Top 10 interesting facts about Doctor Who
10. The TARDIS truth. Everyone knows the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside (think Hermione's purse). And you probably already know it's an acronym that stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. But did you know the sound effect used for the TARDIS comes from rubbing a key and the bass strings of a piano together? That's right, the iconic TARDIS sound is much easier to produce at home than you thought! Later modified by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the recording is still used in multiple variations for today's episodes!
9. Lions, and tigers, and Daleks, oh my! The multiple Doctor incarnations and various companions have together encountered and fought with nearly 400 different species of aliens, monsters, and villains, including The Ood, The Cybermen, and Weeping Angels. But it goes without saying that The Doctor's most famous enemies of all time are the Daleks. These fearsome foes made their first appearance on Doctor Who on 21 December 1963 in the cliffhanger ending of the episode "The Dead Planet". They became widely known for their catchphrase "EXTERMINATE" and are widely considered to be The Doctor's true archnemeses. In 2010, they were voted by readers of SFX as the "greatest monsters in the galaxy."
8. A famous anagram. Tapes of early episodes were labelled "Torchwood", an anagram of "Doctor Who", in order to prevent people from stealing them after the show became overwhelmingly popular. The codeword later became the title of the show's spin-off series, which ran for four series from 2006 until 2011 and spawned from the hit 2005 revival of Doctor Who.
7. The lost episodes. In the 1960s and 70s, BBC would often destroy original TV tapes rather than archive them and they didn't change their archiving policy until 1978. This means that a total of 253 episodes of Doctor Who were destroyed. However, many have luckily been recovered thanks to overseas broadcasters and now only 97 of the 253 lost episodes remain unaccounted for.
6. Famous fans. Both David Tennant (the 10th Doctor) and Peter Capaldi (the twelfth Doctor) were big Doctor Who fans when they were growing up. Tennant's grandmother even knit him an overlong scarf once, which was made famous by the 4th Doctor played by Tom Baker. He also admitted to having watched nearly every single episode as a kid. Meanwhile, Capaldi regularly wrote letters to the show's production office and wanted to start a Doctor Who Fan Club.
5. History gets several rewrites. The Doctor has met a number of famous historical figures throughout his time travels, including William Shakespeare, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill, and Queen Elizabeth I.
4. Coining new words. Just like how the word "muggle" earned J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series an entry into the Oxford English Dictionary, Doctor Who managed to add the words "Dalek" and "TARDIS" to the OED due to popular demand.
3. Bow ties are in. After Matt Smith said "Bow ties are cool" in his first appearance as the eleventh Doctor, bow tie sales skyrocketed by 94% for one high street store in just a month.
2. Doctor Who theme music and title sequence. There have been over a dozen different title sequences for Doctor Who, with the theme music composed by Ron Grainer and created by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. A number of remixes of the theme song have also come out since, and Matt Smith even performed a version of it with Orbital at the 2010 Glastonbury Festival.
1. You only get one shot. Many of the show's earlier episodes were filmed in a single take. Which meant that if an actor messed up their lines, their co-stars had to jump in and help them.
Bonus Fact: Doctor Who Time Fracture experience just £56 for two tickets!
Now is your one shot to save the universe from total annihilation! Are you up for the challenge? Meet all the fantastic characters you know and love as you immerse yourself in the spectacular world of Doctor Who! Be the Time Lord of your dreams and book your tickets for Doctor Who: Time Fracture at Immersive LDN today! This socially distanced, immersive theatre experience is now booking for performances from 17 February until 30 May 2021 with many different time slots available.