Doctor Who: 5 reasons not to skip the First Doctor

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There are many reasons why you shouldn’t skip William Hartnell’s First Doctor. In this article, we take a look at several of the most important reasons.

Christmas saw the return of the First Doctor on television. Admittedly, it wasn’t a completely faithful recreation of the character, writing wise. But David Bradley’s performance was perfect in capturing Hartnell’s essence and his little mannerisms.

After seeing his performance, you might be more curious to watch the original stories of the First Doctor. And I have quite a few recommendations to make when it comes to One.

But you might consider otherwise. You might think that you might not need to watch any of the First Doctor’s episodes, now you know what he was like. Or that you didn’t like how One acted.

As a huge fan of Hartnell’s Doctor, I’ll give you a few reasons why he shouldn’t be skipped.

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The beginning of the story

Ok, it’s a pretty obvious reason, but it’s still a good one. You get to experience a lot of key firsts with the Doctor and his companions. The first time he meets some of his greatest enemies, including the Daleks and the Cybermen. (The former in only his second story!) The first time he travels with humans. Even the first time a companion dies.

Speaking of companions, Ian and Barbara, the first humans he travels with, are absolutely brilliant. Both intelligent and highly knowledgeable in their own ways. They also feel completely real. Both have their own individual flaws, and are very well matched up. However, it’s the effect that they have on the Doctor that makes them so highly effective as companions. Because honestly, without them, I don’t think the Doctor would be the hero that we know so well today.

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A very different Doctor

You see, at the very beginning of the series, the Doctor was very different. It wasn’t just a case of simply being more “alien”. (Although considering he had only recently left his own people, that couldn’t have helped.) To be frank, it also wasn’t anything to do with a sexist attitude, as much as Moffat portrayed him that way in Twice Upon a Time.) No, he was far more complex than that.

He was stubborn, selfish, and overprotective of his granddaughter. In fact, he actually kidnapped Ian and Barbara, taking off with them while they were still on board, even when he knew he still couldn’t control the ship. The only reason he did this was to make sure that his granddaughter Susan wouldn’t leave him.

This very difficult and selfish attitude actually continued for a while. It actually put his crew in danger once or twice, particularly in The Daleks, when the result of telling them all a lie just to get what he wants is that they all receive radiation sickness!

You might think that I’m condemning the character. Far from it. In fact, it’s something I really appreciate about the First Doctor. Because out of all of the Doctors, he goes through the most significant character development.

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Major character growth

I think it’s mainly Ian and Barbara that cause him to change so much. Through his travels with humans, he goes from a selfish and highly irresponsible old man, to the hero we all know and love. His difficult choice of leaving his granddaughter behind in The Dalek Invasion of Earth to ensure her happiness is especially a key moment. Not only does it show how much development he went through over the course of just over one season. It’s also an incredibly emotional exit for one of the first companions.

Eventually, you got to see the Doctor’s warmer side. You saw him less suspicious of humans and more caring. Oh, that’s not to say he still couldn’t be difficult or grumpy from time to time. But overall, he treated his companions with more affection. I think it says a lot about him that, when Ian and Barbara were able to find a way home, he admitted that he would miss them.

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The many fantastic stories

Another key reason why the First Doctor shouldn’t be skipped is just how brilliant his stories are. There are so many that I enjoy.

The Daleks is an excellent introduction to the Doctor’s greatest enemies. Even at seven episodes, it’s exciting throughout, and deals with a lot of themes, including the effects of nuclear war and xenophobia.

The Aztecs is a wonderful historical story that highlights why I love Barbara. She makes a very dangerous choice, and it’s great to see “you can’t change history” story so early on. The danger in this case isn’t that she does make a difference, but that she tries to with an entire civilization that doesn’t want to change.

The Daleks’ Master Plan, at twelve episodes, is undoubtedly an absolute epic. Going across space and time, the stakes feel really high. Bar a couple of silly episodes for both Christmas and New Year’s Day, it’s also a very dark and grim story. It even features the first companion deaths in the series! It’s a shame that so many episodes are missing, but the surviving soundtrack is definitely worth a listen.

The Tenth Planet, as I recently reviewed, is easily worth a watch for a number of reasons. It features the first ever appearance of the Cybermen. At the very end, the Doctor regenerates for the first time. And it’s just a really good story. Despite Moffat’s weak handling of the character (seriously, watch this immediately before Twice Upon a Time, and you’ll definitely see what I mean), it was nice that his special tied in to such an important story, at least.

21st April 1965: British actor, William Hartnell (1908 – 1975) at home in Mayfield, Sussex with four miniature model Daleks – arch enemies of Hartnell’s character Dr Who in the BBC’s science-fiction series of the same name. Hartnell was the first of a series of actors to play the role. (Photo by Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Getty Images)

William Hartnell

Last, but by no means least, the biggest reason why you shouldn’t skip the First Doctor is the man himself. William Hartnell played the role with such brilliant authority and completely embodied the role. And it’s not really surprising. At the time, Hartnell wasn’t playing the “first” Doctor. He was playing the only Doctor. He set a really high standard for all who followed him.

It’s a terrible shame that he did start to suffer illness as terribly as he did. To be honest, if they had filmed it as they did now, with much tighter editing for even the slightest flub, I don’t think it’d have been noticeable. Unfortunately, many BBC shows were essentially recorded “as live”, or at least, were treated as such.

Because of how difficult it was to edit at the time, and of the incredibly high pressures of the shooting schedule (the first season alone had close to forty episodes, with a whole 25 minute episode completed each week), his regular flubs were left in. But if you get past the “Hartnell-isms”, you get a brilliant performance that still holds up.

Without Hartnell, and without the brilliant team that he worked with, we wouldn’t have Doctor Who today. An excellent Doctor that definitely shouldn’t be skipped.

Next: Steven Moffat to release Christopher Eccleston version script of 50th anniversary