Dr. Who (memo)

"Dr. Who" (memo)

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"Dr. Who" — or, more precisely, Dr. Who: General Notes on Background and Approach for an Exciting Adventure - Science Fiction Drama Series for Childrens Saturday Viewing – was essentially the original, 1963 pitch for Doctor Who. Submitted to Controller of BBC1 Donald Baverstock on 16 May 1963, it outlined the concept of a proposed programme called Dr. Who. It was prepared by Donald Wilson, C. E. Webber and Sydney Newman.

Amongst the things defined by this document were:

• an early outline of the basic character of "Dr. Who"
• the notion of a male and female teacher of a girl named Sue getting involved in Dr. Who's adventures in time and space
• the basic idea of an episode in which the protagonists get miniaturised, as eventually happened in Planet of Giants
• the fact that the Doctor's ship was unreliable, and that "Dr. Who isn't quite sure how to work it"

In other media

The Baverstock/Newman meeting implied by the memo was spoofed by Mark Gatiss and David Walliams in The Pitch of Fear.

External link

• The memo at the Doctor Who website