Part 7 Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide

Welcome to Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide,

where we celebrate 50 years of Doctor Who.

We're going to take a look at the genesis

of this unconventional hero of sci-fi and his many faces.

Come with me.

We are at...

the very beginning!

Meet the first Doctor, William Hartnell.

In 1963 he landed on our screens and changed British television for ever.

But why do you have to destroy?

"Hm... Well, we are in a pickle, aren't we?"

-OLD MAN'S VOICE:

-Don't mess with me, young man!

A new birth...of a sun...

and its planets!

I watched the very first episode of Doctor Who.

I'd come in that Saturday from somewhere.

I leaned on the door when I came in because it was just starting,

and I was still leaning there 25 minutes later when it finished.

It was new, it was different,

it appealed to the young men that we were.

The character at that stage, we didn't know where he'd come from,

we didn't know what his back story was.

So there's a lot of mystery about him.

-Your arrogance is nearly as great as your ignorance.

-Open the door!

We are the masters of the Earth!

Not for long.

The show was unlike anything seen on our screens before

and the character of the Doctor immediately became a TV icon.

Yes, indeed.

'The look of him, the sound of him,'

the aura, was naturally authoritative.

In the modern era, we are used to seeing the Doctor

being very off-the-cuff...

Bada-boom!

..spontaneous...

You only live once.

..you know, thinking on his feet.

Run!

With Hartnell, everything he seemed to do and everything that went

right for him seemed to be because of his experience.

That city down there is a magnificent subject for study

and I don't intend to leave here

until I've thoroughly investigated it.

And as we got to know this elderly alien with his unconventional

time machine, it became clear that the Doctor

was far from your typical small-screen hero.

He was kind of grumpy, he was mysterious.

Oh, child, if only you'd think as an adult sometimes.

He also seemed...

difficult.

Geniuses can be a bit rude and a bit blunt.

William Hartnell definitely had a bit of that in him.

Please stop bothering me.

-Yes, the first Doctor was rude...

-Mind your own business.

-..patronising...

-I can see by your face that you don't understand.

I knew you wouldn't. Never mind.

..and despite looking like a pensioner,

he could certainly handle himself.

-OLD MAN'S VOICE:

-Oh, you want to fight, do you? Come on, then!

I'll just unravel my cravat.

Yes, the first Doc was no day at the beach.

Don't call me Doc. Now, do I make myself clear?

But over time, he began to mellow and went on to time-travel

with a host of new friends, or companions, over the years.

-Are you going to come with us?

-If you'll have me.

HE CHUCKLES

He began to develop a softer side,

and when granddaughter Susan grew up and fell in love...

Oh, David, I do love you! I do! I do!

..he sent her off with a memorable and emotional farewell speech.

There must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties.

Just go forward in all your beliefs

and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.

And soon the first Doctor was saying his own goodbyes,

leaving as a changed character.

He enters almost as the villain, and leaves as the eccentric,

compassionate hero.

You know, became this hugely popular figure in popular culture,

and if he has a legacy, it's that the show is still running today

and that's got to be down to him.

Patrick Troughton had the hard job.

Patrick Troughton was the actor

who established that the Doctor can change.

It wasn't somebody pretending to do what William Hartnell did,

he completely reinvented the character.

And he took hold of that part,

flipped it on its side, wiggled its legs in the air and he became

this wonderful, loving cosmic hobo, who was disarming and charming.

EXPLOSIONS AND SHOUTING

I loved Patrick Troughton's Doctor.

Just so subtle and clever and quick-changing.

Interesting.

Funny, and so characterful.

Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority.

"Yes, we ARE in trouble, aren't we?"

Why? What's all this about?

I don't know, but we've got to be careful.

We've got to be very, very careful.

Patrick was a proper character actor.

Now, how can I be a traitor when I don't even know where I am?

Where AM I?

Patrick Troughton's Doctor, he's sort of more recognisable

to a modern audience, I think.

He's more the centre of the action.

If not for Patrick Troughton, there wouldn't be a Matt Smith today.

Oh, you've redecorated!

I don't like it.

You've had this place redecorated, haven't you? Don't like it.

But Troughton wasn't just a clown, he was musical.

TOOTING

-Sort of. And he was the first to use...

-This is a sonic screwdriver.

Now, where can I demonstrate it?

His three-year reign came to an abrupt end

when he was captured by his fellow Time Lords.

And it was only then that we found out more about who this mysterious

time traveller actually was.

You have repeatedly broken our most important law

of non-interference in the affairs of other planets.

What have you to say? Do you admit these actions?

I not only admit them, I am proud of them.

We start to learn more about the fact that the Doctor

is a Time Lord, and we learn more about their code.

All these evils I have fought. While you have done nothing but observe.

You can observe the affairs of the universe,

but you can't intervene, you can't join in.

But the Doctor naturally feels that you should,

and we learn a lot more about his moral code.

True - I AM guilty of interference.

Just as you are guilty of failing to use your great powers to help those in need!

By way of punishment, his TARDIS was grounded.

And we also saw the beginnings of the Doctor's love affair

with our fair planet.

We have noted your particular interest in the planet Earth.

Earth seems more vulnerable than others, yes.

For that reason, you will be sent back to that planet, in exile.

No! No!

And so ended the story of the second Doctor.

He's the one who sort of nails exactly how it's going to be,

so his legacy to the part is huge.

If he hadn't been so brilliant,

the show could have just gone by the wayside.

The audience stuck,

and that very act of re-creation has allowed the series to live on.

Our lives are different to anybody else's. That's the exciting thing.

There's nobody in the universe can do what we're doing.