N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
What can I say about this first three-and-a-bit seasons of Doctor Who that hasn’t already been said by countless other commentators (or indeed me) in the last 10 or so months.
I loved the show’s premise, its breadth of storylines, its silliness, its (sometimes over-reaching) ambition, its occasional disregard for scientific rationale, its weirdness, its intelligence, in fact pretty much everything about it (yes, even The Web Planet) – perhaps surprisingly these are all things I could say about the twenty-first century incarnation of the show.
And of course at the centre of it all, amidst all those fantastical futuristic and historical adventures has been the Doctor himself, magnificently portrayed by William Hartnell. Slightly sinister, prone to grumpiness, often patronising, and yet fiercely intelligent, defiant and a little mad to go with it – what’s not to like!
“It’s far from being all over.”
The Doctor,
The Tenth Planet: Episode 4
It’s sad that, as good a job as Peter Purves and the supporting cast do towards the end of season 3, the show as a whole really did start to suffer when William Hartnell’s health began to deteriorate.
It’s not surprising really, considering it is after all a programme called Doctor Who! Even so, given we’re so accustomed to the lead actor changing, it’s hard to imagine how strange it must’ve seemed for the Doctor suddenly to become Patrick Troughton 48 years ago today.
As 60’s Doctor Who to me has always seems best suited to a dark wintry night (it must be the black and white graininess), I’m pleased to be heading into the Second Doctor’s adventures at pretty much the same time of year as his original viewers encountered him.
But I’ll definitely miss the year that the First Doctor was my doctor.
Next time: The Power of the Daleks
