Watching Doctor Who

Christopher Eccleston, who has already finished filming his part in the G. I. Joe movie, is now reported to be filming a part in Amelia. Eccleston will be playing Earhart’s navigator Fred Noonan. He’s quite the busy fellow, isn’t he? Sigh. It just means that I have more films to go see. I wonder when the G. I. Joe trailer comes out.

On a show called 50 Ways to Leave Your TV Lover, which contained a countdown of the the small screen’s most memorable splits. It turns out that Rose and The Doctor’s separation at the end of Doomsday came in at Number One! Yay for our show. You can see just that part of the show here.

Russell T Davies has been honored with an OBE for services to Drama! (The Late Verity Lambert received an OBE in 2002.)

Did you know that William Hartnell has recently appeared on a stamp? I wonder if the TARDIS has ever been on a stamp. They should do a whole Doctor Who series of stamps! They’d sell like hotcakes. Are you listening Auntie Beeb?

It looks like Gareth David-Lloyd is going to give Hollywood a try. Don’t worry, though. He maintains that it won’t affect his work on Torchwood. Let’s hope that turns out to be the case.

And finally, for a very spoilery look at a baddie from the end of this series you might go here (information) or here (pictures). …But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Christopher Eccleston, G. I. Joe, Amelia, Russell T Davies, William Hartnell, Gareth David-Lloyd

Okay, this one is for The Vig. It’s a follow-up to my question about which companion costume you’d choose. This week I’m wondering: Which of the Doctor’s outfits would you like to wear? There are ten Doctors to choose from, and some of them even have a few different outfits to choose from. So, what will you choose? Are you a fan of the tenth Doctor’s blue suit? Do you have a secret yen for celery on your lapel? Perhaps you prefer a cloak and a frilly shirt. Let me know. To help you jog your memory of our Doctor’s stylish choices I am including links below. (No chance of wandering off this time, sorry. Just stick with our ten versions if you please.)

Doctor…who? (I get that a lot…)

• The First Doctor
• The Second Doctor
• The Third Doctor
• The Fourth Doctor
• The Fifth Doctor
• The Sixth Doctor
• The Seventh Doctor
• The Eighth Doctor
• The Ninth Doctor
• The Tenth Doctor

I actually have a thing for waistcoats, so is it any great surprise that I have chosen the eighth Doctor’s outfit? Actually, I think I’d look quite nice in it, and not merely because I’d have to get it custom made to fit me. (I’m five feet tall, for those of you who don’t know.) Mind you, I’d have to learn how to tie a cravat, but that would be a small price to pay.

So. Who’s outfit did you chose?

8th Dr. Image: BBC

William Hartnell was the first Doctor. He’s the one who started this whole thing. Obviously, he had other acting jobs along the way. Here is a clip of one of them. In the 1958 film Carry on Sergeant he played Sergeant Grimshawe, a man determined to retire after his newest group of recruits wins a prize for best new squad. This may require a lot of work on his part. Enjoy!

William Hartnell, Carry on Sergeant

William Hartnell 1908-1975

William Hartnell originated and portrayed the title character of Doctor Who from 1963 to 1966. His Doctor was a crotchety old man who could be quite selfish and intent upon getting his way. Also, he already exhibited The Doctor’s tendency to try and talk himself out of dangerous situations. Further, he wasn’t yet proficient at flying the TARDIS. (Mind you, it could be argued that he still hasn’t mastered the art of piloting his ship.)

In the beginning, he traveled with his granddaughter Susan. Next he kidnapped two of her school teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, fearing that they knew too much about Himself, Susan, and the TARDIS. Eventually, his companions changed. He left Susan behind to be with the man she loved. Ian and Barbara found their own way home, albeit to not quite the time that they left. The First Doctor encountered Daleks for the first time in his second story. Little did he know how many times his path would cross theirs, and how closely their fates would become linked.

It has always interested me that the transition between the First and Second Doctor seems to have been the only natural regeneration that The Doctor has ever had. Perhaps it is due to his first body dying of old age instead of from poison or falling from a great height. In any case, he didn’t seem to be suffering from much in the way of regeneration sickness.

William Hartnell was born on 8 January 1908 in London. He died 23 April 1975. He would have been one hundred this year.

William Hartnell, Doctor Who

Before the aired version of An Unearthly Child there was another pilot filmed. This one had a few differences. I remember reading the reason why they they made some changes and re-filmed the pilot episode, but I don’t actually remember that reason. Anyway, I will be reviewing this episode rather like the others, but I will note differences as I see them.

