A Look Back at Classic Who: The First Doctor's Era · 4:32am Sep 25th, 2013
With The Day of the Doctor less than two months away, this is ample time for any Whovian to take a look back on the past 50 years that have helped build the show up into what it is today. And there are still a fair amount of "New Who" Whovians who are a bit in the dark about the original run of the series. So, in celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary, I've decided to take a look back on the Doctors and companions of the original classic series prior to the revival in 2005. I do not claim to be an expert of the Classic Series (heck, most I've seen of it are a few First Doctor episodes, one Third Doctor episode, The Five Doctors, and a few clips here and there). I've just done a lot of research and simply wish to pay tribute to the characters that helped pave the road for the characters we know and love today. So let's start off at the very beginning with the era of the First Doctor!
The First Doctor (William Hartnell)
The incarnation that started it all. The stern grandfather from Gallifrey who stole a Type 40 TARDIS and flew off into the universe with his loving granddaughter by his side. He was a very stern, albeit brilliant, incarnation who trusted no one and had a habit of being quite stubborn and a bit selfish. He was the intelligent scientist who worked to solve the problem while he mostly relied on his younger, more agile male companions to take care of the physical work. He was quite unskilled at piloting the TARDIS and had the tendency to get his companions' names wrong. However, he was still the Doctor. He was brilliant, cunning, tricky, and had the mind capable of fooling any Dalek. As time went on, he also became closer and kinder to his companions; acting as a sort of grandfather figure to many of his younger assistants. He also had one of the largest collection of companions in the series, coming up to a total of ten within his three-year tenure. Alas, the elderly incarnation met his end during his first encounter with the Cybermen. His frail body gave way and he regenerated into a younger, different man.
Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford)
The Doctor's granddaughter and first companion. A naive girl with a past almost as shrouded in mystery as her grandfather, Susan acted as the link between the Doctor and his first human companions. She cared very much for her grandfather and her teachers as well as stood up for herself when time called for it. She shared many adventures with the Doctor prior to their arrival on 1963 Earth and shared a fair amount of exciting adventures alongside teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton. However, Susan's travels with her grandfather came to end in 22nd century Earth following a failed invasion by the Daleks. She found love in human freedom fighter David Campbell. The Doctor thus granted his granddaughter's wish of a normal life by leaving her on Earth to spend the rest of her life with David. The parting was hard for both of them and, like many other companions that would come, the Doctor would never forget her.
Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill)
An ordinary London history teacher in 1963 who became one of the Doctor's first human companions. Intrigued by her strange student Susan Foreman, Barbara and fellow teacher Ian Chesterton followed Susan to a junkyard at 76 Totter's Lane, where she and Ian stumbled across the TARDIS and the Doctor. She and Ian were then unwillingly made companions when the Doctor kidnapped them to keep them from telling anyone about the TARDIS. Barbara was the member of the original TARDIS team who kept the Doctor in check. She criticized his selfish mistakes, his shrewd behavior, and took no nonsense from him. However, she herself fell victim to selfish desires such as when she tried to change history by changing the way of life of the Aztecs. Her and Ian's travels with the Doctor came to an end thanks to a faulty Dalek time machine that allowed her and Ian to return to their time, albeit two years late.
Ian Chesterton (William Russell)
An ordinary London science teacher in 1963 who, along with Barbara, became one of the Doctor's first human companions. He followed Barbara in her pursuit of the strange Susan Foreman and ultimately came across the Doctor and the TARDIS. Along with Barbara, he was unwillingly made a companion by the Doctor kidnapping him. While Susan was the one in awe of the Doctor and Barbara was the one to keep the Doctor in check, Ian was the one who acted as the Doctor's muscle and equal logical thinker. A logical man, Ian always had a sense of doubt in relation to many things that happened with the Doctor but he was always the first to put himself in harm's way to protect the Doctor, Susan, and Barbara. Along with Barbara, his travels with the Doctor came to an end when he and Barbara used a faulty Dalek time machine to return to their own time, albeit two years late.
Vicki Pallister (Maureen O'Brien)
An orphaned girl from the 25th century who joined the TARDIS group to fill the gap left behind by Susan's departure. While the Doctor acted as a grandfather figure to her, Vicki was much different from predecessor Susan. She was logical, intelligent, and was willing to argue with the Doctor to make sure that the right decisions were made. It's thanks to Vicki that the Doctor allows Barbara and Ian to use the Dalek Time Machine to return to their own time. She was a generally happy person who had a bad habit of saying the wrong things at the wrong time. However, not too long after her arrival, Vicki would part ways with the Doctor in Troy where she met a young man named Troilus and fell in love with him (in a surprisingly similar fashion to how Susan made her departure). A tale about Vicki and Troilus would later be made into a story by Geoffrey Chaucer and later a play by William Shakespeare.
