Doctor Who premiered on the BBC on November 23, 1963. No one at the time guessed it would become the longest running sc-fi series of all time.
The Radio Times has shared a clipping of their introduction to the show. Back in 1963, before satellite TV, cable services and the like, the only way to find out what was on TV in the U.K. was by checking out the Radio Times that listed weekly Radio and TV programming.
The show was originally scoffed at by higher end executives. No one was exactly dying to helm the show. A young, unknown by the name of Warris Hussein was the director of the first episode. He recently spoke about what it was like to BBC America.
If you are looking to see how the whole Doctor Who craze began, check out the very first episode below. William Hartnell played the Doctor from 1963-1966. The early episodes featured the Doctor and his granddaughter, Susan. Susan is the one who actually coins the term “TARDIS”. They are then joined by two humans, Susan’s school teachers, who are curious about the mysterious Susan and her more mysterious grandfather.
Doctor Who s01e01p1 An Unearthly Child by BloodmageVII
Sadly, it takes a lot of Googling and a bit of cross referencing to get the correct order of classic Doctor Who episodes. Some are available on DVD and Netflix, while others aren’t. There are also a large chunk of episodes from the second and third Doctor that were thrown out in a cleaning spee by the BBC in the early 1970’s. They don’t seem to have a very consistant rhyme or reason as to what and when they release. Nonetheless, if you want to see more episodes starring the first Doctor, you can get what’s available here on Netflix. Use this Doctor Who episode guide to help you with the chronology.
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