It began at a quarter past five on November 23rd, 1963. A new family-orientated television drama series.

It had been hard work. It was a brave gamble by all involved. But the series that would bridge the gap between Grandstand and Juke Box Jury went into the schedule.


And this is what people saw in those historic few minutes when they tuned in on that historic night....

Those amazing credits that even in black and white looked fantastic.

Those words for the first time...



First glimpse of that iconic police box....

The First Episode....


How to use a police public call box...


The most famous science fiction show in the world begins like an ordinary drama set in a comprehensive school....

Reviews were mostly good.


And meanwhile what else was happening in the world?



Well, the Beatles had just knocked Gerry and the Pacemakers off the number one spot in the charts.

1 (2) She Loves You The Beatles
2 (1) You'll Never Walk Alone Gerry & The Pacemakers
3 (5) Don't Talk To Him Cliff Richard & The Shadows
4 (8) I'll Keep You Satisfied Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas
5 (3) Sugar And Spice The Searchers
6 (6) Secret Love Kathy Kirby
7 (13) You Were Made For Me Freddie & The Dreamers
8 (4) Be My Baby The Ronettes
9 (12) Maria Elena Los Indios Tabajaras
10 (7) I (Who Have Nothing) Shirley Bassey
11 (9) Blue Bayou Roy Orbison
12 (10) Memphis Tennessee Chuck Berry
13 (19) It's Almost Tomorrow Mark Wynter
14 (16) Blowin' In The Wind Peter, Paul & Mary
15 (14) Fools Rush In Rick Nelson
16 (15) Then He Kissed Me The Crystals
17 (11) Do You Love Me Brian Poole & The Tremeloes
18 (-) I Only Want To Be With You Dusty Springfield
19 (18) If I Had A Hammer
20 (24) You Momma's Out Of Town Carter-Lewis
21 (-) Money Bern Elliott & The Fenmen
22 (-) Deep Purple Nino Tempo & April Stevens
23 (21) I Wanna Be Your Man The Rolling Stones
24 (27) The Beatles No. 1 (EP) The Beatles
25 (29) Miss You Jimmy Young
26 (20) Busted Ray Charles
27 (-) Glad All Over The Dave Clark Five
28 (17) The First Time Adam Faith & The Roulettes
29 (-) Twist And Shout (EP) The Beatles
30 (-) The Beatles' Hits (EP) The Beatles

An Episode of the cult show The Avengers called The Medicine Men was shown later that night on ITV. Written, by coincidence, by Malcolm Hulke, who would later become a scriptwriter for Doctor Who.


In the USA a national day of mourning was declared for President John F. Kennedy by the newly sworn in President Lyndon B. Johnson.


And in Canada, a UFO was reported to be sighted on the Mattagami River, Northern Ontario! It WASN'T shaped like a British Police Public Call Box.

Whatever happened to Emerald soup?

Did you know that ITV had a children's science fiction programme on at EXACTLY the same time that Doctor Who was broadcast for the same time. Episode Three of the seven part Emerald Soup was actually on the other channel. But does ANYONE remember it? Even IMDB has no record for it, and even though several of the actors in it have pages on that site their part in this series don't appear in their credits. All I could find was this one reference in a British Film Institute listing.

EMERALD SOUP (1963)
Director BAIN, Bill
Production Company ABC Television
Producer BAIN, Bill
Story Editor BOGNER, Norman
Script WOODHOUSE, MartinMore...
Designer MARSHALL, David

Jessica Maxwell - SPENCER, Jessica
John Maxwell - DEXTER, William
Jo Maxwell - FAYE, Janina
Gally Lloyd - LANCHBURY, Karl
Tim Maxwell - PHILLIPS, Gregory
Penny Dalton - ANDRE, Annette
Poynter - BANGERTER, Michael
Mrs Evans - GABRIEL, Ethel
Gaunt - McCLELLAND, Allan
Lee - ABBOTT, Fredric
Pascoe - BUTLER, Blake

This obscure British children's series combined science fiction with pro-ecological sentiments. In a small rural community, a bunch of local kids found out that a laboratory constructed in the vicinity was conducting secret radiation tests. The youngsters then endeavored to stop these tests before any damage could be done -- but alas, it was already too late.

Seven 25-minute episodes of Emerald Soup were broadcast by Britain's ABC service in 1963.