The whole world has been turned into space geeks in the last week, with the release of the first images taken by NASA’s new James Webb telescope (a significant upgrade on Hubble). The most astonishing photograph was the deepest and sharpest image ever taken of the universe, which looks so far back in time, it can see some of the first stars and galaxies that were born after the Big Bang. And the people behind long-running science fiction series Doctor Who say that the image looks familiar.
Doctor Who is the longest-running science fiction television show in the world and was first broadcast on November 23, 1963 – the day after John F. Kennedy was assassinated. One of the most distinctive things about Doctor Who is its opening titles and theme music, which was one of the first examples of electronic music being used on television.
The iconic opening title music is accompanied by visuals which give the viewer the impression that they are flying through space very fast, with stars whooshing past them. The stars have 4 streaks of light coming out of them, which is how they would have been seen via Hubble. The James Webb telescope depicts stars with six streaks of light.
The example of the opening titles that the official Doctor Who account used to compare to the James Webb image features the sixth doctor, Colin Baker who held the title from 1984-86.
You can see Doctor Who’s tweet below;
We’ve seen this one before… 🤔✨ https://t.co/4IbjHl2hqz pic.twitter.com/tkj0y4Pcq5
— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) July 12, 2022
Doctor Who will be celebrating its 60th anniversary next year with a special episode that will bring back David Tennant and Catherine Tate. It will also introduce the new Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa and his companion Yasmin Finney.
Check out our guide to the best sci-fi series.