Transmat:Doctor Who

Rose

File:"I'm the Doctor by the way" - Doctor Who - BBC

Rose was the first episode of the BBC Wales version of Doctor Who. As the first televised story of the 21st century, it had to introduce the concept of the programme, as well as new regulars, Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. Its success on BBC One was immediate. As of 2013, it remained the second highest-rated season opener in Doctor Who history, behind only Destiny of the Daleks, a story that aired without any competition from other broadcasters. Aired in March, 2005 — several years before the BBC offered full scale digital content streaming — it picked up nearly 11 million terrestrial and cable BBC One viewers. The episode boasted a number of behind-the-scenes firsts, aside from merely being the first episode to feature Russell T Davies' vision of the show — such as being the first episode shot in a widescreen aspect ratio. It was also the first British-made episode to utilise an modern production style, and was thus the first time that credited cinematographers, production designers, colourists, digital artists, and any number of skilled professions had been credited on British-made Doctor Who.

The women who gave Doctor Who back to us

Click for video

Think Doctor Who is just for boys? Don't you believe it. Not only was the show's very first producer a woman, but it would never have come back without the fierce advocacy of Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner. Considering her importance to Doctor Who it's somewhat ironic that Tranter's only on-screen credits are for Torchwood: Miracle Day. But Gardner, her "partner in crime", is tied only with Russell T Davies as the most prolific producer in Doctor Who history.

Industrial action

File:BBC's Historic Mainframe Arrives!! (Quantel Paintbox DPB 7000) This created many 80s programs!!

A 21st century geek takes delivery of the monstrosity that was the Quantel Paintbox.

The Quantel Paintbox was a graphics workstation that allowed Doctor Who to have a primitive form of colour grading in the 1980s. To find out more about the "business of show", go to category:production information, where you can read about colour separation overlay, low loaders, telerecordings, vidFIRE, rostrum cameras, 2" quad tape, Ealing Studios and tons more.

Surprising guest star

John Cleese appeared in Doctor Who's highest rated televised story, City of Death, around the time of series 2 of Fawlty Towers. Find out more about the thousands of actors who have been on Doctor Who by exploring Doctor Who guest actors.

Ex-Doctors never die, they just make audios

The careers of the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors are significantly longer in audio than on television. Check out their latest works at category:2024 audio stories

The relevance of comics

Officially, only The Lodger has been explicitly adapted from a comic strip — also called The Lodger.

File:10MickeyFootball.png

However, several stories have clearly taken material from comic strips — often those in Doctor Who Magazine. The Shakespeare Code contains a good amount of material from A Groatsworth of Wit, and the notion of the Doctor absorbing the time vortex in order to spare a companion was explored in both The Parting of the Ways and The Flood.

The first of the "money men"

Donald Baverstock was the BBC executive who set the the wheels in motion that eventually led to the creation of Doctor Who. Essentially the original commissioner of the programme, he hired Sydney Newman and later imposed a sense of financial responsibility upon producer Verity Lambert.

Production history for 16.09

• 1967 - Episode two of The Abominable Snowmen was recorded at Lime Grove Studios D. (TCH 11)
• 1969 - Location filming for Spearhead from Space took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)
• 1971 - Location filming for Day of the Daleks took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)
• 1981 - Studio filming for Castrovalva took place at BBC Television Centre 3. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Fifth Doctor)
• 2004 - The Big Finish audio story Her Final Flight was recorded at the Moat Studios.
• 2016 - Big Finish's audio anthology Classic Doctors, New Monsters: Volume Two was recorded.

Things released on 16.09

• 1965 - The novelisation of The Web Planet was published by Frederick Muller.
• 1967
  • Episode three of The Tomb of the Cybermen premiered on BBC1.
  • Part three of the TV Comic story Egyptian Escapade was published.
• 1972 - Part five of the TV Action comic story The Ugrakks was published.
• 1978 - Part three of The Ribos Operation premiered on BBC1.
• 1982 - The novelisation of Full Circle was published by Target Books.
• 1989 - The Noel Edmond's Saturday Roadshow special premiered.
• 1993 - The novel Iceberg and the non-fiction book The Sixties were published by Virgin Books.
• 2004 - DWM 348 was published by Panini Comics.
• 2010
  • The Only Good Dalek was published by BBC Books.
  • DWA 184 was published by BBC Magazines.
• 2013 - Scream of the Shalka was released on DVD.
• 2015 - The Yes Men was released by Big Finish Productions.
• 2016
  • The HAVOC Files was published on Kindle by Candy Jar Books.
  • Toby Hadoke's Who's Round 185 was released online.
• 2020 - The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume Four was released by Big Finish.
• 2021
  • The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles: Volume Two was released by Big Finish.
  • DWM 569 was published by Panini Comics.

16.09 births and deaths

• 1932 - Actor Bill Meilen was born.
• 1934 - Actor Andre Boulay was born.
• 1937 - Actor Bella Emberg was born.
• 1955 - Actor Janet Ellis was born.
• 1974 - Actor Ed Stoppard was born.
• 1987 - Actor Simon Gipps-Kent died.
• 1994 - Documentary Maker Josh Snares was born.
• 1997 - Actor Oscar Lloyd was born.
• 2005 - Actor David Wolliscroft died.
• 2009 - Actor Timothy Bateson died.
• 2014 - Director Michael Hayes died.
• 2016 - Actor Andrew Staines died.
• 2020 - Actor John Cannon died.
• 2022 - Actor Zulema Dene died.