Doctor Who first episode
23 November 1963
Image: The TARDIS as it appeared in the first serial An Unearthly Child episode 4 'The Firemaker'.
The first episode of Doctor Who was aired on 23 November 1963. The cover of the Radio Times that week announced "a new Saturday-afternoon television series of adventures in time and space". Viewers heard the ominous theme tune - written by Ron Grainer in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and arranged by Delia Derbyshire - and saw the title sequence designed by Bernard Lodge.
In 'An Unearthly Child', Jacqueline Hill and William Russell play teachers who are intrigued by their pupil Susan Foreman, played by Carole Anne Ford. They follow her home to an old junk yard and - in a revelation that took the audience into the realm of science fiction - are surprised to discover that the police box in which she lives has a bright futuristic interior, much bigger inside than out.
Susan's grandfather is the Doctor, played by William Hartnell. Alarmed that the teachers will reveal the secret that he and Susan are time travellers, the Doctor kidnaps them. The final shot shows the TARDIS in a barren landscape as a human shadow falls across it, setting the scene for future adventures.
Doctor Who ran until 1989, with a television film in 1996. However its lasting popularity ensured its return in 2005, and that it played a large part in the revitalisation of Saturday evening family viewing.
November anniversaries
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Hancock's Half-Hour 2 November 1954
Edge of Darkness 4 November 1985
Life with the Lyons 5 November 1950
The Goodies 8 November 1970
BBC Radio Leicester, the first local radio network8 November 1967
Byker Grove 8 November 1989
Garrison Theatre 10 November 1939
Butterflies 10 November 1978
Monitor - Elgar by Ken Russell 11 November 1962
Panorama 11 November 1953
dinnerladies 12 November 1998
Absolutely Fabulous 12 November 1992
BBC begins daily transmissions from 2LO Station14 November 1922
Colour television on BBC One 15 November 1969
Clangers16 November 1969
Cathy Come Home 16 November 1966
The Singing Detective 16 November 1986
Panorama interview with Princess Diana20 November 1995
Start of television broadcasts from the House of Commons 21 November 1989
First TV gardening programme 21 November 1936
Doctor Who first episode 23 November 1963
That Was The Week That Was 24 November 1962