First Doctor and Companions...
The First Doctor Portrayed by William Hartnell
Appearances: 29 (An Unearthly Child - The Tenth Planet)
Grade: B-
When we first meet the Doctor we are told very little about him. He does not tell his name, his race or his home planet; only that he and his granddaughter Susan are wanderers in the fourth dimension, cut off or exiled from their people. In terms of his personality he is an enigma. At times he can be impatient and selfish while at other times he is witty and charming. In the opening serials, he is shown as an morally questionable and manipulative old man, willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his personal goals. However, as the show progresses, he mellows into more of a wise sage archetype, setting the groundwork for the Doctor's personality for years to come. Curious and a scientist by nature, he often unwittingly leads his companions into danger, but through his quick wits and silver tongue, he is able to lead them safely back to the TARDIS in time for the next adventure. Although he does have some unlikable qualities, like his coldness and irascibility, William Hartnell is a solid First Doctor and someone we can thank for paving the road for future doctors.
At the end of The Tenth Planet, the Doctor falls to the floor of the TARDIS in exhaustion and transforms into his second incarnation. This marks one of the few times in the history of the show that the writers fail to provide an explanation for what causes the Doctor to regenerate.
Notable Quotes: "It's still a police box. Why hasn't it changed? Dear, oh dear, how very disturbing."
"One day I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine. Goodbye Susan."
Susan Foreman
Appearances: 10 (An Unearthly Child - The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
Grade: B
Susan is introduced as the Doctor’s granddaughter, though it has long been a point of contention as to whether she is actually a blood-relative. To the naked eye however, their relationship is indistinguishable from that of an actual family, and it must be presumed that the Doctor has been Susan's caretaker for quite some time.
Susan is a young girl who is coming into her own on the verge of adulthood. This in a way causes friction between herself and the Doctor as he sometimes, in his efforts to protect her, still treats her as a child. She dreams of having a place to call home other than the TARDIS, a place to grow and build a life for herself. Though strongly-opinionated, Susan at times suffers from a lack of confidence in her abilities and often takes a back seat when it comes to problem-solving.
In a dramatic scene the Doctor leaves Susan on Earth in the twenty-second century with freedom fighter David Campbell to help mankind rebuild after a Dalek occupation.
Notable Quote: "Grandfather!"
Grade: B
Susan is introduced as the Doctor’s granddaughter, though it has long been a point of contention as to whether she is actually a blood-relative. To the naked eye however, their relationship is indistinguishable from that of an actual family, and it must be presumed that the Doctor has been Susan's caretaker for quite some time.
Susan is a young girl who is coming into her own on the verge of adulthood. This in a way causes friction between herself and the Doctor as he sometimes, in his efforts to protect her, still treats her as a child. She dreams of having a place to call home other than the TARDIS, a place to grow and build a life for herself. Though strongly-opinionated, Susan at times suffers from a lack of confidence in her abilities and often takes a back seat when it comes to problem-solving.
In a dramatic scene the Doctor leaves Susan on Earth in the twenty-second century with freedom fighter David Campbell to help mankind rebuild after a Dalek occupation.
Notable Quote: "Grandfather!"
Barbara Wright
Appearances: 16 (An Unearthly Child - The Chase)
Grade: A-
Barbara is a high school history teacher who along with Ian Chesterton force their way into the TARDIS believing that the Doctor has done something with their student Susan. In the struggle that ensues, the TARDIS' controls are set off whisking Barbara and Ian far away from 20th century England.
Barbara is both noble and stubborn, with a quick wit and tongue. Though she presents a strong exterior that rarely shows weakness, Barbara sometimes struggles with keeping her head high in the face of the many difficult circumstances she and Ian face during their travels. Barbara has a strong moral fiber and the confidence to confront anyone who shows a disregard for her values or instincts, including Ian or the Doctor. The best examples of this are in The Edge of Destruction and The Aztecs.
Jacqueline Hill, the actress who played Barbara, returned to Doctor Who nearly fifteen years after she originally left the show to play the part of the priestess Lexa in the episode Meglos.
Grade: A-
Barbara is a high school history teacher who along with Ian Chesterton force their way into the TARDIS believing that the Doctor has done something with their student Susan. In the struggle that ensues, the TARDIS' controls are set off whisking Barbara and Ian far away from 20th century England.
Barbara is both noble and stubborn, with a quick wit and tongue. Though she presents a strong exterior that rarely shows weakness, Barbara sometimes struggles with keeping her head high in the face of the many difficult circumstances she and Ian face during their travels. Barbara has a strong moral fiber and the confidence to confront anyone who shows a disregard for her values or instincts, including Ian or the Doctor. The best examples of this are in The Edge of Destruction and The Aztecs.
