1963 - 1966 | 30 Adventures | 138 Episodes | 3450 minutes
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William Hartnell was the original Doctor and spanned 3 complete series, finally leaving in the early stages of the 4th, largely due to ill health.
As Hartnell joined the cast at the very beginning, his future was not clear. This was a new type of character in a new type of TV show and it could all have been over by Christmas. The character was loosely formed with the suggestion of high intelligence, origins away from Earth and advanced knowledge and technology. However, this was early 1960s and science fiction still had a lot to learn, especially for British television.
The Doctor was given a companion, someone who knew him, where he was from and what he was about. Indeed, he was travelling with family because Susan Foreman was his Granddaughter... or so it would seem. She certainly called him Grandfather but as time went on and we learned more about him it seemed less appropriate. A case of the show's heritage being written retrospectively and possibly overlooking lesser details already established - in modern Who parlance you might describe it as "wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey" but only if you were to take everything in the show as real and true. Similarly, the credits show Hartnell as playing "Dr. Who" a name which would later be denied in favour of a more enigmatic "just The Doctor" though it is worth noting that the name "Dr. Who" is only ever used once within the script (in The War Machines the computer WOTAN says "Dr. Who must be destroyed" but there is a hint of broken speech that can, just about, be interpreted to mean "the Doctor, who must be destroyed" if you are desperate to iron over the bumps)
So Susan was there as a young character for the young audience to relate to (and wouldn't it be great if they could have adventures with their grandfather!) but to add a sense of the unknown and for the whole audience to learn with, who better than Susan's teachers to join the adventures? When Ian and Barbara stepped into the TARDIS in the very first episode it was clearly the start of something great...
Hartnell's Doctor would encounter a mixture of adventures, according to the show's original remit. They would be either science fiction for creative entertainment, or historical for education. Science fiction based adventures would be set on other worlds or some time in the future with adversaries being of alien origin. Historical adventures would, naturally, be set in Earth's past and feature key historical facts and a more traditional adventure story. These two structures would roughly alternate.
As the show grew, actors and characters became tired and companions left, or were abandoned and others took their place to allow the show to evolve and go on. But when William Hartnell's health and mind started to become a problem, his departure would be a blessing in disguise and a whole new world of possibilities were just around the corner. The show was a success but could not continue without the Doctor, just as much as Hartnell could no longer continue. There was really only one choice, they needed a new Doctor... Rather than ignore the change of actor, or find someone close to Hartnell in both looks and performance, the producer chose to use the show's sci-fi nature and the Doctor's unearthly origins to make the change into a feature. If the Doctor is alien, why shouldn't he grow a new body to refresh himself? The idea of regeneration was a bold and innovative move that would secure the Doctor's future and the show could go on, potentially, until the end of time...
As Hartnell joined the cast at the very beginning, his future was not clear. This was a new type of character in a new type of TV show and it could all have been over by Christmas. The character was loosely formed with the suggestion of high intelligence, origins away from Earth and advanced knowledge and technology. However, this was early 1960s and science fiction still had a lot to learn, especially for British television.
The Doctor was given a companion, someone who knew him, where he was from and what he was about. Indeed, he was travelling with family because Susan Foreman was his Granddaughter... or so it would seem. She certainly called him Grandfather but as time went on and we learned more about him it seemed less appropriate. A case of the show's heritage being written retrospectively and possibly overlooking lesser details already established - in modern Who parlance you might describe it as "wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey" but only if you were to take everything in the show as real and true. Similarly, the credits show Hartnell as playing "Dr. Who" a name which would later be denied in favour of a more enigmatic "just The Doctor" though it is worth noting that the name "Dr. Who" is only ever used once within the script (in The War Machines the computer WOTAN says "Dr. Who must be destroyed" but there is a hint of broken speech that can, just about, be interpreted to mean "the Doctor, who must be destroyed" if you are desperate to iron over the bumps)
So Susan was there as a young character for the young audience to relate to (and wouldn't it be great if they could have adventures with their grandfather!) but to add a sense of the unknown and for the whole audience to learn with, who better than Susan's teachers to join the adventures? When Ian and Barbara stepped into the TARDIS in the very first episode it was clearly the start of something great...
Hartnell's Doctor would encounter a mixture of adventures, according to the show's original remit. They would be either science fiction for creative entertainment, or historical for education. Science fiction based adventures would be set on other worlds or some time in the future with adversaries being of alien origin. Historical adventures would, naturally, be set in Earth's past and feature key historical facts and a more traditional adventure story. These two structures would roughly alternate.
As the show grew, actors and characters became tired and companions left, or were abandoned and others took their place to allow the show to evolve and go on. But when William Hartnell's health and mind started to become a problem, his departure would be a blessing in disguise and a whole new world of possibilities were just around the corner. The show was a success but could not continue without the Doctor, just as much as Hartnell could no longer continue. There was really only one choice, they needed a new Doctor... Rather than ignore the change of actor, or find someone close to Hartnell in both looks and performance, the producer chose to use the show's sci-fi nature and the Doctor's unearthly origins to make the change into a feature. If the Doctor is alien, why shouldn't he grow a new body to refresh himself? The idea of regeneration was a bold and innovative move that would secure the Doctor's future and the show could go on, potentially, until the end of time...
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