The Doctors Who's Who

For Samantha, Nathan and Fern.

‘If you knew Time as well as I do,’ said the Hatter, ‘you wouldn’t talk about wasting it.’

The Mad Hatter
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll

Special Introductions

Furies Over Korea – The Story of the Men of the Fleet Air Arm, RAF and Commonwealth Who Defended South Korea, 1950–1953
by Graham A. Thomas

Firestorm, Typhoons Over Caen, 1944
by Graham A. Thomas

Terror from the Sky – the Battle Against the Flying Bomb
by Graham A. Thomas

The Dan Brown Enigma
by Graham A. Thomas

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

OVER SOME CONSIDERABLE
time members of the
Doctor Who
family spoke to me casually, wrote to me, or agreed to be interviewed by me, all of which helped me in the writing of this book. I would like to thank: Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Louise Jameson, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Anthony Ainley, Nicola Bryant, Sophie Aldrid, John Nathan-Turner, Dick Mills, Tony Burroughs and Nicholas Courtney.

Thanks are also due to my father Colin, Dave Bush, Brian Aldrich, Deborah Charlton, Barry Burnett, Iain Banks, Christopher Lee, Ray Harryhausen, the proprietor of Pleasures of Past Times (Cecil Court), John O’Sullivan, Moira Williamson and to Miranda Hart for an Eric Morecambe gem I could have overlooked – and of course for including Peter Davison in her excellent show.

I would also like to thank some of my friends and family who have shared their
Doctor Who
experiences with me over the years, namely Nicholas Skinner, Richard Ball, and of course, Anita, Samantha, Nathan and Fern. Extra thanks to
Fern Lavinia for helping scout out extra David Tennant clips and Nathan for watching countless
Doctor Who
episodes time and again.

Sincerely, many thanks to all.

CC

CONTENTS

1. Title Page
   
2. Dedication
   
3. Epigraph
   
4. Acknowledgements
   
5. Author’s Note
   
6. PART ONE: WHO WERE THE DOCTORS?
   
7. Chapter One – Doctor Who?
   
8. Chapter Two – William Hartnell
   
9. Chapter Three – Patrick Troughton
   
10. Chapter Four – Jon Pertwee
    
11. Chapter Five – Tom Baker
    
12. Chapter Six – Peter Davison
    
13. Chapter Seven – Colin Baker
    
14. Chapter Eight – Sylvester McCoy
    
15. Chapter Nine – Paul McGann
    
16. Chapter Ten – The First Doctor Revisited
    
17. Chapter Eleven – Christopher Eccleston
    
18. Chapter Twelve – David Tennant
    
19. Chapter Thirteen – Matt Smith
    
20. Chapter Fourteen – Peter Capaldi
    
21. Conclusion
    
22. PART TWO: THE LEGACY
    
23. Chapter One – Actors’ Credits
    
24. Chapter Two – Lost From the Vaults
    
25. Chapter Three – The Legacy of
    Doctor Who
    
26. Chapter Four – Blink – Quality Science Fiction or Flawed Masterpiece?
    
27. Chapter Five – The Personality of the Doctor
    
28. Further Reading and Sources
    
29.  
    
30. About the Author
    
31. Also By Craig Cabell
    
32. Plates
    
33. Copyright
    

AUTHOR’S NOTE

WE OWE A DEBT
of gratitude to the Doctors.

After 50 years of
Doctor Who
, we owe a debt of gratitude to those excellent English and Scottish actors who adorned strange Edwardian – for the most part – costumes, took to the controls of the TARDIS and made television history. How many times have we watched William Hartnell in
Carry On Sergeant
, Patrick Troughton in
The Omen
, Jon Pertwee in
Worzel Gummidge
, Tom Baker in
Blackadder
, Peter Davison in
All Creatures Great and Small
, Colin Baker in
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
, Sylvester McCoy in
The Hobbit
, Paul McGann in
Hornblower
, Christopher Eccleston in
The Second Coming
, David Tennant in
Broadchurch
and Matt Smith in
Womb
and said ‘He was Doctor Who’?

No matter what else those actors did (or do), they will always be known as the Doctor. A man – an actor – instantly recognisable, instantly trusted by parents with their children, because he plays such a unique character in television history.

It is fitting that during the 50th anniversary of
Doctor Who
there is a book that looks at the careers of these special actors
who have played the Doctor, to give something back to them and to acknowledge the wider parameters of their acting skills. This was something I originally undertook several years ago in the first edition of this book,
The Doctors Who’s Who
. The success of that book has made it possible to revise, update and significantly add to it for the 50th anniversary, in order to celebrate the actors’ careers alongside the programme itself. No book has done this before. Of course, each
Doctor Who
actor has released an autobiography or had a biography written about him; but this snapshot overview paints a picture of the programme’s influence on each Doctor and shows the impact those Doctor Who actors have had on British culture since around the time of the Second World War.

