The First Doctor is the first incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor William Hartnell in the first three series (1963 - 1966) and the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors (1972 - 1973). The character would occasionally appear in the series after Hartnell's death, most prominently as portrayed by Richard Hurndall in the twentieth anniversary special The Five Doctors (1983), and as portrayed by David Bradley in the episodes "The Doctor Falls" and "Twice Upon a Time" (2017) and in the episode "The Power of the Doctor" (2022), the latter previously having portrayed Hartnell himself in the 2013 biopic An Adventure in Space and Time.
Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels in time and space in the TARDIS, frequently with companions. At the end of life, the Doctor regenerates; as a result, the physical appearance and personality of the Doctor changes. The concept of regeneration, initially referred to as a "renewal", was introduced when Hartnell left the series due to his increasingly bad health, consequently extending the series' life into the following century, with Hartnell being succeeded by the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton).
Hartnell's portrayal of the character was initially a stubborn and abrasive old man who was distrustful of humans, but ultimately mellowed out into a more compassionate, grandfatherly figure who adored his travels with his companions. The First Doctor's original companions were his granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) and her schoolteachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill). In later episodes, he travelled alongside 25th-century orphan Vicki (Maureen O'Brien), space pilot Steven Taylor (Peter Purves), Trojan handmaiden Katarina (Adrienne Hill), and sixties flower child Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane). His final on-screen companions were the working class sailor Ben Jackson (Michael Craze) and the sophisticated socialite Polly (Anneke Wills). Of the 134 episodes Hartnell appeared in as a regular, 44 are missing.
The FirstDoctor is the first incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He was portrayed...
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald...
the first person of colour to play the role. Within the programme's narrative, the Doctor is a Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey. The Doctor travels...
in regeneration by the FirstDoctor (William Hartnell), he is followed by the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee). Troughton's Doctor was an outwardly scruffy...
Snowmen). Lumley is the first woman to play the Doctor in an officially licensed production. Flook, Ray (24 November 2023). "Doctor Who: "An Unearthly Child"...
Christopher Eccleston during the first series of the show's revival in 2005. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord...
the BBC allows it to produce audio dramas featuring the first twelve incarnations of the Doctor and associated characters introduced into the series between...
Eccleston's Ninth Doctor in the show's fictional chronology, his first onscreen appearance came eight years after Eccleston's; the War Doctor was retroactively...
the universe of the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and spin-offs:Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Class, K-9 and...
The fourteenth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who premiered on 11 May 2024, and is expected to air through to 22 June...
The Twelfth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Scottish...
television series Doctor Who has not only seen changes in the actors to play the Doctor, but in the supporting cast as well. The Doctor is usually accompanied...
Doctor Who is a British television science fiction series, produced and screened by the BBC on the BBC TV channel from 1963 to 1964, and on BBC1 (later...
Doctor Who Unbound is a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions. Free from the constraints of continuity, the Doctor Who Unbound audios...
the FirstDoctor, now portrayed by David Bradley. He had previously played William Hartnell, the original FirstDoctor actor, in the 2013 Doctor Who docudrama...
"The Power of the Doctor" is the third and final of the 2022 specials of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, and was broadcast...
Barrow-in-Furness Repertory Company instead. At 26 years old in 1965, Purves first appeared in Doctor Who in the role of Morton Dill, an American tourist, in The Chase...
actor Ncuti Gatwa. His first series companion is Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a millennia-old alien...
The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant...
Power of the Doctor" (2022), his first filmed appearance for a televised episode of Doctor Who. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old...
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