The original Doctor Who was played by William Hartnell, but he wasn't the first choice to play the First. Geek Dave from TheTriviaGeeks.Blogspot.Com presents 5 actors who were considered for the role, along with 6 more who did actually play the part...
Before Verity Lambert took charge of Doctor Who the show had a 'caretaker' producer, he was Rex Tucker. Tucker wanted to cast his good friend Hugh David in the role of the Doctor. Lambert vetoed the idea because she felt at 38 he was too young for the part. David would go on to direct the Second Doctor stories, The Highlanders and Fury From The Deep.
Before finding her 'Grandfather figure' in William Hartnell, Verity Lambert offered the part to several other actors, all of who declined, including Alan Webb, Cyril Cusack and Leslie French (above). 25 years later French appeared in the Seventh Doctor story, Silver Nemesis as Lady Peinforte's mathematician.
One more actor offered the role of the First Doctor before Hartnell was Geoffrey Bayldon. You may know his as Catweazle, or as the Crowman in the Jon Pertwee serial Worzel Gummidge. 40 years later Bayldon finally played an alternative non-canon version of the First Doctor in two stories for the Big Finish Doctor Who Unbound series. He also appeared as Organon in the Fourth Doctor serial The Creature from the Pit.
Now, on to the actors who 'portrayed' the First Doctor, apart from William Hartnell himself that is.
During the First Doctor's era several other uncredited actors stood in for Hartnell:
- Brian Proudfoot played the Doctor in episode 2 of The Reign Of Terror, he can be seen during the first outdoor filmed sequence with the Doctor walking towards Paris.
- Edmund Warrick stood in for an injured Hartnell during episode 4 of The Dalek Invasion Of Earth.
- Albert Ward played the First Doctor in episode 3 of The Celestial Toymaker whilst Hartnell was on holiday.
- Gordon Craig was a last minute stand in when Hartnell was too ill to record episode 3 of The Tenth Planet.
Edmund Warwick returned to 'double' for Hartnell as Robot Dr Who (that is how he is credited) during The Chase, although Hartnell did provide the voice of the Dalek creation.
During restoration work for the Planet Of The Giants DVD release, John Guilor was bought in to re-dub some of Hartnell's voice for episodes 3 and 4. He was then called upon to provide the First Doctor's vocal cameo in The Day Of The Doctor.
One more television First Doctor for you. After Hartnell passed away in 1975 Richard Hurndall portrayed the "original" in the 20th anniversary story The Five Doctors.
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Join The Trivia Geeks - Do you know of any other actors who were either considered for the role of the First Doctor, or played an official version of him? If so let us know in the comments below and we'll update this post with the best ones.
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