The Hartnell Era

"What did you say, my boy?  'It's all over.'  'It's all over.'  That's what you said.  No... but it isn't all over.  It's far from being all over."

   I will be unable to update this blog daily.  Angela and I have a fairly busy work schedule, on top of some of the other fun things that we like to do.  Throw in the occasional social visit to friends and relatives (most of whom are friends) and that doesn't leave the time that I need to do this justice.
   I also find myself thinking too hard about finding some angle to write a given piece, which takes away from the enjoyment of the project.
   Ang and I are still watching (or listening to) an episode a day.  Last night we finished William Hartnell's era.  I would like to take some time to look back.
   Even among diehard Whovians, I have never met anyone who claims that Hartnell is their favorite Doctor.  There is a lot of respect, but the love tends to go to the anarchic Troughton, the suave Pertwee, the bohemian Baker (Tom not Colin), or the mysterious McCoy.
   I definitely have a greater appreciation for Hartnell after going through his stories in order, but can't bring myself to rate him higher than Troughton or Tom Baker.  In a way, he's the George Washington of the Doctors; the founding father who started the whole thing.  I suppose that makes Troughton, Abraham Lincoln; the person who preserved things when everything could have fallen apart.
   I've written at length about Hartnell's first two seasons.  His tenure took him through season three and the first two serials of season four.  Here is a brief rundown of those stories and my opinions of them.

Galaxy Four: A solid story that tries to teach a basic message; good is not, definitively, beautiful.  Steven and Vicki secure themselves as my favorite companion combination of the Hartnell era (although Barbara is still my favorite companion).  Since we listened to this story, one of the episodes has turned up in the hands of a private collector. 

The Myth Makers: A wonderful story.  One of my favorite historicals, with one of the funniest scripts in the series' long run.  It sadly ends with Vicki staying behind to marry Trolius.

Mission to the Unknown/The Daleks' Master Plan:   This story was long and over-padded.  It was nice to see the return of the Monk, and the final episode pulls out all the stops, but I would have liked it better at 6 episodes instead of 13.

The Massacre: This is every bit as good as the Myth Makers, only done seriously.  A great chance for Peter Purves to shine in the role of Steven.  Hartnell isn't in much of this, but he has an excellent monolog towards the end that sums up the Doctor beautifully.  Elements of that speech influence the series to this day.

The Ark:  A story that tackles series matters (the very moral and ethical concerns about time travel and interference) in a ham-fisted way (with Beatle wigged aliens).  Points for trying.  And points for having a Dodo nearly wipe out humanity. 

The Celestial Toymaker: There are a number of fans who really love this serial.  I am not one of them.  The Toymaker is an amazingly powerful being who plays with the travelers.  It's an idea that Star Trek will beat like a dead horse when it gets introduced later that same year.

The Gunfighters:  It tries to be as funny as The Myth Makers and falls on its face.  The script is almost an insult to Hartnell and Purves.

The Savages: Hartnell's final stories from this point on are all good to excellent.  This is Doctor Who at its best, raising interesting and powerful questions about exploitation and the greater good.  Ian Stuart Black is one of the most underrated authors of 60's Who.

The War Machines:   For the first time in the history of the series, back-to-back serials are written by the same author.  This is the blueprint for the future UNIT stories.  An excellent story weakened slightly by Wotan calling the Doctor, "Doctor Who" (Doctor Who is not the character's name, it's the series title), and the hasty departure of Dodo.  She wasn't my favorite companion, but having Ben and Polly show up with a note from her saying that she was staying behind is just wrong.  Mel got an awesome send off, and she was ..... Mel.

The Smugglers:  The penultimate Doctor Who historical.  An excellent piece that features the regulars to good effect and has an excellent guest cast.  New companion Polly is shaping up to be the stereotypical Doctor Who girly-girl, but we'll see.

The Tenth Planet: The first alien race that Hartnell's Doctor met on screen was the Daleks.  The last was the Cybermen.  Hartnell is sent off in a great story that is sadly incomplete as of this writing.  The quote at the beginning of this post is one of the last lines that the first Doctor delivers.  Hartnell's delivery is amazing.  At least for me.


   And there we have it.  Hartnell would for the 10th anniversary special The Three Doctors.  His health had deteriorated by then to the point that he was only available for a day of filming.  Hartnell died two years later in 1975. 
    Hartnell didn't care for the direction that the series took after his departure.  For that matter, he wasn't pleased with the way things were done in his last several months on the show.  His granddaughter later recalled that the part meant a great deal to him and helped him connect with children in general and her in particular.  Given that, I can see why he would be so insistent on things being done a certain way.
   The 20th anniversary special, The Five Doctors, began with an excerpt from Hartnell's goodbye to Susan from the end of The Dalek Invasion of Earth.  It was the first time that many newer fans had ever seen the role performed by him.  Richard Hurndall, who bears a very slight resemblance to Hartnell, played the first Doctor in the story itself.
   Hartnell's image has turned up in the most current version of the series.  My favorite is on the Doctor's (very out of date) library card from 1963.
   Goodbye William Hartnell.  You are missed.