Exclusive First Look: Hartnell's perseverance - Doctor Who - The Three Doctors 

God bless Mr Hartnell. He came back to the show even though he was practically on his death bed. THAT'S dedication. R.I.P.

I'm actually watching "The Three Doctors" as I type this. What amazes me about Mr. Hartnell's performance is that here he is, sitting in a chair, reading his lines off of cue cards, confined to a television screen...and he absolutely commands every single scene he is in. You watch the story and this isn't some sick old man phoning in a performances - he is STILL the Doctor.

"None of them could understand... Barbara, Chatter... Chesterton. Not even my own granddaughter. And now Steven. Perhaps I should go back, back to my home planet. But I can't. I can't." One of the best forgotten Hartnell moments.

William Hartnell was MY Doctor, scary at first, but then as time passed he became a kind of substitute granddad. I was so upset when Patrick Troughton took over as the Doctor, but I still kept watching none the less. I will never forget you Mr Hartnell, you were fantastic, RIP.

I'm glad they managed to get Hartnell to make small appearances in "The Three Doctors". I know he was already in ill health, but if he was interested in taking part in "The Three Doctors" before his wife phoned to say he couldn't do it, minimal appearances was better than none at all. Otherwise, they may have started the whole recasting the First Doctor thing here before he died years later. Plus we would never have seen actual colour footage of Hartnell as the First Doctor. "The Name of the Doctor" doesn't count as that was colourised B&W footage. Rest in peace, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Barry Letts.

I totally agree. William Hartnell is so BADLY underrated. He was so dedicated to the programme. I guess if we were doing a show that had no time and not much money 48 weeks a year, we'd fluff our lines too. R.I.P William.

William Hartnell was a superb Doctor, who I strongly believe these days to be very underrated. This man was and is the original Doctor. It annoys me somewhat when some people mention his fluffed lines, as these were still the early years of television and TV had just come out of (or still transmitting drama as) live TV. Plus remember, those early shows were only meant to be seen once (like a Stage Play), and NOT seen and debated time and time again years later. Hartnell WAS a fine actor!

This is a perfect point that you're making. Also, if you look at most actors now, fluffing lines isn't an unusual thing that happens! However, actors nowadays are lucky enough to have the chance to re-shoot their lines again and again. This wasn't the case back in 1963. And the fact that William Hartnell managed to get almost every line out perfectly for three years of working on the show proves how superb of an actor that he was.

- "What have you done?" - "Well, we've assessed the situation..." - "Hrm. Just as I thought. Nothing."

Good to have had something of Hartnell in colour - probably the only filming of anything he did in the 70s

It really saddens me that Hartnell must've been so excited to have the chance to come back. Sounds like he was so joyous he couldn't stop talking about it. I truly do wonder what their original idea was for the First Doctors part in the episode.

Good old William. He did the show even though he was practically dying. He showed the fans he did care about them by doing that.

The final farewell that Hartnell absolutely deserved. And i am glad he could see the show moved on and kept going on that HE started and was sooo dedicated to. And so it would for 25 more years and then again in 2005 till today.

That really is a shame. Mr. Hartnell loved the show so if he'd been in his right state of mind, I'm sure he would have jumped at it for real. And we owe the show to him anyway. God bless you, Bill. May you and Mr. Troughton and Mr. Pertwee RIP.

Good ole Bill. He would never let his show down, even when he was pretty poorly.

The lovely thing is, although he was quite ill and his work thus had to be limited, even the brief scenes we have of Bill in THE THREE DOCTORS, show him very much in character as the original Doctor Who, AND clearly enjoying himself, recreating the role! And then ten years later in 1983, Richard Hurndall gave a very commendable alternate interpretation of the First Doctor, in just one story, THE FIVE DOCTORS. Both actors meshed very well, with their other TV incarnations! Here's to 50 years..

You know, I worked in the TV industry herein the U.S. for many years. I KNOW "difficult to work with." William Hartnell was quite possibly the best pure actor among all of the Doctors.

He did an amazing job... And everyone from my family supported him

Mr Hartnell will always be the first Doctor.

I am so glad the three doctors went ahead.

