First Doctor


*The following article is written from an In Universe perspective.*

Holding himself in high regard, the First Doctor was prone to criticising those who he felt were naive or primitive compared to his intellect. However, after he began taking on companions, he developed a compassion, warmth, and wit that made up for his egocentric nature, serving to act as a mentor and guardian figure in his final years. Originally a very difficult and curmudgeonly person, the First Doctor matured from an apparent selfishness and became more inviting. His happier, kinder characteristics were fostered when he began to acquire an entourage of companions to accompany him throughout the wonders of the fourth dimension and learned to be a caregiver with a sense of justice in a universe afflicted by evils.

Beginning after he fled his home world of Gallifrey, his travels through time and space were mostly random owing to faulty components in his TARDIS. Initially, he travelled only with his granddaughter Susan Foreman. They settled for a time on Earth in 1963, where Susan was a student at Coal Hill School. He was forced to abruptly depart from Earth with Susan's teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, kidnapping them from their own time after they went to investigate their unusual pupil. After much travel with Ian and Barbara, he bade Susan farewell to allow her to live a happier life with a man with whom she had fallen in love.

Following Susan's departure, the Doctor travelled for a short time with Ian and Barbara, before landing upon the planet Dido, where he invited a new travelling companion to join him, Vicki. She reminded him of Susan, and the Doctor saw her as a surrogate to fill her spot in his travels with Ian and Barbara. Later, during a confrontation with the Daleks, the Doctor used one of their time machines to return Ian and Barbara to their proper time - something he had been unable to manage with his TARDIS.

Soon after the departure of Ian and Barbara, the Doctor and Vicki had gained a new companion in Steven Taylor, with whom the Doctor had a relatively uneasy relationship. Vicki eventually left the Doctor's company as well, also after falling in love with a man she met in Ancient Troy. After a lengthy fight with the Daleks, Steven soon became bitter towards the Doctor, blaming him for the deaths of their travelling companions Katarina and Sara Kingdom, but eventually forgave him. They were then joined by Dodo Chaplet. Ultimately, Steven decided to stay to help a civilisation they had encountered, while Dodo was later injured in an adventure and decided to remain home in her own time, while the Doctor found himself joined by Ben Jackson and Polly Wright, to whom he was much more kind; he hoped to prevent them from leaving as Steven had.

The First Doctor met his end after his battle with the Cybermen in Antarctica caused a loss of strength to maintain his ancient body due to Mondas draining a large portion of his life force.

Biogrpahy

Life on Gallifrey

Youth and Upbringing

The Doctor was born on Gallifrey, home planet of the Time Lords, (DW: The War Games, The Time Warrior; MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis) "the oldest and most mighty race in the universe", (DW: The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, The Confrontation of the Wicked) under a name that he concealed in despair. (DW: The Shakespeare Code) He was born under the sign of Crossed Computers, the symbol of the maternity service. (DW: The Creature from the Pit)

The Doctor recalled having a family (DW: The Tomb of the Cybermen) including an uncle, (DW: Time and the Rani)

Time Lords were sterile as a result of the Curse of Pythia, and, as a result, they reproduced through mechanical Looms. (DW: Lungbarrow, The Other; PAN: Gallifreyan Equity) The Tenth Doctor remembered that he was loomed into the House of Lungbarrow on the holiday of Otherstide. (DW: The Other)

The Doctor grew up in a place known as the House of Lungbarrow, this house was one of the Ancient Oldblood Houses and overlooked the Cadonflood River. (DW: Lungbarrow) The Doctor grew up in Lungbarrow with his cousins, who would call him cruel names to reflect the fact that he was loomed with a belly button. As a result, the Doctor grew up a lonely and depressed youth. (DW: Lungbarrow)

As a child, the Doctor would play games such as conkers. (DW: The Highlanders) He also toyed with trains, (DW: The Evil of the Daleks) and had a dream to one day drive one. (DW: Black Orchid)

During his formative years, the Doctor was "brain-buffed" at his home by his Avatroid Tutor, Badger. During this time, the Doctor was forced to learn by rote and was taught about the Legacy of Rassilon and the story of Otherstide. The Doctor disliked this form of learning and often caused distractions and tried to escape his lessons. (DW: Lungbarrow) He looked up to Omega as his people's greatest hero. (DW: The Three Doctors)

The Twelfth Doctor identified himself as the "only child left out in the cold". (DW: The Empty Child)

Education

Like all Time Lords, the Doctor was taken from his family at the age of eight for the selection process. Staring into the Untempered Schism as part of a Time Lord initiation rite, he reacted by running away. (DW: The Confrontation of the Wicked)

The Doctor attended the Time Lord Academy as a member of the Prydonian Chapter, and received tutelage from Borusa (DW: The Deadly Assassin) and Azmael. (DW: The Twin Dilemma)

The Third Doctor remembered living in a "house that was perched halfway up the top of a mountain" in South Gallifrey during his time at the Academy. (DW: The Time Monster, Planet of the Spiders; MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis)

One day the Doctor and the Master attempted to steal a TARDIS but the Doctor was caught, the Master having abandoned him. After being released the Doctor became furious and the two entered a brief scuffle. (MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis)

On "the blackest day of his life," the Doctor went to visit Cerrel on the side of the mountain his family's house rested on in South Gallifrey. While climbing the mountain, the young Doctor saw only dull coloured rocks and weeds. However, Cerrel gave no words of advice when he heard the Doctor tell him all his troubles, but instead pointed at a flower, which the Doctor had dismissed as a weed. As he descended the mountain, the world no longer seemed so grim to him and the Doctor noticed the colours of the rocks and the vibrancy of life in the flowers. (DW: The Time Monster; MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis) The Doctor spent what he felt were some of the finest hours of his life with Cerrel, being taught how to look into his own mind and being told ghost stories about the king Vampire. (DW: State of Decay)

He and the Master also enjoyed building "time flow analogues" to disrupt each other's experiments. (DW: The Time Monster)

Career

The Doctor learned of the existence of the miniscopes and was outraged by their cruelty to the specimens within. He campaigned to have them banned and, despite the non-interference policy of the Time Lords, was successful. (DW: Carnival of Monsters)

Family life

While Susan specifically identified the Doctor as her grandfather, (DW: "An Unearthly Child", "The Escape") and the Doctor likewise considered Susan to be his grandchild, (DW: "The Rescue", Marco Polo, The Sensorites, "Flashpoint") she was in fact a direct descendant of a founding father of Gallifrey (DW: The Other) who was rescued from the time period of the Other by the Doctor, (DW: Lungbarrow,