Doctor Who
has had an influence on the supporting cast too. Actors who have appeared in a short scene in a single episode way back in time are still asked for autographs by fans and requested to attend conventions or contribute to DVD documentaries approximately half a century later.

Think about some of the key supporting actors who have passed away (in 2011 and 2012 alone): Nicholas Courtney, Elisabeth Sladen, Caroline Johns and Mary Tamm. In each case, mention was made of their key role in
Doctor Who
alongside the headline announcement of their sad passing; but surely the 1974 movie
The Odessa File
was far more important to Mary Tamm than
Doctor Who
?

Doctor Who
demands to be recognised. It is a career highlight, so it is right that we spare a thought for the other work the
Doctor Who
actors have done throughout their careers and the other people who have touched their lives.

Doctor Who
has evolved over the years. Regular cast members have come and gone but as long as a blue police box materialises
and dematerialises with a wheezing, groaning sound and the programme’s once haunting – now wonderfully menacing – theme tune assures us that the
character
of the Doctor is unchanged, the programme will continue to cast its spell over legions of fans across the world for many years to come.

Doctor Who
isn’t a cult TV programme. Approximately eight million regular viewers per episode make it something more, especially when you couple that figure with overseas franchises, DVDs and the ability to watch the show later via BBC iPlayer. The final head count proves that after 50 years
Doctor Who
is more popular now than ever before, and its reputation will continue to grow over the next half century.

The Doctor’s journey is far from over and more actors will have their lives unrecognisably changed by taking on the iconic role.

‘I realise that I have been very lucky in that I have had three massive successes in my career to date:
The Navy Lark, Doctor Who and Worzel Gummidge
. These have kept me in the public eye for far longer than many of my contemporaries.’

I Am the Doctor – Jon Pertwee’s Final Memoir

PART ONE

WHO WERE THE DOCTORS?

‘The Doctor is always on the side of the good and he must always win in the end. And, of course, I just adored doing it. It is a unique and magical experience to be able to live out a public fantasy on a gigantic scale and get paid!’

Tom Baker

The title page to a draft script of ‘An Unearthly Child’ by Anthony Coburn, the first ever
Doctor Who
story.

CHAPTER ONE

DOCTOR WHO?

Doctor Who: Who are you?

Chesterton: I’ll ask the questions, Buster.

From a draft script of
Doctor Who
and the
Tribe of Gum
, Episode One ‘An Unearthly Child’
Anthony Coburn

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE
for creating
Doctor Who
?

It’s not an easy question to answer. A TV show has many people who play a major role in creating it, from its initial idea through to the first transmission; but Sydney Newman must be recognised as the catalyst, the person who laid down the fundamental building blocks for
Doctor Who
and, most importantly, the main character.

Sydney Cecil Newman was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1917. He was educated at Ogden Public School and the Central Technical School, Toronto, where he studied painting, stagecraft and industrial and interior design. His skills were put to work as an artist, designing posters for cinemas and theatres in Toronto, but he soon branched out.

In 1938, Newman decided to go to Hollywood, where he was offered a job by the Walt Disney Company, which was impressed by the young man’s skills as a graphic designer. Unfortunately, he couldn’t obtain a work permit and had to return to Toronto where, in 1941, he secured employment with the National Film Board of Canada as an assistant film editor.

Later, Newman returned to America to study their film techniques. He would incorporate what he learnt into the ever-growing Canadian broadcasting industry. In the 1950s, he moved across to Britain and became Head of Drama at ABC (former Thames Television), where he created Science Fiction (SF) show
Pathfinders in Space
and cult TV series
The Avengers
.

One of Newman’s strengths was his ability to gather the right team of individuals together to make a quality TV series. This was quintessential to his success and, ostensibly, the individual show’s success too.

In 1962, Newman moved from ABC to the BBC. Again Head of Drama, he was given the task of trying to fill the gap between
Grandstand
and
Juke Box Jury
on a Saturday afternoon. For the time slot, the show had to be for children. Traditionally, the spot had been filled with a classic serial, such as
Oliver Twist
or
Kidnapped
, but it was felt that it was time for something different.

Donald Wilson was appointed Head of Serial and Series and began to forge the initial ideas of what would become
Doctor Who
with Newman – but what would the show be about?

A report concerning the development of the programme was written in July 1962. It stated that ‘bug-eyed monsters’ were out but time travel was in. The show continued to be developed and, in March 1963, a second report proposed a 52-week serial featuring ‘scientific troubleshooters’, with a time machine. The characters would include a handsome young man, an attractive
young woman and a ‘mature man’ somewhere between 30 and 40 years of age, with some kind of twist to him.