Happy Birthday, Doctor!

46 years ago today this mysterious, cantankerous old man first appeared on British TV screens in flickering black and white. At first an untrustworthy and selfish character ( he more-or-less kidnapped his granddaughter's school teachers and plunged them all back into the Stone Age ), the Doctor soon mellowed into a charming and mischievous old rogue, who could still hold his own against Daleks and Cybermen, kings and emperors.

The Doctor has come a long way since those humble beginnings in 1963 and we will soon see him change again when David Tennant makes way for another tenant ( sorry! ) in the Tardis. But it's worth remembering that it all started with this strange old man and his Police Box, hiding in a junkyard in London, waiting to take us on adventures in time and space.....

So, here's to all the hundreds of people who have worked on the show over the decades, and especially the late, great William Hartnell who first brought the character so vividly to life.

"Have you ever thought what it's like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension? Have you? To be exiles? Susan and I are cut off from our own planet, without friends or protection. But one day we shall get back. Yes, one day, one day....."

The Doctor - An Unearthly Child, November 23rd 1963.