Starting late last year I finally decided to plunge into the entire series in chronological order. As I finally got every single episode (at least every existing episode anyway, hurry up Philip Morris haha) on DVD it seemed like the perfect time. I am currently at The Macra Terror episode 1.
So just to share my thoughts on the Hartnell era.
First off, what a brilliant way to start off the series with An Unearthly Child episode 1. It really sets the tone. Take the The First Doctor’s introduction: He isn't portrayed as some kind of hero. He instead comes off as mysterious, somebody who hasn't quite earned your trust, with a large amount of authority that no Doctor since has really matched. Then the episode gambles even further with a decision that was great it hindsight: The Doctor and Susan are aliens with a police box that's bigger on the inside! This at the time was a great choice of story, it further defied conventions and made people wonder just Who the Doctor really was. Sure the caveman stuff in Episodes 2-4 isn't quite as good as what came before but I still liked it...
What follows is even better though. Marco Polo (why, why, WHY does this not exist when it sold so well abroad?!?), The Keys of Marinus, The Reign of Terror, The Reign of Terror, The Time Meddler, The Gun Fighters (this one seems to divide opinion but I think that Hartnell gave his best performance ever in the series in this. And it felt fun and funny), The War Machines and The Tenth Planet. The only ones I really didn't like were The Edge of Destruction and The Web Planet, the later of which took a few sittings to get through. I've also never got the hate for The Sensorites. Its not perfect but I liked it a lot.
The Hartnell Era is a prime example of how the Doctors companions are just as important as he is and why I personally feel its wrong to criticise the new era for giving such focus on the companions. Hartnell tended to go on holiday a lot (in fact in Keys of Marinus he's absent for two episodes in a row) so Ian, Barbara and Susan had to carry the stories, along with his future companions. They succeed, the initial Tardis team more so. In fact in Marinus I never even noticed he was gone initially because what was going on on-screen was so interesting! Compare this to The Deadly Assassin where its just the Doctor by himself. Its an okay story but something feels missing with him being alone, which would have killed the series a lot sooner if they went down that route initially. At least it was just a one off there. Same applies to the newer episodes: as good as for example Tennant is, without Rose, Martha and especially Donna, it wouldn't have been able to work.
I also like the arcs we get with the Tardis team. Initially Ian and the Doctor clash very frequently, but by The Romans one season later, they're all having a great time, Hartnell in particular looks like he’s having some fun with it and it starts rubbing off on the others. Following that when Ian and Barbara leave in The Chase, the Doctor (and William Hartnell in real life) was genuinely upset. Its done very well.
I have grown to respect Hartnell more as an actor having watched his entire era over 3/4 months. Hartnell is not just the Doctor. But THE Doctor. Pre October 1966 there was no such thing as regeneration. Everybody that followed him built on his original performance. In An Unearthly Child, not knowing much about him, you could assume he's human. No mention of two hearts. TARDIS is apparently a word invented by Susan. There's no Gallifrey until over 10 years of the show (The Time Warrior specifically), there's no powerful civilisation until the Time Lords show up in The War Games and look like scary, godlike beings. We don't even see another of his species until the end of Season 2 with the Monk. The show is still developing even at the point where Hartnell regenerates. He isn't the Doctor we know until roughly the end of Season 3, he is a far more likeable figure by this point and that's due to Hartnells performance. Considering the conditions they had to work with at the time (so many episodes getting made, little time to rheherse, Hartnell suffering from arteriosclerosis, which began to affect his ability to learn his lines) its quite frankly amazing how good a job he did. Patrick Troughton, Tom Baker, David Tennant etc are all brilliant Doctors. But we shouldn't ever forget that Hartnell was the one to start it all off. Its by no means my favourite era, but its been a fun few months watching it.
So Patrick Troughton then? So far so good, by The Moonbase it feels like he has a better grip on the role than at the start and has become his Doctor truly. I know he gets better as it goes on. Tomb of the Cybermen, Ice Warriors, The Enemy of the World, Web of Fear, The Invasion... Can't wait!
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