Reviewing Every Doctor Who Story - Episode 1: The William Hartnell Era 

Thing about The Chase is this...if you go into it expecting a serious Dalek story, you'll hate it. But if you understand going in that its a comedy, you'll really enjoy it like I did

Jay Exci: 5 hour video essay *a new challenger approaches*

Season 1 has a loose serial format with layered character development not seen since. Not a single story is bad and each episode includes at least one piece of the puzzle, no matter how tangential or indirect. Each time I watch it I love it that much more. With luck the lost episodes can be found and repaired before they disintegrate... Great review of the era! Can't wait to see the next, thank you much!

RIP William Russell, died on June 14th, 2024 at age 99. What a long, prosperous life he had.

The Doctor's promise to Susan to see her again has yet to be fulfilled on screen unfortunately. In fact I think the more of the Doctor's incarnations they wait to do this, the more likely the Doctor will find out Susan also regenerated, if the Doctor fulfills that promise at all.

One of my other highlight of the William hartnell era is the tenth plant because it is the story that includes the cyberman

No-one serious thinks the show never tackled political stuff before Chib or RTD round 2. It was just a lot more organic with it. It never brought the story to a screeching halt to smack viewers in the face with a protest sign.

It's a pity hindsight tries to force us to see the first four episodes as one story. As each episode (up to The Savages, I think?) had its own title, I prefer to think of An Unearthly Child as a single episode standalone story since it raises the question asked by Ian and Barbara of why Susan is such a strange pupil and introduces the mysterious Doctor and the TARDIS and the first journey in it, allowing us to meet all four ongoing characters. What follows is then a separate three part story about cavemen (collected as The Tribe of Gum) that also properly explores the ongoing concept of time travel that will form the backbone of the series.

One of the best series overviews I've ever seen. Great job!

Fantastic editing! I love the inclusion of the episodes music. It adds so much

Great video one of if not the best reviewed of 1st doctor. Love his doctor and some of my favourite stories are his ones. Great job 😀

Oh man I've officially gone through all your content. Thanks dude!

1) An Unearthly Child is one perfect episode followed by three which are uncharacteristic of the show and what is to come. They're not great 'first episodes' - it's a shame we don't get the Daleks first for example - but they're not as bad as everybody points out either. They're just atypical. 2) The Daleks: You summarised it perfectly. Great story, just too overlong. 3) The Edge of Destruction: I also think this one is a bit underrated. I love the 'trapped in the TARDIS' and character interactivity / growth of it. I like the fact that Barbara snaps at the Doctor but by the end they have reached an accord, even some genuine warmth. 4) Marco Polo: Definitely a candidate for the most desperate to find lost story. And yeah Bradley and the others doing a remake would be awesome! More so than some of the other lost stories since I think Marco Polo is uniquely filmic. 5) The Keys of Marinus: It's good. The first couple of episodes have some really bad gaffes in it but I do like the 'anthology' / 'quest' format. I particularly like the Whodunnit. I kind of wish Who did 'Whodunnit' more often. 6) The Aztecs: One of the best ever. Not just of Hartnell. I love it. I wish this could be colourised! The performances are what make it - but Jacqueline Hill has to be on the Mount Rushmore of any companion list. And this is where I feel Hartnell was more of the Doctor we know and love finally, if still 'Time Lordy' more than anti-establishment! 7) The Sensorites: I totally agree with you that this story is very underrated. The first episode is quite spooky to me. Sinister is exactly the word I'd use! I don't think it's a Classic but it's definitely not as bad as some seem to think! It is slow though. And I love the scene with the Doctor reminiscing over Susan too! These moments make 60's Who very watchable - we don't get this with, say, Old Sixie and Peri. 8) Reign of Terror: So I disagree a little with you here I suppose. I kind of felt it's fine but bland for me somehow. I like the Doctor dressing up and I like the political intrigue, but the gunshot implication is more than I expected too. It's not bad. It definitely is not bad at all. It's just that it's fine. I do wonder if it wasn't Animated if my mind would have changed... 9) Planet of Giants: The four part recon version isn't very good for me actually but it seems to work pretty good as a three parter. I just think it didn't have enough story for four parts due to the TARDIS crew not really interacting that directly with the main plot except Barbara being poisoned. Although I do get your points also! It's not a classic but it is unique in the 60's and I like the experimental nature of it. Also, this Doctor just suits a cloak quite frankly. I do think the effects are fantastic for the time and the performances work. Again, not bad but it isn't a classic either. 10) Dalek Invasion of Earth: I find this ambitious, daring, well acted and totally epic. Surprise surprise I like it. A LOT. And I am fond myself of Susan's final scene. 11) The Rescue: If they're on Dido... does that mean Bennett and Vicky went down with their ship? ... ... I'll get my coat. In other news Barbara is a murderer. In other other news I really really like Vicki. I think she is an improvement over Susan as implemented, and I really like Koquillian as a simple villain... More to follow... My rankings: * The Time Meddler * The Aztecs * The Daleks Master Plan * An Unearthly Child (first episode) * The Dalek Invasion of Earth * The War Machines * The Romans * The Rescue * Marco Polo * The Keys of Marinus * The Daleks * The Edge of Destruction * The Chase * The Gunfighters * The Tenth Planet * The Sensorites * An Unearthly Child 2-4 * Planet of Giants * The Reign of Terror * The Crusade * The Myth Makers * The Web Planet * The Massacre * The Smugglers * The Celestial Toymaker * Mission to the Unknown * The Space Museum * The Ark * Galaxy 4 * The Savages

