10 Things You Didn’t Know About “Doctor Who” [Television]

We love Doctor Who here at the Geek Twins, as well as trivia, so wanted to take the chance to combine the two. Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about the Galaxy’s most famous doctor.

1. Doctor Who’s Title Was An Accident – According to Sydney Newman, one of the show’s creators, the name of the show came from a question. He was discussing the concept with another producer, who suggested that the show’s main character be called “a doctor.” Newman asked, “Doctor who?” The name stuck.

2. Doctor Who was Educational – Doctor Who was originally supposed to be an educational show for children, where they would teach about history and science. Over time, the popularity of the science fiction pushed the historical lessons into the background, and the popularity of the show among adults moved it to prime time.

3. TARDIS Changes Shape – The TARDIS was written as shaped like a police box in the first episode, but was intended to change shape. The concept was that it would take on different shapes based on the episode, like a column in ancient Greece or a sarcophagus in Egypt. However, the expense of building a new TARDIS each episode led them to change the concept so that the TARDIS would be frozen in the shape of a police box.

4. Doctor Who was Supposed To Be Senile – The Doctor’s legendary age was supposed to be a factor in his operation of the TARDIS. In the original concept, the Doctor was supposed to be so senile that he didn’t even know how to operate the TARDIS anymore. The crew would have had to re-discover how to operate it by trial and error.

5. Doctor Who’s Theme Is Electric – The theme music was composed by Ron Grainer, and created by Delia Derbyshire. It was one of the first electronic musical compositions on television. When Grainer heard the final version, he didn’t even recognize it.

6. There were Two First Episodes – Much like Star Trek had to re-shoot its first episode, Doctor Who’s first episode “The Unearthly Child” had to be re-shot due to wiriting and technical problems. There were slight changes, including the Doctor and Susan’s wardrobe, and some effects.

7. She Really Is Doctor Who’s Daughter – In the episode “The Doctor’s Daughter,” the Doctor was accidentally cloned to produce Jenny, the Doctor’s “daughter.” In real life, Jenny was played by Georgia Moffat, the real daughter of the fifth Doctor Who, Peter Davison.

8. The Keys to the TARDIS – The iconic groaning of the TARDIS materializing was created in a very simple way. The original sound of the TARDIS was created by dragging a set of keys across some piano wires.

9. The Daleks Were Encyclopedic – For years, writer Terry Nation said the name “daleks” came from the spine of an encyclopedia he saw that read “dal-lek.” He later admitted he was lying and just made up the word.

10. The Daleks Were Almost Banned – When Sydney Newman created the series, he distributed a memo that decreed no “bug-eyed monsters.” He was furious when Nation created the Daleks, because he felt they violated his monsters rule. Despite his protests, the Daleks aired, and turned out to be the biggest hit of the show.

UPDATE: Updated all references of the Doctor’s name from Doctor Who