The Doctor (Doctor Who) and therefore cannot be spoken. The character played by Peter Cushing in the films "Dr. Who and the Daleks" and "" referred to himself as "Dr. Who". However, these films are not considered part of the same narrative continuity as the television programme, as they were based upon two television serials featuring William Hartnell and made considerable alterations to the characters of the Doctor and his companions. Quite apart from his name, why the Doctor uses the title "The Doctor" has never been fully explained on screen. The Doctor, at first, said that he was not a physician, often referring
Doctor Who spin-offs late stage of its development. He considered it to be "a spin-off too far", despite the production having been commissioned and budgeted by the controller of BBC One. Novelisations based upon individual "Doctor Who" serials were first published in the mid-1960s, the first being "Dr. Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks" by David Whitaker, a loose adaptation of the show's second serial, "The Daleks". "Doctor Who" novelisations became something of a tradition beginning in the early 1970s when Target Books (initially published by Universal-Tandem, later to become part of W.H. Allen & Co and then Virgin Publishing) began