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| The mysterious exile, the fascinated traveller, the curious scientist and the resolute hero of the cosmos: the First Doctor, as played by William Hartnell. |
"My name is William Hartnell, and as Doctor Who, I make my debut on Saturday 23rd November at 5.15."
Radio Trailer for 'An Unearthly Child'
Making the most of his genuine role of a lifetime, one of the B/W British cinema era's finest actors, William Hartnell, brought magic, whimsy and his steel to his often electric, now iconic performance as the first, original incarnation of Doctor Who, during three inspiring and fantastical years exploring time and space from 1963 to 1966. Right from the start, meeting enthusiastic and admiring raw-talent-in-the-making Verity Lambert within a smoke-filled restaurant several months before the show was made and aired to captivated audiences every week for six months at a time, Hartnell, then 55 years old, at first played down his potential commitment to the show, yet clearly smelt a hit from the get-go, and a challenging acting role which would prove a welcome opportunity in breaking him free from the prior last few years of his career, where he'd been bored and frustrated playing stern army sergeants/military men, and old timer grouchers...
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| William Hartnell, photographed in the mid 1960's. |
The grumpy irascibility that Hartnell brought to life so well would still be inherent in the role of the spiky, aloof, and genuinely mysterious. enigmatic figure of the Doctor (especially in its opening dozen or so episodes), but there was also a chance for the actor to go beyond all that as the show developed, to also portray a man, an alien, blessed with great intelligence, wisdom, heroism and courage - possessing a child-like wonder about him - a young man trapped in an old man's body type of performance, that was the kind of idea/concept that was later explored in reverse by Peter Davison's fifth incarnation of Who many years later. (Davison, early on his role, would tell press that he was indeed basing his take on the role by referencing the first two Doctors' performances, whom he'd admired and watched avidly on TV in childhood!
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| A classic image of William Hartnell as the Doctor facing off against the dreaded Daleks for the first time, in a rehearsal moment from the second adventure's second episode, Survivors. |
In a short space of time, and after meeting and battling the alien Daleks to whom he'd become intrinsically linked and synonymous with for the rest of the show, Hartnell became the ultimate onscreen grandfather, both feared and admired, by millions of adoring children, not just in the UK but soon worldwide in strong BBC overseas sales. So rotten and unfair then, that, at the peak of his popularity, his body would be attacked by arteriosclerosis, making him often unable to remember his lines and affecting his mental health and physical well being during the complex filming of this pioneering series, so much so that, by his third and final year in the title role, many episodes had to be re-written or re-shaped behind the scenes in order to accommodate Hartnell's increasing poor health, and to not overburden him unnecessarily. In the end, such production problems became too much for the BBC with its soon fourth season of the series, with the sad and painful decision taken by senior management that would soon see our original wanderer and hero of the universe having to be replaced whether he liked it or not - the stunning and revolutionary introduction of the bodily regeneration concept (then known as 'renewal') seeing-in successor Patrick Troughton (a choice approved by an admiring Hartnell) and re-invigorating the show, keeping it going with its format addition for the next fifty years and beyond...
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| Joining his successors, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee, for The Three Doctors, an epic story that memorably launched the show's Tenth Anniversary season into 1973. Remastered colourised image by Clayton Hickman. |
Hartnell's often crippling ill-health would continue for years to come, but his passion for Doctor Who, the character and the series, remained undiminished and unabated - so much so that would be able to contribute a small but rewarding guest appearance in the series then Tenth Anniversary adventure, opposite his respectful successors in Troughton and Jon Pertwee, for 1973's joyous The Three Doctors, reminding us just how vital Hartnell had been to the series long-term success. On April 25th, 1975, at thew all too young age of 67, the actor sadly passed away, but, nearly fifty years on, that strong and enthused spirit of Hartnell's lives on in the Classic TV timestream, as fans young an old continue to enjoy his sterling adventure in time and space that launched a TV phenomenon and a sci-fi juggernaut...
Crafting such an unforgettable legacy that has led to so much over sixty years, William Hartnell was well and truly "the original, you might say..."
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