Portal:Doctor Who

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Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC about a mysterious time-travelling adventurer known only as "The Doctor". It is also the title of a 1996 television movie featuring the same character. It is common to see the show's title abbreviated as Dr. Who, even by the BBC, although purists consider this form incorrect.

The programme is a significant part of British popular culture, widely recognised for its creative storytelling and use of innovative music (originally produced by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop). It is also known for often having low-budget special effects for most of its history. Elements of the programme are extremely well known and identifiable even to non-fans. In Britain and elsewhere, the show has become a cult television favourite on par with Star Trek and has influenced generations of British television writers, many of whom grew up watching the series. Doctor Who was ranked third in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century, produced by the British Film Institute in 2000 and voted on by industry professionals.

A new series of Doctor Who started on March 26, 2005, a continuation of the original 1963–1989 run and the 1996 television movie and produced in-house by BBC Wales with some development money contributed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). The 2005 series has concluded in Europe, and the programme will be returning for a Christmas special later in the year, followed by a second series.

It is currently being broadcast weekly in Canada (CBC), Australia (ABC) and New Zealand (Prime TV). The series has also been sold to South Korean station KBS.

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Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

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Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Nicholas Courtney. He worked for UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce), an international organisation that defends the Earth from alien threats. He was one of UNIT's founders and head of British operations, and generally referred to simply as the Brigadier or "the Brig".

Lethbridge-Stewart first appeared in the Patrick Troughton Season 5 serial The Web of Fear (1968). By his next appearance in the Season 6 serial The Invasion (1968), he had been promoted to Brigadier and was working with UNIT. When the Third Doctor was exiled to Earth, Lethbridge-Stewart gave him a position as UNIT's scientific advisor.

Initially, Lethbridge-Stewart appeared to be a stereotypical by-the-book martinet. Very often, the Doctor felt frustrated at working with him because the Brigadier's typical response to any threat was to shoot at it (a well-known phrase of his was, "Five rounds, rapid"). In turn, Lethbridge-Stewart was skeptical of the strange phenomena and super science the Doctor habitually encountered, and just as frustrated with the Doctor's eccentricities. However, over the years the two developed a close working and personal relationship as well as mutual respect for each other's abilities. Other military members of UNIT included Captain Mike Yates and Sergeant Benton.

The Brigadier always faced the unknown with unflappable British aplomb. He has shown himself to be a true warrior in combat, ruthless when he has to be, and heroic in the face of the often overwhelming odds that he and UNIT faced over the years. He eventually retired from the military to teach mathematics at a British public school in 1976, as seen in Mawdryn Undead (1983).

As one of the most popular supporting characters in the television series, the Brigadier is often considered a companion of the Doctor and indeed is listed as one on the BBC website's list. Strictly speaking, however, he does not fulfil the traditional companion's role, subordinate to the Doctor's.

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K-9 (voiced by John Leeson), the robot dog and former companion of the Doctor, slightly more battered when it returns in the 2006 series of Doctor Who.

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Inferno (first broadcast from May 9 to June 20, 1970). Image:Dwinferno.jpgThe Inferno project plans to cut through the crust of the Earth to discover a potentially unlimited new source of energy. However, when an experiment throws the Third Doctor into a parallel universe, he discovers the horrible consequences that will result. But even if he makes it back to his own universe, can he convince anybody of what he has seen?

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