This is going to be a long haul. And I'm here for it.

Really great video!

Marco Polo was actually really awesome. It was way ahead of its time and I loved following the TARDIS crew and Marco Polo traveling across the Orient with the means of escape right there but they can't ise it.

The celestial toymaker has always been a fav - remember reading the target book on it and the audio. Love to see it animated. Another is the Savages, it sounds an interesting story - the blackface can be altered to green or blueish skin. As a child I thought that was the colour of his skin - from the target novel covers where he looked greenish or blueish lol.

The Chase is one of my all-time favorites. It’s worth going through all the padding to get to the Mechanoid city…which is very impressive in design and the Mechanoids themselves, which is a mind-blowing piece of costuming. The battle scene is phenomenal!

My top 10 Hartnell: 1- The Time Meddler 2- The Dalek's Master Plan 3- Marco Polo 4- The War Machines 5- The Keys of Marinus 6- The Web Planet 7- The Savages 8- The Mutants (aka The Daleks) 9- The Romans 10- The Tenth Planet

Regarding the racist rhyme in the Celestial Toymaker you seem absolutely incredulous that this should be scripted at all, and thus appear to be unaware, as many younger people are, of context and history. I was a boy when this was broadcast, and it was a common rhyme we used when playing games to select someone to be 'it' in tag games or similar. I had no idea what a n***** was, presuming it was something like a goblin or sprite. I'm all with you in agreeing the word should not be used now, and wisely you bleeped it out. But to pretend that people who used the rhyme were deliberately being racist is not true either. Similarly with 'blacking up' in The Crusaders etc.

I’m a huge classic DW fan 1963-89 my favorites have always been Troughton Pertwee and Tom Baker. Hartnell would probably be my number 4 era but Hartnell’s era is definitely the most important cause if he didn’t get it right the show would have been over long before Troughton got there.

Agree about 'The Web Planet'. It must have seemed a very ambitious production at the time. I don't think any other Dr Who story has aged as badly though.

I knew little of the Hartnell Era as a 1980s fan, since most episodes were lost back then. Now that all the episodes have either been found or reconstructed, I ought to give them another chance. Oh, that clip of the giant moths and the giant ant is bad. “Spock’s Brain” bad. Haha.

God those reconstructions are disturbing

Always think that the Animus from The Web Planet is an earlier aspect of the Great Intelligence

Great video can't wait for the next instalments especially the Throughton and Pertwee years. Here's an idea that I hope you consider for the next videos, why don't you quickly rank all the story's from the doctors era at the end of the video

Hey Al, it’s me The Evil Dalek again. I’m looking to remove the vocals from The Ballad Of The Last Chance Saloon from The Gunfighters for something. I noticed for The Gunfighters segment you seemed to have done it. Can I ask how you did it & how can I do it?

I always wonder if Adrian Tschaikowsky had Web Planet in mind when he invented his insct kinden.

