UPDATED: Record breaker?

Does Stargate really beat Who as longest running show?

When the 2007 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records landed on the Doctor Who website team's desk, we were eager to see if Doctor Who gets another mention in the new volume.

It does, but not quite in the way were expecting.

Baffled by its claims, we asked Tom Spilsbury, the statistically-minded assistant editor of Doctor Who Magazine, to do the maths for us:

"I was pleased to see that Doctor Who is mentioned on page 178, as 'the longest-running science-fiction TV series'," says Tom, "although there have been 723 episodes now, not just 709, tsk!

"But I was left rather baffled by the entry on page 180, which lists the record for 'Longest running sci-fi TV show (consecutive)'.

"The book has awarded this particular record to the US series Stargate SG-1, which started in July 1997 and had notched up 203 episodes, beating the previous record of 202, allegedly held by The X Files. (There's even a picture of the SG-1 cast with their certificate!)

"Why isn't Doctor Who given this record, when the programme had a new series of episodes every year without fail between 1963 and 1989, racking up 695 episodes in the process? Why doesn't this count as a much longer 'consecutive' run? Surely 695 consecutive episodes beats 203, doesn't it?"

UPDATED:

Although the sums involved have sparked much debate, the editor of Guinness World Records, Craig Glenday has this to say:

"Doctor Who is without question the longest running science fiction show in terms of years. Stargate SG-1 has run without a break since it first hit our screens in 1997, however, so is the longest show with consecutive back to back episodes."

Since its launch in 1997, Stargate SG-1 is now in its 10th series and has notched up 203 episodes without a break. This new record has knocked off previous record holder The X Files, which ran to 202 episodes.

Russell T Davies, writer and Executive Producer of Doctor Who, commented: "This achievement is all thanks to the remarkable production team who first created Doctor Who in 1963, and the audience, who've kept it alive for all these years."

David Tennant seemed delighted as he received a certificate recognising the acheivement earlier this week.

Send us your comment now. We'll publish the best on this page.

James
To be fair due to the hiatus in 1985 Doctor Who's longest continuous run was actually 63 - 84. But either way it was longer than Stargate.

Eric Strauss
I like Stargate, but love Dr. Who, and yes Dr. who should have the title of longest running Scifi show.

Henry Eggleton
Looks like a case of pandering to an American series without bothering to check the fact

Mark Egerton
This is a good, and rather painless, reminder to all Dr Who fans that you really can't take things like the Guinness book of records at face value. At the end of the day Guinness is more about beer than facts!!!

Natalie
Doctor Who is the best TV and should have got it instead of Stargate. I liked the Old Stargate shows as well but nothing can beat homegrown tv. GO DOCTOR WHO

Callumwho
I think Doctor Who is way better and should have that record given to the rightful owners

Cameron Mason
If Guinness had just listed Stargate as the "Longest running sci-fi TV show (US)", there would have been no problems...

Simon stewart
Seems the americans think they do everything bigger and better do the maths they will be claiming they won the ryder cup next!

Jamie Wilkin
Isn't it just a case of a mistake being made in the Guinness Book of Records? In this case they have just omitted the longest running scifi series in North America from the entry.

Dave W
Could it be that Stargate as a show has the longest unbroken run of any program currently on air? Although Dr Who is far older and better it's current unbroken run is only 2 years. Catch my drift?

Peter 405 Lines
I cannot believe this, the Guiness book of records is generally well respected, they need to get their facts right!! I hope this is properly amended AND awarded to Dr Who.

TARDIS Maid
Is it possible that the Guinness researchers excluded Doctor Who because there were so many episodes lost and still not recovered? Maybe they're going by the "if you can't see it, it's not there" approach, which would also be silly.

Charlie Kirchoff
When I was at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2005 I had read something about Stargate SG-1 that mentioned it as the longest running Scifi Show, and I thought it must have been a mistake by whoever wrote that. They have to go another 22 and a half seasons to make that claim.

Nick Scovell
What an utterley curious error! However, could the category of longest running mean an uninterrupted run? This might account for it. I know that US series tend to be rather long! Otherwise, baffling!

Robbie
Wouldn't SG1 be the longest running consecutive show STILL RUNNING? I know Doctor Who's still running, but it did break for the 14 years...

JannaGalaxy
Even though I am a Stargate fan, and when I heard about this claim I thought wait a minute Dr. Who has been on longer. Maybe the researchers think that the only scifi done is in the states.

Matthew
I was disappointed to read your article on Doctor Who apparently under running Stargate. It is unfortunate to note that the new series production codes don't continue from the old.This may be part of the reason Doctor Who was ignored.

Dalekdude
They were probably jealous of Doctor Who, or they didn't do enough reseach to see that there was actually a series that started in 1963,not only 2005!

Karl Fordham
I'd been wondering about this my own self ever since I first read SG-1's claim. SG-1's okay, but it's a strange claim to make. Glad someone did the maths for me! Really want to know what the exciting development is!

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