The William Hartnell Years

You didn't ask for it, but here it is anyway: before we embark on the next phase of our journey, it's time to look back on our adventures so far.

First, let's recap Hannah's scores:

10/10
The Savages: "I love that kind of sci-fi story"

9/10
The Daleks: "I don't see much room for improvement"
The Keys of Marinus: "I like the fact that it was a quest story"
The Aztecs: "a lot of this is very believable"
The Dalek Invasion of Earth: "an amazing story"
The Time Meddler: "I feel like I wanted more"
The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve: "this could have been a 10 out of 10"

8/10
Marco Polo: "not much to say, it's just a really good story"
The Romans: "the comedy grew on me"
The Ark: "I liked the twist"
The Gunfighters: "it's just the shit bits that I don't like"

7/10
The Chase: "so much weirdness and rubbishness that it doesn't flow properly"
The Myth Makers: "you say this is a comedy?"
The Daleks' Master Plan: "it wasn't awful"
The Celestial Toymaker: "I really do like the concept"
The War Machines: "it feels a little bit anticlimactic"

6/10
An Unearthly Child: "I didn't like it a huge amount"
The Sensorites: "I'm disappointed with the amazing potential they had"
The Reign of Terror: "the way that the story is told felt a bit rubbish"
The Web Planet: "it's like your child has made you a painting, but it's shit"
The Crusade: "it was interesting... no, it wasn't"
Galaxy 4: "it's just silly"
Mission to the Unknown: "it was interesting but it didn't feel quite right"
The Tenth Planet: "it's all a bit messy and clumsy"

5/10
Planet of Giants: "very middle-of-the-road"
The Rescue: "there's so much more they could have done"
The Space Museum: "it feels like the writer got bored"
The Smugglers: "I really wish it had been a better story"

3/10
The Edge of Destruction: "total crock of shit"


Me: So... will you miss William Hartnell?
Hannah: Yes. Of course I'll miss him. I liked his character; it was deep and complex with a general abundance of grandfatherly silly man, and then little pokey bits of Doctor came out. It was like a great big shell of somebody that I don't recognise, and then every now and again a little bit pokes out and says "I'm the Doctor, and I'm just like all the other Doctors that you already know." And then, over time, I realised that those weren't special bits; he obviously was the Doctor, the original, the first, and so those little bits sticking out were just a part of the whole.
Me: What memories stand out for you?
Hannah: His fluffs. Especially when they're funny. Any time that he stands up for something worthwhile. When he has a laugh with people. I can't think of any specifics.
Me: If you could only watch one story again, what would it be?
Hannah: I can't remember them all. Well, the one I gave 10 out of 10.
Me: The Savages?
Hannah: Actually no, it wasn't the most exciting story, it was just the best-done episode. The Menoptra one. The Web Planet.
Me: Really?! Why?
Hannah: Just to remind myself whether it really was as bad as... what did I give it?
Me: 6.
Hannah: Anything with aliens I really liked. So either the Menoptra or the Chumblies or something. Yeah, I think I'd watch The Web Planet, just to see those creatures again. I liked them as an alien species; the Menoptra and the Zarbi and the gun lice. They were fun. It's not my favourite, I just have an urge to see all the aliens again.
Me: How has the Hartnell era matched up to your expectations?
Hannah: Well, I knew that it would probably be nothing at all like new Who, and nothing at all like anything I would usually choose to watch, so I thought it would be a bit of a slog really. I thought the episodes would be interesting, but I knew all the pacing and the style would be slower and cheaper and less sophisticated than the stuff I usually watch. And I was right, but that didn't make it... less worthy of watching. I mean, I thought all those things would be bad things, but then I started watching it and realised that, no, in their own way they're amazing and I was wrong for judging it so harshly. Yes, it's a different style, but it's not a worse style; yes, it is slower in pace, but that just means that you can feel it more in-depth. Modern television goes past so quickly and then it's over, whereas this was designed to be somewhat educational, and being slower-paced does it no harm. And it took me a while to get used to it, but I've really, really enjoyed it. So, it was what I thought it would be, but I learned to love it.
Me: And what are your expectations of the Patrick Troughton era?
Hannah: Well... I know almost nothing. Old Who is all the same to me until I've seen it. The first three I just see as old men in black and white, and then Tom Baker's fun, and the others are just weird and I know very little about them.
Me: So you have no expectations?
Hannah: Not really, other than that I don't like his appearance. Just on a purely superficial level; I don't like him visually.
Me: Are you looking forward to it?
Hannah: Yes, because I know he's your favourite, and I want to finally share in something that you love so much.
Me: You already are.
Hannah: Yes, but if he's in your favourite part of the whole thing...
Me: I wouldn't say it's my favourite period of the series, just that he's my favourite Doctor. It doesn't mean they're my favourite stories; that would probably be the Matt Smith era.
Hannah: Well anyway, I want to meet the person that you like.
Me: Hopefully you'll like him as well.
Hannah: Maybe. I don't see why not.
Me: So you are looking forward to doing Patrick Troughton?
Hannah: Yes. I want to meet all of them and compare all of them. It's just that I'm going to miss Hartnell a lot, so it's going to be hard. I've just about gotten over Ian and Barbara, but this is maybe too much.
Me: This is what happens every time he changes, though. Every new Doctor. You have to get over the loss of the old one and learn to love the new one, just like with the modern series.
Hannah: Yes, I've had to do that before; I liked Eccleston much less when I realised that he could have been David Tennant all along. So I can get used to new Doctors.