Television: Science Fiction

See also Gerry Anderson.

Doctor Who

Showrunners

I first came across this term in December 2018, when I was asked which programme the third person listed below was the Showrunner for. If you've never heard it before, Wikipedia may be able to help.

2005–10		Russell T. Davies
2010–18		Steven Moffat
2018–		Chris Chibnall

Other

Doctor Who's home planet		Gallifrey
Organ that Doctor Who has two of, while humans have only one		Heart
Daleks' home planet		Skaro
Megalomaniac creator and master of the Daleks		Davros
BBC Head of Drama 1962–70, mainly responsible for developing Dr. Who		Sydney Newman
Title of the first series (1963)		An Unearthly Child

Doctor Who has been played (on TV) by:

1	1963–6		William Hartnell
2	1966–9		Patrick Troughton
3	1970–4		Jon Pertwee
4	1974–81		Tom Baker
5	1981–4		Peter Davison
6	1984–6		Colin Baker
7	1986–7		Sylvester McCoy
8	1996		Paul McGann
9	2005		Christopher Eccleston
10	2006–10		David Tennant
11	2010–13		Matt Smith
12	2013–17		Peter Capaldi
13	2018–22		Jodie Whittaker
14	2023		David Tennant
15	2023–		Ncuti Gatwa

Tom Baker played the Doctor for longer than anyone else (seven years). Jon Pertwee, David Tennant and Peter Capaldi have each played him for four years. Jodie Whittaker was the first female Doctor.

First appeared in The Invisible Enemy, 1977 (with Tom Baker); created by Professor Marius in the year 5000		K–9
Doctor Who was played in both films (Dr. Who and the Daleks 1965, Daleks — Invasion Earth: 2150 AD 1966) by		Peter Cushing
Aliens who first appeared in The Tenth Planet – William Hartnell's last series (1966)		Cybermen
Rival Time Lord, originally played by Roger Delgado (1971–3); also played by Derek Jacobi (2007) and John Simm (2007–10), among others		The Master
Female incarnation of the Master, introduced 2014, played by Scottish actress Michelle Gomez		Missy
Metal lethal to Cybermen		Gold
Award–winning writer behind the 2005 revival		Russell T. Davies
Played Stephen Taylor, a space pilot and companion to the first Doctor (1965–6)		Peter Purves
Assistant played by Elisabeth Sladen (1973–6), who went on to have her own series on CBBC (2007–11 – ended by the actress's death from cancer, aged 65)		Sarah Jane Smith
Time traveller who marries the Doctor in his Matt Smith incarnation (played by Alex Kingston)		River Song
Assistant to Christopher Eccleston's Doctor, played by Billie Piper		Rose Tyler
Assistant to David Tennant's Doctor, played by Freema Agyeman		Martha Jones
Donna Noble – assistant to David Tennant's Doctor, in the 2006 Christmas special The Runaway Bride, and in the 2008 series: played by		Catherine Tate
Appeared in a 2006 episode as Victor Kennedy and his alter ego the alien Abzorbaloff		Peter Kay
Spin–off series, set in Cardiff – originally broadcast 2006–11: title is an anagram of Doctor Who!		Torchwood
Character played by John Barrowman in the above: leader of the eponymous rogue covert agency, which investigates extraterrestrial incidents on Earth and scavenges alien technology for its own use		Capt. Jack Harkness
Graham O'Brien – an assistant to the thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) was played by		Bradley Walsh

Star Trek

The original series (1966–9)

Producer and scriptwriter		Gene Roddenberry
Set in (century CE)		23rd
Registration number of the USS Enterprise		NCC 1701
Scottie's first name		Montgomery
Scottie was played by		James Doohan
Spock's role on the Enterprise: First Officer, and		Science Officer
Spock's home planet, and the species of his father		Vulcan
The Vulcan greeting, used along with their distinctive salute – devised by Leonard Nimoy (and made famous by his character, Spock)		Live long and prosper
Spock's human mother		Amanda Grayson
Spock's father (a Vulcan ambassador to the United Federation of Planets, and son of the first Vulcan ambassador to Earth)		Sarek
Vulcans' blood, being based on copper, is (colour)		Green
The Starship Enterprise is powered by		Dilithium crystals
Captain Kirk's middle name		Tiberius
Villains – "You will be assimilated", "Resistance is futile"		The Borg
The doctor on USS Enterprise, played by DeForest Kelley		Leonard McCoy
Dr. McCoy's nickname		Bones
Main weapons used on USS Enterprise		Phasers
		Photon torpedoes

