Doctor Who: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Doctor Who is the longest-running science fiction TV series in history, airing initially from 1963 to 1989. Doctor Who is about ideas. It pioneered sophisticated mixed-level storytelling. Its format was the key to its longevity: the Doctor, a mysterious traveller in space and time, travels in his ship, the TARDIS. The TARDIS can take him and his companions anywhere in time and space. Inevitably he finds evil at work wherever he goes..

Series details

• Title: Doctor Who
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Action, Adventure, Science-Fiction
• Premiere date: 1963-11-23
• Final broadcast date listed: 1996-05-12
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC One
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 25 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 8.4/10
• TVMaze ID: 766

Cast and credited roles

• Tom Baker — The Fourth Doctor
• Richard Hurndall — The First Doctor
• William Hartnell — The First Doctor
• Jon Pertwee — The Third Doctor
• Patrick Troughton — The Second Doctor
• Nicholas Courtney — Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
• Elisabeth Sladen — Sarah Jane Smith
• Peter Davison — The Fifth Doctor
• Janet Fielding — Tegan Jovanka
• John Leeson — K-9
• Katy Manning — Jo Grant
• Frazer Hines — Jamie McCrimmon

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1963-11-23; final listed air date 1964-09-12; episode order: 42.
• Season 2: premiered 1964-10-31; final listed air date 1965-07-24.
• Season 3: premiered 1965-09-11; final listed air date 1966-07-16.
• Season 4: premiered 1966-09-10; final listed air date 1967-07-01.
• Season 5: premiered 1967-09-02; final listed air date 1968-06-01.
• Season 6: premiered 1968-08-10; final listed air date 1969-06-21.
• Season 7: premiered 1970-01-03; final listed air date 1970-06-20.
• Season 8: premiered 1971-01-02; final listed air date 1971-06-19.
• Season 9: premiered 1972-01-01; final listed air date 1972-06-24.
• Season 10: premiered 1972-12-30; final listed air date 1973-06-23.
• Season 11: premiered 1973-12-15; final listed air date 1974-06-08.
• Season 12: premiered 1974-12-28; final listed air date 1975-05-10.
• Season 13: premiered 1975-08-30; final listed air date 1976-03-06.
• Season 14: premiered 1976-09-04; final listed air date 1977-04-02.
• Season 15: premiered 1977-09-03; final listed air date 1978-03-11.
• Season 16: premiered 1978-09-02; final listed air date 1979-02-24.
• Season 17: premiered 1979-09-01; final listed air date 1980-01-12.
• Season 18: premiered 1980-08-30; final listed air date 1981-03-21.
• Season 19: premiered 1982-01-04; final listed air date 1982-03-30.
• Season 20: premiered 1983-01-04; final listed air date 1983-11-25.
• Season 21: premiered 1984-01-05; final listed air date 1984-03-30.
• Season 22: premiered 1985-01-05; final listed air date 1985-03-30.
• Season 23: premiered 1986-09-06; final listed air date 1986-12-06.
• Season 24: premiered 1987-09-07; final listed air date 1987-12-07.
• Season 25: premiered 1988-10-05; final listed air date 1989-01-04.
• Season 26: premiered 1989-09-06; final listed air date 1996-05-12.

Source and licence

Adapted from Doctor Who on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.