Inspired by all the other Appreciation Threads, I thought it would be nice to do one for the first Doctor. I think you know the Core Idea by now, but if you don’t, while Critques all fine and good, for further critical Thoughts and/or maybe Rants on said Era/Character, I suggest using this thread instead: First Doctor Era[1]
Personally speaking? I rather love this Era, yes it’s not without its Flaws and I do have my Critique with it. But to me there is just so much to love, dare I say it’s probably my favorite Era of the TV Show honestly. Not surprising considering I love a good Pure Historicals, which this Era has plenty of. Then there is of course the first Doctor himself, who is just great. I think Hartnell made a lot of his Role and while of course respected and very much appreciated for originating the Part, I must admit at times some of his other Acting Skills can be underappreciated (like for example his more comedic/humorous Acting Choices)
Anyway feel free to discuss all Things first Doctor, his Companions and more here! There can’t be enough Love for the Original one you might say [2]
I too really love this era, although I’ve only watched as far as Mission to the Unknown (skipping Marco Polo on the way). I think what I love most about it is how experimental it all feels - there’s no template for what Doctor Who should be yet, so the format, tone and characters are free to extend themselves in a way that I don’t think any subsequent era of televised Who really is. Stories like The Edge of Destruction, Planet of Giants, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Romans, The Time Meddler, are all drastically different from each other and still feel fresh even sixty odd years later. Similarly, the characters of this era are really strong, and crucially, they actually develop the Doctor from the rather grumpy and pessimistic old man of An Unearthly Child into a character who is willing to take on that hero role in the story, without which none of the subsequent Doctors would be possible.
As well as being boundary-pushing, this era is also just really fun in its own right. I love Hartnell’s performance, as well as those of all his companions. There are also some stone-cold classic stories here (The Time Meddler is probably my personal favourite so far). Speaking personally, I also love a lot of the production and set design of this era - Classic Who has a bit of an unfair reputation of wobbly sets and unconvincing monsters, but I think that couldn’t be further from the case in the Hartnell era. You can really see how much effort goes into creating what is, essentially, an entirely new world in each serial. Taken together with the black-and-white filming, I think a lot of the era has a genuine feel of being adrift in time, like the Doctor and his companions.
I’ll just drop in here to say that I absolutely love Dodo Chaplet and she’s one of my absolute favorite classic companions
I feel like her run is often either overlooked or actively disliked by a lot of fans but for me it was probably my favorite stretch of the era and I think she just brings a lot of joy. While my favorite of the era is The Edge of Destruction, if I’m ever thinking of rewatching a First Doctor story the one I gravitate to the most is always The Gunfighters
I’ve always really enjoyed the First Doctor’s era, and after my recent rewatch of Season One, I like it even more! In the past, Season Two has been my favourite, but with the scores I’ve given thus far, the crown may be up for grabs.
One of my absolute favourite eras. The atmosphere is so strong and strange and wonderful. It’s the oldest era but always feels fresh and exciting to me!
The First Doctor is one of my favorite Doctors. William Hartnell is a genius in the role and manages to establish the first of the entire pantheon of actors who would play the Doctor.
Ian, Barbara, and Susan are some of my favorite TARDIS crew. Although I still have a couple of stories left to watch, I think it’s one of my favorite eras of the classic series.
Peter Purves dancing rather stiffly to “River Deep, Mountain High” (but it’s not his fault; I don’t know what kind of choreography this is supposed to be lol). Video already timestamped.
He definitely has more than that, because I’ve already listened to six these past few weeks and have several more to go! Unless the guide classifies some of them as audiobooks…
Probably because most of his audios are Companion Chronicles which are only two cast members (three at most) and are usually closer to a standard audiobook featuring a lot of narration.
In that case, it’s almost certainly as @DarthGallifrey says - I’d still classify the companion chronicles as audio dramas personally, but I won’t argue with Shauny!
There are very few companion chronicles that could be considered full cast audio dramas. Most are a mix of drama and narration, so while not true single narrator audiobooks, they’re still classified that way. Also, there’s all the short trips that are single-narrator.
For the 60s Doctors until the recent Boxset ‘Relaunch’ (all the doctors get their own boxsets), they didn’t do many true Audio Dramas. The Companion Chronicles are usually two-handers with Narration and two Cast Member playing most of the Cast (that way you get Peter being Dodo, for example, lol). And there is the early Adventures, which are akin more to Audio Dramas but still have Narration to it, you can compare them to the Audios from the missing Episodes with Narration Link!
I am pretty sure there is at least one Steven Audio, a Companion Chronicle named Mother Russia, which may interest you! (I liked it, but it’s certainly more narration heavy, still not too long so you might wanna check it out!)
Edit: There were also the Bradley Set pre Unbound, but those had only the only Gang in them!
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