Jacqueline Hill, the actress who played Barbara, returned to Doctor Who nearly fifteen years after she originally left the show to play the part of the priestess Lexa in the episode Meglos.
Ian Chesterton
Appearances: 16 (An Unearthly Child - The Chase)
Grade: A
Ian is by far the best companion of the First Doctor. He is intelligent and resourceful, and as a science professor he is capable of helping the Doctor with his many scientific endeavors. He is also handy in a fight as he routinely dispatches enemy agents during his stay with the Doctor. During his tenure as companion, Ian fights Daleks, cave men, Aztec warriors, and Roman soldiers.
Ian is more than just the sum of his skill and abilities though. Ian has a feeling personality; whether it is offering a word of encouragement or even a listening ear, he knows what to do and how to do it. He is caring person adept at recognizing the needs of others around him, often putting these needs in front of his own. He employs a 'never leave a man behind' mentality and will do almost anything to help his friends even if it involves standing up to a sometimes irritable and unethical doctor.
Eventually, Barbara and Ian are able to return to their own time in England, albeit two years off from when they left, by commandeering a Dalek time machine at the end of The Chase.
Notable Quote: "Who is he? Doctor Who? If we knew his name we might have a clue to all this."
Grade: A
Ian is by far the best companion of the First Doctor. He is intelligent and resourceful, and as a science professor he is capable of helping the Doctor with his many scientific endeavors. He is also handy in a fight as he routinely dispatches enemy agents during his stay with the Doctor. During his tenure as companion, Ian fights Daleks, cave men, Aztec warriors, and Roman soldiers.
Ian is more than just the sum of his skill and abilities though. Ian has a feeling personality; whether it is offering a word of encouragement or even a listening ear, he knows what to do and how to do it. He is caring person adept at recognizing the needs of others around him, often putting these needs in front of his own. He employs a 'never leave a man behind' mentality and will do almost anything to help his friends even if it involves standing up to a sometimes irritable and unethical doctor.
Eventually, Barbara and Ian are able to return to their own time in England, albeit two years off from when they left, by commandeering a Dalek time machine at the end of The Chase.
Notable Quote: "Who is he? Doctor Who? If we knew his name we might have a clue to all this."
Vicki
Appearances: 9 (The Rescue - The Myth Makers)
Grade: B
Vicki is a human from the 25th century who is rescued by the Doctor from the planet Dido. As a character she is mostly meant to act as a replacement to Susan as the Doctor's surrogate granddaughter, and she is quick in establishing a connection with him. In fact, Vicki is one of the few companions to get along well with the First Doctor. Vicki is youthful, energetic, and full of vitality.
Vicki is an orphan with no living family or place to call home and so is much more carefree and cavalier than the other companions when it comes to travelling with the Doctor. In fact, Vicki lives for exploration and discovery. She is always in the mood for adventure, always desiring to see what is over the next hill. Even when she has an opportunity to live a quiet life on 20th century Earth with Ian and Barbara she declines, choosing to remain with the Doctor and continue time-traveling.
Vicki does eventually leave and starts her own adventure at the end of The Myth Makers when she runs away and elopes with the Trojan warrior Troilus.
Grade: B
Vicki is a human from the 25th century who is rescued by the Doctor from the planet Dido. As a character she is mostly meant to act as a replacement to Susan as the Doctor's surrogate granddaughter, and she is quick in establishing a connection with him. In fact, Vicki is one of the few companions to get along well with the First Doctor. Vicki is youthful, energetic, and full of vitality.
Vicki is an orphan with no living family or place to call home and so is much more carefree and cavalier than the other companions when it comes to travelling with the Doctor. In fact, Vicki lives for exploration and discovery. She is always in the mood for adventure, always desiring to see what is over the next hill. Even when she has an opportunity to live a quiet life on 20th century Earth with Ian and Barbara she declines, choosing to remain with the Doctor and continue time-traveling.
Vicki does eventually leave and starts her own adventure at the end of The Myth Makers when she runs away and elopes with the Trojan warrior Troilus.
Steven Taylor
Appearances: 10 (The Chase - The Savages)
Grade: C-
Steven is rescued by the Doctor from the planet Mechanus where he has been stranded for two years after crash-landing.