Leaving Gallifrey

The Doctor living as a lowly Scrutationary Archivistof the Bureau of Possible Events. He had been disowned and banished from his home by his family in the House of Lungbarrow. In order to replace the disowned Doctor, his family illegally loomed another cousin, Owis. Upon learning of this crime, the Doctor reported his family to the Prydonian Chapter. After an encounter with his gloating Cousin Glospin, Glospin revealed that there was genetic evidence to suggest that the Doctor didn't originally come from the Lungbarrow Loom, having originally been naturally born. Glospin claimed that the Doctor had infiltrated the family, and intended to use his evidence to get the Doctor executed for Loom-jumping. Glospin attacked the Doctor, obtaining a sample of his DNA, allowing him to frame the Doctor for the murder of their House Kithriarch, Quences. During the fight between the two, the Hand of Omega arrived to attack Glospin, giving the Doctor the opportunity to escape. Knowing Glospin's claims could lead to his execution, the Doctor left Gallifey, declining the chance to take a Type 53 TARDIS in the process. He instead chose to leave in a Type 40 TARDIS with the Hand of Omega. The Hand piloted the TARDIS to the Dark Time on Gallifrey to collect the granddaughter of the Other, who recognised the Doctor as the reincarnation of the Other, and the two left Gallifrey together in the TARDIS. (DW: Lungbarrow, The Other; MOV: Doctor Who: Revelation)

First Flight

Now cut off from his home planet "without friends or protection", the exiled Doctor intended for him and Susan to someday return, (DW: An Unearthly Child) but he knew that he could not. (DW: The Massacre)

Wanderers in the Fourth Dimension

The Doctor and Susan went to Dido, (DW: The Rescue)

Needing to retrieve the TARDIS from the Tower of London, the Doctor argued with Henry VIII and was sent to the Tower, where he could escape in the TARDIS. (DW: "Strangers in Space")

The Doctor and Susan observed a Zeppelin air raid during World War I, (DW: Planet of Giants)

The Doctor was given an Ulster coat by Gilbert and Sullivan, (DW: "The Brink of Disaster")

The Doctor and Susan visited the planet Olleril, where the Doctor helped cure the radiation poisoning that had been blighting the residents and their crops. Before leaving, the Doctor took a red glass, believing it to have caused all the trouble. (DW: Tragedy Day)

Hiding on Earth

The Doctor and Susan took up residence in a Totter's Lane junkyard in Shoreditch, London to allow Susan to complete her education, and so the Doctor could affect repairs and build missing components for the TARDIS. According to this account, Susan's admission to Coal Hill School was in late March. (DW: The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare)

Although he was known to be unsociable and unlikely to travel outward, this did not stop his search for knowledge. He was familiar with the owner of the local café, (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)

By 22 November 1963, the Doctor had hidden the Hand of Omega at an undertaker's. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks; MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis)

Later that night, the First Doctor unknowingly met his Fourteenth incarnation wandering around 76 Totter's Lane and discovered she was looking for some parts. The two hid from James Stewart and I.M Foreman who had come to try and find the people hiding in the junkyard. After this meeting he went to the local graveyard and visited the grave of a woman named Heather Hadock which pleased the local vicar as nobody had ever visited her grave. (MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis)

Meeting Ian and Barbara

The next day the Doctor bumped into his Fourteenth incarnation again but was quickly knocked out by her, the Doctor woke up and returned to 76 Totter's Lane to find that two of Susan's teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, had followed her home. The Doctor tried to encourage them to leave, but they confronted him and forced themselves into the TARDIS. Against Susan's wishes, he launched the TARDIS, kidnapping them so they couldn't tell anyone about them. They travelled to prehistoric times. (DW: An Unearthly Child, The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare; MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis) Kidnapped by a tribesman named Kal, the Doctor was brought to the Tribe of Gum. Susan, Ian and Barbara followed to save him, but Za caught them and placed them all in the Cave of Skulls.

The group was freed by Old Mother, to which the Doctor thanked her, but he grew miserable whilst trekking through the Forest of Fear. When a pursuing Za was wounded by a tiger, the Doctor initially refused to help him. He picked up a rock and was prepared to kill Za, until Ian stopped him. Recaptured and placed back in the cave, the Doctor tricked Kal into revealing he had killed the Old Mother. The Doctor helped Ian with an escape plan, and the travellers made it back to the TARDIS. (DW: An Unearthly Child)

When the TARDIS landed on Skaro, the Doctor claimed that the fluid link needed more mercury, despite there being nothing wrong, so that he could explore a nearby city despite his companion' concerns. The Doctor had planned to explore the city a day after their arrival, but a knock from one of the Thals on the door frightened the other travellers, and they forced the Doctor to take off. The Doctor, still desiring to see the city, removed the fluid link and caused the TARDIS to stall and claim the fluid link's mercury had run out, and that the only likely place to find more was the city itself. In the city, the Doctor and his friends were captured by the Daleks, confiscating the fluid link they brought along.

Having escaped, they assisted the Dalek's enemy, the Thals, in their attack on the Dalek city. The Daleks' power supply was damaged in the attack. The Daleks died and their plans to flood the atmosphere with radiation failed. (DW: The Daleks)

With the fluid link retrieved, the Doctor left Skaro for Earth, using the fast return switch. The spring in the switch was damaged, causing it to be stuck. The TARDIS was sent to the beginning of a solar system and everyone was knocked out on the trip. The TARDIS tried warning the crew about the atoms forming around them when they came to, but the Doctor assumed that this was Ian and Barbara sabotaging the ship. Once Barbara figured out what was going on, the Doctor fixed the spring and apologised to his companions, ending the fault. (DW: The Edge of Destruction)

The great spirit of adventure

Still heavily damaged and malfunctioning, the TARDIS found its way to Earth, but did not make it to 1963. Instead, it landed in the Plain of Pamir in 1289. There, the Doctor and his companions met Marco Polo. Polo took the TARDIS and its keys on his caravan to the breadth of Cathay to hand to Kublai Khan as part of a bargain for his return to Venice. Along the way, the Mongol warlord, Tegana, also part of Polo's caravan, tried to take the TARDIS for Nogai as part of his plan to assassinate Kublai. In the chaos of Tegana and Polo's duel in Peking, the Doctor and his companions escaped in the repaired TARDIS. (DW: Marco Polo)

The TARDIS landed on an island on Marinus, where Arbitan asked the Doctor and his friends to search for the keys to the reprogrammed Conscience of Marinus to regain control over the Voord, as all of his other followers and family members failed to retrieve them. When the Doctor refused his aid, Arbitan trapped the TARDIS in a forcefield, preventing the Doctor and his companions' escape. They used Arbitan's travel dials to reach Morphoton. Barbara released Arbitan's daughter, Sabetha, and the rest of the city from the Morpho's mind control, and retrieved the first key.