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–94)

Captain of the Enterprise		Jean–Luc Picard
Played by		Patrick Stewart
First Officer – played by Jonathan Frakes		William Riker
Helmsman (in the first season); later (from the second season) chief engineer – played by LeVar Burton		Geordi La Forge
Chief of security and tactical officer, played by Denise Crosby (left at the end of the first season)		Natasha 'Tasha' Yar
Second officer and operations officer (an android) – played by Brent Spiner		Lt. Commander Data
Bar tender Guinan: played by (Oscar–winning actress)		Whoopi Goldberg
Commander Data's cat		Spot
Played poker with Data and holograms of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, in an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation – the only person to appear in any Star Trek episode as himself		Stephen Hawking

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–9)

Commander of the space station		Benjamin Sisko
Played by		Avery Brooks

Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001)

Captain of the USS Voyager – played by Kate Mulgrew

Kathryn Janeaway

Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–5)

Captain of the Enterprise		Jonathan Archer
Played by		Scott Bakula

Other

The Cyclons were a race of evil robots, that appeared in			Battlestar Galactica
Featured crew members Avon, Jenna, Vila, Gan, Cally, Zen, Orac, Dayna, Tarrant, Soolin			Blake's 7
Featured spacecraft called Liberator and Scorpio, and computers Orac, Zen and Slave
Name shared by the character played by Roddy McDowall in the 1974 TV version of Planet of the Apes, a minor character in the original 1968 film, and (in Anglicised form) a prominent Roman surgeon of Greek origin who lived in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD			Galen
NBC series, 2006–10 (about ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities): tagline "Save the cheerleader, save the world"			Heroes
Short–lived NBC series, 1975: inspired by an H. G. Wells novel, starred David McCallum as scientist Daniel Westin			The Invisible Man
Alien spacecraft hijacked by Blake's 7			Liberator
Featured Major Don West, the pilot of the spacecraft (Jupiter 2), and Dr. Zachary Taylor, a sinister scientist and medical practitioner			Lost in Space
Sci–fi comedy drama series, broadcast on the Fox channel (2017–): created by Seth Macfarlane, and starring him as Captain Ed Mercer; named after the spaceship that Mercer is given as his first command			The Orville
US series, 1989–93: starred Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a time–travelling physicist, and Dean Stockwell as his womanising best friend Al Calavicci			Quantum Leap
Leader of the British space programme, in three influential BBC science fiction serials of the 1950s (also on ITV in 1979, and a BBC4 remake in 2005) – in which a manned spaceflight is made, with disastrous results			Bernard Quatermass
Lost in Space: surname of the central family (acknowledging the inspiration for the series)			Robinson
Featured a comical robot called Twiki (created for the TV series; voiced by Mel Blanc)			Buck Rogers in the 25th century
ITV series, 1979–82, starring (in the title roles) Joanna Lumley and David McCallum as two "interdimensional operatives" "guarding the order of time"			Sapphire and Steel
Netflix series (2016–22): "sci–fi horror drama" series, created by the Duffer brothers (Matt and Ross Duffer); set in the fictional Indiana town of Hawkins, in 1983, described (by Wikipedia) as "an homage to ... Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Stephen King, and George Lucas, among others"			Stranger Things
Dr. Who spin–off, set in Cardiff (2006) – title is an anagram of Doctor Who! Central characters are Capt. Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Dr. Owen Harper			Torchwood
1983: two–part miniseries about an alien invasion of Earth: spawned a three–part sequel, a 20–episode series in 1984–5, and a "reimagining" in 2009 (single–letter title)			V
TV series, 1964–8, based on a 1961 film of the same name; created by Irwin Allen, starred Richard Baseheart and David Hedison			Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Cigarette Smoking Man is a sinister, silent observer in			The X–Files
One of the lead characters had a poster in his office, with the slogan I WANT TO BELIEVE
The X–files	Fox Mulder		David Duchovny
	Dana Scully		Gillian Anderson

© Haydn Thompson 2017–24