By T. Scott Edwards
William Hartnell is the Doctor. Whilst he may not have been the longest running, and he
certainly isn't the most popular in most polls held, he originated the role,
bringing his own irascibility and grumpiness, but also his lovability and
charm. His wit and sardonic humour radiate from him endlessly, and even in the direst
of situations, his "hmm"s and tuts warm my heart.
Of course, he is renowned for his 'Billy
fluffs' – invariably at least once an episode, Hartnell can stumble on a line. These
are often cited by some as a reason for disliking his portrayal. That said, for
a man of his age and in his condition, we can only sit and sigh in awe at the
durability of him. Rehearsing almost every week of the year, on a dreadfully
tight budget and schedule, Hartnell and his crew managed admirably. Considering
his disease, he actually fared surprisingly well – there are bit-part players
who fluff as often, despite only having the script for two-four weeks. In the
1960s, as we know, only one take was often allowed – due to time constraints,
the show was filmed 'as live', and retakes were only allowed for the most
catastrophic of reasons. As such, he endured being dropped on camera cranes,
being hit in the face, and any number of terrible things – yet throughout
everything, he managed to hide most of this, behind his genius characterisation
of the Doctor as a doddery old man.
He is unfairly criticised as being too
inactive – all of the 'heavy lifting' was left to his (admittedly more than)
capable companions, Ian, Steven and Ben. Certainly, we don't see him
prat-falling around like McCoy and Baker, or energetically throwing himself
around like Davison, or moving with a nimble, child-like glee like Troughton,
or even karate-chopping henchmen like Pertwee. But that doesn't make him any less the Doctor.
We must remember, though, that he is the
First. He is the archetype of the character, the originator of many of the
character's attributes which we still see today. Without Hartnell (and the
Daleks, admittedly) the series may never have run for three years, let alone
49. He took the essence of a character created by writers and made it his own. He
actively changed scripts if he thought them inappropriate for the children
watching.
What Hartnell does is encapsulate all
that later Doctor's embody in one go – he is loveable and miserable, grouchy
and snappy, funny and clownish, abrupt and deceitful, all at once. His stories
helped in that each script allowed him to bring a new trait to the fore – from
the antihero liar of The Daleks to
the lovable pragmatist and historical hero of The Aztecs, from moral peace-keeper in The Sensorites to the heroic old man who battles adversity in the
face of illness in The Tenth Planet,
he managed to create the template which is still being used to this very day.
Many unfairly ignore Hartnell, and claim that it was Patrick Troughton who
created the role as we now know it, and whilst Troughton is far and away my
favourite Doctor, he simply took Hartnell's lead.
The joker of The Romans and The Myth Makers
is the ball that Troughton, Tom Baker and early Sylvester McCoy picked up
and ran with. The stoic pragmatist and heroic action man of The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Tenth Planet is the template upon
which Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, David Tennant and Matt Smith modelled
themselves on. The unapproachable and aggressive Doctor of An Unearthly Child and The
Daleks seems to be the template for Colin Baker's interpretation –
admittedly one which should have gone full circle to encapsulate all of his
traits rather than just those irascible ones. The darker and more dangerous
characteristics of Hartnell's Doctor are the template upon which later McCoy,
Christopher Eccleston and later Smith will utilise.
Of course, the series itself had no
consistency as such to speak of, so it is unsurprising that there seemed to be
little or no consistency to the character or the stories he was involved in. And
that is also the crux of what makes Hartnell so great – put him in any era, on
any planet and against any foe, and he thrives regardless. In the face of any
adversity, he steps forward, a new trait comes out, and he faces the challenge
admirably. As each new brush came in, carving a new way with the accompanying
production team, the style changed. Whilst later Doctor's eras are renowned for
Base Under Siege style drama, or the earth-bound UNIT tales, before settling
back into a hotch-potch method like in Hartnell's time, the earliest
incarnation thrives on the unknowability of what is around every bend – from
historicals to sci-fi, Earth-under-threat to stories of warring factions on
desolate planets, there is rarely anything similar. From the quiet,
self-contained stories like Marco Polo to
the epic sprawling battles of The Daleks'
Master Plan, you could never settle down knowing what was coming.
Labels: Doctor Who, T. Scott Edwards, William Hartnell
