Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article

Selected articles

Selected article 1

Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article/1 "Doomsday" is the thirteenth and final episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 8 July 2006 and is the conclusion of a two-part story; the first part, "Army of Ghosts", was broadcast on 1 July 2006. The two-part story features the Daleks, presumed extinct after the events of the 2005 series' finale, and the Cybermen, who appeared in "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel", both species having unexpectedly arrived on Earth at the conclusion of "Army of Ghosts".

The episode's plot consists mostly of the Daleks and Cybermen waging a global war, the first conflict between the two species in Doctor Who's 45-year history, with humanity caught in the crossfire. The Doctor, the Tyler family, and Mickey Smith fight for their lives trying to revert the situation, in which they are successful, but at an emotional cost to the Doctor and Rose as they are split apart.

The episode marks the final regular appearances of Billie Piper as companion Rose Tyler, Noel Clarke as Rose's ex-boyfriend and previous companion Mickey Smith, and Camille Coduri and Shaun Dingwall as Rose's parents Jackie and Pete Tyler.

The episode is among the most popular Doctor Who episodes since the show's revival. It was nominated along with "Army of Ghosts" for the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, which was won by the fourth episode in the series, "The Girl in the Fireplace". As of 2008, it shares the new series' highest Audience Appreciation rating of "89" with "The Parting of the Ways", and is generally favoured by critics for both the Cybermen–Dalek conflict and the farewell scene between the Doctor and Rose.

Selected article 2

Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article/2 A Dalek (/ˈdɑːlɛk/ DAH-lek) is a member of a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Daleks are grotesque mutated organisms from the planet Skaro, integrated within a tank-like mechanical casing. The resulting creatures are a powerful race bent on universal conquest and domination, utterly without pity, compassion or remorse (as all of their emotions were removed except hate). They are also, collectively, the greatest alien adversaries of the Time Lord known as the Doctor. Their most famous catchphrase is "EX-TER-MI-NATE!", with each syllable individually screeched in a frantic electronic voice.

The Daleks were created by writer Terry Nation and BBC designer Raymond Cusick and were introduced in December 1963 in the second Doctor Who serial. They became an immediate hit with viewers, featuring in many subsequent serials and two 1960s motion pictures. They have become synonymous with Doctor Who, and their behaviour and catchphrases are part of British popular culture. "Hiding behind the sofa whenever the Daleks appear" has even been cited as an essential element of British cultural identity.

The word "Dalek" has entered the Oxford English Dictionary and other major dictionaries; the Collins Dictionary defines it rather broadly as "any of a set of fictional robot-like creations that are aggressive, mobile, and produce rasping staccato speech". It is also a trademark, having first been registered by the BBC in 1964 to protect its lucrative range of Dalek merchandise.

The term is sometimes used metaphorically to describe people, usually figures of authority, who act like robots unable to break from their programming. John Birt, the Director-General of the BBC from 1992 to 2000, was publicly called a "croak-voiced Dalek" by playwright Dennis Potter in the MacTaggart Lecture at the 1993 Edinburgh Television Festival. The Daleks appeared on a postage stamp celebrating British popular culture in 1999, photographed by Lord Snowdon.

Selected article 3

Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article/3 Doctor Who is a long-running, award-winning British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as "the Doctor" who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which appears from the exterior to be a blue police phone box. With his companions, he explores time and space, solving problems and righting wrongs.

The programme is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world. It has been recognised for its imaginative stories, creative low-budget special effects during its original run, and pioneering use of electronic music (originally produced by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop). In Britain and elsewhere, the show has become a cult television favourite and has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching the series. It has received recognition from critics and the public as one of the finest British television programmes, including the BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series in 2006.

The programme originally ran from 1963 to 1989. A television film was made in 1996 as a backdoor pilot for a new series (which never entered production), and the programme was successfully relaunched in 2005, produced in-house by BBC Wales. Some development money for the new series is contributed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which is credited as a co-producer. Doctor Who has also spawned spin-offs in multiple media, including the current television programmes Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

The show's lead character is currently portrayed by Matt Smith. In the programme's most recent series, which is currently airing, Jenna-Louise Coleman plays the Doctor's companion, Clara Oswald. She assumed the role mid-season after the departure of the Doctor's previous companions, Amy Pond played by Karen Gillan and Rory Williams played by Arthur Darvill.

