William Hartnell as the main character was the most important to secure. He dismisses the offer of a three month extension at the same money. He wants a rise of 25 guineas an episode taking his weekly pay to 250 guineas (£262) and he wants a contract of six months' duration. William Russell will accept the three month contact, but wants the same pay as Hartnell (he was currently on 150 guineas per week). Jacqueline Hill will also accept a three month contract but wants 200 guineas per episode, a rise of 95 guineas. Faced with such demands Lambert contacts Baverstock for advice.
In the end that commitment is given, Hartnell receives his 250 guineas an episode and Russell and Hill are both offered a rise of between 10 and 25 guineas an episode.

Doctor Who is now confirmed until the summer of 1965. New adventures await the crew, with a new companion joining the team later in the year. A new studio home has been won, freeing the team from the confines of the outdated Lime Grove complex and giving them a semi-permanent home at the BBC's Riverside studios in Hammersmith.

One year is complete, but the adventure continues...

It was ten years ago today that director Keith Boak first called "Action!" to commence filming on a new series for a long-running, award-winning television programme that hadn't been in front of cameras in the United Kingdom for almost fifteen years. With Doctor Who having been confined for many years within literature, audio and online adventures - and one US-based TV movie pilot that had failed to lead to anything further - it wasn't difficult for many fans to feel that the show would never return to full production, even with the assurances from the BBC since 2003 that it would indeed be coming back to television soon - seeing would be believing...

Considering the intense media coverage of the casting of the new Doctor and his companion, filming itself started with minimal fanfare. Its new star Christopher Eccleston was hidden away in the depths of the Cardiff Royal Infirmary out of sight of public scrutiny; however, fandom ensured that even such an inauspicious beginning would be marked, and reports were soon appearing on Doctor Who News (in its earlier, "Outpost Gallifrey" incarnation!) documenting anything and everything to be witnessed from "Day One" ...


The scenes above were ultimately for Aliens of London, but a couple of days later the media finally caught up on events with widespread coverage of filming outside Howell's Department Store and Queen's Arcade in the town centre for Rose, including BBC News coverage live from outside the store, and more fans gathering to catch a glimpse of "their" show coming back to life for the 21st Century ...


Ten years on, and as filming continues apace on Peter Capaldi's first series there has been no diminishing of fan and media interest in the development of the show, and modern social media services such as Twitter now provide a rich source of both fan and public experiences of the Doctor Who production out and about. The new Doctor's willingness to pose for photos with the public between takes has led to widespread interest whenever they are on the streets - yesterday being no exception when the TARDIS and its usual occupants were spotted on Queen Street, Cardiff during the morning (and duly featured by the Daily Mail). With the expectation of London featuring prominently for filming next week, the popularity of production will no doubt continue unabated (filming last took place in the capital for the 50th Anniversary special, The Day of The Doctor, and Trafalgar Square was 'besieged' by spectators!).

As one of the highest rated shows on television today, and with four (or five!) new Doctors under its belt, it's perhaps hard to imagine a time when Doctor Who was simply one of the thousands of series that had once flourished but ultimately been consigned to the great script book in the sky. But in the mid 2000s this was how the series was regarded by many, and the brave effort by the BBC to bring it back exactly nine years ago was very much a gamble - how would the 'old-school' fans receive it, and what would a 'modern' audience make of a time-traveller in a police box?

Of course, Doctor Who did have an advantage in that it was a show that was still remembered outside of its core fan base, the general public at large were aware of "Dr Who", his iconic TARDIS, and the Daleks. This helped to lend a sense of curiosity at what the new face behind the show, celebrated writer Russell T Davies, would do with the Doctor, who would be played by an established television and film actor in the form of Christopher Eccleston, not to mention the inclusion of the press-attraction of former teenage pop-star turned actress Billie Piper.

A teaser trailer on New Year's Day 2005 formally introduced the return to the general public, but it wasn't until March when the promotional gears were turned up to maximum with a host of trailers ("Do you want to come with me?") and programmes to build up interest in a way not witnessed again until the 50th Anniversary last year.

The three principal names appeared on a variety of news and magazine programmes in the lead-up to the premiere: Christopher Eccleston was a guest on the ever Who-friendly Blue Peter on the 21st March, and then came face-to-face with 'himself' on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on the 25th; Billie Piper appeared on Parkinson on the 19th; and Russell "TV" Davies appeared on the Breakfast couch on the 11th, on BBC2 Wales's On Show on the 17th, and with Phil and Fern on This Morning on the 23rd. The press preview on the 8th March was covered widely in the media, and led to recorded interviews with the stars popping up on Breakfast and GMTV during that week. Special programmes during the period included: Matthew Sweet looking forward with a little trepidation on how the show's return would fit in culturally on The Culture Show on the 17th; Ian Rankin, Bonnie Greer and Professor John Carey discussing the series' merits on Newsnight Review on the 18th; and BBC Radio 2 presenting Project: Who? on the 22nd. Doctor Who wasn't the only programme on the way - Doctor Who Confidential was also to premiere at the weekend on BBC Three, and executive producer Mark Cossey chatted to Rufus Hound on the channel's Destination Three about what to expect from the behind-the-scenes series.


Then, suddenly, it's the 26th March. As the early evening inexorably approaches, appetites are whetted with a special preview (and countdown) in A New Dimension, an excruciating wait through Graham Norton's Strictly Dance Fever ... and then, at 7:00pm, the BBC One "Tap Dogs" ident commences, with the announcement fans have been waiting over fifteen years for:

45 minutes later and an unprecedented ten million viewers - and 43.2% of the audience - have watched Rose run to the TARDIS and off into adventures with the Doctor; the final figure rose to 10.81m (44.8%) and achieved seventh place in the TV charts, only beaten by the soap juggernauts Coronation Street and EastEnders. A week later, a further series has been commissioned (not to mention a new Doctor on the cards!), and the longevity of a modern Doctor Who is assured ...