2007 saw unprecedented success for Doctor Who. The emergence of Torchwood in 2006 gave Doctor Who its first regular-series television spin-off - season one debuting in October and finishing up on January 1st 2007. If that wasn’t enough, January 1st 2007 also saw the debut of a second spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, naturally starring Elisabeth Sladen. While Torchwood was an attempt at an “adult” series and not meant for kids, The Sarah Jane Adventures was the opposite (not that adults couldn’t enjoy or didn’t watch). Both spin-off series became successes in their own right, each going at least four seasons. The Doctor Who franchise was now at its largest, particularly if you were to add the documentary/magazine series Doctor Who Confidential, Totally Doctor Who and Torchwood: Declassified to the mix, it meant 6 different television series related to Doctor Who were being made and regularly aired.

What of the “parent series” (as some called it at the time)? It was so successful that in just its third season it already had a completely different regular cast than it had in its first season, and just kept marching up the ratings. Not too many series can say that. In fact, it is difficult to think of another series that can claim this, and yet it is traditional for Doctor Who (the classic series had done the same thing by its fourth season just over 40 years earlier). Its another example of what a truly unique show Doctor Who is and always has been.