First Doctor
The First Doctor is a need for the program. I am not a producer or director so how they chose the actor for the job I am not clear on. Verity Lambert is the initial producer for Doctor Who. She and the first serial director Waris Hussein are shouldered with the task of finding the right actor for the Doctor. As a producer and director, there are criterias to meet and go by when casting the First Doctor. What they use to chose the actor I can’t tell you.
Lambert and Hussein extend offers to two actors, Hugh David and Geoffrey Bayldon. These men did not want to play the part.(1) So, they are left wondering who they will cast. The next actor they ask to take the role is William Hartnell. At the time they extend the offer Hartnell is 55 years of age. For them to get him they have to actually persuade him to take the role.(2) I suppose his age was one reason to chose him. He in some way will look like an elderly teacher or professor. I say this because the original premise for the show is to educational. Therefore, the older man and professor looking attire gives an image of being a professor.
The show is to be for children and I believe you will need a grandfatherly figure to present the information. But what they find though is that the parents love the show as well. Now, you may wonder why they chose Hartnell to be the First Doctor. He really does not have a back ground to play the grandfather nor a professor or Doctor. Most of his career is spent playing military characters or tough characters, but Lambert watches him in the film version of This Sporting Life. It is here she likes his sensitive performance as a rugby scout.(3)
Any one who is a fan of the show knows the original cast. It contains the Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton, and Barbara Wright. I don’t know if Lambert or any of the production team foresee the leaving of actors and actresses, but that is exactly what happens. So, as each actor or actress leaves they replace them with a new companion. Generally the stint of a companion seems very short, and seems to remain so today.
There are difficulties that arise in the completion of the firs episode. These include technical issues and performance errors. They do make changes and we have what is in the archives of the BBC. The BBC has to retransmit the episode before the second episode due to the assassination of President John F Kennedy.(4)
The popularity of the show actually begins with the second serial, The Daleks. To be honest, if they don’t bring the Daleks into being, I do not know where the show will be today. The genius of Terry Nation creates the Daleks and they become the cornerstone of Doctor Who. These aliens are different from any other aliens and this causes an explosion in the popularity of Doctor Who.
Originally, the First Doctor is not fatherly or grandfatherly at all. he is callous, cantankerous, bossy, and ruthless to a point. He wants his way and will do anything to get his way. This does change though as he gets to know his companions. He and his granddaughter only originally described as travellers of the fourth dimension.(5) Personally, this may not have been the best personality for the First Doctor, but somehow it works and the show survives.
As with all programs changes are going to come, and Doctor Who is no different. Hartnell begins to suffer from arteriosclerosis, which cause him to forget lines. This along with a change in producers causes friction on the show. John Wiles replaces Lambert and he wishes to make wholesale changes because he and Hartnell did not work very well together. But BBC official do not allow this.(6) Therefore, Wiles is moves on and there is changes in BBC officials.
Innes Lloyd replaces Wiles and is allowed to make the changes Wiles is not allowed to. Lloyd talks with Hartnell after his health begins to affect his performance and Hartnell agrees to step down. This begins the practice of regeneration and is the best thing to happen to Doctor Who. Because of the health of Hartnell, we now have Doctor Who on the air for 52 years.
