Oh, this is going to be fun, I don’t think I ever made a secret of it, how much I adore this Era of the Show. It will probably an in cohesive Ramble, so bare that in Mind:
I really like Susan, I already wrote plenty about her Character and my Thoughts on her, so not to repeat myself, I will just link it here:
As for the others: Barbara is amazing. Jaqueline does give a stellar Performance, and she is overall possibly my favorite Companion of that Era, she is incredible, and I love how much she confronts the Doctor in Stories such as Edege of Destruction. Similarly, I love how we explore her more in a Story like The Aztecs
Ian is just great. Russel is just great, there is a Reason why he is so beloved, for good Reasons!
Vicki is just adorable! I love her Chemistry with both Ian and Barbara! And especially how she interacts with the Doctor, their Chemistry is great, especially in Pure Historicals like the Romans and the Crusade. I do like to highlight one of her EU Story, that being the Short Story is the Story “All I Want from Christmas” from the twelve Doctors of Christmas Anthology. Which highlights how well-meaning, yet at times naive she can be, I do really highly recommend that Story to anybody who enjoyed the main Season 2 Crew.
Steven is a Character that I am growing a lot fonder overall, I already lost a few Words about him when talking about the Massacre, since really he is the Main Figure in that Story. The Companion Chronicles, especially the Trilogy with Oliver are some great Examples in the EU for him.
Not gonna comment on Katarina and Sara Kingdom, since while Sara especially thanks to her Companion Chronicles Trilogy and some early Adventures got more Time, I am not quite sure what I can say. Marsh is of course an excellent Actress and her short Time in DMP is just a blast to watch (or to read/listen). Katarina really gets some lovely expanded Universe Stuff in a BF Short Trip such as Katarina in the Underworld or the Early Adventures Daughter of the Gods, which is her best Outing. I found Adrienne always underrated and in some aspects underappreciated, sure her Tenure was a lot of Nothing, but still a shame, how she gets often forgotten or just mention as “The one who died first”.
As for Dodo, I think she is a mixed bag televised and even with EU Material, but the latter I still need to get more Exposure of her before I can properly comment on it. For her televised Run, she is probably at her best of the first Half of the War Machine and the Gunfighters. I think her Actress does a great Stuff with the Material she is given, even if her Character is inconsistent really.
And well Ben and Polly are more second Doctor Companions for me, so I am not going much with them.
I think the best Arc in that Era is obviously of the Arc of One. From becoming a very distant, cold alien to a much more warm-hearted, still flawed Character that fights against Injustices. You can really see that change so well when watching An Unearthly Child and then going to a Story like the Savages. I don’t think the Doctor as we know them today has been fully established until the End of the Pertwee Era, but I think the arc that One is going through is excellent, even if it was for more unintentional. I also really like how we clearly see his Change of saying Goodbye to his Friends, he chose to leave Susan behind, which especially now in Hindsight feels like a very harsh Decision for his and his alone to make. (And I am glad it was addressed with 8 in later BF Plays). But looking at the Departure of Ian and Barbara compared to Vicki is such a lovely change to see. While the former has the Doctor clearly seen upset, the latter shows him quietly accepting that. There is a lot to love there, even if a lot of it was probably less intentional.
Oh too many. Just some favorite:
TV: the Aztecs, Marco Polo, An Unearthly Child, The Edge of Destruction, The Daleks Masterplan, The Massacre, The Time Meddler, The Crusade & The Smugglers.
Books/Short Stories: Imaginary Friends is really lovely! As I said, All I want for Christmas is quite lovely as well, and so is Katarina in the Underworld. Some others would include: Indian Summer and the Gift, which are both BF Prose Short Trips!
Audiobooks: Basically his main Type of Audio Stories! There are quite a few I can praise. Really a lot of Simon Guerriers Work does deserve to be mentioned here, while I haven’t listened to all of his first Doctor Entries, they are usually excellent. As for others: Across the Darkened City is a quite good one! As I said, a lot of the Sara Kingdom Audios are superb or a lot of fun as well. The Ravelli Conspiracy is quite good as well! My personal Favorite is probably still Farewell, Great Macedon, such a superb Pure Historical and my personal favorite of the Lost Stories.
As for Audio Dramas, he sadly isn’t too present in those and I am honestly indifferent of those: (Noonan does get better and better, but most of his Stories that I listen to didn’t connect that much with me, I’d really enjoy Fugitive of the Daleks but far from a favorite). And while I think Bradley is a superb Actor, his first Doctor in at least Twice was from perfect. His Big Finish Range is one that I have been quite enjoying, Highlights include probably Last of the Romanovs and ESPECIALLY The Invention of Death.
I haven’t read too many Comics with One, and really there isn’t one that stands out too much to me. Honorable Mention to Dr. Who Meets Watermen, which is one of the funniest Story in the Who World somehow.
Honestly, there aren’t much, and I think I will just leave it by The Toymaker Serial, which I think is wasted Potential. More Thoughts here:
I think in Pure Historical it works so well how we slowly see the Change of the Approach for the Doctor changing. In the first few they were Observer and in parts remain that sometimes less than more. I’d argue you can see them be more interactive in Stories such as The Smugglers or The Gunfighters compared to ones like Reign of Terror or to some extent Marco Polo.
Pure Historicals are really one of the best Things we got in that Era.
As well do I think are the Performances really, Hartnell especially doesn’t get as much praise as he deserves. And most of our regulars really play it so well, even ones with “lesser Material” to work with. I think Carol Ann does a lot to make some of her “lesser Work” work much more.
In general, I love the Vibes in that Era, there is something melancholic about it and one of the greatest Spirit of Adventures really.
There is a lot that I love (after all it’s one of my favorite Era televised and even to some extent very much in the EU too).
I think one of the first Things to come to Mind the Use of Blackface or Yellowface, which was sadly present very much in this Era, as well as in Throughtons and even to some extent in others such as Tom or Davison.
I think that one is self-explanatory, while yes I am aware that around that time we were far removed from casting appropriately, it’s still a shame that this Practice was a Thing in the first place. Then again, I think I will leave it at that, since I think there are plenty of People who can explain and articulate this much better, but I think it’s important to point this out regardless. But again for further Addition to this, I leave it to others.
Besides there maybe too much Ambition in Stories like Web Planet or the Toymaker, but then again a Story like DMP is ambitious and while flawed, works incredibly well for me.
I still need to delve more into the Expanded Universe of the first Doctor, so I think don’t think I can’t overall comment much on it.
By no means do I think is this Era perfect (as I said above it has its issues), but despite this, I really think it’s great.
Uhhh first Doctor Actors…
Hartnell is great, underappericiated and is superb. Give this Man more love and especially credit!!
Hurndall does a fine enough Job, honestly he feels to me like somebody’s Idea of the first Doctor, which has the mannerism, but is far away from all the Nuances Hartnell and the Writers brought. He isn’t bad at all, but it’s clear that Dicks is more interested in 2 and 3 in 5 Doctors.
Noonan gets the Feel of Hartnell so right, he improves over each Release, I still need to settle in his One, but he is great.
Bradley is a superb Actor and can does a lot. I do prefer Noonan’s One, but prefer Bradley’s Outpout sightly more.
Purves is pretty great, I am glad I still have plenty of Things left with him, he is often the second Voice I hear when reading any Prose with One.
Shotout to Carol Ann’s One in Companion Chronicles, obvisiously far from the closet from Hartnell, but she gets the Spirit really right.