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Doctor Who is one of the most iconic British series that has been airing since 1963. The sci-fi show was created by Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, and Donald Wilson. It focused on an extraterrestrial being called the Doctor, who was a part of the humanoid species called the Time Lords. The Doctor is known for travelling through the universe and time with the help of his spaceship called the TARDIS. The show focuses on how the Doctor works to save lives and fights against his enemies. Over the course of the show’s long reign, there have been various different actors that have portrayed the role and there is some interesting trivia as well. Therefore, here are 10 interesting facts that even the most loyal viewers might not know.
Different runtimes, the FBI connection to Daleks, and other interesting facts about Doctor Who
1. CBC wanted to dub Christopher Eccleston
CBC, or the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation had agreed to invest in the upcoming revival of Doctor Who, which would be starring Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Doctor. However, the media company had an interesting request that was entirely shot down. CBC wanted to dub Christopher Eccleston’s voice with that of a Canadian actor. This was requested because executives in the media company thought that the Doctor’s Northern accent might be incomprehensible for the Canadian viewers. However, showrunner, Russell T Davies was quick to turn this request down. Davies made it clear that such a request would be insulting for their lead actor and they would therefore never do something like this. Fans of the show therefore might be surprised by this insane request that CBC made during the time. However, given that Christopher Eccleston and had a fraught relationship with the show, it was a good thing that this offer was turned down.
2. K9 could have been a man in a dog costume
K9 is one of the most interesting additions in the Doctor Who show during the fourth doctor’s portrayal. He immediately becomes a loyal companion to the genius doctor. The character was created by Bob Baker and Dave Martin. While viewers are accustomed to the sleek design, it was actually a task to get there. The task of designing and building the K9 was with designer Ian Scoones. He wanted K9 to be a heavily-armed robotic rottweiler that could be operated by an actor. However, producer Graham Williams was opposed to this idea and didn’t want a man inside a dog costume in a high-tech show. The new designer, Tony Harding came in and designed a smaller and radio-controlled version that was voiced by John Leeson. Interestingly, K9 co-creator Bob Baker also introduced a heavily-armored robot dog many years later.
3. Billie Piper caught fire
Many fans might not know that the cast members of Doctor Who have gone through perilous and life-threatening incidents as well. While Sophie Aldred almost drowned, Mark Strickson suffered a bad fall. Therefore, the companions of Doctor Who are not safe in real life as well. Amidst all this, Billie Piper also had a bad accident on set. While shooting Tooth and Claw, she found herself on fire. Thankfully, the situation was quickly addressed. This weird incident happened because a lot of candles were on display during the filming of the episode and Billie Piper had used a lot of hairspray on her hair to achieve her character’s hairstyle. The combination therefore proved combustible and as Piper ran past some candles, she got her hair alight. Thankfully, the blaze was quickly patted out and it now makes for an unbelievable story about Doctor Who.
4. Special Weapons Dalek is made of plant pots and a bin
The Daleks are one of the most famous villains in the Doctor Who franchise. The Special Weapons Dalek however, could not withstand a lot of explosives. The reasons for this is that it was constructed using some plant pots and a bin. Therefore, the most frightening weapon in the universe was made out of random items. The famous dome had a standard white Dalek dome spliced with a black plastic bin, and the gun attachment was constructed using a plastic plant pot trays and MDF discs. However, fans of Doctor Who were never able to guess this ingenious yet simple creation because the design team made sure that the Special Weapons Dalek was augmented with rivets, a lot of spray paint, and weathering, which gave viewers the impression that it was a deadly killing machine. Therefore, the Special Weapons Dalek was made out of simple items and yet look fearsome.
