Doctor Who: The Big Review (The William Hartnell Era)
Doctor Who: The Big Review
William Hartnell Era (1963 - 1966)
Hartnell introduced us to the show we know and love today. We have a lot to thank him for. In this recount of what I've seen, I'll discuss my top five episodes of the Hartnell era, the viewing figures, wishes and wants and some key moments I wish to mention. It'll be a nice way to round off the era... Full of statistics, tables, and figures. What's more fitting for Ratings UK?!
First of all, let's delve in to the ratings. Hartnell's era was met with quite a roller-coaster of figures, from highs of over twelve million to lows of four, but it never troubled the series, as it just kept on going. The chart below shows how each series performed.
Now, upon first inspection, it's quite clear to see that Season 2 was Hartnell's strongest, with Season 1 and 3 just below with fairly similar statistics throughout. I definitely think there's reason for this. After the success of the first season, hype only grew meaning more people sat down to watch the show. Figures like these didn't even give the show high placings weekly, but we must contextualise. Doctor Who, back then, was in early slots (5PM and such), meaning it wasn't exactly defined as Prime Time to the modern audience. In fact, if we think about it, Doctor Who was made to fill a 25-minute gap between shows and to keep the afternoon audience interested. It was 'The Chase' or 'Pointless' of the 1960's. To compare, The Chase today could only expect figures of around 2-3 million, which isn't all that special, but for its timeslot, it's a good chunk of the audience, which is what they wanted. Now, highs of 12 million really showed the show to be something special, which is likely a reason they supported it when it dropped to its lower figures, and the Audience Appreciation scores dropped. Yet, with Troughton's introduction, the figures steadied at a healthy seven million mark. This is what I'd predict to be a healthy teatime slot viewership in the period.
The highest figures came from Season 2, in which, two serials averaged at 12.5 million ('The Rescue' and 'The Web Planet'), with highs of 13 million for the odd episode of each serial. This is brilliant and, even today, if these figures were to be replicated, the show would be the most watched of the Year. Obviously, we did hit lows though, the majority of which coming from Season 3 and 4. This, I predict, is likely down to audience stagnation. The show was perhaps becoming predictable, boring, and in need of new life. It's not something any actor wants for the show they are a integral tom but nobody is irreplaceable and Doctor Who fans know this for certain. The lowest figures came from Season 4, Serial 1 'The Smugglers' with just 4.48 million, this would remain the lowest viewed episode for twenty years. For the period, this just wasn't enough. The Audience Appreciation score also gave an insight into how people were feeling. Highs now ranging at the late 40's when earlier episodes were reaching 60 and above is not great. The AI eventually began to improve, but it wasn't immediate for Troughton. Why was it like this towards the end of Hartnell's era, I can only wonder. Maybe the stories just weren't wonderous enough, or just lacking in charm, you'd have to take a trip in the TARDIS to find out.
Moving on, it wouldn't exactly be a review without exploring my favourite parts of the era. First off, the unpredictability. Now, I use this term because you never knew what might happen in the next episode when it comes to companions. Companions left and joined at any point. Today, we know who our companion is and that's that, but back then, it didn't work like that. For example, although I couldn't watch it, the Dalek 12-part serial really worked with this idea. Katarina was barely introduced before she was killed off, not only adding to the menace of the Daleks, but also creating a range of emotions for the viewer. Imagine if that was Vicki, suddenly just gets killed half-way through a story, it'd be shocking. I liked that they did that because it meant I never knew what was coming, there was always a risk the companion would die or leave at the last second, something that doesn't happen all that often today.
Obviously, I cannot discuss the positives without mentioning the set design and costume. For the period, they did tremendously. No green screen background, no fancy effects, all just practical methods to achieve the vision. Obviously, the most notable is 'The Web Planet'.' The episode may have been nothing special, but the quality of the mise en scene will stick with me. It was brilliant.
Above is just one example, but how stunning. The backdrop is likely a painted curtain, but it's done so well, you can't tell it apart from the physical props of the set. Everything down to the crew smearing Vaseline on the camera lens to give the planet a more alien feel, just shows how much dedication went into each story. It's something I'll forever appreciate about Doctor Who, but I didn't expect such impressive visuals from the mid-1960's.
Another positive I'll mention is the cliff-hangers. Although the stories may not have been great, they always tried to end each story with heightened intrigue. I didn't particularly enjoy the first Dalek story, but the ending of episode one with Barbara's scream playing off into the credits was really impressive. In retrospect, it's my favourite thing of the story.
