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William Hartnell wished he had stayed on longer |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Aug 2012
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William Hartnell wished he had stayed on longer
He didn't leave by choice. Hartnell didn't get on with verity Lambert's replacement john wiles. Added to bills failing health and his irascibility the BBC wanted him out but he just didn't want to go!
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#2 |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
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To be honest I think only Troughton, Pertwee and Tom Baker didn't wish they stayed longer
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#3 |
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Join Date: Jun 2013
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It'd be easier to make a thread of who didn't want to stay longer
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#4 |
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Hartnell is not alone. The robot who played Kamelion also wanted to stay longer.
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#5 |
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Join Date: May 2013
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Quote:
To be honest I think only Troughton, Pertwee and Tom Baker didn't wish they stayed longer
![]() Probably cobblers though! |
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#6 |
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you see dead people?
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#7 |
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Join Date: May 2008
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I heard Peter Cushing wishd he had stayed longer
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#8 |
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Billy Hartnell probably wished he'd had more than 3 lines (with Scottish accent) in the film on BBC2 this morning ("They Flew Alone").
Always good to spot an old Doc. |
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#9 |
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I wish Joanna Lumley had stayed for longer.
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#10 |
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Peter Kay wishes he had stayed on longer.
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#11 |
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Join Date: Sep 2014
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Quote:
He didn't leave by choice. Hartnell didn't get on with verity Lambert's replacement john wiles. Added to bills failing health and his irascibility the BBC wanted him out but he just didn't want to go!
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#12 |
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Of course he didnt leave by choice otherwise why write him out 8 episodes into the 4th season? If he wanted to leave he would have left at the end of the 4th season.
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#13 |
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Quote:
Technically 4 of those episodes were shot at the end of the previous block & held back, but see your point.
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#14 |
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Quote:
Technically 4 of those episodes were shot at the end of the previous block & held back, but see your point.
So Hartnell was contracted for that story as basically a guest artiste - he was not actually a regular anymore. |
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#15 |
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If we're entirely honest with ourselves, old Billy's departure at that point was the best for the show at the time. Obviously John Wiles didn't last much longer as executive producer and perhaps a new producer wouldn't have considered the concept of regeneration, bringing the show we all know and love to an untimely end. Plus, you have to consider that Hartnell's health was prevalent over any desires to continue as the Doctor, and he wasn't a well man by any means at this stage.
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#16 |
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Quote:
If we're entirely honest with ourselves, old Billy's departure at that point was the best for the show at the time. Obviously John Wiles didn't last much longer as executive producer and perhaps a new producer wouldn't have considered the concept of regeneration, bringing the show we all know and love to an untimely end. Plus, you have to consider that Hartnell's health was prevalent over any desires to continue as the Doctor, and he wasn't a well man by any means at this stage.
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#17 |
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I always find it intriguing there's this double story about why Hartnell left.
It was either because he was ill, and that definitely was a factor, or the producers wanting to replace him because of their differing attitudes towards the show. I daresay his behaviour onset was a factor as well. Just seems like a culmination of things which led to him possibly being replaced as far back as The Celestrial Toymaker. In hindsight, let's be grateful they stuck with the Regneration idea.
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#18 |
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I don't know how factually correct it was, but the 2013 drama "An Adventure in Space and Time" very much showed it as Hartnell being forced to leave.
There's a heartbreaking scene where he's asking the producers to reduce his hours and give him fewer lines - and they explain they've already cast Patrick Troughton to replace him. A lot of research had gone into the drama and it did make me feel that much of it was probably accurate. He did seem to genuinely love being the Doctor. |
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