Doctor Who became a British institution almost from the first episode, broadcast in 1963. It went on to become the country’s longest-running science fiction television series. There were seven different Doctors: scores of actors played the Doctors’ companions. Doctor Who had its ups and downs, but the late 1980s — the tenure of Sylvester McCoy as the seventh and last Doctor (so far) — saw the series flower creatively even as the audience figures continued gently to decline. There was a new Doctor; a new script editor; new writers with big new ideas.