The First Doctor (William Hartnell/Richard Hurndall/David Bradley)
Appearances
An Unearthly Child
The Daleks
The Edge of Destruction
Marco Polo*
The Keys of Marinus
The Aztecs
The Sensorites
The Reign of Terror
Season 2:
Planet of Giants
The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Rescue
The Romans
The Web Planet
The Crusade*
The Space Museum
The Chase
The Time Meddler
Season 3:
Galaxy 4*
Mission to the Unknown*
The Myth Makers*
The Daleks’ Master Plan*
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Eve*
The Ark
The Celestial Toymaker*
The Gunfighters
The Savages*
The War Machines
Season 4:
The Smugglers*
The Tenth Planet
Season 10:
The Three Doctors
Season 20:
The Five Doctors
Series 10:
The Doctor Falls
Twice Upon a Time
The First Doctor, played by William Hartnell, was, by his own statement, the “original” incarnation of the Doctor. Holding himself in high regard, he was prone to criticizing those whom he felt were naïve or primitive compared to his intellect. However, he possessed compassion, warmth, and wit that made up for his egocentric nature, serving to act as a mentor and guardian figure in his elderly years. Originally a very difficult and curmudgeonly person, the First Doctor matured from an apparent selfishness and became more inviting.
Beginning after he fled his home world of Gallifrey, his travels through time and space were mostly random owing to faulty components in his TARDIS. Initially, he traveled only with his granddaughter Susan Foreman. They settled for a time on Earth in 1963, where Susan was a student at Coal Hill School. He was forced to abruptly depart from Earth with Susan’s teachers, Ian Chesterton, and Barbara Wright, kidnapping them from their own time after they went to investigate their unusual pupil. After much travel with Ian and Barbara, he bade Susan farewell to allow her to live a happier life with a man with whom she had fallen in love.
Following Susan’s departure, the Doctor traveled for a short time with Ian and Barbara, before happening upon the planet Dido, a planet he knew from previous journeys. Here, he invited a new traveling companion to join him, Vicki. She reminded him of Susan, and the Doctor saw her as a surrogate to fill her spot in his travels with Ian and Barbara. Later, during a confrontation with the Daleks, the Doctor used one of their time machines to return Ian and Barbara to their proper time – something he had been unable to manage with his TARDIS.
Soon after the departure of Ian and Barbara, the Doctor and Vicki had gained a new companion in Steven Taylor, with whom the Doctor had a relatively uneasy relationship. Vicki eventually left the Doctor’s company as well, also after falling in love with a man she met on one of their travels. Steven soon became bitter towards the Doctor, blaming him for the several deaths of their traveling companions; Katarina and
Shortly before his battle with the Cybermen of