Doctor Who began its record-breaking run on the BBC
On this day · 23 November 1963
On 23 November 1963, the BBC aired the first Doctor Who, launching a time-travel saga that became the longest-running sci-fi TV series.
On 23 November 1963, the BBC broadcast the first episode of Doctor Who, a serial titled “An Unearthly Child.” It introduced a crotchety, white-haired traveller called the Doctor — played by William Hartnell — who roamed time and space in a police-box-shaped ship, the TARDIS.
The launch was nearly lost in the noise of history: the broadcast came the day after the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and went out about 80 seconds late. Wary that distracted viewers had missed it, the BBC repeated the opener a week later before airing part two.
A children’s teatime serial quietly became one of television’s longest-running stories.
The show ran on the BBC for 26 seasons until 1989, then returned in 2005, and its central trick — a hero who regenerates into a new actor — let it outlive every cast. Today it holds a place as the longest-running science-fiction television series.
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