Sadly, everything cannot be perfect and there are a few things I would change. One of these being the score. Now, this was something I picked up on in earlier episodes. Serials like 'The Rescue' seemed to eradicate the issue, but there's still area for improvement. A lot of the music used did not fit the theme of the visual, it was more of a nuisance rather than a way to add tension to the show. I know a lot of the music was stock sounds and it was likely a reflection of all TV at the time, but it would be nice to see these serials have good music. Where's Segun Akinola when you need him? His scores for Jodie Whittaker are a lot more understated, more tense, less whimsical. This is something this era would definitely benefit from.
Another issue lies with pacing. All too often, the story will build for a long time, some a couple episodes too long to end with a two-minute conclusion. Why? It's disjointed and ruins the story. It happens today too, but some stories in this era, it was just too much. The main one that springs to mind is 'The Ark.' Everything seemed to be solved in lightning speed. It made it especially harder to enjoy stories set across six episodes because the majority could've been four, easily. A few did this, one being 'The Daleks.' So little actually happened that I, by the end, was just wanting it to end.
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| Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman |
My Top 5 Hartnell Stories
Picking the top five was quite an easy feat. I knew my grading had a few standouts. Before I get into this, I'll just give an honourable mention to 'The Sensorites' because that just missed out on a top five position in 6th. It was a great story, but it was pipped to the post.
Let's begin with 5th place, 'The Romans.' I didn't expect this to hit the top five in all honesty, but upon reflection, it is a rather good episode. I felt a lot of the series was very serious, there was rarely any good moments of humour, so when this Slapstick approach came, it was a breath of fresh air. Humour can dramatically improve a story where not much really happens. The Carry On films were obviously in their prime during this period so an episode being influenced by the slapstick comedy of those was no surprise. It was nice and refreshing. Would I be able to cope if every episode was the same, no, but that goes for anything. Obviously, it wasn't perfect, but it was good enough.
4th place goes to my top story of Season 1, 'The Edge of Destruction.' Back in my Season 1 review, I mentioned why, but to brief, it was because it was a shorter story and strayed into different areas of science fiction. It felt more like a commentary on human-kind. I loved it. To begin with, the story felt very oddly written, rushed even, but as it progressed it felt quite intense. From Susan's scissor attack to the bickering between friends, it all made for an interesting story. I always appreciate stories that have a real connection and moment between the companions and The Doctor, so this one was obviously going to be one I enjoy.
Now, in bronze medal position is 'The Chase.' This was one of the only Dalek stories where I didn't question their fear factor. It jumps from place to place, and it's fun to watch. There isn't a dull moment and that's what I expect of a Dalek story. Season 2 was a strong season, so I expected something new and fresh with the Daleks, and that's what this is.
'The War Machines' takes second place. Being only one of two stories to achieve an A grade. This story felt very modern to me, a gradual introduction to the companions, a slowly built story of the enemy and intrigue throughout. I enjoyed it a lot. Ben and Polly seemed like great additions, I immediately wanted them as part of the team. I just wish Dodo didn't just get ditched.
That brings us to first place. Picking first place was quite easy as I don't recall much being wrong with the story. It's 'The Rescue.' Vicki's introduction is a great one, O'Brien gives the character so much charm and character that it brings everyone else up to par. It's a short story that never seems to falter in tension and quality. I t was also one of the few stories where I felt the music had actually being quite good. It was a simple story, but effective. Bravo!
Overall, the Hartnell era had a few ups and downs, the chart below showing my grading for the entire run:
As you can see, the red line shows where the average line is. A B- shows it's just a solid episode that's nothing special but it's not bad either. Only five of the twenty episodes I watched dropped below this mark, 25%. I'll be interested to see if Troughton's era can perform better or worse. Now, I don't know whether this is good or not, because 25% is reasonably high, but on the back of only twenty serials, it still means fifteen were at the red line or above (60% were above the line). I'll be keeping track of the percent of grades for each era. 15% of these episodes were also in the A range (A- to A+) which is quite hard to reach. Maybe it's a small percentage, but I have no other data to bounce off, for now, so time will tell. However, for my first watch of television that is clearly of a very different calibre, I think how the show performed was quite good. Season 2 was probably the strongest of the era with three serials making the Top 5. It felt more solid, like they trusted in the show more, that they could test the limits more, and that's what they did. There was a lot to offer in this season, and I hope every episode that follows is up to par.
There you have it, Hartnell's overall grade was a B. Now, this is a pretty decent score considering it averages every serial I watched. To me, this means that the era as a whole was a solid one. It certainly had a few flaws, but I loved it. Now, the grade I gave out the most was a B+ so that shows that I was pretty impressed with what I was seeing. Patrick Troughton has quite a lot to contend with, so let's see how he does!
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