| The following article is written from an Out of Universe perspective. |
Series 1 of The World of Doctor Who was produced by WhoStudios, for BBC Studios and CBS Studios. It was aired on BBC One concurrently with its Paramount+ release in the United States. It starred Adjoa Andoh as the Toymaker.
Overview
Origins
The World of Doctor Who was intended as a one-off experiment as part of the Doctor Who 60 celebrations. Originally announced the previous year at ODWC, its premise was continually shrouded in mystery until the broadcast of The Other World, whereby Adjoa Andoh was revealed to be playing the Toymaker, who she continues to play throughout The World of Doctor Who.
Style
The conceit of The World of Doctor Who, by its creator, Pete McTighe, was to make an experimental, part-documentary, part-narrative explainer series about the history of Doctor Who. However, it had one important golden rule that no clips were allowed. It would not be a clip show.
Using an interesting array of props, a whole load of elaborate interactive computer generated graphics, body doubles and deepfakes, as well as the return of some key members of the Doctor Who alumni, the history of Doctor Who could be portrayed almost entirely by Adjoa Andoh in a studio full of nothing but black drapes. Each episode was structured to be about a different topic, beginning with the Doctor, then the Companion, the Daleks, the Master, the Monsters, Gallifrey, the Earth and finally the times where the Doctor met themselves, aka the Anniversaries.
Marketing
While the marketing branded the show as The World of Doctor Who with Adjoa Andoh, its official name was just The World of Doctor Who and that is the name that was displayed in the opening titles. The titles themselves featured the camera moving on a track through a long corridor with body doubles dressed as each Doctor, faced away, lining the walls, as text appears in the centre. Firstly “Starring Adjoa Andoh”, then the “The World of Doctor Who”, followed by “Created by Pete McTighe”, then “Senior Executive Producer: Mal Young”, before cutting to the unified title card. The theme music, and all incidental music, was composed by Sam Watts and was a rendition of both the Toymaker’s theme by David Arnold and the Doctor Who theme by Ron Grainer.
Release
The series was released weekly on Paramount+ and aired weekly on BBC One on Thursday evenings from 5 October for eight weeks through to 23 November, lining up for the last episode about the Anniversaries on the 60th Anniversary itself, making it the primary Doctor Who 60 celebration on television.
Cast
Regular
Recurring
Guest
- Susan Foreman - Carole Ann Ford
- Jo Grant - Katy Manning
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- Sandra Armstrong - Anna Hope
- Erin Stevenson - Montserrat Lombard
- Bertie Reynolds - Alex Jennings
- Voice of the Daleks - Nicholas Briggs
- Davros - Julian Bleach
- The Master - Adjoa Andoh
- Voice of the Cybermen - Nicholas Briggs
- Rassilon - Donald Sumpter
- Barbara Deaconsfield - Caroline Quentin
- Sergeant Benton - John Levene
- Roger Stevenson - Trevor Cooper
Television Stories
| # | Title | Writer | Director | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Doctor | Pete McTighe | Pete McTighe | 5 October 2023 |
| 2 | The Companion | Pete McTighe | Pete McTighe | 12 October 2023 |
| 3 | The Daleks | Pete McTighe | Pete McTighe | 19 October 2023 |
| 4 | The Master | Pete McTighe | Pete McTighe | 26 October 2023 |
| 5 | The Monsters | Pete McTighe | Pete McTighe | 2 November 2023 |
| 6 | Gallifrey | Pete McTighe | Pete McTighe | 9 November 2023 |
| 7 | The Earth | Pete McTighe | Pete McTighe | 16 November 2023 |
| 8 | The Anniversaries | Pete McTighe | Pete McTighe | 23 November 2023 |
Production
Crew
To be added.
Filming
To be added.
Home Media
Physical Media
To be added.