Steven Taylor (Peter Purves)
A space pilot born some time after the 22nd century, Steven became the muscle of the TARDIS following Ian's departure. From his manly appearance to his independence and leadership skills, Steven Taylor might as well have been the first "knight in shining armor" on Doctor Who. He joined the Doctor accidentally following Barbara and Ian's departure and remained skeptical of time travel for a fair amount of time afterwards, despite the obvious proof before him. He shared a sibling bond with Vicki and had a good friendship with the Doctor. Sadly, Steven faced some of the worst experiences of his life on board the TARDIS due to witnessing the deaths of several innocents and eventually he decided to part ways with the Doctor to use his skills to help rebuild a fallen civilization.
Katarina (Adrienne Hill)
A woman from ancient Troy who dreamed of becoming the handmaid to a priestess. She joined the Doctor and Steven Taylor following Vicki's departure, constantly under the belief that the Doctor was the god Zeus and that the TARDIS was his Palace of Perfection. She was a simple woman from a simple time who hardly understood what was happening around her. Sadly, her time was the Doctor was short and met a tragic end. She sacrificed herself to prevent the Doctor from returning a ship to the Daleks and died in the vacuum of space in 4000, thus making her the first companion in Doctor Who who died. Her death would have a huge impact on Steven and eventually lead to his own parting with the Doctor.
Sara Kingdom (Jean Marsh)
A Space Security Service agent in 4000 who helped the Doctor, Steven, and Katarina face Mavic Chen and the Daleks. Sara was the only companion to almost be a one-off companion in the First Doctor's era. She was a strong, efficient, well-trained woman who could hold her own in a fight and looked down on Steven's technology as toys (as it was past technology from her POV). However, Sara's teamwork with the Doctor was short lived as she made her debut and her tragic departure in the same story: The Daleks' Master Plan (which also saw Katarina's death). Like the deaths of other companions, Sara's passing would haunt the Doctor for many incarnations to come.
Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane)
A teenage girl from 1960's England, Dodo became a companion by accident. Mistaking the TARDIS for an actual police box, she came across the Doctor and Steven and was ultimately taken away in order to prevent oncoming police from discovering the TARDIS. She was a curious, kind girl who tried to help out the Doctor in any way that she could. She shared a few adventures with the Doctor and Steven and even traveled with the Doctor for a little bit after Steven's departure. However, her time with the Doctor was short and she eventually parted ways with him in 1966 due to strange circumstances that remain not entirely explained even to this day.
Polly Wright (Anneke Wills)
A normal, young woman living her life in 1966 London who ended up joining the Doctor alongside new friend Ben Jackson following Dodo's departure. She was a teasing girl who bantered with those she cared for but always knew when to be serious, especially if the safety of her friends was put on the line. Polly didn't share the TARDIS with the First Doctor for very long as she soon found herself becoming one of the first inherited companions in Doctor Who when the Doctor regenerated before her eyes following their defeat of the Cybermen.
Ben Jackson (Michael Craze)
A young man in 1966 who was recently assigned to the Royal Navy before joining the Doctor alongside Polly Wright. Ben was a very practical and logical person and, much like previous companions Ian Chesterton and Steven Taylor, it took him a little while to accept that the TARDIS could travel through time and space. Like Polly, he didn't share the TARDIS with the First Doctor for long and found himself becoming one of the first inherited companions of Doctor Who when he and Polly watched the Doctor regenerate before their very eyes.
And those were the major players in the First Doctor's era! Next, I take a look at the era of the Second Doctor!
My high points of the era: The Daleks, The Aztecs, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, the Romans, The Crusade, The Time Meddler, The Myth-Makers and The Gunfighters.
Low points: The Sensorites (a shoddily produced idiot plot), Galaxy 4 (a boring morality tale whose message falls apart in the first act because no one is ever shown to need to learn it), The Celestial Toymaker, The Keys of Marinus and The Chase.
1374660 I see you're very well versed in Classic Doctor Who.
I admit that of most of my knowledge of previous Doctors comes from Wikipedia. I once read that the idea that the Doctor could regenerate came about because they needed a way to replace William Hartnell who was getting too old and sick. And with that decision, they pretty much guaranteed that Doctor Who could become the longest running science fiction series ever!
1374660
But you have to give some credit to The Sensorities, major developing point for The Doctor. He changed from True Neutral to the good old Chaotic Good we see him as now.