Selected article 4

Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article/4 The TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension(s) in Space) is a time machine and spacecraft in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who.

A product of Time Lord technology, a properly maintained and piloted TARDIS can transport its occupants to any point in time and space. The interior of a TARDIS is much larger than its exterior, which can blend in with its surroundings through the ship's chameleon circuit. In the series, the Doctor pilots an unreliable, stolen, obsolete Type 40 TARDIS, once referred to as a TT Capsule, whose chameleon circuit is faulty, leaving it locked in the shape of a 1950s-style London police box. It was stolen from Gallifrey where it was undergoing maintenance, and the unpredictability of the TARDIS's short range guidance — that is, relative to the size of the entire Universe — has often been a plot point in the Doctor's travels.

Although "TARDIS" is a type of craft, rather than a specific one, the Doctor's TARDIS is usually referred to as "the" TARDIS or, in some of the earlier serials, just as "the ship". (In the two 1960s Dalek films, the craft was referred to as Tardis, without the definite article.)

Doctor Who has become so much a part of British popular culture that not only has the shape of the police box become more immediately associated with the TARDIS than with its real-world inspiration, the word "TARDIS" has been used to describe anything that seems bigger on the inside than on the outside. The name TARDIS is a registered trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Selected article 5

Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article/5 Doctor Who's missing episodes are the many instalments of the long-running British science fiction television programme Doctor Who that are missing, with no known film or videotape copies existing. They were erased (or "junked") by the BBC during the 1960s and 1970s for a variety of economic and space-saving reasons. In all, there are 27 serials that do not exist in complete form in the BBC's archives, because 108 of 253 episodes produced during the first six years of the programme are missing, with many more thought to have been so in the past before episodes were recovered from a variety of sources, most notably overseas broadcasters.

Doctor Who is not unique in this respect, as thousands of hours of programming from across all genres were destroyed up until 1978, when the BBC's archiving policies were changed. Other high-profile series affected included Dad's Army, Z-Cars, The Wednesday Play, Steptoe and Son and Not Only... But Also. In addition, the BBC was not the only British broadcaster to carry out this practice, with ITV companies also destroying programmes; The Avengers, another series initiated by Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman, is a high-profile ITV victim of junking. Unlike other series, Doctor Who is unique in having all of its missing episodes surviving in audio form, recorded off-air by fans at home. Additionally, every 1970s episode exists in some form, which is not the case for several other series.

Efforts to locate missing episodes continue, both by the BBC and by fans of the series. Extensive restoration has been carried out on many surviving and recovered 1960s and 1970s episodes for release on VHS and more recently on DVD. The surviving soundtracks of missing episodes have been released on cassette and more recently CD.

Selected article 6

Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article/6 Sydney Cecil Newman, OC (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, best remembered for the pioneering work he undertook in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. Initially a film editor with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Newman later moved into television with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, where he began his long association with drama.

Moving to Britain in 1958, he worked first with the Associated British Corporation (ABC) before moving across to the BBC in 1962, holding the role of Head of Drama with both organisations. During this phase of his career he was responsible for initiating two hugely popular fantasy series, The Avengers and Doctor Who, as well as overseeing the production of groundbreaking social realist drama series such as Armchair Theatre and The Wednesday Play. Towards the end of his active career he returned to Canada, where he was for a time Government Film Commissioner and Chairman of the NFB, among other roles.

The website of the Museum of Broadcast Communications describes Newman as "the most significant agent in the development of British television drama." Shortly after his death, his obituary in The Guardian newspaper declared that "For ten brief but glorious years, Sydney Newman ... was the most important impresario in Britain ... His death marks not just the end of an era but the laying to rest of a whole philosophy of popular art."

Selected article 7

Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article/7 "Invasion of the Bane" is the first episode of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was originally broadcast on 1 January 2007. Since the series was commissioned before the script for the episode was written, it is not a pilot, but a holiday special, but serves the introductory functions of a pilot.

The episode focuses upon a thirteen year old girl, Maria Jackson, discovering the existence of aliens. After discovering that the Bane, creators of a soft drink called Bubble Shock!, harbour a destructive secret, she teams up with investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith to prevent their plans.

