“It all started out as a
mild curiosity in the junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a great
spirit of adventure.”
William Hartnell was the
first man to carry the mantel of The Doctor and the one who got this 50 year
phenomenon started. It was because of
him and his wonderful portrayal of The Doctor that we have the show we all know
and love today. We owe a lot to the man
who donned that white wig and opened the TARDIS doors for the first time.
When I first watched the
early stories with William Hartnell I didn’t care for the 1st Doctor
at first. I thought his stories were
boring and did not care for his portrayal at all. I was young and loved the stories in color
and just didn’t care for the black and white stories. I was initiated into the
world of Doctor Who by watching Tom Baker stories on the local PBS
station. So my first foray was with all
those classic stories during the time when the stories were really good. When they finally showed William Hartnell’s stories
there was a level of excitement but I just did not care for him. I don’t know why. Maybe in my youth I just
didn’t really appreciated what he was doing.
Don’t take me wrong I enjoyed the stories and have them all on DVD but I
just wasn’t a big William Hartnell fan.
Now I’m older and wiser,
well in theory anyway, and after watching his stories over and over again I
have gained an appreciation of what William Hartnell has done. Even his stumbling over his words I enjoy
because in real life people stumble over words all the time and with him doing
that it brings realism to the role. The
more you watch him you can see different aspects of The Doctor that the next 10
guys have taken from him. He was so
monumental in shaping the character. The
kindly, intelligent, fighter for the weak and oppressed all came from him. William Hartnell’s era should be more
appreciated from the new fans because so much that we have now all started back
then. 
I have grown to enjoy his
stories. I still enjoy watching them all
the time and even though they are dated and the sets look cheap and they used
models instead of CGI there is a certain charm about them. They have a unique style of storytelling that
uses science fiction as a back drop.
Always telling a message and trying to prove a point. But what we have to remember is that it is a
science fiction story and its really good science fiction at that. But what makes it all the more believable is
William Hartnell and his performances as The Doctor. He took the role so serious that you could
see he wasn’t going through the motions when he approached a new episode. He tackled it head on and with a
determination to do the best story he could.
Science Fiction wasn’t easy and back in the 60’s it was, well, comical
at times. But William Hartnell gave us
his all and his dedication to being The Doctor was one of the contributors for
us having a show in 2013. 
The First Doctor era was
more than just bad sets, models, and black and white television. It was an era that had a lot of good stories
that still hold out today. There were
Daleks and Cybermen and a funny monk from Gallifrey that caused havoc now and
again. The era started it all off and these are the stories that helped get us
to where we are now. The historicals and
the ones on alien worlds should be viewed over again with a respect of their
historical value to what they brought to Doctor Who. Cause without those early stories and William
Hartnell there would be no Doctor Who and no 50th Anniversary.
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