Doctor One: William Hartnell

The first Doctor was seen as an old grump with an inquiring mind and a nose for trouble. Though it was not known at the time, it was he who would set the stage for all the other Doctors down the road. Because of the character building nature passed on between each regeneration, every Doctor would in some way hold these same traits within himself. Hartnell strikes the pose of a wise grandfather who seems to be holding a world of secrets behind those mischievous eyes. His first appearance at his real age of 55 was in "An Unearthly Child" as an eccentric grandfather that lived inside a police box* in the junk yard at 76 Totters Lane. (As an interesting aside, the first showing of Doctor Who occurred on the night of President Kennedy's assassination November 22nd, 1963). It is learned that he is a renegade from an alien world, a world he left due to an intense dislike of the rigid, uncaring body it was becoming. He never speaks in detail of his past, but we get the impression that he has traveled and seen much in his many years of life. His exploits across the streams of time entertained children and adults alike, and gave the series the initial burst of popularity it needed to survive. Hartnell had played the Doctor for far longer than initially intended, and was getting tired in his old age. The production team wished to continue the series further, but the lack of the main character would hinder such plans. Then, the idea of regeneration was thought up. At the conclusion of the episode "The Tenth Planet" when Hartnell was 58, in which the Cybermen are introduced, the Doctor falls to the floor from exhaustion. A bright glow envelopes his body, and a younger, more jovial man emerges. The audiences were delighted, and the torch was passed on to the second Doctor. William Hartnell died 24 April 1975. He was 67.

* The "police box" is the T.A.R.D.I.S. (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) and the device used by Time Lords in their related work. It assumes a shape appropriate to the time and surroundings it is in and looks like the public police box of the show's first episode. Later we learn that this is done by a chameleon circuit in the TARDIS's works. However, due to a faulty circuit, we familiar with this form of the TARDIS during most of the entire series.

List provided by BBC Online - Cult - Doctor Who

14:17 9/15/2002

This Week's Doctor Who Adventure

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The information in this section has been extracted and abridged from Doctor Who: The Television Companion (David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker) published by BBC Worldwide Ltd.

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The Doctor's Companions ---------------
Able Seaman Ben Jackson (Michael Craze)
"The War Machines" to "The Faceless Ones"

Ben was fiercely loyal, protective and resourceful. He meets the Doctor at the Inferno night club, shortly after receiving a six month shore posting. Ben had also befriended Polly, the secretary of Professor Brett, who has been developing a malevolent computer, WOTAN. The Doctor accidentally took off with Ben and Polly on board, leading them to a series of adventures, including the Doctor's first encounter with the Cybermen. Ben and Polly were present when the Doctor regenerated for the first time. When their travels eventually returned them to Earth, Ben and Polly took the opportunity to leave the Doctor.
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Dorothea Chaplet ("Dodo") (Jackie Lane)
"The Massacre of St Bartholemew's Eve" to "The War Machines"
The Doctor's companion: Dodo. After barely escaping the massacre of the Protestants in 1572 Paris, the Doctor and Steven arrive back in contemporary London, where a chirpy young woman, Dorothea Chaplet, (known as "Dodo"), enters the TARDIS, believing it to be a real Police Box. Dodo's first adventure with the Doctor was an inauspicious one: her cold infected a community of space travellers, allowing their servants, the reptilian Monoids, to overthrow them. After a series of exciting adventures, (including an encounter with the Toymaker, and a trip to witness the Gunfight at the OK Corral), the Doctor returned Dodo back to London, in 1966.
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Polly [Wright] (Anneke Wills)
"The War Machines" to "The Faceless Ones"

Polly was the secretary of Professor Brett, who had developed a malevolent computer called WOTAN. Personable, and strong-willed, Polly had recently befriended a despondent sailor, Ben ckson. The Doctor defeated WOTAN and the tank-like mobile War Machines it commanded. The Doctor accidentally took off with Polly and Ben on board, leading them into a series of adventures, including the Doctor's first encounter with the Cybermen. Ben and Polly were present when the Doctor regenerated for the first time. When their travels eventually returned them to contemporary Earth, Ben and Polly took the opportunity to leave.

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