Ahh, the First Doctor. The Doctor. '...the original you might say.' For me, William Hartnell will always be my favourite Doctor of the classic series, and if his era didn't contain my least favourite classic serial (The Gunfighters) and much more of the era was found and available, then he may be my overall favourite. But his era is the origins of Doctor Who itself. If it wasn't for William Hartnell we wouldn't be celebrating 50 years next month. William Hartnell brought the Doctor to life.
In 1963, the Doctor wasn't the life saving, universe travelling and admired hero we know him as today. Oh no, the Doctor is a relatively stubborn and grumpy old man. But I love him and during the Hartnell era we get to see the Doctor begin his adventures through time and space in a blue box, and see his character develop greatly and eventually wind up into the selfless hero we know him as today.
An Unearthly Child sees the introduction of the Doctor and his granddaughter Susan, seperated from their home planet. It's a wonderful introductory story and sees Ian and Barbara barge their way into the TARDIS and visit Earth in 100,00BC. Despite the Doctor kidnapping the school teachers the foursome bond together and unite. The first season of Doctor who has begun.
The Doctor and co encounter the first alien monsters in the second serial, and who would get that prized honour? The Daleks of course. The Daleks is a true spectacle and was even made into a film! It sees the introduction of the Thals also and sees an epic struggle that again helps bond the Doctor with Ian and Barbara. The Edge of Destruction is a vitally important story for the Doctor. It really sees him realising that he needs companions, granted he has his granddaughter there but he's got the authority over Susan, he needs to be controlled in some circumstances. The story really bonds them nicely.
The season then rolls on nicely with two wonderful stories in Marco Polo and The Keys of Marinus before the crew visit the Aztec period of Earth. The Aztecs to me is a massively important serial, it's a good story in its own right although it doesn't rank high in my episode rankings, it sees the Doctor lay down the foundation of all historical adventures to come. 'You can't rewrite history, not one line.' That quote (not entirely sure it's word for word precise) was mesmerising.
Season one finishes on a high with two solid adventures in The Sensorites and The Reign of Terror. The latter is home to one of my most favourite cliffhangers in the history of Doctor Who (the part one ending). So the first season of Doctor Who has ended after 8 serials, which sees the Doctor and Susan, pick up Ian and Barbara and start exploring time and space. They meet some outstanding alien villains in the Daleks, Voord and Sensorites and even meet Marco Polo himself! Overall, Doctor Who is off to a magnificent start.
Season Two starts off uniquely, the TARDIS crew find themselves shrunken and miniature. Planet of Giants is really intriguing and could have been extended in my view. The next serial to come holds a very special place in my heart.
The Dalek Invasion of Earth is just truly spectacular, an absolute epic. It features the first returning enemy with the insanely popular Daleks conquering Earth in the 22nd century. This serial also sees the first departure of a companion. Susan, not by choice, is left on Earth with David whom she has fallen for. The Doctor vows to return one day, but for now the TARDIS crew is minus a member. The story holds sentimental value to me as it was my first ever William Hartnell and first black and white serial I ever watched. And I instantly fell in love with it.
So with Susan gone, The Rescue sees the TARDIS crew pick up Vicki, a young women who was trapped on a crashed space ship. Despite its short format, I really enjoyed this story. The season though took a minor low spell with, based on my last viewing a year ago, the overrated The Rescue, the terrible The Web Planet which I consider the second worst serial in Classic Doctor Who. The only partly missing serial of the season wasn't the greatest but when I listen to the missing parts during my next viewing I hope my opinion on The Crusade changes for the better.
The final three serials of the season were of much better quality and are three of my all time favourites. You have the mysterious The Space Museum which sees the Doctor resorting to hiding in a Dalek! Then comes another Dalek epic with The Chase which sees the Daleks chasing the TARDIS through time and space and the departure of Ian and Barbara, two companions who'd been there from the very beginning. Steven stows on board the TARDIS and a new young leading companion has joined the TARDIS crew.
The season two finale is magnificent, The Time Meddler sees the first villain of the same race as the Doctor, he's even got his own TARDIS! Season two finishes with a flourish and makes up for the low key middle serials.
Sadly, the third season of Doctor Who is tarnished by the idiotic BBC who thought it would be a good idea to wipe or erase the tapes of 1965/6 Doctor Who! Despite it being found, I'm yet to watch the one surviving episode of Galaxy 4 but I've heard great reviews so I look forward to that. Mission to the Unknown features the Daleks once more and is a prelude to the upcoming mammoth serial of the season. The Myth Makers is a story high on my list of missing serials I want to be found. It sees the departure of Vicki and just sounds really great!
The Dalek's Master Plan, a 12 part epic featuring the frightening Time Destructor and return of The Monk is really sought after and the parts that remain were excellently done. I just hope we get it back one day, especially as it sees the Doctor have to deal with the deaths of two, albeit short term, companions.
The Massacre, sadly another serial missing I don't know too much about so I obviously hope that's found! Next up in the season is The Ark which was intriguing in parts but I'm not crazy about it. It sees, to the viewer now, Dodo for the first time and I just think they were trying to recreate the character of Susan. Sadly it failed.
The Celestial Toymaker comes next and is a real tragedy that it's missing. It features the excellent villain of the Toymaker and just sounds marvellous. Sadly the follow up is the serial I consider the worst in Classic Doctor Who, The Gunfighters. I've never been a fan of the Wild West and the serial is just boring and features too much singing. I'm really not a fan at all!
The conclusion of season three sees another companion departure with Steven leaving in The Savages and then Dodo leaving in the fantastic The War Machines. It's a magnificent serial and sees the arrival of one of my all time favourite companions in Polly, who of course is joined by Ben. They stumble aboard the TARDIS and journey into the fourth season. It sees the Doctor pick up what companions are generally like now, with a relatively young companion(s) and sees the Doctor as the senior man. Season there is damaged, but it definitely has its high points!
William Hartnell's time as the Doctor is coming to a close at the beginning of the fourth season. The Smugglers, yet another missing serial seems great and then we have arguably the most important serial in Doctor Who history. The Tenth Planet. It's the birth of the Cybermen, terrifying robotic creatures that want to drain Earth! Definitely a match for the Daleks. The Doctor simply defeats them by waiting, and in a travesty that sees the fourth part missing, though thankfully restored in animation (which I'm yet to see), sees the most important moment in Doctor Who history. The Doctor regenerates. Not officially named as regeneration yet, the Doctor's body, personality and persona has completely changed. A new man is in control of the TARDIS.
The regeneration must have come as an enormous shock to the audience of 1966! The Doctor wasn't how we know the character today with multi actors having the role, Hartnell was the only man to be associated with role of the Doctor. But now a new man took that role.
William Hartnell was a marvellous Doctor and will always be my favourite classic Doctor, nothing will change that. I do love how we get more adventures with the incarnation of the First Doctor in audio and book form. I aim to watch and read a lot more of the Doctor but the one audio and novel I've completed were both marvellous. Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet was an outstanding adaption of the TV serial whilst Rise and Fall was an outstanding audio adventure with the First Doctor!
The First Doctor met his future selves on a few occasions and despite his minor role, The Three Doctors was excellent!
Then the first incarnation returns with a new actor in Richard Hurndall, who played the role to the best he could after the tragic death of William Hartnell. The Five Doctors is truly magnificent.
This incarnation even gets to see his future companion of ten incarnations later when he meets Clara on Gallifrey in The Name of the Doctor whilst stealing the TARDIS.
But overall, the First Doctor is the single most important incarnation of the hero we know and love, and William Hartnell brought him to life wonderfully.
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