I do remember watching the 1st series of Dr Who with Harnell on our valve black and white TV in Australia. It scared me as a kid. lol

That's really touching. Hartnell gets a lot of stick from people who talk about what he was like to work with and his fluffed lines etc, but the man created a legendary TV character and did so under great pressure of almost live recording. How marvellous that we can still see and celebrate his work today - and next year, 50 years! :-)

I’m just finally seeing the Hartnell episodes. He was brilliant as the Doctor. Always a solid performance. I do hope the find the rest of his episodes soon.

And so, Hartnell joined the list of actors who's final role is their most famous/the franchise they're most known for, joining such alumni like Christopher Reeve who's final acting role involved a part in Smallville.

The quality of episodes that this pair churned out was insane . For me Jon Pertwee's tenure was one of the most consistent . Just look at his debut of Spearhead in Space filmed in 1969 it holds up incredibley well. The music the direction everything. I watched Delta and the Bannermen last week and was amazed how much its dated poorly . RIP Barry and thank you

Great to see Barry Letts again much missed

Bet he was so excited to play the doctor again

The reel of 16mm shot of him was junked in 1976..Pertwee and Hartnell were filming the same time at Ealing..They should of Had a shot of Pertwee chatting to Hartnell or better still shot a scene while photographing them for Radio Times

William Hartnell is painfully underrated as The Doctor! I heard very little about him before I began investing my time and money in obtaining some of the Classic Who DVDs and always found that he was one of the least popular actors to be cast in the role. Having now watched his tenure in its entirity (aside from the missing stories ofcourse) I can say that the critcism and the fact that he is so overlooked is prepostrous! He is amazing as The Doctor, and so far is my faviourite incarnation :D

I always though of the fluffed lines as part of his character as he was quite old so it would be understandable for the Doctor to stutter and forget things. The other characters even said that he was forgetful sometimes.

I love the fact that they got Hartnell. The only strike I have against this is that you only see the camera point to the screen; it would have been extra lovely to have seen him without the screen obscuring the image.

they shouldnt have made it public before they'd even finished scripts and contracts

"Ah There you are" "Get off my lawn. Damn kids!"

William Hartnell was a true professional, and a man who starred in a TV show that was the very crest of the wave of television experimentation in the early 1960s - when many families in the UK didn't even own a set.

Its such a shame that Bill Hartnell was unable to play a bigger role in this story it would have been wonderful too see all three doctor's in the same place at the same time. But a least we he was there albeit briefly .

RIP William Hartnell and Barry Letts

yes Bill worked fine in the 3 dr's even though he only had a short few scenes and had to read off auto cue cards. Ahhhh he would be proud that it has reached 50 years i think. he always believed it had the potential to go on and on.

His appearance in the Three Doctors was Hartnall's final work as an actor..

William Hartnell is still my favorite.

Tick, Tock, goes the clock, The First in time and space. Tick Tock, goes the clock, May Hartnell rest in peace.

My old man fought against anything 😊

Dear 'old' Billy. Wonderful chaps The Doctors, all of them, but he was THE Doctor, the Original, you might say and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Bless 'im. A great Doctor.

The thing about Doctor Who is that ... they did it. They did this crazy thing where the actor was too ill to appear fully, by coming up with an extremely generous workaround that would never, ever, ever be accepted on American television. (Yes, I'm an American.) Yet, out of love and sentiment, and a knowledge that the fans' affection would more than paper over the seams, they decided they'd do this generous thing. And here we are many decades later, loving every second of it. I adore the classic show so very much ...

It really doesn't look or sound like William Hartnell. His face was so different. I always thought they'd got another actor to play the part, and were trying to hide it with filming it this way.

I used to buy my ex husband lots of classic Doctor Who tapes then DVDs, books and memorabilia. He took them all when he left. : ( Serves me right.

William Hartnell is the best Doctor.

What fluffed lines? I might have noticed a few times he messed up the script, but I always translated that in my head as the character himself fumbling to think of what to say. My only issues with some of the early episodes is poor writing occasionally - the actors were mostly all fine, ESPECIALLY the fantastic Hartnell. Got really attached to that fellow, even through the reconstructions. No clue why people dislike his character.