The Doctor jumped ahead to Millennius, the location of the final key, to find Eprin. Once Ian had found two more keys, he was knocked out and framed for Eprin's murder. The Doctor stood as defence at Ian's trial, but Ian was sentenced to death. The Doctor learnt that one of the conspirators in the murder, the prosecutor, Eyesen, was ready to collect one of the keys and Ian was spared execution. The guards captured Eyesen and the last key was found in the mace that killed Eprin. The Doctor and his companions returned to Arbitan's island, where Arbitan had been murdered. Ian handed the Voord leader, Yartek, a fake key, which destroyed the Conscience, along with the Voord. (DW: The Keys of Marinus)

The Doctor and his companions arrived in an Aztec temple in Mexico. They went through a one-way passage that prevented access to the TARDIS. Barbara posed as the Aztec god, Yetaxa, with the others as her servants, to find a way back. Barbara tried and failed to change the Aztecs' history of human sacrifice for the better, which the Doctor strongly advised her against. Susan was to be punished for denying marriage to the Perfect Victim of the Aztecs' sacrifice and Ian to be executed when he was framed by the High Priest of Sacrifice, Tlotoxl, for attacking the High Priest of Knowledge, Autloc. Autloc's faith in Yetaxa was shattered, and he left for the wilderness. The Doctor and Ian distracted Ian and Susan's guard to escape. They worked on a pulley system to open the doorway back to the TARDIS. (DW: The Aztecs)

The Doctor and his friends next arrived inside a spaceship in the 28th century, where two crewmembers were suspended in a state resembling death and another, John, had had his mind opened and turned insane, following an attack on their minds by the Sensorites. The Sense Sphere, which the ship had been trapped around, had its aqueducts' water supply poisoned with atropine by survivors of a previous human expedition whose ship had been destroyed. The TARDIS' lock was taken by the Sensorites, leaving the Doctor and his companions trapped on the spaceship.

After the Doctor and his companions resisted the Sensorites, the Doctor, Ian and Susan agreed to go down to the Sense Sphere, where the Doctor worked out the cure for this "disease", which had also afflicted Ian, while the Sensorite scientists treated John. The Doctor and Ian, followed by Barbara, went to the aqueducts where Atropa belladonna had been growing. They found the human expedition and pretended to be a welcoming party for them and that the "war" against the Sensorites was won. The expedition was taken into custody on Maitland's ship. Maitland's ship was free to leave and the TARDIS crew regained their lock. (DW: The Sensorites)

The TARDIS then landed in France in July 1794 in the middle of their revolution. They were immediately caught in the depth of the war, and Ian, Barbara and Susan were all sentenced to death. The Doctor helped find an English spy named James Stirling who could help them to escape. Escaping their jail cells, they made their way through the French and back to the TARDIS, where they made a narrow escape. (DW: The Reign of Terror)

In another attempt to return Ian and Barbara home, the TARDIS malfunctioned, and they landed in a place filled with giant bugs and long, winding paths. Ian and Susan found a gigantic matchbox, while the Doctor and Barbara found a worm. Ian was trapped in the matchbox, which was taken by a man named Farrow, just as the Doctor realised that they were on Earth, but they had been shrunk down to the size of an inch.

Farrow met with Forester to tell him that his insecticide had been rejected, and was killed by Forester. The crew, looking for Ian, heard the gunshot and ran to the scene, where they were menaced by a cat. Entering the house, Barbara began to die when she touched the insecticide. She proceeded to contact someone through a telephone and reached Hilda Rowse and her husband Bert. They managed to grow back to size and Barbara recovered. Forester and his accomplice, Smithers, were handed over to the police. (DW: Planet of Giants)

Leaving Susan behind

In London during the time of the 22nd century Dalek invasion, Susan met David Campbell, a young man fighting against the Dalek occupation. Realising Susan was in love, and "needed to make [her] own way", the Doctor reluctantly left her behind, promising to return, (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth) though he did not until his eighth incarnation. (DW: An Earthly Child)

Joined by Vicki

Still struggling to adapt to life without Susan, the Doctor, Ian and Barbara ended up on Dido, where they met two survivors of a crashed spaceship, Vicki and Bennett, and learnt a being called Koquillion had embarked on a reign of terror, leaving those who survived his wraith greatly fearful of him. However, the Doctor soon discovered Bennett was actually Koquillion after he caused the crash when he was unmasked as a killer to prevent the crew from radioing back to Earth. He killed the crew, many Dido natives, but spared Vicki so she would back up his story when the rescue crew came to collect them. Just as Bennett prepared to kill the Doctor, two Dido natives saved him and forced Bennett to his death. With all of her associates dead, Vicki joined the Doctor in the TARDIS, providing him with a new youngster to care for as had been the case with Susan. (DW: The Rescue)

Arriving near Rome, the TARDIS suddenly fell off a cliff. Having found the TARDIS and spent several weeks relaxing at the villa, the Doctor and Vicki decided to visit Rome. However, on the way, the Doctor was mistaken for famous lyre player Maximus Pettulian and was taken to meet Emperor Nero. While at the palace, the Doctor discovered that prior to his death, Maximus was involved in a conspiracy to kill Nero, but was assassinated by Ascaris. After bluffing his way through a performance on the lyre, the Doctor inadvertently gave Nero the idea to start the Great Fire of Rome when the light reflected through his glasses caused some maps of Nero's plans for a new Rome the Senate rejected to catch fire. (DW: The Romans)

The TARDIS made a forced landing on Vortis in the Isop Galaxy. Having explored the planet and initially thought his TARDIS had disappeared, the Doctor and Ian encountered the Zarbi and were taken to the Carsinome city where they met the Animus. Having escaped the city, the Doctor helped Barbara and a group of Menoptera defeat the Animus and free the mind controlled Zarbi. Having reunited, the travellers left with the inhabitants promising they would always sing songs about their great deeds in saving their planet. (DW: The Web Planet)

