Doctor Who Facts

After the Christmas-making brilliance of the festive episode, we've been waiting some time for the new season of Doctor Who to start. But thankfully, that agonising wait is over as of tonight, so we decided to compile a list of 40 Doctor Who-related facts with which to amaze, and maybe frighten, your drinking buddies down the pub, once you've watched the new episode of course.

We are all Whovians now.

You can also read our interview with Matt Smith here, ogle Karen Gillan here or take our fiendish quiz here.

Stock up on all the Doctor Who goodies you'll ever need right here.

(Images: All Star, Getty, Rex Features)

Doctor Who Facts

The first episode of Doctor Who was broadcast at 5.15pm on 23 November 1963, the day after President Kennedy was assassinated.

Doctor Who Facts

Due to the Kennedy shooting and a power cut affecting large parts of the country, the first episode, An Unearthly Child, was repeated the following Saturday before the screening of the second episode.

Doctor Who Facts

William Hartnell the first Doctor earned 250 guineas an episode.

Doctor Who Facts

The show’s iconic theme tune was conceived by composer Ron Grainer and bought to life by BBC Radiophonic Workshop member Delia Derbyshire. In a world before synthesisers and samplers, Derbyshire had to create the electronic sounds herself using oscillators and combining sounds on individual tape recorders. Upon hearing Derbyshire’s painstaking labour of love, Grainer asked her: “Did I really write that?” To which Derbyshire replied: “Most of it.”

Doctor Who Facts

The TARDIS was originally intended to change form for every episode and reflect something from that particular episode’s time period. This was shown to be financially prohibitive so the producers hit on the idea of a malfunctioning TARDIS resembling a London police telephone box after the initial 1963 visit.

Doctor Who Facts

Doctor Who is not the character’s real name. He only introduces himself as, merely, The Doctor.

Doctor Who Facts

Donald Baverstock, BBC1’s chief of programmes in 1963, was insistent that the show should be historically and scientifically educational. He told the production team that “less prosaic dialogue” was needed.

Doctor Who Facts

The Tardis cost £4,328 to build.

Doctor Who Facts

The Doctor is in fact a real doctor. An early episode confirmed that he took a medical degree in Glasgow in 1888.

Doctor Who Facts

During the 60s if the Daleks failed to appear in an episode viewing figures would fall.

Doctor Who Facts

TV campaigner Mary Whitehouse was an outspoken critic of the show in the 70s and 80s, decrying what she saw as frightening content for children (even though the show was always designed as family entertainment). Interestingly enough this was the show’s heyday, both with children and in terms of viewers watching. One producer, John Nathan-Turner, said he welcomed Whitehouse’s comments because they often led to a ratings rise.

Doctor Who Facts

A Dalek appeared on a stamp, photographed by Lord Snowdon, celebrating British popular culture in 1999.

Doctor Who Facts

Nine actors have portrayed the Doctor’s nemesis, The Master: Roger Delgado, Peter Pratt, Geoffrey Beevers, Anthony Ainley, Gordon Tipple, Eric Roberts, Derek Jacobi, John Simm and William Hughes.

Doctor Who Facts

Pink Floyd, Orbital (with whom Matt Smith appeared onstage at the 2010 Glastonbury Festival), The Pogues, Thin Lizzy and comedians Bill Bailey and Mitch Benn have all covered the theme tune.

Doctor Who Facts

The idea of the Doctor’s regenerations – where one Doctor morphs into the next incarnation – was based upon on bad LSD trips according to internal BBC memos.

Doctor Who Facts

The fourth Doctor, Tom Baker is currently the longest-serving actor to play the Time Lord. His memorable scarf and hat combo featured in the TARDIS between 1974 and 1981.

Doctor Who Facts

Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, worked as a script editor on the 17th series in 1979. References to Doctor Who appear throughout Adams's work.

Doctor Who Facts

BBC carried out audience research in 1972 that found the show was considered to be one of the most violent on television.

Doctor Who Facts

Asteroid 3325 a small main belt asteroid discovered in 1984, is named TARDIS after the Doctor’s time/space machine.

Doctor Who Facts

Roy Skelton, voice of Zippy and George on Rainbow also provided the voices of the Daleks, Cybermen, the Monoids and the Krotons.

Doctor Who Facts

The original series of Doctor Who ran for 26 seasons on BBC1 until 1989, when, after poor viewing figures, it was cancelled.

