Series 1 (Doctor Who 2005)

For the 1963-1964 season of the original series, see Season 1.

Series 1 of Doctor Who, also known as Season 27 to differentiate it from Season 1 of the original series, starred Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose Tyler. Later in the season it introduced Bruno Langley as the Ninth Doctor's short-lived second companion Adam Mitchell, John Barrowman as companion Jack Harkness and, finally, David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. It marked the return of Doctor Who to weekly television after a sixteen year hiatus. Unlike the original Doctor Who series, in which stories consisted of as few as two and as many as twelve episodes, stories in the revived series consist mainly of individual episodes and occasional two-or-three-parters.

Overview

Series 1 aired between 26th March 2005 and 18th June 2005. There is debate as to whether The Christmas Invasion and the Children in Need Special should be considered part of Series 1, though they are more regularly packaged as part of Series 2. The episode guide on the BBC website regards these stories as belonging to neither series, but standing alone as specials.

Although it was a continuation of the earlier series, the BBC chose to restart its series numbering rather than possibly alienate new viewers by branding this the 27th season. This season saw the show return to 45-minute episodes for the first time since 1985. Many episodes serve to reintroduce concepts of Doctor Who to a new generation, with key episodes being Aliens of London, which reintroduced UNIT (albeit in a minor way), Dalek, which reintroduced the Daleks

Series 1 also provided the first major

Promotional postcard for the series.

information about the Last Great Time War, and The Parting of the Ways, which featured the revived series' first regeneration. The season also introduced Jack Harkness and laid the initial seed for the later spin-off Torchwood. All 13 episodes are linked by the story arc, Bad Wolf.

Series 1 was later shown (after some initial hesitation) by the American network, Sci-Fi Channel - the first time a nationally broadcast commercial network had shown the series in the US.

Behind the scenes, the program saw the involvement of many writers and actors who had been involved in keeping the Doctor Who brand alive during the 1989-2005 hiatus through original novels, audio dramas and independent video productions. Executive producer and head writer Russell T Davies is counted among them for having written the Virgin New Adventures novel Damaged Goods. Other "interregnum" veterans involved in this inaugural season included Mark Gatiss, Robert Shearman, Steven Moffat and, in particular, actor/writer Nicholas Briggs who provided voices for the Daleks starting this season and whose involvement in Who fandom dates back 20 years.

This first season, and those immediately following, would credit the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for assistance in providing production support. The season aired on the CBC only a few days after the UK broadcast, with Christopher Eccleston appearing in specially shot bumpers. (This practice did not continue beyond this first season.)

Beginning with this season, Doctor Who not only reestablished itself as a popular drama series, it also entered a new era of critical acclaim, being nominated for a number of awards including the BAFTA and writer Steven Moffat began a three-year association with the Hugo Awards by winning one of his The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances two-parter.

Television stories

#	Title	Writer	Notes
1	Rose	Russell T Davies	Reintroduction of the Autons and the Nestene Consciousness. First appearances of the Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith.
2	The End of the World	Russell T Davies	First appearance of the Face of Boe and Cassandra
3	The Unquiet Dead	Mark Gatiss
4	Pt. 1: Aliens of London Pt. 2:World War Three	Russell T Davies	First appearance of the Slitheen
5	Dalek	Robert Shearman	Reintroduction of the Daleks, first appearance of Adam Mitchell
6	The Long Game	Russell T Davies	Final appearance of Adam Mitchell - becoming the first companion to be expelled for bad behaviour
7	Father's Day	Paul Cornell	First appearance of Pete Tyler
8	Pt. 1: The Empty Child Pt. 2: The Doctor Dances	Steven Moffat	First appearance of Jack Harkness
9	Boom Town	Russell T Davies	Reintroduction of the Slitheen
10	Pt. 1: Bad Wolf Pt. 2: The Parting of the Ways	Russell T Davies	Final appearance of the Ninth Doctor and introduction of the Tenth Doctor; last regular appearance of Jack Harkness until 2007

Cast

Primary cast

Secondary cast

Guest cast

Introducing

Tenth Doctor - David Tennant

Novels

Aliens and enemies

Promotional trailers

For the series, several promotional trailers were created, utilizing specially shot footage of the cast, breaking the fourth wall and addressing viewers.

The show's main trailer begins with an explosion rushing through a tunnel and the Doctor running. He enters the TARDIS and asks the viewer: "Do you want to come with me?" He then walks around the console room warning of the dangers that lie ahead, but promising "the trip of a lifetime." This promo uses an early arrangement of the Doctor Who theme that was replaced by a more upbeat arrangement for the series itself.
Rose, in the console room, telling the viewer about the choice she had to make - working in a dull shop, or chasing monsters. As the camera pulls back to show the Doctor standing behind her, she says "What do you think?"
Several short, wordless five-second "stings" were also produced showing closeups of the Doctor, Rose, the two together, and the TARDIS. No series logo or title is shown, with only a snippet of the Doctor Who theme or the TARDIS sound effect to identify the programme.

External links

BBC website index for Series 1

Previous season:
Doctor Who (1996)

Next season:
Series 2

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