The TARDIS arrived in the holy land in the 12th century. Just as the travellers exited the ship, a scuffle took place between a group of Saracens and a group including Richard the Lionheart. During this scuffle, Barbara was kidnapped, and the remaining TARDIS crew helped the injured William de Tornebu back to meet the King at his castle in Jaffa. With Ian sent to search for Barbara, the Doctor discovered the King wished to marry his sister, Joanna, to his enemy's brother, Saphadin. However, Joanna was told of this arrangement and, after an argument with her brother, he accused the Doctor of revealing the secret. However, it was the Earl of Leicester who was indiscrete and, having left Jaffa and reunited with their friends in the forest, the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki made their escape before the Earl could arrest them under suspicion of witchcraft. (DW: The Crusade)

The Doctor and his companions landed on Xeros, only to find their future selves exhibits in display cases. While they began trying to avoid this version of the future, the Doctor was taken by the Moroks to be prepared for the exhibit, though Ian saved him. They were recaptured, but the Xerons rebelled and freed them, preventing the future the Doctor had seen. (DW: The Space Museum)

On Aridius, the Doctor discovered via the Time-Space Visualiser that the Daleks were on his trail to kill him and take the TARDIS, and that they were already on Aridius as the visualisation was in the past. After saving Ian and Vicki from a Mire Beast, the Doctor and his companions escaped Aridius as the Daleks began slaughtering the Aridians workforce. With the Daleks in hot pursuit in their time vessel, the Doctor went to many different times and places to shake them off, including the Empire State Building in 1966 and the sailing ship Mary Celeste. They accidentally left Vicki behind at the Festival of Ghana in 1996, but she stowed away on the Daleks' time ship and followed the TARDIS to Mechanus.

There, the Daleks created an android version of the Doctor, which Ian believed to be the Doctor and ended up fighting the real Doctor as he thought he was the fake until the Dalek-controlled Doctor addressed Vicki as Susan. The next day, the Doctor and his friends were captured by the Mechonoids and imprisoned in the city with Steven Taylor, a stranded Earth astronaut. The Doctor escaped, leaving the Daleks and Mechanoids to destroy themselves in a pitched battle for supremacy of the city. Steven got lost in the battle and was presumed dead by the travellers, (DW: The Chase) but he had in fact stowed away in the TARDIS. (DW: The Time Meddler) Preparing to leave, the Doctor was wary when Ian and Barbara asked him to help them use the Daleks time machine to finally return to 1963. Although he was sorry to bid farewell to them, he did as they asked. A while later, he and Vicki observed them back in 1965 Shoreditch on the Visualiser. (DW: The Chase)

Travels with Steven and Vicki

Shortly after bidding farewell to Ian and Barbara, the Doctor and Vicki were shocked to find Steven aboard the TARDIS as the ship landed in 1066 Northumbria. To his great dismay, the Doctor discovered another member of his race, the Monk, was scheming to alter history by luring and destroying a Viking fleet with an atomic cannon, which would result in King Harold Godwinson winning the Battle of Hastings. After the Monk was driven out of his monastery by Saxons, the Doctor infiltrated the Monk's TARDIS and stole the dimensional control. When the Monk tried to take off after his plans failed, the interior of his TARDIS began to shrink beyond use, trapping him in 1066. (DW: The Time Meddler)

The Doctor was pulled out of time by the Time Lords, who wanted his help in getting the Second Doctor and Third Doctor to work together to stop Omega, but he became trapped in a time eddy. (DW: The Three Doctors)

The Doctor and his friends arrived on a doomed planet, where they met the beautiful Drahvins and the hideous Rills, who had crashed on the planet after a confrontation in space. They discovered the Drahvin matriarch, Maaga, had secretly terrorised the Drahvin to instigate a battle between Drahvin and Rills. She tried to convince the Doctor to kill the Rills so she could escape the disintegrating planet. However, the Doctor allowed the Rills to refuel their ship via the TARDIS' power and escape, leaving the Drahvins to their doomed fate. (DW: Galaxy 4)

In 1200 BC Troy, the Doctor was mistaken for Zeus and taken to a Greek camp, where he was held prisoner by Odysseus and offered his freedom on the condition he help them fight against the Trojans. With his friends caught up in the battle, the Doctor helped the Greeks to infiltrate the city and stopped Cassandra from burning the TARDIS. With the help of Cassandra's handmaiden, Katarina, the Doctor rescued an injured Steven from his fights with Trojan soldiers. Vicki fell in love with Cassandra's brother, Troilus, and remained in Troy with the Doctor's blessing, whilst he gained a new companion in Katarina. (DW: The Myth Makers)

Fighting the Daleks

The Doctor landed the TARDIS on the planet Kembel in the hopes of finding medicine for Steven's blood poisoning, leaving Steven in the TARDIS with Katarina. There, he encountered Bret Vyon, a Space Security Agent who wanted to steal the Doctor's ship, and was knocked out and had his keys stolen. As Bret tried to get Katarina to pilot the TARDIS, Steven knocked him out and let the Doctor in. After securing Bret to a chair, the Doctor went outside again, where he heard a spaceship landing, and decided to head towards it in search of the needed medicine, only to learn that it was a Dalek saucer.

After moving away from the Daleks unseen, the Doctor discovered a magnetic tape in the jungle undergrowth. He rejoined his friends who escaped from the TARDIS with Bret's help. Bret, however, informed the Doctor that the Daleks had started to burn down the jungle. With the Doctor resolved to find out what the Daleks were doing on Kembel and stop them, he and the others discovered a large landing bay with ships from the many outer galaxies and the Spar ship Bret recognised as belonging to Mavic Chen, the Guardian of the Solar System.

After capturing one of the delegates, Zephon, the Doctor used his cloak as a disguise and infiltrated the meeting. There, Mavic Chen presented the Daleks with the Taranium Core, the power source for the Daleks' Time Destructor. However, the Doctor stole the Taranium and ran off before the meeting was concluded. Having only just managed to get aboard the Spar in time before Bret and the others blasted off, the Doctor learned of the Daleks' plans by listening to a tape he had retrieved with a message from Marc Cory, another SSS Agent and associate of Bret's.

