Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records is a long established and authoritative record of achievements in all manner of fields with an annually updated hardback release featuring selected record holding facts and figures.

1990s

 * In 1996, the press kit issued by the Fox Network to promote Doctor Who (1996) contained the statement that the series as a whole had been recognised by Guinness as the world's longest running science fiction series. Guinness had not, at the time, made any official recognition.

2000s

 * The 2001 Guinness World Records included BBC Worldwide’s range of original Doctor Who novels was "the largest fictional series [of novels] built around one principal character"!
 * With over 100 novels, across two ranges between 1996 and 2005, BBC Worldwide was set up by Nuala Buffini and nurtured by Stephen Cole (who also oversaw BBC Video and audio production). The series later came under the control of Benn Dunn and creative consultant Justin Richards.


 * The 2007 Guinness World Records listed Doctor Who as the "longest running science fiction series in the world". It beat the American hit Stargate which in its 10th year held the world record for "longest-running science fiction show (consecutive)".
 * On 26 August 2007, the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester made an attempt at the record for largest gathering of Daleks. To set a record, Guinness required there to be at least fifty individuals in costumes which closely resemble Daleks. On 1 November, the new record was declared at seventy Daleks.
 * On Sunday 26 July 2009 Guinness World Records recognised Doctor Who as "the most successful sci-fi series [in the world]". Guinness granted the award on the basis of broadcast ratings, DVD sales, book sales merchandise sales and iTunes traffic. Showrunner Russell T Davies accepted the honour on behalf of Doctor Who creator Verity Lambert in San Diego at Comic-Con, a comic book and art fair event.
 * "It is too good a show to have just one record," said Guinness editor in chief Craig Glenday. "It's hard to quantify illegal downloads, but we included those as well," Glenday said.


 * The 2010 Guinness World Records listed Doctor Who as the "most successful Science Fiction television series in the world".
 * In Guinness World Records 2010 Torchwood: Children of Earth is recognised as the highest rated sci-fi mini-series of 2009, based on the review score of 80/100 on the website metacritic.com, which aggregates review scores from across the web. The parent show of Torchwood, Doctor Who, is recognised with its own two-page spread.