Re-watching the William Hartnell years (1963-1966)!
bhvictory
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Just been rewatching the William Hartnell years on DVD, including telesnap reconstructions using the original soundtracks....... It reminded me just how creative and down-to-earth those early stories were, in particular the period ones set in a particular time in Earth's history...... For me, the first story set in the stone age set up the tone of the show perfectly........ Which other stories do you think defined the Hartnell era.....?
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I enjoy the Hartnell years. My particular favourite stories are The Edge of Destruction and the Time Medler.
One of the most sophisticated stories ever seen in Doctor Who, by my reckoning.
Possibly the most sophisticated Doctor Who scripts were for 'the Mythmakers'. It's amazing what they could try in the Hartnell era; the show wasn't as closeted then as it became. As much as I love the Troughton era the stories were all the same.
'The Aztecs' has to be considered a very definitive story for the 1st Doctor - The historical milleu pulled off with verve; scheming and intrigue. Good plotting and strong themes. Very good perfromances from all the cast. Fantastic period costumes and sets. And that definitive quartet of Billy, Susan, Ian and Barbara. It's one that I struggle to find faults with.
The Hartnell era is great. Some of the stories are a little slow but they are very much of their time. The Sensorites and Web Planet could both lose 2 episodes through editing and be far better. I would say the stories that define the era for me, and I look at it as two different blocks. With Ian/Barbara and without.
The stories would be Daleks and Marco Polo for the early Hartnell years and Dalek Masterplan and Myth Makers for the second half. The comic orientated historicals that really started with Romans are great.
I'd also like to nominate The Massacre. Hugely intelligent and thoughtful, with a bitterly grim conclusion.
I'm a big Billy fan.
There is something about this story that feels epic for me, yes its a bit clumsy at times but it is rather joyous.
There is a scene that blew me away when I first saw it, as for the main the direction was rather static/studio direction, but there is a scene in DIOE where Barbra (I think) is running through a derelict industrial site and the camera is following her but it isn't a group of just static shots it is almost in a hand held style. That blew me away because it stuck out as doing something different, even in those early days there were these little gems in production, The Doctor's stand-off in The War Machines springs to mind as well, that moment is absolutely gorgeous TV. It defines the character of The Doctor there and then and it hasn't changed from that basic premise since.
Apart from a couple of stories, I've never been a big fan of that era in genral, (thank god it was there though eh!) but it is absolutely peppered with these wonderful little moments that make my ears (eyes) prick up. So if I revisit I tend to watch more for those moments rather than the stories themselves.
Ohhhh I just remembered, that dark lit Tardis stood in a yard in the the very first minutes of the very first episode. *swooon*
I think I just find Hartnell too generic. That's daft, I know, given that he's the template but he's just not... I dunno, Doctory enough for me. His Doc' is just a generic eccentric old bloke, the likes of which we've seen in numerous films and shows.
For me, the magic of the Doctor as a character didn't kick in until Power of the Daleks.
I see exactly what you mean but I tend to look at the Hartnell years like The Beatles first album. Basic, a few gems, rough and ready but a great door to what was to come.
As you probably already know, one of the advantages of a location shoot is that you had to use film cameras (hence why outdoor shoots always looked completely different in tone), and in the 60s film cameras were significantly lighter than studio cameras and therefore much more manoeuvrable. It was still a gamble to do anything interesting though, as you didn't get to see the results of what you'd shot until at least the end of the day and you can bet a programme like Who didn't have the budget for reshoots.
Anyway, I'll also vote in favour of The Time Meddler and The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The speech from the latter is also the best thing about The Five Doctors.
The Gunfighters is fantastic, absolutely fantastic.
I think it went through a renaissance with fandom when copies finally became available widely in the eighties. It had a bad reputation largely based on it supposedly being the story with the lowest ratings ever and some of those involved, like P Purves, having bad memories of it.
I agree with you on The Chase as well. What is not to love with it ?
It was also the pace and framing of that scene as well, more than the change in film 'tone'.. the whole package so to speak. I wonder if the director had seen A Hard Days Night a few months before.;)
Sorry thats two Beatles references in two posts, dont know where they came from:D
Of course The Time Meddler, forgot about that one.
They are therapeutic stories to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon nowadays for me!:)
I mainly meant that the advantage was that you have a camera you can carry. There's not much to a film camera, it's all mechanical and 90% of it is the film itself, whereas a TV camera of the 60s is a massive piece of electronics that probably needs a couple of people just to roll around. I guess on location you're also freed from concerns as to whether you're accidentally going to turn too far and get the unadorned parts of the studio in shot...
Further Hartnell excellence not yet mentioned: The Celestial Toymaker and Planet of the Giants.
No. Impossible at this temperature. Besides, it's too warm!
In it you have:
1) William Hartnell fluffing his lines
2) William Hartnell on holiday for one episode
3) The Doctor getting cross
4) The Doctor using his wits to outfox the enemy
5) The Doctor showing he does have a funny side
6) The TARDIS being cut of for what must have been the umpeenth time.
7) A straight mix of historical and sci-fi, showcasing both elements of the Series.
All these things you find in other stories but in The Time Meddler every aspect of Hartnell's Era were present and that's why I love it so much!