Fifty years ago today at 5:16pm a brand new television show was broadcast for the very first time. There had been nothing like it before and the opening titles of swirling, swooshing shapes and the wobbly, hissing and howling tune reflected that. Almost a year earlier, the BBC's new Head of Drama, Sydney Newman, had been charged with devising a new show to bridge the gap between the flagship sports program Grandstand and popular music show Jukebox Jury. Audience figures were very good for Grandstand but they soon dropped off when it finished and were slow to rebuild. What the BBC needed was something to keep viewers from getting up off their sofa and changing channels (for these were the days before even the most basic remote control)
The birth of Doctor Who had not been an easy one, with early ideas being rejected and production start dates put back. Expenses were higher than anticipated and demands on the staff were tougher than many cared for. There were obstacles from all angles and at one very late stage there was a call to cease production once the first four episodes had been completed. However, producer Verity Lambert and those closest to the show persisted and the series was eventually extended to thirteen episodes.
On the morning of 22nd November 1963, just one day before the first episode was scheduled for broadcast, the series was finally given some good news, another thirteen episodes. But the launch would not be without it's problems. Not only had the BBC's own television listings magazine Radio Times reversed a decision to dedicate its front page to Doctor Who, as news came in from America that President Kennedy had been shot it became clear that very few people would be interested enough to watch this new show with the attention it needed and deserved.
Thankfully, BBC management were starting to see the potential of this new show and allowed the first episode to be repeated the following week immediately before the second episode was broadcast and from there it went from strength to strength.
Of course, Doctor Who also took a slide in the ratings as it's low budget suffered by inflation of costs and expectations and the 1980s saw the show gradually killed off by disinterested controllers and after 26 years it was taken off air indefinitely. It was not completely abandoned but attempts to revive and revitalise the show were underfunded and attempts to bring in American money were complicated and ultimately doomed to fail. A co-produced TV movie eventually emerged in 1996 but wasn't well received and it would be another nine years before the show finally received the regeneration it needed.
From there, it has been like the old days going from strength to strength, growing an international fan-base and here we are today celebrating the 50th anniversary with a special feature length episode being broadcast in over 80 different countries simultaneously (in HD and 3D) and getting cinema screenings in numerous countries as well.
I am also taking this occasion as an opportunity to regenerate my website, following a huge drop in my contentment and confidence in my previous host. I will be using Blogspot.com to finally get my main reviews under way, starting at the very beginning. My personal way of marking this anniversary shall be to watch that first episode this afternoon at 5:16, exactly fifty years after the original broadcast and from there I invite you to join me on a journey through time as I watch and review each story in order... hopefully one each week...
