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William Hartnell: The Original

  • TV Short
  • 2013
  • 5m
IMDb RATING
8.3/10
18
YOUR RATING
William Hartnell: The Original (2013)
BiographyDocumentaryShort

A look at William Hartnell and his involvement with Doctor Who (1963).A look at William Hartnell and his involvement with Doctor Who (1963).A look at William Hartnell and his involvement with Doctor Who (1963).

  • Director
    • Ian Smith
  • Stars
    • David Bradley
    • Jessica Carney
    • Peter Davison
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.3/10
    18
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ian Smith
    • Stars
      • David Bradley
      • Jessica Carney
      • Peter Davison
    • 1User review
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Top cast14

    Edit
    David Bradley
    David Bradley
    • Self
    Jessica Carney
    • Self
    Peter Davison
    Peter Davison
    • Self
    Terrance Dicks
    Terrance Dicks
    • Self
    Mark Eden
    Mark Eden
    • Self
    Carole Ann Ford
    Carole Ann Ford
    • Self
    Mark Gatiss
    Mark Gatiss
    • Self
    Waris Hussein
    Waris Hussein
    • Self
    Peter Purves
    Peter Purves
    • Self
    William Russell
    William Russell
    • Self
    Matt Smith
    Matt Smith
    • Self
    William Hartnell
    William Hartnell
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Jon Pertwee
    Jon Pertwee
    • The Doctor
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Patrick Troughton
    Patrick Troughton
    • The Doctor
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Ian Smith
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews1

    8.318
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    Featured reviews

    bob the moo

    Offers very little even to the casual viewer in a rush

    William Hartnell was an actor; he played Doctor Who in season 1; Doctor Who turned out to be quite the hit; then Hartnell died; the end. This is a plot summary of the 6 minute film which we have here posing as a documentary and to be fair you probably only get a bit more from the film than that sentence. A lot of this short seems to have been produced around the same sort of time as the film An Adventure Through Space & Time was made, since it spends as long with the cast and sets of that film as it does with anything else.

    There are interviews with a family member, co-stars and others, but these are not new; I cannot be sure where I have seen them before (maybe in the film) but I know I have seen them before. This does rather leave me wondering why this short was made, because it really offers very little and I can only imagine a very busy New Who fan, who only has a few minutes to spare, might impatiently watch this during a ride on the Tube, as opposed to watching the original work or the film. Even then I doubt it offers much more than I have described. Technically it is well made since it takes bits from the film so it has high production values but just almost nothing of substance. A pretty pointless short if you have seen any of Hartnell's episodes or the film dramatizing their making – even for the causal viewer in a total rush there is not much on offer here.

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Included as a special feature on the 2014 bluray release of An Adventure in Space and Time (2013).
    • Connections
      Features Doctor Who: The Three Doctors: Episode One (1972)

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • November 21, 2013 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Production companies
      • BBC Cymru Wales
      • BBC America
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      5 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

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