The '60s ushered in an absolute and unrelenting obsession with all things outer space and the BBC was not immune to the infection. Films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Barbarella sat side by side with films with such fanciful titles as Mars Needs Women and Planet of the Vampires.
So it made perfect sense to bring that whimsy and love for all things otherworldly to the small box that resided in a good portion of British living rooms. Needing some filler during teatime programming, Doctor Who was born and a long-lasting and iconic world of wonder whooped and whirred into being.
From 1963 to 1989, the strange yet supremely clever Doctor gallivanted amongst the stars, often with companions but sometimes solo. The writing and storylines were reflective of the time and dealt with current events while maintaining its fantastical elements. You got a moralistic tale every episode without it being hammered over the head with it and viewers ate it up. Doctor Who is ageless and so are its fans. Your gran and your baby can sit side by side and spend half an hour to an hour watching the TARDIS spin and the good guys win.
Revival
So why then was there such a long break between McCoy's Seventh Doctor and Eccleston’s Ninth, with McGann's Eighth Doctor appearing all too briefly in-between? And how did the BBC not only get back that fanbase but make it one of the most popular?
Looking at the second part first, we could argue that Eccleston’s good looks and stern demeanor brought in a certain type of viewer (hi, it’s me I’m that certain type of viewer) or it could just be that the timing was right to reintroduce a show with space centric elements.
The new episodes of Doctor Who began airing in 2005 alongside shows like Supernatural, The Ghost Whisperer, and Medium showing that there was a renewed interest in mysticism or outside-of-the-box ways of looking at the world. Additionally, there were a ton of procedural dramas like N3mbers or Law and Order where the show started with a question and if viewers were lucky, the question was answered by the closing credits.
Changing trends
Adding to all of that was an uptick in children's/tween television where they were being afforded the assumption that they could handle weightier subject matter. Hot on the heels of shows like Buffy, Charmed, and Angel in the US as well as The Irregulars and Being Human in the UK, where witches, vampires, and creatures who go bump in the night, a revisitation to the stars seemed to be in order.
This takes us back to the reasoning behind a sixteen-year gap between seasons. Trends had changed, whimsical and outrageous were not in favor, gore and bodice-heaving romance were. But as the wheel always turns, trends came back around and Eccleston ushered in a new era of the Doctor and we have not been okay ever since.
Eccleston led to Tennant, probably the most beloved incarnation of the Doctor, followed by Smith, Capaldi, Whittaker, Tennant again, and finally Gatwa. Each Doctor brings their own special brand of un poco coocoo bananas to the role, while giving us diversity and new travels. They also still keep that special little umph that makes the Doctor the loveable, frustrating. dependable and charming Time Lord we have loved for sixty years. The limit does not exist as to where these new adventures of Doctor Who will take us and I am strapped in and ready for the ride.