Selected article 8

Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article/8 The Time Lords are a fictional civilisation from the planet Gallifrey, portrayed in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' main character, the Doctor, is a member. Time Lords are so called because they are able to travel in and manipulate time through technology to a far greater degree than any other civilisation. It is also implied heavily in the series that there are those from Gallifrey that are not Time Lords though it is not stated categorically either way (see Trial of a Time Lord, among others).

Selected article 9

Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article/9 Verity Ann Lambert, OBE (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. She is best known as the founding producer of the science-fiction series Doctor Who, a programme which has become a part of British popular culture.

Lambert was a pioneer woman in British television; when she was appointed to Doctor Who in 1963 she was the youngest producer, and only female drama producer, working at the BBC.

Lambert began working in television in the 1950s, and continued to work as a producer up until the year she died. After leaving the BBC in 1969, she worked for other television companies, notably Thames Television and Euston Films in the 1970s and 80s. She also worked in the film industry, for Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, and from 1985 ran her own production company, Cinema Verity. In addition to Doctor Who, she produced Adam Adamant Lives!, The Naked Civil Servant, Rock Follies, Minder, Widows, G.B.H., Jonathan Creek and Love Soup.

The British Film Institute's Screenonline website describes Lambert as "one of those producers who can often create a fascinating small screen universe from a slim script and half-a-dozen congenial players." The website of the Museum of Broadcast Communications hails her as "not only one of Britain's leading businesswomen, but possibly the most powerful member of the nation's entertainment industry ... Lambert has served as a symbol of the advances won by women in the media". News of her death came on the 44th anniversary of the first showing of Doctor Who.

Selected article 10

Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article/10 The Torchwood Institute (usually referred to simply as Torchwood) is a fictional secret organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. It was founded by Queen Victoria to research and combat alien threats to the British Empire, and use their findings to restore the Empire's former glory. To those ends, it acquires and reverse engineers alien technology by any means deemed necessary. According to one of its base's directors, Yvonne Hartman, its nationalist attitude extends to refusing to use metric units.

While described as "beyond the United Nations", the Torchwood Institute is known to cooperate with UNIT (the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) to some extent. There appears at present to be some sort of rapport with the Prime Minister although historically this may not always have been the case. To those that have come in contact with Torchwood, they are primarily believed to be a special forces team. They appear to maintain this illusion by using false witnesses, or by sectioning any journalists who threaten to expose the truth, and via the use of memory altering drugs. Following a major incident involving the Institute, the stance of the organisation becomes much less confrontational and secretive.

Selected article 11

Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article/11 Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. The character first appears in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and subsequently features in the remaining episodes of the first series (2005) as a companion to the series' protagonist, the Doctor. Subsequent to this, Jack became the central character in the adult-themed Torchwood, which aired from 2006 to 2011. Barrowman reprised the role for appearances in Doctor Who in its third, fourth, and twelfth series, as well as specials "The End of Time", and "Revolution of the Daleks".

In contrast to The Doctor, Jack is more of a conventional action hero, as well as outwardly flirtatious and capable of acts which The Doctor would view as less than noble. In the programme's narrative, Jack begins as a time traveller and con man from the 51st century, who comes to travel with the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and his companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). As a consequence of his death and resurrection in the Series 1 finale, "The Parting of the Ways", Jack becomes immortal and is stranded on 19th-century Earth. There he becomes a member of Torchwood, a British organization dedicated to combating alien threats. He spends over a century waiting to reunite with the Doctor, over which time he becomes the leader of the Torchwood branch in Cardiff. He later reunites with the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) for further stints on Doctor Who. Aspects of the character's backstory—both prior to meeting the Doctor, and during his many decades living on Earth—are gradually revealed over Torchwood (and to a lesser extent, Doctor Who) through the use of flashback scenes and expository dialogue. (Full article...) (Full article...)

Selected article 12

Portal:Doctor Who/Selected article/12 The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more and more artificial parts into their bodies. This led to the race becoming coldly logical and calculating, with emotions usually only shown when naked aggression was called for.

They were created by Dr. Kit Pedler (the unofficial scientific advisor to the programme) and Gerry Davis in 1966, first appearing in the serial, The Tenth Planet, the last to feature William Hartnell as the First Doctor. They have since made numerous reappearances in their extreme attempts to survive through conquest.

A parallel universe version of the Cybermen appeared in the 2006 series' two-part story, "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel". These Cybermen also appeared in the two-part 2006 season finale, "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday". This then carried through to the spin-off Torchwood in the episode "Cyberwoman".