William Hartnell

The genesis of the BBC television series Doctor Who in the early 1960s is one that has been revised over and over, both in terms of the onscreen development of the lead character and the behind-the-scenes production. Over the years a range of BBC personnel have claimed – and have been awarded – credit for the initial success of Doctor Who.  Names such as Verity Lambert, Sydney Newman and Waris Hussein, as well as Terry Nation, John Lucarotti and Anthony Coburn were all strongly associated with the opening years of the programme, with Lambert herself now regarded as one of the single most important women in British television history.

One man, however, can claim and be awarded the biggest accolades for ensuring the show’s initial success. Who? Doctor Who – William Hartnell.

The actor’s previous credits – running back to 1932 – were of the cockney hard case and serviceman typecasting. Rarely out of work in the British movie industry throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 60s, William Hartnell’s career-defining moment finally arrived when producer Verity Lambert saw the her future leading man appearing opposite Richard Harris in "This Sporting Life" (1963). While not a dead-cert for the role William Hartnell nevertheless took the part of Doctor Who (as he was then almost known) and defined the character for all time.

Saturday Night Viewing

It was a miserable November Saturday evening in 1963 when the British public was first introduced to the mysterious traveller (Saturday evenings would become synonymous with the show as it became a national institution and remained in the timeslot until 1981). We first met the Doctor as his granddaughter Susan is followed from school by teachers concerned about her unusual knowledge and manners. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright were played by William Russell and Jacqueline Hill. Encountering the Doctor in his bizarre police box, which appears to be larger on the inside than on the outside, Chesterton and Wright were thrown back to the dawn of civilization along with the Doctor and Susan as it is revealed that the police box is in fact an alien time machine, or TARDIS! For viewers in 1963, this introduction (An Unearthly Child) was bizarre and chilling – who was this mysterious Doctor, and how did his granddaughter know so much history and maths?

One month later, the show stepped up a gear to become the stuff of legends, as the Doctor and his three companions first visited the planet of the Daleks. Verity Lambert was reportedly under strict instructions by her superior Sydney Newman not to feature any alien life forms that could be described as a Bug Eyed Monster or “BEM” as Newman called them, preferring the series to remain a children’s television drama with an educational emphasis. It is likely that these early episodes strayed too far from the original concept, but this didn’t turn off viewers, who tuned in week after week to watch the fearless, irascible Doctor challenge and defeat villains and injustice across time and space.

Experimental

The mid 1960s was a period of artistic experimentation, and as such moments of brilliance are found in Hartnell’s episodes. Despite his problems remembering lines for performances that were recorded in single takes, experimental stories such as Inside the Spaceship and The Web Planet were nevertheless taken in Hartnell’s stride, as was the introduction of eight permanent companions.  The huge success of the Daleks, meanwhile, only served to buoy William Hartnell, whose career was finally reaping the rewards that he had long dreamed of.

So much exists in Hartnell’s portrayal of the Doctor that each subsequent actor as been able to draw from the various nuances and intricacies that he gilded his performances with and developing whole personas from off the cuff phrases such as:

    "I am a citizen of the Universe, and a gentleman to boot." -

As the series progressed and various production teams and the series’ star decided on how the character was to be played each episode, the character and his distinct moral code sunk into the British consciousness.

The First Doctor is recognised above each of his successors (until the modern era) to be wandering a moral grey area on certain matters.  This is due to his actions in the first serial. The debut episode An Unearthly Child was followed by three episodes of a story usually known as 100,000 BC (although there are other titles in use), and in this the newly formed TARDIS crew are transported to the Palaeolithic era. At one point in the story, the odds stacked strongly against our heroes, the Doctor wields a rock to instigate the "putting down" of an injured caveman. This kind of behaviour would have been unthinkable for the Doctor just three years later. At the beginning of the series long run, however, he is quite clearly a man cast out alone, with trust and reliance for no one.

Reputation

William Hartnell’s talent as an actor was unquestionable and his portrayal of televisions most popular anti-hero ensured that he would be remain popular for generations to come. Perfectly at home in space adventures (The Daleks’ Master Plan), comedy (The Gunfighters), historical drama (Marco Polo, The Crusade) and Earth-based takeover stories (The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The War Machines), Hartnell effortlessly took millions of viewers, young and old, on fantastic journeys through time and space.

The First Doctor’s time came to an end in 1966 following a change in production team which was coupled with a desire to recast the lead. William Hartnell returned to stage work, and was kept busy until the early 1970s when illness forced him to retire.  He appeared on screen for on last time with his two successors in the 1973 tenth anniversary serial The Three Doctors, but by this time his 65 years were beginning to show, and on April 23rd 1975, William Hartnell – for a generation of television viewers THE Doctor Who – died peacefully in his sleep.