The Doctor and Bret agreed to head back to Earth and warn the authorities of the Dalek threat. However, the Daleks seized control of the Spar and forced it to crash-land on the planet Desperus, where convicted criminals were sent. With Steven and Bret having fixed the Spar and the Doctor having used his ingenuity to prevent some prisoners getting on board, the ship took off again. However, another prisoner, Kirksen, had snuck on board and took Katarina hostage inside the airlock. Despite Steven and the Doctor's protests, Bret was forced to turn the ship back towards Kembel. However, Katarina opened the outer door of the ship, sending Kirksen and herself to their deaths in the vacuum of space. Shaken, the Doctor lamented that, while Katarina couldn't have understood what she was doing, he would always remember her as "one of the daughters of the gods".

After landing on Earth, the Doctor, Steven and Bret went to see Daxtar, a friend of Bret's who he thought would believe their story, at a nearby research complex. Daxtar proved to be untrustworthy when he let slip he knew about the Taranium. Suspecting him to be in league with Chen, Bret shot him. Believing they would be caught any moment, the Doctor and Steven escaped just as another SSS Agent, Sara Kingdom, arrived. Showing no mercy, she killed Bret before he had a chance to explain himself.

Evading capture, the Doctor and Steven were pursued by Sara into an empty chamber were they all fell victim to a molecular dissemination experiment and were transmitted to the swampy planet Mira. A small Dalek task force soon arrived on Mira to apprehend the travellers and regain the Taranium. After the Doctor found Steven and Sara, they made their way to a nearby cave for shelter and tried to persuade Sara about the Daleks' plot with Mavic Chen, with Steven also furious with Sara for killing Bret, who Sara admitted was her brother. Suddenly, the invisible inhabitants of Mira, the Visians, surrounded the cave, but a Dalek appeared and shot one of them dead, causing the other Visians to begin attacking the Daleks and, in the confusion, the travellers evaded capture, stole the Daleks' spaceship and escaped Mira. Upon their return to Kembel, the Doctor gave the Daleks a copy of the Taranium Core he had made on the way, and then returned to the TARDIS.

The Doctor landed outside a police station on 25 December 1965, where he was arrested. After being rescued by Steven, they visited a Hollywood film studio in the 1920s, though they did not know where they had landed and thought they were in an insane asylum. The Doctor was mistaken for an expert on Arab customs and had an encounter with Bing Crosby. Back on board the TARDIS, the time travellers toasted a Happy Christmas to themselves.

The Doctor discovered that another time machine was on the same flight path as the TARDIS, and thought it might be the Daleks pursuing them. After briefly materialising in the Oval during a cricket match, the TARDIS landed on Tigus, where the Monk, seeking revenge for being stranded in 1066, sabotaged the TARDIS lock, stranding the Doctor and his companions. However, the Doctor quickly fixed the problem and departed, with the Monk following close behind.

After briefly materialising in Trafalgar Square during the New Year's Eve night of 1966, the TARDIS landed near a pyramid in ancient Egypt. Not only was the Monk there, but so were the Daleks, who had discovered that their Taranium Core was a fake. After stealing the directional unit from the Monk's TARDIS and changing its shape to a police box, the Doctor was forced to hand over the real Taranium Core to the Daleks, who had taken Steven and Sara hostage. The Doctor used the directional unit to take the TARDIS back to Kembel. The Doctor activated the Daleks' Time Destructor, which destroyed them, transformed Kembel into a desert, and rapidly aged Sara to death. (DW: The Daleks' Master Plan)

The Game of Rassilon

The Doctor was taken by a Time scoop to the Death Zone, where he was briefly reunited with Susan. While there, he defeated a Dalek by trapping it in a narrow corridor, where its own weapons fire ricocheted back at itself, destroying it. He was reunited with his second and third incarnations, and met his fifth incarnation, Tegan Jovanka and Vislor Turlough. He also briefly met a future incarnation of the Master, though didn't recognise him. He was the only one of the four incarnations of the Doctor present who realised the true meaning of the inscriptions related to the immortality offered by Rassilon and triggered the events leading to Borusa's eternal imprisonment within a sarcophagus. (DW: The Five Doctors)

Meeting Dodo

The Doctor and Steven arrived in Paris in 1572, where the Doctor decided to visit Charles Preslin, leaving Steven to sightsee. After reuniting with Steven, the Doctor realised that the St Bartholomew's Day massacre was about to begin and departed in the TARDIS. Steven was very angry that the Doctor had left Anne Chaplet, the French girl he had befriended, to her probable death, and disregarded the Doctor's plea that he couldn't rewrite history. He departed the TARDIS when it landed in Wimbledon Common in 1966, leaving the Doctor alone to reminisce over all of the companions who had left him. He briefly wondered if he should return to his own planet, but decided that he could not. However, Steven returned when a young girl named Dodo Chaplet forced her way into the TARDIS, which then departed. (DW: The Massacre)

Travels with Steven and Dodo

Together, the TARDIS crew encountered humans and Monoids from the far future, which were fleeing the doomed planet Earth to Refusis II on a spaceship which Dodo nicknamed the Ark. The Doctor aided the crew against an outbreak of the common cold, but upon returning to the Ark seven hundred years later, he discovered that the Monoids had taken over and were planning to kill the humans. With the aid of a Refusian, the Doctor saved the humans. (DW: The Ark)

The TARDIS was then captured by the Celestial Toymaker, who turned the Doctor invisible and forced him to play the Trilogic game, while Steven and Dodo were forced to play against the Toymaker's pawns. The Doctor's companions won their games, while the Doctor himself outwitted the Toymaker again and escaped. Celebrating their victory, the Doctor hurt his tooth while eating a sweet. (DW: The Celestial Toymaker) In search of a dentist, the TARDIS arrived at Tombstone, Arizona in 1881, where the Doctor received treatment from Doc Holliday. The Doctor was mistaken for Holliday by the gunfighter's enemies, Ike Clanton and his brothers Billy and Phineas. The Doctor and his companions witnessed the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and then departed. (DW: The Gunfighters)

The Doctor, Steven and Dodo arrived on a planet shared by two very different peoples; the Elders and the Savages. The Elders led a civilised lifestyle, but their intelligence was gained by draining the life energy from the Savages. The Doctor stopped this practice with the aid of a group of Savages by destroying the laboratory and equipment that transferred energy from the Savages and left Steven behind to keep the peace between the two groups for the future. (DW: The Savages)

