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On November 23, 1963, the BBC launched the world's longest running science fiction television series when it aired the premiere episode of Doctor Who.

On 28 December 1974, with an enigmatic smile, Tom Baker assumed the mantle of Gallifrey's most famous offspring, the Doctor. The coat and long-striped scarf which he adopted later were to become his trademarks in the seven years of the Tom Baker era which followed. Unlike his predecessors, all of Tom Baker's episodes still exist in the BBC Archives.

Each story contains the essential ingredients of time travel, adventure, and the mixing of the ordinary with the fantastical that have always characterized the series, while at the same time being thoroughly in tune with contemporary culture and society. The current Doctor Who is suited for an age defined by irony, technology, celebrity, and the shadow cast by 9/11. It is also a more cinematic series, with fast cutting and special effects that will satisfy viewers brought up on contemporary film and television sci-fi.