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.

Jane Tranter was an important advocate for the return of Doctor Who to BBC One in the early 2000s.

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.

The Quantel Paintbox was a graphics workstation that allowed Doctor Who to have a primitive form of colour grading in the 1980s.

John Cleese appeared in Doctor Who's highest rated televised story, City of Death, around the time of series 2 of Fawlty Towers.

The careers of the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors are significantly longer in audio than on television.

Six

Today in production history

• 1964 - "Flashpoint" was recorded at Riverside Studios 1, bringing Carole Ann Ford's tenure on Doctor Who to a close. (INFO: The Daleks Invasion of Earth)
• 1969 - Location filming for Spearhead from Space took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)
• 1970 - Studio filming for Terror of the Autons took place at BBC Television Centre 8. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)
• 1984 - Location filming for The Mark of the Rani took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Sixth Doctor)
• 1999 - The Big Finish audio story The Marian Conspiracy was recorded.
• 2008 - Big Finish's two-part audio story The Eight Truths / Worldwide Web was recorded at the Moat Studios.
• 2009 - The Big Finish audio story Echoes of Grey was recorded at the Moat Studios.
• 2012 - The second series of Big Finish's Doctor Who spin-off Counter-Measures was recorded at the Moat Studios.
• 2014 - Big Finish's audio anthology The Third Doctor Adventures was recorded at the Moat Studios.
• 2017 - Big Finish announced the Short Trips audio story Landbound.
• 2018
  • The Big Finish audio story The Monsters of Gokroth was recorded at the Moat Studios.
  • Big Finish's Rose Tyler audio drama anthology The Dimension Cannon was recorded.
• 2023 - Series 15 began filming.

Today's releases

• 1965
  • "Small Prophet, Quick Return" premiered on BBC1.
  • Part one of the TV Century 21 comic story The Menace of the Monstrons was published.
• 1971 - Part four of Backtime was published in Countdown.
• 1976
  • Part four of The Hand of Fear premiered on BBC1.
  • Part six of the TV Comic story The Mutant Strain was published.
• 1997 - DWM 258 was published by Marvel Comics.
• 2006 - Jack's Back and Bad Day at the Office premiered on BBC Three.
• 2008 - DWA 87 was published by BBC Magazines.
• 2009 - Part two of The Mad Woman in the Attic premiered on CBBC.
• 2012 - UNIT Dominion was released by Big Finish.
• 2013
  • The Light at the End was released by Big Finish Productions.
  • The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage was published by Puffin Books.
  • DWA 332 was published by Immediate Media Company London Limited.
• 2014
  • 12 Doctors, 12 Stories was published by Puffin Books, including the short story Lights Out, which was also digitally published independently of the anthology.
  • DWFC 31 was published by Eaglemoss Collections.
• 2015
  • 12 Doctors, 12 Stories was published by Penguin Group.
  • Toby Hadoke's Who's Round 143 was released online.
• 2018 - Torchwood: God Among Us 1 was released by Big Finish.
• 2019 - Smashed was released by Big Finish.
• 2022 - The Power of the Doctor premiered on BBC One.

Today's births and deaths

• 1925 - Actor Glyn Houston was born.
• 1928 - Actor Jerome Willis was born.
• 1955 - Actor Annie Hulley was born.
• 1969 - Writer Trudi Canavan was born.
• 1998 - Actor Christopher Gable died.
• 2010 - Actor Lewis Alexander died.