An Unearthly Child features The First Doctor as played by William Hartnell.

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An Unearthly Child, The First Doctor, William Hartnell

And now, my review of Part four of the Classic Doctor Who serial An Unearthly Child, which is known as The Firemaker. I will be reviewing each episode, rather than each story, as some of the classic stories are really long. This is the last of four parts of this first episode, so next week I will review (or rather, discuss) the pilot episode. Luckily, it is available on my DVD. I will try and note any differences.

An Unearthly Child features The First Doctor as played by William Hartnell.

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An Unearthly Child, Doctor Who, The Firemaker

And now, my review of Part three of the Classic Doctor Who serial An Unearthly Child, which is known as The Forest of Fear. I will be reviewing each episode, rather than each story, as some of the classic stories are really long. When I finish all four parts of this first episode, I will also review (or rather, discuss) the pilot episode. Luckily, it is available on my DVD. I will try and note any differences.

An Unearthly Child features The First Doctor as played by William Hartnell.

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An Unearthly Child, Doctor Who, The Forest of Fear

And now, my review of Part two of the Classic Doctor Who serial An Unearthly Child, which is known as The Cave of Skulls. I will be reviewing each episode, rather than each story, as some of the classic stories are really long. When I finish all four parts of this first episode, I will also review (or rather, discuss) the pilot episode. Luckily, it is available on my DVD. I will try and note any differences.

An Unearthly Child features The First Doctor as played by William Hartnell.

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An Unearthly Child, Doctor Who, The Cave of Skulls

Here at last is my first Classic Doctor Who episode review. I will be reviewing each episode, rather than each story, as some of those stories are really long. When I finish all four parts of this first episode, I will also review (or rather, discuss) the pilot episode. Luckily, it is available on my DVD. I will try and note any differences.

Back on November 23, 1963, Doctor Who first premiered. Unfortunately for the show, President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated the previous day, and this caused the episode to be pushed back a bit. In order to make things a bit easier on the folks who had been watching the news, instead of watching this new show, the first episode was re-run the following week. That must have worked out for them, as the show survived for quite a few years afterwards.

Okay then, let’s get started at the beginning with The First Doctor.

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An Unearthly Child, Doctor Who

As you can probably tell, I have been surfing around on YouTube again. Once before, I offered you a video that included all of the Doctor Who intros blending into one another. That video was very well done, but it didn’t have the time to present you with more than bits and pieces of each intro. This time I bring you the intros of the first three Doctors in their entirety. I have included both the 1970 and 1973 versions of the Third Doctor Intro. You may note that you can see the lineage of the first two Doctor’s intros in the 1970 version of the Third Doctor intro, whereas the 1973 version has a whole new look to it that will carry through into the Fourth Doctor’s sequence. Listen closely to the differences between each version of the theme tune. Enjoy!

The First Doctor Intro:

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YouTube, Doctor Who

I thought that it might be fun to do a Thursday Thirteen this week, so I offer you Thirteen people who have played The Doctor at various times. I know that there are more folks that I could add (Peter Cushing for example, though technically he played “Dr. Who.”) but I had to stick with thirteen. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy my list.

13 People Who Have Played The Doctor (in no particular order)

1. Christopher Eccleston (9th Doctor)
2. Mark Gatiss (The Web of Caves)
3. David Tennant (10th Doctor)
4. Hugh Grant (The Curse of Fatal Death – The (Handsome) 12th Doctor)
5. William Hartnell (1st Doctor)
6. Paul McGann (8th Doctor)
7. Tom Baker (4th Doctor)
8. Sylvester McCoy (7th Doctor)
9. Patrick Troughton (2nd Doctor)
10. Richard Hurndall (The 1st Doctor in The Five Doctors [William Hartnell had passed away])
11. Peter Davison (5th Doctor)
12. Colin Baker (6th Doctor)
13. Jon Pertwee (3rd Doctor)

Thursday Thirteen, Peter Cushing, Christopher Eccleston, Mark Gatiss, David Tennant, Hugh Grant, William Hartnell, Paul McGann, Tom Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Patrick Troughton, Richard Hurndall, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Jon Pertwee

This is pretty much what it says on the tin. 43 years, 10 Doctors, 5-and-a-half-minutes. For those of you who are not particularly familiar with the classic series of Doctor Who, here is a video that covers some of the important and amusing bits from each of the first ten Doctors. It’s sort of like a visit to the department of backstory, actually. The Doctor has been fighting the monsters for a very long time. (Great job with the vid, bishopzero!) Enjoy!

