THIS week marks the 60th anniversary of the first-ever episode of Doctor Who airing on TV.
Thursday, November 23 - known by fans as Doctor Who Day - and celebrates the first episode – An Unearthly Child – premiering in 1963.
And later today, Saturday, after a wait of more than a year, the show returns with the first of three special episodes, featuring the return of David Tennant as the iconic Time Lord.
The show – which follows alien Time Lord The Doctor in their time-travelling TARDIS and companions as they save the earth from sci-fi monsters - quickly became a cult favourite in the UK and also gained popularity in the United States.
Doctor Who ran from November 23, 1963, until 1989, before new episodes continued the story from 2005 to the present day.
William Hartnell played the first Doctor for almost three years, and he was followed by Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker – the longest running Doctor - Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy before the series finished in 1989.
Paul McGann became the eighth doctor for a TV movie in 1996 before Christopher Eccleston revived the role for the 2005 continuation of the series. He was followed by David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker – the first female to hold the role.
Actor Ncuti Gatwa will be taking over the role in the next series.
The show – and its spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures – has been filmed in and references Newport on a number of occasions. In 1999 Newport was saved from an alien creature known as a Spiroform.
In 2008 Newport was the scene of a haunting, while a caravan trip is planned to Newport in a 2017 comic.
The episodes Love & Monsters and Blink - considered by many to be the best episode ever made - were also filmed in Newport. Diverse Records was a filming location for the Blink, which featured a pre-fame Carey Mulligan and introduced the Weeping Angels in November 2006.
There was an untidy desk in the storeroom of the store and rather than clearing it up, the programme makers used it as a prop in the episode.
The Shakespeare Code, in which the Doctor and his companion Martha travel to 1599 and meet the playwright, was partly filmed in Newport Market, and the Celtic Manor Resort was used for Arachnids in the UK.
Tredegar House has been used a number of times, including David Tennant’s debut as The Doctor in the 2005 episode The Christmas Invasion.
There is an exhibition at the National Trust property running to coincide with the 60th anniversary showing you where in the house various scenes were filmed. It is well worth a visit.
Victoria Place in Newport was also used as a filming location for the 2008 Christmas special, as well as in scenes filmed in January 2014.
Writer Russell T Davies was said to love how the street looked like a street in London.
St Woolos Cemetery has also appeared, as Cybermen and Cybershades attacked mourners at a funeral procession.
Duffryn High School was also used for the 2006-episode School Reunion.
The school was rebranded Deffry Vale High in the show – and was controlled by an evil head teacher played by Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Anthony Head.
It was also the episode that saw robo-dog sidekick K-9 reappear.
More recently The Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker, visited West Usk Lighthouse to film scenes.
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