THE first episode of "Doctor Who", a British science-fiction series, was broadcast the day after President Kennedy's assassination in November 1963 with your four-year-old correspondent watching nervously from the sofa. The show returns to British television screens on March 30th for its 50th anniversary season. The remarkable longevity of the Doctor parallels that of another British hero, James Bond, who celebrated 50 years in cinemas last year.
Both series have survived multiple changes in lead actor; indeed, in "Doctor Who", such changes are an integral part of the plot (the Doctor is a Time Lord whose body regenerates when under great stress). Both have survived wobbly periods in the 1980s when they seemed to lose their hold on public enthusiasm (the later Roger Moore Bond films were painful, as was Timothy Dalton's first outing; "Doctor Who" disappeared, apparently for good, in 1989 after years of cardboard scenery and dodgy acting). But both have had modern revivals which recall the golden age of the 1960s and 1970s. And both have a long fascination with gadgets—Bond has exploding pens and magnetic watches; the Doctor prefers a versatile sonic screwdriver and his spaceship, the Tardis, which not only travels through time but usefully translates all conversations into English.
And both are defiantly British. In the case of Bond, his Britishness has been exported as a global success, while "Doctor Who" remains a cult show outside the UK. Back in 1971, as Sean Connery confronted Blofeld at the end of "Diamonds Are Forever", the villain sardonically remarked: "I don't know why you're here, Bond. Your pathetic country hasn't even been threatened." In the most recent film, "Skyfall", a good deal of the action is on home turf—there was a small cheer in the cinema when Albert Finney, playing the part of a Bond-family retainer, blasted a baddie with a shotgun and proclaimed "Welcome to Scotland!"
The Bond series is really an exercise in wish fulfilment for British audiences; a throwback to the days when Britain still counted in the world and could be considered cool. Bond may get help from the CIA, in the form of Felix Leiter, but he is the only one who can actually save the day and get the girl. He recalls an earlier generation of British gentlemen heroes, such as Bulldog Drummond or Richard Hannay (from "The 39 Steps").
In contrast, the Doctor represents a different British tradition; the absent-minded professor. In his first incarnation, played by William Hartnell (and Peter Cushing in two 1960s film spin-offs), he was a grandfather from the Victorian age, a cranky and not always sympathetic figure. To give the audience someone to root for, he was given companions (initially, his granddaughter and two of her schoolteachers). The tradition of the assistant has been maintained and they are much more glamorous these days. The TARDIS is an old British police box, almost out of date in 1963 but now so iconic it is impossible to replace.
Whereas Bond will finish off his adversary with a gun or a gadget, the Doctor strives to avoid violence, preferring to use his brain to solve the problem. Admittedly, this often involves scientific gobbledegook such as "reversing the polarity", but it does give the show a moral dimension. In the early 1970s it even had an environmental slant, when Jon Pertwee battled to save alien species from extermination by the armed forces under Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
Just as everyone will have their favourite Bond (usually Sean Connery, although Daniel Craig, pictured above right, has his admirers), "Whovians" will have their favourite Doctors. Tom Baker, of the wild-eyed stare (he also played Rasputin on screen), curly locks and long scarf is probably the most recognisable of the early set; David Tennant, with a rockabilly quiff and Converse trainers is the best-loved modern version. Indeed, the characters are so established that one can view each new actor's version as a reincarnation. Mr Craig is a return to Mr Connery's grittiness, following the supersmooth Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan. The eccentricities of Matt Smith, the current Doctor, recall the kindly, flute-playing Patrick Troughton.
Both series look set to survive and prosper. "Skyfall" took more than $1 billion at the box office and has cleverly rebooted the franchise, complete with a new M (Bond's boss), Q (gadget guru) and Moneypenny (female assistant). "Doctor Who's" audience has dipped under Matt Smith (pictured above left) but it is still a mainstay of Saturday-night TV. With Russell Davies and then Steven Moffat as lead writers it has benefited from a much bigger budget and some new villains (the Weeping Angels—statues that move when you close your eyes—are a particularly creepy addition). Old-timers like your correspondent may regret the overcomplicated plots and romantic sub-plots (pre-1989, the Doctor was determinedly asexual), but perhaps they are what a modern audience needs.
As long as the fundamentals remain, the Doctor will survive. An alien menace to mankind and a panicked population, an imperilled assistant and the Doctor, armed only with his wits and his screwdriver, taking a lonely march towards the danger. May his reincarnations never end.
"Doctor Who" Series 7 Part 2 begins on BBC One on March 30th 2013