Doctor Who Facts

Former Goon Michael Bentine was offered the part of the Doctor after Jon Pertwee announced he was departing. However, after Bentine asked for creative control the offer was withdrawn. Bernard Cribbins (who would later appear as the tenth Doctor’s companion Wilfred Mott, pictured), Jim Dale and Fulton McKay were also considered before Tom Baker was confirmed.

Doctor Who Facts

In the late 80s as the popularity of the show plummeted, one of the programme’s co-creators, Sydney Newman, suggested the BBC should consider casting a female in the role of Doctor.

Doctor Who Facts

Eccleston was the third actor to play the ninth Doctor after Rowan Atkinson (in a Comic Relief spoof) and Richard E Grant (website series). Grant also appeared as the tenth Doctor in the Comic Relief special.

Doctor Who Facts

Two regenerations have not been portrayed onscreen. Patrick Troughton to Jon Pertwee and Paul McGann to Christopher Eccleston.

Doctor Who Facts

Joanna Lumley is the only woman to play the Doctor. Her Time Lady appeared as the thirteenth Doctor in the aforementioned Comic Relief spin-off.

Doctor Who Facts

The 1965 episode, Mission To The Unknown, is the only one not to feature the Doctor. It served as an introduction to the 12-part story, The Daleks’ Master Plan.

Doctor Who Facts

According to Sylvester McCoy, the Doctor fought a covert war against Thatcher and her political creed. He confided in a recent interview: “We were young, politically motivated and it seemed the right thing to do. Our feeling was that Margaret Thatcher was far more terrifying than any monster the Doctor had had encountered."

Doctor Who Facts

The actors who played the first six Doctors - William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker – all appear in a family tree featured in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Neutral Zone.

Doctor Who Facts

Laurence Fishburne and Tom Selleck were linked with the role when talk of a blockbuster movie surfaced in the 90s. Johnny Depp was linked with the role when rumours resurfaced last year of a big screen Hollywood adaptation.

Doctor Who Facts

Current Doctor Matt Smith was the first actor to be nominated for a BAFTA. He lost out to Daniel Rigby and his portrayal of Eric Morecambe in Eric and Ernie.

Doctor Who Facts

During his travels throughout time the Doctor has encountered, met and in some cases even befriended the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare, Vincent van Gogh, H. G. Wells, Albert Einstein, Mao Tse Tung, Richard The Lionheart, Wyatt Earp, Marco Polo, Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie, Queen Victoria, Elizabeth 1 and Winston Churchill. Janis Joplin gave the 10th Doctor (Tennant) his distinctive brown overcoat.

Doctor Who Facts

Peter Davison’s daughter Georgia Moffett auditioned for the part of Rose, which was eventually played by Billie Piper. Moffett did finally appear in the show as the Doctor’s cloned daughter Jenny. Moffett is currently engaged to David Tennant and gave birth to their daughter in March this year.

Doctor Who Facts

In 1972, Jon Pertwee released a spoken word version of the Doctor Who theme called Who Is The Doctor.

Doctor Who Facts

Peter Cushing appeared as an Earth born scientist named Dr. Who in two mid-60s films, Dr. Who & The Daleks and Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. These two films are not considered part of the Doctor Who canon.

Doctor Who Facts

The Beatles appeared on the show in 1965 in footage of them performing Ticket To Ride. The recording of that performance from Top of the Pops has since been lost making their appearance on Doctor Who the only remaining footage.

Doctor Who Facts

The BBC owns the copyright to the design of the Police Box used for the TARDIS. It bought the copyright from the Metropolitan Police.

Doctor Who Facts

Bernard Bresslaw, John Cleese, Rodney Bewes, Richard Todd, Beryl Reid, Peter Wyngarde, Honor Blackman, Brian Blessed, Joan Sims, Ken Dodd, Richard Briers, Alexei Sayle, Simon Callow, Davina McCall, Simon Pegg, Peter Capaldi, Timothy Dalton, Lee Evans, Peter Kay, Kylie Minogue, David Morrissey, James Corden, Barbara Windsor, Mike Skinner, Bill Nighy and Anne Widdecombe are just a few actors and celebrities to have appeared on the show.

Doctor Who Facts

Two Play School presenters were killed by Daleks. Brian Cant was murdered in The Daleks Masterplan and Chloe Ashcroft was shot by a Dalek replica in Resurrection of the Daleks.

Doctor Who Facts

Doctor Who is currently BBC Worldwide’s biggest selling TV show around the world.