One of the most iconic and important stories in the history of Doctor Who hit our screens 62 years ago today, and changed the shape of the series for good. Doctor Who originally premiered just over 62 years ago on November 23, 1963, and, despite a 16-year break from 1989 to 2005, is still going strong today. The series has become the longest-running sci-fi show in TV history, and is celebrated as one of the most popular, successful, and beloved British TV shows ever, but it was almost a very different story back when it began.
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The First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his new companions, his granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) and her teachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), had an altercation with a Paleothic tribe in Doctor Who’s first ever serial, “An Unearthly Child.” This established Doctor Who’s original intention—to be an educational series primarily for children exploring historical periods. However, the shows’ second serial, which premiered on December 21, 1963, took viewers to another world and introduced an alien species, the Daleks, changing everything for Doctor Who.
How “The Daleks” Changed Doctor Who Forever
“The Daleks” comprised seven episodes released between December 21, 1963, and February 1, 1964, meaning its first episode is 62 years old today. Doctor Who had originally been devised as a family programme that would implement time travel in order to teach people about different historical periods, and a lot of the First Doctor’s era followed this theme, examining the likes of the Aztecs, Marco Polo, the French Revolution, the Romans, the Third Crusade, the Trojan War, and more. However, “The Daleks” altered this original intention massively by bringing the Doctor and his companions to a fictional alien world.
“The Daleks” established Doctor Who as a series that could do it both. The show could explore historical events and be somewhat educational for younger audiences, while also sending the Doctor to the far future and alien worlds to battle extraterrestrial antagonists. This balance surely secured Doctor Who’s future, whereas the series could have died on the vine if it had just explored historical time periods. Introducing aliens such as the Daleks, the Sensorites, the Menoptra, and even the Time Lords in its early years set up the show for a huge expansion in subsequent years.
The Daleks, specifically, have become Doctor Who’s most frequent and longest-running antagonists since their debut in 1963. They and their creator, Davros, have presented a significant threat to the Doctor on many occasions over the years, and even fought all Time Lords during the Last Great Time War, making them the most prominent and terrifying foe to the Doctor. All this was made possible by Terry Nation’s work on Doctor Who’s “The Daleks,” establishing a clear future for the series and transforming its format completely.
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