5. Bernard Cribbins auditioned for the fourth doctor
While Bernard Cribbins is known for playing Wilfred Mott in multiple Doctor Who episodes, many fans of the show might now know that he had also auditioned to play the role of the fourth doctor in 1974. He was therefore one of the many names in the fray to succeed Jon Pertwee. Other names therefore were Jim Dale, Fulton MacKay. While Tom Baker has been a popular as the fourth doctor, the series would have been completely different if Cribbins had got the role. While his audition didn’t pan out, the actor would have also made for a lovely Doctor Who. However, fans were able to still get a taste of the actor’s talent as Cribbins ultimately played Donna’s beloved grandfather on the show and got acclaim for that role as well. Therefore, all’s well that ends well.
6. “Blink” was based off of a short story
There are some episodes in the Doctor Who canon that have become extremely popular over the years and even their title is enough to evoke emotions from the show’s most loyal fans. One such episode is “Blink”, which is one of the most popular Doctor Who episodes. It has rated highly on online aggregator websites and is it is impressive because it is a Doctor-lite episode. However, this episode is also known for its Weeping Angels that made a debut in this episode and have an iconic status since then. Originally, it was Steven Moffat’s idea to create the doctor being trapped in the past and then sending messages to the future trope in his short story. And it was written for the 2006 Doctor Who Annual. In the show’s version, Sally Sparrow was just a teenage girl and there was a lack of Angels.
7. Doctor Who had a different runtime and a different day of airing
Doctor Who is known for its classic era that aired up till 1989. During this period, most of the episodes had a running time of around 25 minutes only. However, the format was first changed in 1986, where the creators changed the runtime to 45 minutes for one series only. However, when the show returned in 2005, the 45 minutes runtime was adopted again and series 11 will even have 50 minutes episodes. Likewise, Doctor Who, used to air on a Saturday in the UK. However, it was moved to two mid-week screenings during the fifth doctor’s era. Then, it was changed back to Saturdays for the sixth doctor and went back to weekday airings for the seventh doctor. Finally, since 2005, the show has gone back to its original Saturday evening broadcasts. The show therefore has an interesting history of runtimes and airings.
8. Wendy Padbury discovered Matt Smith
Matt Smith has had an iconic run as the doctor in Doctor Who and the story behind his casting is also nothing less than awesome. Wendy Padbury became a talent agent after leaving the show and she was the one who casted a relatively unknown Matt Smith as the new doctor. She revealed at Gallifrey One in 2009 that she went to see a National Youth Theatre Production of The Master and Margarita and was captivated by the performance of Matt Smith. Padbury therefore invited Smith for a meeting to her agency, which also represented Nicholas Courtney. Eventually, Smith was signed to play the iconic role and perhaps this is the reason why Smith was so drawn to the Patrick Troughton era while researching for his role of the doctor, because a second doctor companion helped him get cast.
9. The FBI investigated the Daleks
While Daleks inspires fear in the hearts and minds of the viewers of Doctor Who, there is an interesting story behind them as well. Writer Paul Riddell claims that a joke about the Daleks led him to being investigated by the FBI. In 1987, Riddell was working with Texas Instruments that had a contract to design a high-speed anti-radiation missile that could destroy enemy air forces. The mission was a top secret and when Riddell’s boss joked that had he sold the secret to the Russians, he said that he had sold it to the Daleks. This led to some confusion as most people didn’t know about the Doctor Who enemies and Riddell’s boss thought he was an enemy agent. This led to Riddick being questioned by the agents and it was all dropped when it was revealed that the Daleks are fictional monsters on the television.
10. Douglas Adams wrote several episodes of Doctor Who
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Douglas Adams is known for creating episodes for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on BBC Radio 4. However, during this same time, Adams was also writing for Doctor Who. Adams has stated that when he was writing for the other show, it was the summer period in BBC and during that time, in order for anything to get approved, you had to wait for people to come back from their holidays. Therefore, while that was taking time, Adams decided to send the pilot episode to the then script editor of Doctor Who, Robert Holmes. Holmes liked the script and Adams went to meet him and discussed some ideas. Adams was eventually commissioned to write four episodes and as they say, the rest is history. Interestingly, Adams was not only made to write for the show, but he also got commissioned to write for Hitchhikers as well.
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