Television was a system that allowed people to view broadcast plays, news, drama and comedy. It was a major source of entertainment and information on Earth from the mid 20th century onwards.

In 1903, after receiving a wealth of information from the future, Grigori Rasputin foresaw the creation of television. (AUDIO: The Wanderer)

The television was invented by John Logie Baird during the 1920s and was commonly known as a televisor in its earliest years. On 14 July 1930, the BBC broadcast a television adaptation of The Man With the Flower in His Mouth by Luigi Pirandello. This was the first television drama to be produced in the United Kingdom. Provided that it was successful, the BBC was considering producing a television adaptation of Black Orchid by George Cranleigh. (PROSE: The Wheel of Ice)

By the early 1950s, the sets were already highly developed, although advances would continue to be made. The Wire tried to regain a physical body by using an Alexandra Palace television transmission of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953, but the Tenth Doctor managed to trap her in a video cassette. (TV: The Idiot's Lantern)

On 20 July 1969, according to the Eleventh Doctor, half a billion people watched the Apollo 11 moon landing live on television. (TV: Day of the Moon) Among them were his tenth incarnation and his former companion Martha Jones on four separate occasions. (TV: Blink)

By 1998, television had become interactive thanks to technology introduced by I2. (PROSE: System Shock) By the early 21st century, they were also holographic, capable of 3-D broadcasting. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Warhead)

By 2025, pocket-sized, portable televisions were extremely common. (AUDIO: Energy of the Daleks)

In the far future, television was still a popular past-time. Violent television was much more common than before in such places as the planet Varos and in the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. (TV: Vengeance on Varos, TV: Bad Wolf) Other human nations, such as the New Earth Republic, liked to watch shows from old Earth. (PROSE: Synthespians™)