Doctor Who: Season One Overview

So, we have gotten through Season One of the original series of Doctor Who. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... actually it wasn't.  These haven't been the best Doctor Who stories I've ever seen, but they've hardly been the worst either. In fact, most of The Reign of Terror was actually kind of fun. Yeah, I didn't feel surprised by any of the plot twists, but those plot twists have had fifty years to become cliches.

I think the series did what it set out to do very well. Watching the serials, I felt I learned something while being entertained. Even the metal they named in the serial, The Sensorites, is real and all the facts they give about said metal are true.  They took some liberties with historic events and caveman culture, but they presented the facts as they were known at the time.

Every serial had it's own plot, but the characters learned things about each other and time travel that carried from episode to episode. No one magically knew something they shouldn't. Only The Keys of Marinus had a plot designed by idiots. I think Season One did very good at introducing the Doctor and his companions very well. It also didn't make any single one of them perfect. Even the Doctor is a flawed old man in this version of the series.

In terms of an overall plot, I think the series is relatively weak. The biggest over-arcing idea I can pick up is that two teachers are kidnapped by a crazy old alien who's faulty time machine continuously fails to take them to the proper time and location from which they originated. The Doctor does mention that there's a part of the ship that is broken that would allow him to properly navigate the way for them to return home, but they never stay in one place long enough to fix it and I daresay that he simply doesn't feel like taking them home all that much.

Now, let's address our main cast... In order of first appearance.

Barbara Wright

You can tell I'm smart because I'm reading.

Barbara is played by Jacqueline Hill. When you are first introduced to her in An Unearthly Child, she discusses her student, Susan Foreman with her co-worker, Ian Chesterton. She is stunned by Susan's advanced knowledge and badly done schoolwork while being intrigued by the mystery that surrounds Susan.  It is through her initial curiosity that she and Ian learn of Susan's home address which they follow her to one evening after school. Basically, if it weren't for Barbara, she and Ian would've had ordinary lives without the Doctor. While, Jaqueline Hill seems to do a decent job of acting, there are things about Barbara that I have a problem with. She does know a lot about history and on the historical episodes, she does a fine job of knowing what's going on. However, she's also the one who usually get's captured first if it isn't Susan or the Doctor.  

Barbara is the analytical thinker and problem-solver in most of the episodes. She figures out what's wrong in The Edge of Destruction and she's usually the critical thinker when the Doctor is off doing his thing. She's also the most sympathetic towards historical figures and Susan. Whenever Susan sees or hears things that the other's don't, Barbara is usually the one to give her the benefit of the doubt and sympathize with the girl. When they go meet the Aztecs, Barbara tries to convince them to give up human sacrifice so that when Cortez arrives, he'll find a glorious empire instead of human sacrificing savages. It doesn't work. During The Reign of Terror, Barbara is the one who is most upset when they kill the mole because she sees good sides in all of the revolution. So, all in all, I kind of like this companion. She really proves her chops when she pretends to be the reincarnation of an Aztec high priest, Yetaxa, and does a pretty good job of manipulation and planning, but not perfect.

Ian Chesterton

I'm going to go do things with my microscope...

Portrayed by William Russell, Ian Chesterton is the science geek of the TARDIS crew. He begins as Susan Foreman's science teacher who is puzzled by her behavior in class. Though Barbara get's Susan's address and such, Ian's the one who suggests and expects them to follow through with following her home. Ian gets things done. He's the action-hero of the story because the Doctor is a weak doddering old man and Barbara and Susan are typical girls of that era. Ian's first concern is the safety of the crew and he and the Doctor often argue on this point because the Doctor takes the crew's safety for granted at times in his quest to satisfy curiosity.

I actually like William Russell, he played a warm, friendly man who felt to me like the person more recent versions of The Doctor are modeled after and he did a good job of it. Even Ian had his weaknesses at times and he even get's rescued a time or two like in The Reign of Terror. There was definite moments between Ian and Barbara where you could see some chemistry, but there was no definite romance and no romance plot between them. This show is full of good, clean, fun and Ian Chesterton is our Indiana Jones.

Susan Foreman

Carol Ann Ford is Susan Foreman, who is my least favorite of the main characters. I like Barbara and Ian enough because they are pretty interesting people, but Susan goes between feeling like a dead-eyed idiot to a very annoying girlie-girl who whines and cries and screams. She's supposed to have been traveling with the Doctor the longest, but she's pretty much bait for monsters and trouble. I understand that Carol was supposed to be playing a teen-aged alien, but my God could she get annoying. She's most interesting in The Sensorites when she suddenly develops telepathy and reminisces about her home planet from which she and the Doctor are exiles. She apparently coined the name for the TARDIS, but other than that, I kind of found her boring, annoying and useless. I know she's supposed to be a sort of stand-in for the little kids, someone for them to look up to and empathize with, but I don't really see that happening a whole lot because she's an alien who spends half her time acting like... and alien!

While she develops somewhat over the course of the series from a girl who screams and cries at everything in the first two serials, to a girl who comes up with the idea to try to send a telepathic message to the Sensorites. To trying to break herself out of prison in The Reign of Terror and failing, but still making an effort. She still highly annoys me and I really hope she does better in the Second Season.

The First Doctor

Finally, William Hartnell portrays the First Doctor in this series and... I kind of love the guy. He sort of reminds me of my Grandma if she were a man. Which is a good thing. He's a old man who needs to get his way and he's extremely clever, using his intelligence to often outwit enemies who have superior strength and arms. He generally knows how to talk his way into and out of any situation.  Unfortunately, he's all-too-aware of his intelligence, and he rarely trusts those he considers to be inferior to himself. He doesn't like to listen to other people's opinions. He's set in his ways. He can't imagine Susan growing up and making her own decisions without consulting him. He also can't imagine someone solving a problem faster and better than he would've. Heck, his own blundering gets him engaged at one point!

Half the time the TARDIS crew get into trouble, it's because the Doctor walked right into it. Heck, most of the trouble in the serials begin with someone or something knocking the Doctor unconscious! On two occasions he's the character most affected by illnesses due to the environment. He's this wonderful magical alien! 

...With rheumatism who happens to be an old man. 

William Hartnell does a very good, consistent job of portraying this, the first incarnation of the Doctor and I'm very happy with it. In fact, I was down-right cheering during the Reign of Terror where he really got a chance to be the Doctor at his most awesome while still stumbling into silly pit-falls. He saves the day and has some words of wisdom. I think that's a big win for him and I hope he keeps up the good work!