Doctor Who (1963-1989): The BBC originally promoted the classic series as an educational programme for children. It follows the adventures of a time-travelling alien known as the Doctor. The stamp depicts the opening titles, the Doctor’s TARDIS (a spaceship which looks like a British police box but has the ability to travel through space and time), and the first appearance of the alien race known as the Daleks (the episode aired 21/12/1963). Doctor Who went into production again in 2005 and has become the longest-running science fiction TV show in history.
The stamp design, poster and text are from one of my favourite student projects. Each stamp depicts an iconic science fiction TV series from the 1960s. I’ve been posting the stamps to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. Happy anniversary, Doctor!
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 
Now that’s a blast from the past! When I was in middle school and high school, my dad and I used to watch Dr. Who religiously. I did not know that it was first intended as children’s educational programming! What a kick!
If you get a chance, watch ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’ — it’s a brilliant retelling of how Doctor Who started.
Sounds like fun! Thanks!
Isn’t it strange? I learnt about the existence of this series three days ago, from an article in New Scientist. Reading about it gave me an eerie feeling of having suddenly jumped into a parallel universe, a universe where history went a slightly different way. Maybe I did :-). So here is something that seems to be one of the cornerstones of existence for British people, one of the basic constants of life, something people remember from their childhood, and I have never ever heard about it in more than 50 years (although I now see that I have seen it on one of those stamps above when you posted them first).
I have read now that the series had been offered to a German TV channel, but they did not take it, so it never became part of my life when I was at the age where I would probably have liked it. I don’t know if that is good or bad. Have I missed something important in life, have I lived in vane now? 😉 I have now learnt that some German trash channel later aired some of it, but that was later, at a time when I had largely lost interest in TV.
Well, there’s no time like the present to see what you’ve been missing… I’ve just watched the 50th anniversary episode and it was fantastic — it would be a great introduction to the series : )
I’ve loved your whole science fiction stamp series! I’ve probably sat staring in wonder at this post for long enough now, though. Time to go and do some productive stuff now. So much to do this weekend – if only I knew where to start. Maybe I’ll just play that Dr Who game on Google for a bit while I plan which chore to do first…
Thank you, Psyren. I had a bit of a go at that Google game but I gave up because I was exterminating too many doctors.
Brilliant Anna ! This has been a great series in your work .
So many people will be tuned into the 50th Anniversary programme tonight .. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25009889 [ hope the link works ]
Is it being broadcast simultaneously in NZ too I wonder ?
Thanks, Poppy. And yes, we’re just about to watch it : )
🙂 YAY
Well that was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Now we’ve seen it twice — on TV and at the movies in 3D. Steven Moffat (the writer) is a bit of a genius : )
WHO is Dr. Who? OK, I know it’s a very popular TV show and my nephew watches it, but I must admit I’ve never seen it nor do I know anything about it. I guess i’ll have to check it out.
Where is your hot air balloon? I came looking for that and found Dr. Who! 🙂
WHO indeed! It’s just a bit of silliness that I’ve been watching since the 1970s : )
Sorry about the balloon. It’s painted and READY to post when I hit 800 followers (I only have 20 to go and with the month before Christmas being such a busy time, I thought I’d better be prepared…) — I’ll let you know when the balloon finally goes ‘up’ (she typed optimistically).
The little balloon has just gone up : )
Oh how fun! I really enjoy Dr Who. How great was the latest episode?! 🙂
It was about as good as it gets (in my humble opinion) — a great way to mark 50 years : )
I’m a huge fan and anxiously awaiting the new Christmas special, the new season, and of course, the new Dr.!
Yes, here we go again : )