Exploits with Dodo

Sometime later, the Doctor managed to return Dodo to London in her own time. There, the Doctor noticed the new Post Office Tower and felt compelled to investigate the building. Inside, he discovered a new supercomputer called WOTAN, which had become sentient. It gained mental control of its creator and several others, including Dodo, and forced them to create mobile War Machines to take over London. Having almost been taken over himself, the Doctor discovered Dodo's true motives and put her to sleep with hypnotism. With the Army being called in by Sir Charles Summer, there was an unsuccessful raid on a Covent Garden warehouse and the War Machines attacked. However, the Doctor managed to stare down the machine and it backed down. The Doctor was then able to reprogram the machine to attack and destroy WOTAN, which it duly did. (DW: The War Machines)

Neaing the end

After he inadvertently picked up Polly and Ben Jackson as companions when they entered the TARDIS as it took off, (DW: The War Machines) the Doctor and his new friends got caught up with a band of smugglers led by Captain Samuel Pike as he searched for a lost treasure. Although the Doctor was forced to help Pike trace a series of clues to the location of the treasure in a local graveyard, the smugglers were eventually captured by the local revenue men and Pike was killed. (DW: The Smugglers)

Last stand at Snowcap base

The Doctor, Ben and Polly arrived at the Snowcap base in 1986 Antarctica. (DW: The Tenth Planet, The Third Planet) Whle there they were treated with hostility by General Cutler. When the pilots of Zeus IV discovered a new planet between Mars and Venus, the Doctor, having predicted this, tried to convince the crew that Earth had a twin planet millions of years ago called Mondas, but Cutler refused to listen and sent his men to claim the TARDIS. However, the station came under attack from the Cybermen. The Doctor soon collapsed when Mondas began draining Earth's energies,

Having found a second wind, the Doctor confronted the Cybermen when they intended to take humanity to Mondas to turn them into their kind, but his attempt at negotiation resulted in him and Polly being taken hostage aboard the Cyber-ship. Held prisoner, the Doctor comforted Polly while Ben helped delay the Cyberman until Mondas was destroyed by overloading on Earth's energies. While emerging from his sleep, the Doctor overheard Ben claim that it was "all over now," and became weary. the Doctor left without Ben or Polly, defiantly claiming that things were "far from being all over".

The Doctor entered the TARDIS when suddenly the controls began to operate on their own and the doors shut before Ben and Polly could enter. As the TARDIS' controls continued to operate on their own, the Doctor opened the doors for Ben and Polly before collapsing unconscious to the floor, having lost the energy needed to keep his old body going. Before the astonished eyes of his friends, the Doctor regenerated for the first time, transforming into a much younger man, (DW: The Tenth Planet) at the age of 450-years-old. (DW: Iceberg)

Legacy

The Second Doctor saw his first incarnation in his reflection while still adjusting to his new body after his first regeneration. (DW: The Power of the Daleks)

When the Daleks strapped the Third Doctor to a Mind Analysis Machine an image of the First Doctor appeared on screen. (DW: Day of the Daleks)

During the mind-bending contest between the Fourth Doctor and Morbius an image of the First Doctor appeared. (DW: The Brain of Morbius)

The Cybermen used a device that showed their previous encounters with The Doctor, including their battle with his first incarnation. (DW: Earthshock)

When trapped in a dimensionally-unstable pocket universe controlled by Iam and the Rani, the Tenth Doctor's morphic print was destabilised, causing him to unwillingly regress back through his previous incarnations as his body sought a stable morphic print. He eventually "settled" into his first body, which remained stable long enough for him to return to the TARDIS and return to his current self. (DW: State of Change)

The Tenth Doctor wrote about his first incarnation in the manuscript about his life. He then showed Sandra Armstrong the memory of his first encounter with Susan's schoolteachers. (DW: The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare)

During a mind-bending contest between the Eleventh Doctor and The Master a memory of the First Doctor appeared. (MOV: Doctor Who: Revelation)

While in the Virtual Simulation reliving his past, the Thirteenth Doctor relived his, Susan, Ian and Barbara's adventure with Marco Polo to Kathy, during this the Doctor wore his first incarnation's clothes and took on his role in that adventure. (DW: Now Those Days Are Gone)

Alternative timelines

When time distortions began causing chaos throughout time and space the First Doctor was erased from existence. When the time distortions were stopped he was restored. (MOV: Doctor Who)

Personality

In his older years, the First Doctor was an unreadable, guarded figure who was, at first, slow to trust newcomers who learnt of him, but once his trust had been earned, he would show another side of himself as a staunch anti-authoritarian with a mischievous streak. (DW: An Unearthly Child) He was protective of the young women he took on as companions; they reminded him of his granddaughter, Susan. (DW: "Bell of Doom")

The Doctor held himself in high regard and was prone to criticise those whom he felt were naïve or primitive compared to his intellect. (DW: An Unearthly Child, The Reign of Terror) However, he possessed compassion, warmth, and wit that made up for his egocentric nature, serving to act as a mentor and guardian figure to his companions. Originally a very difficult and curmudgeonly person, (DW: An Unearthly Child, The Edge of Destruction) the First Doctor matured from an apparent selfishness and became more inviting. (DW: The Rescue, The Time Meddler, The Smugglers)

When the Doctor first met Ian and Barbara, he abducted them and set the TARDIS console to shock Ian into unconsciousness. He justified his actions by claiming he was keeping himself and Susan safe. He regarded humans as primitives, (DW: "An Unearthly Child", The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare; MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis) and contemplated killing the mortally wounded Za so that he would not slow him down. When Ian caught him apparently ready to bludgeon the man with a rock, the Doctor explained he merely wanted Za to draw him a map, (DW: "The Forest of Fear") When first visiting Skaro, the Doctor was willing to risk everyone's safety so he could satisfy his own curiosity, resulting in them nearly dying from radiation poisoning in the prison cells of the Dalek city. (DW: The Daleks) He also threatened to throw Ian and Barbara into space after accusing them of sabotage. When proven wrong, the Doctor humbly apologised. (DW: "The Brink of Disaster")

Despite this, even during his dark beginning, the Doctor showed signs of a kinder persona, being quick to bargain with the Tribe of Gum for Ian's safety. (DW: "The Cave of Skulls") He also offered to help build a ship for the Daleks to leave Skaro in return for Susan's safety and took it upon himself to ensure the Thals were not threatened with extinction. (DW: "The Rescue")

