I remember the first Doctor a lot but probably not from the very start. I completely remember the regeneration from 1 into 2, because my Dad had just done exactly the same thing ( he shaved his Navy beard off one night after i'd gone to bed, and it completely freaked me out in the morning when I went into my parentsr bedroom )

Sorry, I was thinking of Steptoe and Son. If you think about it, it features an old man and his son, stuck in an unearthly junkyard. They could have been timelords too...

"Eeeeh, 'ere comes that Rassilon, 'arold!"

"What you doing putting horse manure on the console...you dirty old man..."

I remember seeing the first episode, and it being repeated the following Saturday. As a little kid I found the opening title sequence with all the swirly stuff really creepy.

Same here. I also remember being taken to see the Daleks at the Children's Exhibition at Olympia in 1964, it was an absolute sensation!

I'm surprised you didn't know that already, davey. I'm always showing off on here about it.

Well if you wish to show of your age Granny.....(*Looks at user name* )

Seriously though, I am envious. My Dad watched it too, he remembers a lot of the Hartnell and Troughton stuff. Must have been great watching the missing episodes as well, especially the last episode of The Tenth Planet.

Not that they were missing at the time LOL

Well, we seem to have had over 1500 views of this thread and just a few people who have stated unambiguously that they saw the very first episode when it was originally transmitted.

I'll bet none of those that did thought they would still be watching the programme and discussing it nearly half a century later having undertaken their own, somewhat ponderous journey through the intervening years.

This is true! The Hartnell/Troughton changeover still must have been quite an event to witness though, first ever change of lead actor and all that. Shame those episodes still don't exist. Just glad the first ever episode survived the cull.

Now you must have read my posts about how I fell for the wonderful charismatic 2nd Doctor on sight after the first regeneration!

That hair! Those trousers! (Clothes regenerated then as well - a skill later lost, apparently). That flute!

Yes, I know of your love for Doc 2, you may have mentioned it a few times, along with the Quarks!

(Though the regeneration from Doc 4 to 5 seemed to involve changing his boots into shoes! )

To be honest I don't remember the shoes.

And we all have our favourite little things that we like to mention now and again. With some it's Quarks and Alpha Centauri, and with others it's Peri.

Sorry, did I say "little"?

Well you didn't actually physically see it happen from boots into shoes. He was wearing boots at the end of Logopolis and then in Castrovalva he was wearing shoes so the implication is there!

And as for your comment, not sure what you mean.....

I cried my eyes out when I watched that episode as a child. For me it was real and I thought the Doctor had died. I didn't understand the whole regeneration thing as it was such a new idea - still don't get half of what's going on nowadays if I'm honest!

Join the club!

I can sort of emphasise with you really. Even though I saw the T. Baker/Davison regeneration, it was really the Davison/C.Baker one that was my first one that had impact. It was as good as watching three years from scratch like you really, except that it I did know about regeneration by that point.

I can imagine the Hartnell/Troughton changeover must have proved a right shocker, it was so unheard of then to change a lead actor in an ongoing Series. I daresay you weren't the only one who was upset!

I loved the way it was explained at the time - this old body is worn out - of course no other explaination given, no one had thought of regeneration at that point, it was just a way for the series to continue. I wrote to the BBC shortly after Pat became the Doctor and got a lovely signed photograph of The Doctor reading his 500 yrs old diary, long lost I'm afraid. As for the first appearence of the Daleks - well !!!!!!!