My "Doctor" from Series 1 Eps.1, a trooper to the bitter end. Especially, as he did not want to go, but, did not realise about his illness. Greatly missed !!! R.I.P. If you don`t mind, I will "Add To" my page.

Just to add, that so what he fluffed his lines? As stated by quire a few of you, this was a different time where they didn't have the luxury of having weeks and weeks to film an episode, and I always felt that the improvisation of William and those around him more than compensated for the "fluffing" as it were. The very fact that despite being so gravely ill, he still wanted to be a part of the anniversary speaks alot about the man's integrity and bravery also. I massively appreciate his efforts

Also, considering the Doctor was considerably aged at this point in time, then it can make sense that he messes up his speech - everyone does it, especially older people. The Doctor was 400 and in his original body.

My dad told me that I the 60s they had to keep renting a Television set or something like that

Please say they filmed Hartnell on Bannerman Rd. Please please please??

@TezlaCoils Plus the fluffed lines were not really his fault, because he was in the early stages of arteriosclerosis, which is what actually made him look so old in the first place (he was in his fifties when he did Doctor Who)...

I wonder how the original story would have gone if Hartnell was up to taking a more active role?

if only he was alive today the man started us on a great path

That version of the Doctor Who theme at the end. Where can I find the full version?

Sorry to disappoint - I want C.E. in it much as the next whovian, but many people knew his name before Who. We owe the debt to him, not the other way round. He was a big established actor who approached RTD about playing the part to relaunch the series - that was part of what drew all the positive attention. He did Who a favour by making a modern Doctor that the audience would love, and allowing DT to come through. Who did good things for his career as it would any actor, but he doesn't owe it.

@pipesfranco I think you're doing a disservice to the level of restoration that goes into new releases. Although the original releases were restored fantastically, some of the DVDs are now twelve years old! Technology has moved on, interest in Doctor Who has been peaked again due to the new series, and much more can now be done.

Only way it could be done would be with animation. Big Finish is doing an audio Doctors 4 through 8 so that is something to add to Smith/Tennant/Hurt on television.

Well, Davison DID claim that but it's also been assumed that the classic Doctors will be involved by appearing in the so-called "paintings" that Smith mentioned on Jonathon Ross...

@TheCyberking3 good look with that I've been collecting the classics for nearly 4 years now n still haven't got them all I've got a lot but not all of em

Bill was fantastic

If Hartnell can make an appearance in an anniversary special even if his health is poor, then surely Eccleston could come back for the 50th. With a show that has so much loyalty, you have to give some of that back.

He must be. They let half his episodes go up in smoke. And the other half are almost impossible to find these days.

Poor old Hartnell T__T

@MJJBeliever It's the bbc classic Doctor Who youtube channel theme

Maybe in some other countries where Doctor Who is shown, it might have made him more famous there. But in terms of what work he gets in the UK, Doctor Who is a minor boost for him - for someone like Matt Smith, yest, it launched his career, and he has and will continue to get cast in much more prestigious things thanks to Doctor Who. It would be nice if C.E. showed a bit more courtesy to the fans that love his Doctor so much and put in a return appearance, but it doesn't seem so...

@pipesfranco You're not forced to buy it if you don't want it. But obviously there is a market out there for special edition re-releases, I'm a fan of them, buy them and I support the reissues. In fact I'd like to see a Revisitations 4 Boxset! A Boxset to contain special editions of maybe 'Vengeance on Varos', 'The Ark in Space' and 'The Aztecs'.

They must've done this way before Barry died. It's a shame Bill wasn't in all of it. I wonder how different it was to the original?

It's a completely different 50th Anniversary Special.... That's the docu-drama written by Mark Gatiss you're having it confused with!

It was a damn shame.

scene

Not really, that was some old footage and another actor. Hartnell himself had died by the time they filmed The Five Doctors, so his scenes in The Three Doctors were the last time he played that role.

"..I was happy to novelise the first one[SJA] INVASION OF THE BANE, which I thought was a cracking good script. Lis was very good in that series, and was clearly playing a mature, stronger version of the same character from ROBOT. In fact, SJA was more like the DW I used to do than than many of the new episodes of DW." Terrance Dicks, DWM #440, page 30. LegoDaleks, you are clueless as to what is good writing, & you have a narrow mind, making it impossible to exit the cesspool you dwell in.