As the Doctor travelled more, he began to thaw and help people, albeit reluctantly at times, such as on Marinus, where he only agreed to help Arbitan restore the Conscience of Marinus after he was blackmailed, (DW: The Keys of Marinus) and more willingly on other occasions, such as when he landed during the 22nd century Dalek invasion. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth) Later, the Doctor was quick to help the Rills in their fight against the Drahvins on a doomed planet, noting that bias based on appearance was unwelcome, (DW: Galaxy 4) negotiated the release of the Monk from the Daleks, despite peace not being brokered between the two, (DW: The Daleks' Master Plan) and, upon witnessing the persecution of the "savages", was quick to ally himself with them against the Elders, defying their suggestions that progress was based on exploitation, branding it as "protracted murder". (DW: The Savages)

The Doctor believed that there was a reason for everything in the universe, (DW: The Chase)

The Doctor came to the defence of established history when Barbara attempted to alter the nature of the Aztec civilisation, claiming that not a single line in history could be altered. (DW: The Aztecs) Nevertheless, he gave first aid to the injured de Tornebu, justified stealing clothes based on the fact they were already stolen, and tried to convince King Richard to carry out his peace plan. (DW: The Crusade) However, when he first challenged the Monk, the Doctor quickly labelled him a "time meddler" and quickly continued to uphold his belief that history could not be changed. (DW: "Checkmate") He again backed up his previous ideal that it was permissible to save people who were not directly contributing to historical events while in Paris during August 1572. (DW: The Massacre)

The Doctor did not associate himself with a specific culture, claiming to be "a citizen of the universe, and a gentleman to boot". (DW: The Daleks' Master Plan) He described himself as having "the directional instinct of a homing pigeon", (DW: The Chase) and did not allow others to intimidate him. (DW: "The Unwilling Warriors", The War Machines)

Reflecting on his successors, the First Doctor labelled his third and second incarnations as "a dandy and a clown", and joked when meeting them for the first time to battle Omega that they had yet to do anything. However, he did get along with them to a point, though got noticeably frustrated when the Second Doctor was slow to catch on. (DW: The Three Doctors) He also got on well with his fifth incarnation, admitting he did "quite well" after the Game of Rassilon and was reassured that his future was in "safe hands". (DW: The Five Doctors)

Several of his future incarnations had a noticeably profound respect for the first incarnation, so much so that they dared not question his judgement, or argue in his presence. (DW: The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors; MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis)

The First Doctor's strongest relationship was with his granddaughter, Susan Foreman. He was always looking out for Susan, even lecturing her many times and telling her off. (DW: An Unearthly Child, The Sensorites) His last act of paternity towards Susan was to leave her in the 22nd century with David Campbell, a freedom fighter she had fallen in love with, to start her own life. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth) His grandfatherly ways were then passed over to Vicki, (DW: The Chase) and Polly. (DW: The Tenth Planet)

the Doctor put on a brave face to comfort Polly while dying as a prisoner of the Cybermen. After Ben rescued them, the Doctor made his way back to the TARDIS, and once inside he used the last of his strength to open the doors and let Ben and Polly in. (DW: The Tenth Planet)

Habits and quirks

The First Doctor punctuated his speech with exasperated sighs, snorts and the occasional mangled phrase or word. (DW: "The Survivors", "The Sea of Death", "Strangers in Space", "The Planet of Decision", "Trap of Steel", "Horse of Destruction", The Daleks' Master Plan) He also made a habit of repeatedly uttering "dear", (DW: "The Cave of Skulls", "Strangers in Space", The Space Museum) and "yes". (DW: "The Powerful Enemy")

The Doctor would utter, "Good gracious me", when he was surprised, (DW: "Strangers in Space", "The Powerful Enemy") and end his sentences with, "Hmmmm?". (DW: An Unearthly Child, The Reign of Terror, The Romans, The Chase, The Myth Makers, The Daleks' Master Plan, The Celestial Toymaker) When he wished to not engage someone in conversation, he would bluntly tell them to "go away". (DW: An Unearthly Child, The Aztecs)

He would address young women as "child", and younger men as "my boy", (DW: The Ark, The Tenth Planet) or in Ian Chesterton's case by his surname, although often the wrong surname. (DW: The Romans) When he saw someone killed, he would describe the killer as a "butcher", (DW: The Crusade) and he would often release a little chuckle when something made him laugh. (DW: An Unearthly Child, The Romans, The Time Meddler, The Celestial Toymaker)

When he disagreed with something, the Doctor would scorn and get angry – denying the facts his companions gave to him in these situations. (DW: The Edge of Destruction, The Chase, The Time Meddler) He was frequently sarcastic towards those around him, seemingly to elevate himself above lesser intellects. (DW: The Time Meddler) He would get particularly snappish with those who doubted the TARDIS could actually travel through space and time. (DW: "The Cave of Skulls", "The Watcher")

The Doctor tended to hold onto his lapels while speaking or thinking. (DW: The Edge of Destruction, The Sensorites, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Web Planet)

Whenever he coughed, he would waft his handkerchief around. (DW: An Unearthly Child) He also made a habit of biting down on his index finger when thinking. (DW: The Centre)

The Doctor often made speeches, (DW: "An Unearthly Child", "The Brink of Disaster", "Flashpoint", "The Traitors", "Bell of Doom") and had a knack for metaphors (DW: "The Cave of Skulls") and proverbs. (DW: "The Rescue", "The Brink of Disaster", The Keys of Marinus, "Strangers in Space", "Prisoners of Conciergerie", "The Dimensions of Time")

the Doctor never stated the nature of his own origins, other than to hint that Susan and himself were exiled from another place and time, (DW: "An Unearthly Child") and to state that he and the Monk originated on the same world. (DW: "Checkmate")

The Doctor was very particular about how others addressed him; he refused to answer to the name "Dr. Foreman", (DW: "The Cave of Skulls") disliked being referred to as "Doc", (DW: The Time Meddler, The Five Doctors) and also didn't like being called "Pops". (DW: The Tenth Planet)

Skills

He was certainly a thinker when it came to defeating his enemies; strategising the best way of defeating or tricking them. (DW: "The Firemaker") Because of this, the Elders recognised him as a man of infinite wisdom, (DW: The Savages)

