TV URBAN LEGEND: The Doctor on Doctor Who was originally going to be called "Doctor Who."
Recently, reader Philip S. wrote to me to ask about the origins of the name Doctor Who, basically, why is the show called Doctor Who if the character is called just "The Doctor" on the show?
Philip wrote:
{A]s many people I'm actually a fan of the TV-series Doctor Who but as many DW-fans outside of Great-Britain, I only know the "New Who"-era so it could be it is just me not knowing the classic show with my issue.
But one thing that I see is constantly being nitpicked and talked about in the fandom is that the character itself isn't called Doctor Who but The Doctor and naming the character The Doctor is wrong. Some even call out others and pop culture references to confuse the show's name for the character's name (like in Big Bang Theory). On the one hand it is of course a bit stupid being too seriously and offensive nitpicking but I always wondered WHY the show is called "Doctor Who" if it isn't even supposed to be the character's (nick)name as some point out. Seems weird. Did something change during the original run? IS Doctor Who maybe even supposed to be a name for him? If I remember correctly, Ecclestone was even credited as Doctor Who and it was Tennant who got that changed.
As I say it is maybe a very minor "problem" but I thought it might be interesting to see what really is behind the show's title and the character's name.
I explained to Philip that the name of the series is basically a running joke on the show, which is that when The Doctor introduced himself/herself, people often ask, "Doctor Who?" and that's the reason the show is called Doctor Who as Doctor Who? probably wouldn't go over as a title.
However, the interesting thing to me is that while I was looking into Philip's question, I discovered that it really WAS true that there WAS a major change early on, not on the show itself, but in the DEVELOPMENT of the series and Doctor Who was, in fact, originally going to star a character that would be known as "Doctor Who!"
The genesis for Doctor Who was something as simple as British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Head of Drama Sydney Newman being told that "we have a hole in our schedule on Saturday afternoons between a sports show and a pop music show, come up with something to fill that gap." Newman decided that the best idea for a show between those two relatively distinctive types of shows would be a science fiction series. When the show actually went into production, it was produced by Verity Lambert (the very first woman producer in the history of the BBC) with David Whitaker in charge of the stories of the show. However, there was a very important period before the show went into production that the series was being developed and longtime BBC producer Rex Tucker was the temporary producer during this period.
Newman worked alongside BBC Head of the Script Department Donald Wilson and writer Cecil Edwin "Bunny" Webber on coming up with the basic concept of this new series, with Newman coming up with the idea of calling the show "Dr. Who" (and yes, I believe he used "Dr." at the time). The three men talked a lot about the new series and then Webber finally sat down and wrote a three and a half page outline for the show called "General Notes on Background and Approach."
Newman heavily edited these notes (and it was Newman who came up with the idea of doing a distinctive way of traveling through time and space that would be bigger on the inside than the outside) and not a whole lot of these original ideas made it into the actual show, but a few of the early parts of the series were evident in Webber's write-up.
You can read the whole thing at Doctor Who News, including the commentary from Newman, but I want to specifically quote the list of characters for the series at first:
CHARACTERS
BRIDGET (BIDDY) A with-it girl of 15, reaching the end of her Secondary School career, eager for life, lower-than-middle-class. Avoid dialect, use neutral accent laced with latest teenage slang.
MISS MCGOVERN (LOLA): 24. Mistress at Biddy's school. Timid but capable of sudden rabbit courage. Modest, with plenty of normal desires. Although she tends to be the one who gets into trouble, she is not to be guyed: she also is a loyalty character.
CLIFF 27 or 28. Master at the same school. Might be classed as ancient by teenagers except that he is physically perfect, strong and courageous, a gorgeous dish. Oddly, when brains are required, he can even be brainy, in a diffident sort of way.
These are the characters we know and sympathise with, the ordinary people to whom extraordinary things happen. The fourth basic character remains always something of a mystery, and is seen by us rather through the eyes of the other three....
DR. WHO A frail old man lost in space and time. They give him this name because they don't know who he is. He seems not to remember where he has come from; he is suspicious and capable of sudden malignance; he seems to have some undefined enemy; he is searching for something as well as fleeing from something. He has a "machine" which enables them to travel together through time, through space, and through matter.
Yep, The Doctor was called "Dr. Who" at the time, and it was the same basic idea that the show ended up going with, "I'm the Doctor." "Doctor Who?" only in this case, the characters decide to keep calling him "Doctor Who" as his actual name going forward and the name obviously stuck for the overall program, even if actually naming him "Doctor Who" did not stick.
The legend is...
STATUS: True
Be sure to check out my archive of TV Legends Revealed for more urban legends about the world of TV.
Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is bcronin@legendsrevealed.com.