Steven is impatient and a bit of a fighter, frequently relying on brawns as opposed to brains. Although he is grateful to be rescued from the prison on Mechanus, he and the Doctor never warm up to each other, and they often argue and clash. The Doctor prefers to solve problems with patience and cunning, and this disagrees with Steven's straightforward manner.
Steven has a well developed moral compass, and he places a high value on human life. This can be seen in The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve, where he angrily protests the Doctor's principle of limited interference. He almost leaves the Doctor on the spot, and it is only due to Dodo's untimely entrance that he stays.
Unfortunately, most of Steven's stories have been destroyed due to the BBC's junking of materials in the 1970's.
Grade: C-
Steven is rescued by the Doctor from the planet Mechanus where he has been stranded for two years after crash-landing.
Steven is impatient and a bit of a fighter, frequently relying on brawns as opposed to brains. Although he is grateful to be rescued from the prison on Mechanus, he and the Doctor never warm up to each other, and they often argue and clash. The Doctor prefers to solve problems with patience and cunning, and this disagrees with Steven's straightforward manner.
Steven has a well developed moral compass, and he places a high value on human life. This can be seen in The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve, where he angrily protests the Doctor's principle of limited interference. He almost leaves the Doctor on the spot, and it is only due to Dodo's untimely entrance that he stays.
Unfortunately, most of Steven's stories have been destroyed due to the BBC's junking of materials in the 1970's.
Katarina
Appearances: 2 (The Myth Makers - The Dalek’s Master Plan)
Grade: F
Katarina is a handmaiden to the prophet Cassandra at ancient Troy who escapes with the Doctor and Steven as the city is being overrun by invading Greeks. In her short role as a companion (only five episodes) she has little understanding of what is going on, believing that she is dead, the TARDIS is some sort of a temple, and that the Doctor is a god delivering her to the underworld. Her claim to fame is that she is the first companion to be killed in the series.
Unfortunately, both of Katarina's stories have missing video due to the BBC's junking of materials in the 1970's.
Notable Quote: (referring to the inside of the TARDIS) "This is not Troy. This is not even the world. This is the journey through the beyond."
Grade: F
Katarina is a handmaiden to the prophet Cassandra at ancient Troy who escapes with the Doctor and Steven as the city is being overrun by invading Greeks. In her short role as a companion (only five episodes) she has little understanding of what is going on, believing that she is dead, the TARDIS is some sort of a temple, and that the Doctor is a god delivering her to the underworld. Her claim to fame is that she is the first companion to be killed in the series.
Unfortunately, both of Katarina's stories have missing video due to the BBC's junking of materials in the 1970's.
Notable Quote: (referring to the inside of the TARDIS) "This is not Troy. This is not even the world. This is the journey through the beyond."
Dodo Chaplet
Appearances: 6 (The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve - The War Machines)
Grade: D-
Quite frankly, Dodo is the worst companion of the First Doctor. Though cheery with an optimistic spirit, she lacks the skills or smarts to be anything else but a load. She comes across as clueless, unable to apply things she has recently learned or make use of common sense. This is best exemplified in The Celestial Toymaker.
Dodo's biggest problem is that she is naïve to the point that her optimism works against rather than for her. Rather than channeling her enthusiasm to do something constructive, it seems to incentivize her into doing nothing. She's so convinced everything will be all right, she doesn't recognize she's often in real danger. Instead, she treats her problems as a joke that can be laughed away. When you add this to the fact that despite only appearing in six stories, she destroys most of the human race with the common cold and get hypnotized by robots, it is clear that Dodo is more of a nuisance than an asset.
Dodo doesn't even get a proper send-off; the Doctor is informed by Polly at the end of The War Machines that Dodo has chosen to stay in London.
Grade: D-
Quite frankly, Dodo is the worst companion of the First Doctor. Though cheery with an optimistic spirit, she lacks the skills or smarts to be anything else but a load. She comes across as clueless, unable to apply things she has recently learned or make use of common sense. This is best exemplified in The Celestial Toymaker.
Dodo's biggest problem is that she is naïve to the point that her optimism works against rather than for her. Rather than channeling her enthusiasm to do something constructive, it seems to incentivize her into doing nothing. She's so convinced everything will be all right, she doesn't recognize she's often in real danger. Instead, she treats her problems as a joke that can be laughed away. When you add this to the fact that despite only appearing in six stories, she destroys most of the human race with the common cold and get hypnotized by robots, it is clear that Dodo is more of a nuisance than an asset.
Dodo doesn't even get a proper send-off; the Doctor is informed by Polly at the end of The War Machines that Dodo has chosen to stay in London.