Don't think spoilers matter anymore seeing many have seen these classics or many have be lost so spoilers are expected and you cannot really spoil classic Who 🤣🤣. Great work though on this series 👍

My top 3: Marco Polo The Myth Makers The Daleks' Master Plan

This is amazingly well made very enjoyable watch! I think the space museum is very unfairly rated too! (I also think reign of terror is better than the Aztec’s and I’ve always been mocked for it)

'The Massacre' is the lost masterpiece of 'Doctor Who' and one of my top 3 stories of all time.

The Savages is very underrated and l think it's always assumed as a historical story.

Great deep dive into the first doctor era. I'm viewing these episodes for the first time ever so your background information on several episodes is much appreciated. For the most part, I concur with a good deal of your assessments except for The Massacre. I know the historical background but is the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre really that much of a common knowledge in Britain? I'm assuming that its not and it probably had fans scratching their heads in 1966 as to what was going on. Steven seems to be in that same boat of not knowing what's going on. Its a very dry and confusing story with the Abbott doubling. I really liked the Gunfighters but OMFG that song!! Its not that its bad but WAY overused. If it were just used in the opening of episode 1 as setup and the sung at the saloon, great! The producers must have wanted to get their money's worth. Overall tremendous effort and looking forward to viewing your later doctor reviewsiii

You've got to love a spoiler warning for a 55 year old show. 😂😂😂

I know this isn’t the place but the place I couldn’t respond soooooooo I had no issue with The Timeless Child.

For an AI you have some very nuanced opinions. I confess I find the Hartnell era rather slow and boring most of the time, despite preferring “Classic Who” (hate that term). If it wasn’t for Jaqueline Hill and William Hartnell I’d never watch it. I would really like to see the missing stories though, particularly Marco Polo and the Dalek Master Plan. However, Tomb of the Cybermen proved to me that our opinions of what we can’t see are always over-inflated. Which is not to say they’re not good - I just refuse to believe they’re the best.

I agree Vicki is much better than Susan, bout a hundred percent

My highlight of doctor who classic season 3 are the war machines and the gunfight and the galaxy 4 and the daleks master plan and mission to the unknown

Can you create a guide on how to watch every episode?

I love watching doctor who classic and revile era because I watch it over and over again because doctor who classic is my favourite tv show i think i like watching classic Dr who over and over again because It is in black and white and colour and it just feels nice on my eyes after sitting at my school doing my work Sunday to Friday and just like watching classic TV shows in black and white after seeing colour every day and I have always liked watching old TV shows from the olden days in black and white I feel I constraint more it and I love watching older TV shows in black and white and when ever I watch one of the animated second doctor story on dvd I always go for the black and white option and I am definitely going to watch more classic TV shows that are in black and white and more than watching tv shows in colour and I will watch some old movie in colour i don't like the daleks in colour because It looks more better in black and white

I feel like I could've written most of this myself. Preferring Marco Polo to the Aztecs, being annoyed by Susan in Marinus, nothing the extreme darkness of Dalek Invasion of Earth, liking Vicki more than Susan, more or less liking every story until Web Planet comes along, hating Vicki's departure, loving the end scene in the massacre... ironically though there's one thing I disagreed on... I don't like the War Machines 😂

The mild politics used in the early days were cleverly woven in and were in no way intrusive to the plot. The Whitaker era slammed politics down our throat at every available opportunity. There is a huge difference!

My highlight of doctor who season 2 are the daleks invasion of earth the time middle and the chase and the web planet and the space museum and plante of the giants

Sadly, for those whose agenda is to knock/mock Doctor Who of this era, The Web Planet seems almost to have been created for that purpose!

The old days where you can have a quick holiday in the middle of filming nowadays you just stop filming

Za will not make fire.