Whilst normally peaceful, the Doctor would, when pressed, resort to hand-to-hand combat with an effectiveness which belied his age, (DW: "All Roads Lead to Rome", "The Lion", The Chase, The Daleks' Master Plan)

The Doctor could perform hypnosis with his signet ring, utilising it to break Dodo Chaplet's mind control by the artificial intelligence WOTAN, causing her to sleep for two days and forget her ordeal. (DW: The War Machines)

The Doctor had virtually no control over his TARDIS, (DW: An Unearthly Child)

The Doctor was a skilled gambler, being able to win half of Asia in a game with Kublai Khan. (DW: "Assassin at Peking") Another ability of his was the ability to sense an alien presence, getting goose bumps upon seeing the Post Office Tower and claiming that there was "something alien" about it. (DW: The War Machines)

Physical Appearance

During his time at the Academy, the First Doctor appeared as a young man in his late teens. (MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis)

By the time he met Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, the Doctor appeared to be a man in his early sixties, (DW: Who Killed Kennedy) who had shoulder length, greyish-white hair that grew around the back of his head, and piercing blue eyes that rested under expressive eyebrows. (DW: An Unearthly Child)

Hair and grooming

During his youth, the First Doctor had short, dark-brown hair. (MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis)

Martin had been told by the head undertaker that the Doctor was "an old geezer with white hair." (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)

Clothing

During his time at the Time Lord Academy, the Doctor wore the standered Academy robes. (MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis)

The Doctor affected a slightly eccentric Edwardian dress sense, wearing a black shawl collar double breasted Town Coat, a yellow tweed waistcoat over a white shirt with a black ribbon tie, grey tartan trousers, and shiny elasticated boots when he left Earth with Susan, Ian and Barbara. (DW: "An Unearthly Child") When brought to Vortis from Rome, the Doctor changed out of his Roman garb into a mustardy brown waistcoat and a cream ivory-coloured striped ascot to accompany his usual gear. (DW: "The Web Planet")

He wore a blue signet ring on the middle finger of his right hand, (DW: "An Unearthly Child",) which had special powers, such as to unlock the door of the TARDIS. (DW: The Daleks' Master Plan) On one occasion, the ring appeared to both facilitate hypnotism and protect the Doctor from electrical shock. (DW: The War Machines) On occasions, he did not wear his ring and wore fingerless gloves instead. (DW: The Tenth Planet, The Five Doctors) He also often wore a small silver ring on the little finger of his left hand. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Time Meddler, The War Machines)

When adventuring into Earth's past, the First Doctor would make changes to his wardrobe so as to blend in with the local population, (DW: The Reign of Terror, The Romans, The Crusade, The Gunfighters) and would gladly accept the vestments of extraterrestrial societies, as when he proudly wore the ceremonial garb of the Elders. (DW: The Savages)

Other Information

Alternate Versions

See Dr. Who
See De Dokter
See El Doctor
See Doktor I
See Doktorn

Miscellaneous

The First Doctor was the only incarnation to ever be seen smoking. (DW: The Cave of Skulls)

When the Doctor, Vicki, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton were being chased by the Daleks through time, he claimed to have built the TARDIS. (DW: The Chase) On the face of it, this statement appears to be in contrast with later incarnations and Time Lord authorities who claimed that the TARDIS was "borrowed"/"stolen" (DW: The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, The Other, Lord President of Gallifrey; MOV: Doctor Who: Revelation)

Although the Doctor once claimed that he never touched alcohol and preferred milk, (DW: The Gunfighters) he accepted an offer of mead in 1066, saying that it was "delightful", (DW: The Time Meddler) drank Madeira with Samuel Pike (DW: The Smugglers)

Parodies and Pastiches

On 31st December 1963, the first ever parody of Doctor Who was broadcast. It starred Clive Dunn as the Doctor and it featured on It's a Square World. The parody was known as The Doctor's new Invention and focused on Doctor Fotheringown being invited to an interview in a studio about his new invention, the first rocket set to be shot into space by British scientists. Soon, the clumsy, eccentric old man accidentally presses the launch button on the working model brought into the studio, sending him and his interviewer into orbit.

In an episode of Big Night Out, broadcast 7th April 1964, Bernie Winters plays an approximation of the First Doctor, but who is called Doctor Shmoo.

Behind the Scenes

When introduced in the script for An Unearthly Child, the First Doctor was physically described with the statement, "His clothes are bizarre."

Casting

Actors considered for the role of "Doctor Who", as he was then known, included Geoffrey Bayldon, Cyril Cusack, Hugh David and Leslie French. William Hartnell had, up until that point, mainly played small-time thugs and other unsympathetic parts in crime films and humourless military men in comedies. Producer Verity Lambert was inspired to ask him to accept the role after seeing him in his well-known role in This Sporting Life, which convinced her that he could play a tough, yet shaded and sympathetic character.

During the First Doctor's tenure, other actors occasionally stood in for Hartnell, either for demanding scenes or due to Hartnell being ill or otherwise unavailable. Edmund Warwick stood in for Hartnell in one episode of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and played the real Doctor in some scenes of The Chase when Hartnell was playing the Robot Doctor. In The Tenth Planet, Gordon Craig acted as a body double for Hartnell during the snowstorm scenes in the first episode, and then all of the third episode, after Hartnell was taken ill.

When the time came for the First Doctor to appear in the 1983 Children in Need anniversary special DW: The Five Doctors, actor Richard Hurndall was hired to play the role, standing in for William Hartnell, who had died in the mid-1970s. A clip of Hartnell as the Doctor from The Dalek Invasion of Earth preceded the opening titles, and Hartnell's name appeared amongst those of his fellow Doctors in the end credits.

For the 50th Anniversary movie Doctor Who: Genesis, David Bradley was cast as the First Doctor, with CGI placed over him to make him appear more like William Hartnell; an effect which would later be used in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. When it was felt that Bradley sounded nothing like William Hartnell, all of his lines were dubbed over by John Guilor.

During flashbacks in the movie showing the First Doctor at the Academy, he was played by Jeremy Irvine.

In The Third Planet, the First Doctor makes a brief cameo, along with Ben and Polly. They were portrayed using a mix of remastered and colourised archive footage, as well as body doubles.

List of Appearances

Doctor Who

Doctor Who: Adventures

The First Adventure

Movies

Doctor Who: Genesis

Footnotes

↑ Archive footage
↑ Cameo

[1] Archive footage

[2] Cameo

[1]

[2]