Profile of William Hartnell on Famous Like Me

William Henry Hartnell (January 8, 1908–April 23, 1975), a British actor, was the first actor to play the lead role of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1963 to 1966.

Biography

Hartnell was born in St Pancras, London. Often known as Billy, he was educated at home and at Imperial Service College. After training as a jockey, and boxing, he studied acting at The Sylvia Young Theatre School and entered the theatre in 1924. The first of more than sixty film appearances was Say It With Music in 1932. Hartnell usually played comic characters, until 1944 with the robust role of sergeant Ned Fletcher in The Way Ahead. From then on, he played mainly policemen, soldiers, and thugs, like Dallow in Brighton Rock. In 1958 he appeared in the first Carry On film, Carry On Sergeant as Sergeant Grimshaw, and in 1963 he appeared as a town councillor in the Boulting Brothers' film Heavens Above! with Peter Sellers.

He appeared first on television in The Army Game from 1957–1961, and in 1963 gave up movies and took the lead in Doctor Who, for which he is now most widely known. (See List of Doctor Who serials.)

According to some he worked with on Doctor Who, he could be a difficult person to work with. His poor health (arteriosclerosis, brought on by years of drinking) as well as poor relations with the new production team ultimately led him to leave Doctor Who in 1966. Some fan commentators now believe that reports of Hartnell's illness were subsequently exaggerated by his producers, Innes Lloyd and John Wiles, to justify a decision to sack the actor. Other sources suggest that it was a mutual decision between Hartnell and the production team that he should leave the programme, although Hartnell in later life claimed he did not want to go.

Hartnell reprised the role in the 10th Anniversary story The Three Doctors (1973) with the help of cue cards but appeared only in pre-filmed inserts. Hartnell's health had grown progressively worse since leaving Doctor Who and in December 1974 he was admitted to hospital permanently. In early 1975 he suffered a series of strokes brought on by cerebrovascular disease and died in his sleep of heart failure on April 23, 1975 at the age of 67.

A clip of his scene from the end of the serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964) was used as a pre-credits sequence for the 20th anniversary story The Five Doctors (1983).

Biographical information about William Hartnell is hard to substantiate because of conflicting information from various sources. Hartnell himself gave accounts of his birth and upbringing which seem to differ from verifiable facts, and the only published biography of him is by his granddaughter, Jessica Carney. Although criticised by some as a hagiography, Carney's "Who's There?" does refer to these difficulties and makes it clear that a great deal of research has been done, drawing from primary sources, as well as Hartnell's family's own extensive archive. Notwithstanding a sometimes negative view of its subject, the family link with the author makes some critics view this work as biased.

Hartnellisms

Hartnell's inability to remember his lines throughout his run on Doctor Who led to a number of line fluffs, many of which were left in the finished program. The fluffs were distinctive enough to be named "Hartnellisms" by the cast, production team, and fans. Examples include:

1. The Doctor was meant to say "anti-radiation drugs" but said instead said "anti-radiation gloves". The cast reacted as if he had said his proper line and Hartnell quickly corrected himself. (The Daleks)
2. The Doctor intends to tell a character named Maitlin to stabilise his spaceship. Instead, the Doctor says, "Stabilise us, matron!" (The Sensorites)
3. The Doctor is asked to explain the source of lighting inside the Space Museum. He replies there must be some "floresflorfloresent substance in the, ah, walls..." (The Space Museum)
4. The Doctor warns Ian and Barbara that they'll be "two burnt cinders floating around in Spain — eh, in space!" (The Chase)
5. The Doctor attempts to explain why he will not climb a rock face: "I prefer walking to any day. And I hate climbing!" (The Time Meddler)
6. After leaving a planet named Kembel in a spacecraft, a stowaway takes Katarina hostage. The pilot of the craft refuses to do so, and the Doctor shouts, "Take him back to Kendall!" After a quick glance at the director off-set, Hartnell corrects himself and continues. (The Daleks' Master Plan)
7. A Hartnellism that occured during rehearsals: the Doctor was to tell Susan to check the fault-locator. Instead, he told her to check the fornicator.

As Hartnell's health failed, the number of Hartnellisms increased, sometimes to the detriment of the plot. In Hartnell's final story, The Tenth Planet, Hartnell was given far fewer lines than normal, possibly to prevent such problems in his final story.

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