Old documents shed light on Doctor Who.

Interesting that execs originally thought the show was too American - it's become as British as Marmite and imperialism. From BBC:

Newly released documents, which reveal the 1960s conception of Doctor Who, show how nervous the BBC was about producing a sci-fi show, writes Tom Geoghegan.

The Doctor without his time-travelling police box is difficult to imagine, but its creators initially proposed he journey through space in an invisible machine covered in light-resistant paint.

[...] The papers, accompanied by previously unseen images at rehearsals, show deep concerns about bringing a science fiction drama to a mainstream audience - "not an automatic winner", says a researcher.

"Even having done something as massive as Quatermass, they didn't have confidence in sci-fi. It was seen as niche and American.