Season 1 Ranking: 8. The edge of destruction 7. The keys of Marinus 6. The Sensorities 5. The Daleks 4. An unearthly child 3. The Aztecs 2. The reign of terror 1. Marco polo Season 2: 9. The web planet 8. The space museum 7. The rescue 6. Planet of Giants 5. The chase 4. The Dalek invasion of earth 3. The crusade 2. The romans 1. The time meddler Season 3: 10.Galaxy 4 9. the ark 8. The savages 7. The celestial toymaker 6. Mission to the unknown 5. The myth makers 4. The gunfighters 3. The War machines 2. The Daleks' masterplan 1. The massacre Season 4: 2. The smugglers 1. The tenth planet

Dodo was Donna before we knew we needed Donna

When ever I watch the chase now I laugh at it because I just find it funny to watch

Poor Susan! That's the reason she left there was no character growth for Susan😢. I like the Sensorites too!

Being completely caught off guard by The King of Hearts in The Celestial Toymaker, there might be a reason its mostly missing 😬

Wouldn't like to be prisoner in the cave of skulls.

Planet of Giants was supposed to be the pilot episode. The trim down from 4 to 3 was an agreement by the producers and BBC so they expand an extra episode for the upcoming serial.

Hi lseen SOME OF THE FIRST DOCTOR ON 🦊 FOXTEL SFI CHANNEL I SEEN THE 3RD DOCTOR SINÇE I WAS BORN IN NINETEEN SIXTY FOUR I THINK MY MOTHER LOVED THE 1/2DOCTERS 2 WHICH WHAT I HAVE SEEN I LOVED MY SELF I AM A MAD DR WHO FAN FROM CLASSICS TO THE MOVIE WITH PETER CUSHION IT WOULD BE GOOD IF THEY BROUGHT BACK CHILD STARS ON THE DOCTOR WHO SERIOUS COULD BE A RELATIVE OR JUST ANOTHER ONE WHO PLAYED SUSAN IN THE MOVIE WITH PETER CUSHION WARREN AND INGRID FROM MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺😎👽😳😺

Susan existed in season one pretty much entirely to scream and lose her shit. The fact you used what i consider to be her most iconic freakout to represent that just killed me. its a shame the footage of that one is lost

Bro this video series is really good but i really didnt wanna watch it untill i left it playing by accident because i thought you meant: AI reviews doctor who

A fine video, but it should be made clear the Doctor was not revealed to be a Timelord until the end of the Troughton era.

Also I know it wasn’t possible but I wish the original Tardis crew could have been in the 2 movies rather than Peter Cushing.

Scorchio 😊

There was only one doctor who and that was the original.

Classic. Doctor. Who. 1963 review. Video

The tenth planet is ace

Earl Cameron became the first black TV astronaut. He lived a very long life dying at age 103. oh yah, Jackie Lane's sudden departure had to do with her contract being expired, and the producers refused to renew her contract. She was allowed to appeared in the final two episodes despite her contract already been expired. Carole Ann Ford, Maureen O'Brien and Jackie Lane all complained about their character development as women from the past (The 60s was the birth of the women liberalism movement).

Today I have been mostly eating spuds

I think the Keys Of Marinus is when I started to actually enjoy these episodes. The beginning of season 1 is not good for me, the first four episodes are boring, the daleks story is too much filler and not much happen, the two episodes on the TARDIS are better but the ending ruined it for me, sadly Marco Polo doesn"t exist anymore, and the Keys Of Marinus is the first story I genuinely liked. The first episode is very intriguing and I like it, the second one is a little boring but it's okay, the third and fourth one are entertaining but a little boring too, and the fifth and sixth one are great. I love the new city, the trial, the mystery, amazing. And the ending of episode 6 is good too. The Dalek Invasion of Earth is when I started to LOVE the classics. The story is... perfect. I can't see any flaw in it, it's way better than a lot of the stuff in the modern series. For the Web Planet, if you ignore how ridiculous everything is and youactually ACCEPT the story, it becomes great. You really need to disconnect your mind and ignore reason, and if you succeed, the serial is amazing.

Look 1st. Doctor. The. Story. Episders. 1963

Who did do whodunnit he done lots of whodunit in the 70s

Weakest story the gunfighters. And that horrible song.

The historical ones are well naff

How dare you put Drs beyond Tom Baker...just a a better bunch of jobbing, no hope, unconvincing, so called actors....

I'm not a big Dr Who fan but I think the Tenth Planet is one of the most eerier episodes with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop score.

God the Dalek invasion of Earth was a fucking bomb of a story,one of the best episodes of Hartnells who that I’ve ever seen