"Slight' script amendments - a pretty major rewrite all told...

Why did they announce it before they had the scripts and contracts sorted? That seems like a rookie mistake to me.

shame about the glare on the tardis tv

They could have used a wax works statue and clips like they did for Tom Baker in the Five Doctors.

Eccleston owes "the fans" nothing - he is not your bitch. At the time of the relaunch I should have thought that playing the Doctor was a risk for him because of the danger of derailing his career into typecasting.

As Moffat said at a convention.. "How do you know who is in the 50th Anniversary Show"? Best rumour I've read is that that actor they got to play Hartnell in "An Adventure in Time and Space" is supposed to make an appearance as the First Doctor. That will be badass.

"The Eleven Doctors!" That's what the 50th Anniversary SHOULD be!

Teenagers, listen to your grandfathers! They know best!

Here we go again forking out again for new featurd on already released DVD's. I am a huge fan of 2entertain and the great job they have done with the Doctor Who DVD's I just get annoyed having to pay out again to see some more special features.

On the other hand, I was really glad because I knew that Moffat was more concerned with making a good story as opposed to a fangasm. The Five Doctors was a fangasm. While enjoyable, it wasn't exactly the best story and was less interesting for casual viewers. Also, how do you expect to balance one episode with 11 leads? It would be a nightmare! It's too early to assume the old doctors haven't been involved in SOME WAY (even if it's a cameo). Didn't Davison admit he has a copy of the script?

@LegoDaleks, you do have a point. While the New Series does have some excellent stories (School Reunion, Blink, etc), it is a small percentage, as most stories are mediocre at best, and some are very bad. Viewed in that way, while the Classic Series Seasons 15-26, had far fewer "Masterpiece" stories, than Seasons 1-14, at least most stories are decent, and only a few are actually bad. Modern CGI can look cartoonish at times, and the New Series does often let SFX replace an actual story!

Yay! I've never been called a troll before :-) I stand by my comment. CE did the show a favour, not vice versa

But sadly it's called "The Day of the Doctor" NOT "The Eleven Doctors" ..... Just David and a "forgotten" doctor played by Hurt are appearing in it.... DAMN YOU, MOFFAT!!

ah their you are i seem to be stuck up here so your my replacments a dandy and a clown1 bil pulled it off excelently1

I've seen K9 & COMPANY multiple times, and do not like it, because Sarah Jane is not written correctly by writers who were clueless as to the character's traits and capabilities in Seasons 11-14. The SJA "Sarah Jane" is very much the "Sarah Jane" character-wise, of Classic WHO, updated to the modern Internet communication age. Elisabeth Sladen saw to that. Her autobiography explains it very well, as well as her dissatisfaction with K9 & CO, and the reasons it was so poorly written.

It was worth putting up with Tennant in SCHOOL REUNION to see Elisabeth Sladen again! New Series stories do seem to be aimed too often at 13 year old girls, based on the "drama" and continual emotional angst. I think the best stories of SARAH JANE ADVENTURES were more like CLASSIC WHO in quality than the New Series. For example, the SJA story THE TEMPTATION OF SARAH JANE SMITH I feel was as good or better than any story the New Series has put out to date.

Well, as far as we know it's not happening. The multi-doctor story made by Big Finish and the actual 50th special are two separate anniversary stories. I was SO disapointed that the Eleven Doctors story wouldn't happen. It was dream to see new series and classic series doctors TOGETHER! They could cast other actors to play the first three that are now dead (Have David Bradley, David Troughton and Sean Pertwee in the roles!) Paul McGann should be the Time War Doctor instead of Hurt!

Your comment "SJA = K9 & Company", simply proves you haven't seen many or even any, SJA episodes. No one familiar with both programs could make such an inaccurate statement. Such an inaccurate statement makes it doubtful any of your reviews could be trusted. A reviewer must acutally watch the program to give an accurate review. While one can voice an opinion on a program they have never seen, but have heard opinions on, such a review quickly exposes the reviewer & his prejudices.

George Carlin's father?

It's sad that Christopher Eccleston is going to let himself get upstaged by a sick, dying old man over his stupid "never swim in the same pond twice" policy.