Doctor Who

Look what I found. This is a video containing all of the Doctor Who title sequences complete with title music. (Not each entire sequence, rather more of a continuous melding of once sequence into another.) Someone by the handle of “royalmarriage” over at Youtube put this together, and I think that they did a great job. They even included one of the 3rd Doctor sequences that I had completely forgotten about. For those of you who have not seen much of the classic series, this video will give you a better idea how the opening titles, and title theme, have changed throughout the years.

Doctor Who, 3rd Doctor

I am given to understand that some of you folks would like to learn something about the Classic Doctor Who episodes. So, I’ve decided to give you a quick overview of the availability of episodes featuring The First Doctor as played by William Hartnell. (This availability is mainly for Region 1, but I have found that the DVDs tend to appear first in the UK. So, consider any DVD listings as good for both areas.) Some of these classic episodes are available on video or DVD. Sadly, some of them have been lost, perhaps forever. Occasionally, one of the missing episodes will reappear thanks to dedicated searchers. And the BBC does have the audio for every episode, thanks to dedicated fans. Given the number of missing episodes, however, it is likely that some will never be found. Our only hope, at this point, is animated re-creation, like they did with episodes 1 and 4 of The Second Doctor story: The Invasion. Oh, and however you look at it, much praise should go to the Restoration Team who makes Doctor Who DVDs possible.

One final thing: Remember that the Classic Who episodes were different from the modern ones. They consisted of a story that lasted anywhere from 1 to 12 episodes. Okay? Well, here’s what I managed to pull together for you:

The First Doctor - William Hartnell (1963-1966)

Season 1:

0. Pilot Episode (avail. on DVD)

1. 100,000 BC (a.k.a An Unearthly Child) - 4 episodes (avail. on DVD)

2. The Daleks - 7 episodes (avail. on DVD)

3. The Edge of Destruction - 2 episodes (avail. on DVD)

4. Marco Polo - 7 episodes (all seven episodes missing)

5. The Keys of Marinus - 6 episodes (was avail. on videotape)

6. The Aztecs - 4 episodes (avail. on DVD)

7. The Sensorites - 6 episodes (was avail. on videotape)

8. The Reign of Terror - 6 episodes (episodes 4 and 5 missing) (was avail. on videotape in its incomplete form)

Season 2:

9. Planet of Giants - 3 episodes (was avail. on videotape)

10. The Dalek Invasion of Earth - 6 episodes (avail. on DVD)

11. The Rescue - 2 episodes (was avail. on videotape)

12. The Romans - 4 episodes (was avail. on videotape)

13. The Web Planet - 6 episodes (avail. on DVD)

14. The Crusade - 4 episodes (episodes 2 and 4 missing) (Bits avail. on Lost in Time DVD) (Photonovel)

15. The Space Museum - 4 episodes (was avail. on videotape)

16. The Chase - 6 episodes (was avail. on videotape)

17. The Time Meddler - 4 episodes (was avail. on videotape)

Season 3:

18. Galaxy 4 - 4 episodes (all four episodes missing)

19. Mission to the Unknown - 1 episode (missing)

20. The Myth Makers - 4 episodes (all four episodes missing)

21. The Dalek Masterplan - 12 episodes (episodes 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12 missing) (Bits avail. on Lost in Time DVD) (Photonovel)

22. The Massacre - 4 episodes (all four episodes missing)

23. The Ark - 4 episodes (was avail. on videotape)

24. The Celestial Toymaker - 4 episodes (episodes 1, 2, and 3 are missing) (Bits avail. on Lost in Time DVD)

25. The Gunfighters - 4 episodes (was avail. on videotape)

26. The Savages - 4 episodes (all four episodes missing) (Photonovel)

27. The War Machines - 4 episodes (was avail. on videotape)

Season 4:

28. The Smugglers - 4 episodes (all four episodes missing) (Bits avail. on Lost in Time DVD) (Photonovel)

29. The Tenth Planet - 4 episodes (episode 4 missing) (Bits avail. on Lost in Time DVD)

Sources: BBC Doctor Who Missing Episode List & The Classic Series Episode Guide

Doctor Who, The First Doctor, William Hartnell

Frequent commenter Erik was kind enough to pass this link along to me. It’s a clip from “The Chase” which was a 1st Doctor episode the second season of the original show. Join The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki as they enjoy watching The Beatles play on the TARDIS’s Time/Space Visualizer. Gotta love that “Classical Music.”

The Chase, 1st Doctor, Doctor Who, The Beatles, The Doctor