back to article Harry Potter's Filch conjures Doctor Who's dead first time-lord

The BBC drama detailing how Doctor Who came to be made by the broadcaster, which will be screened on BBC Two as part of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, has bagged David Bradley to play the man who played the first Doctor. The first Doctor Who, William Hartnell The first Doctor, played by William Hartnell Bradley, well-known …

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  1. Chad H.

    He at least has a phyiscal resemblence... Will be interesting to see if he can pull off the characteristic mannerisms.

    I hope though they don't degrade his memory by trying to push the "he couldnt remember the lines" story, as that always seemed to be disputed...

    1. Laurie
      Thumb Up

      I've seen David Bradley act on stage in a one man show called "The Quiz". He is a tremendous character actor who tends to be under used in film and TV. If anyone can play Hartnell, he can.

  2. Daedalus
    Unhappy

    RIP DB?

    Given that the role of First Docture has proven fatal to both actors who played it (Hartnell and Hurndall respectively) you'd think that the notoriously superstitious acting fraternity wouldn't touch it with a sonic screwdriver.

    Oh, and Hartnell was a comparatively spritely 50-something. Bradley is already 70.

    1. Joseph Haig

      Re: RIP DB?

      Given that the first Doctor was an old man and the series started 50 years ago I hardly think that you can read anything sinistre into the fact that both actors have died, Hartnell at the age of 67 and Hurdall at 73.

    2. Petrea Mitchell
      IT Angle

      Re: RIP DB? Not necessarily!

      Peter Cushing lasted a good three decades after being in the movies.

      1. graeme leggett Silver badge

        Re: RIP DB? Not necessarily!

        Cushing was in his early fifties at the time.

        I haven't seen the films recently but I recall a grey moustache about as convincing as that of Peter Falk in The Princess Bride

  3. W.O.Frobozz

    I love that prop.

    I love the way the paint is so lovingly slopped on that TARDIS prop, messily half-painted over the St John's badge.

    And I wouldn't have it any other way. I still laugh at the shot of the TARDIS in "The Seeds of Death" where it looks like it's ready to collapse, having been hastily assembled.

    Always love seeing William Hartnell.

    1. Andrew Moore

      Re: I love that prop.

      In fairness it was meant to be a discarded policebox in a junk-yard- this was years before the 'chameleon circuit malfunction' story came up.

      1. Elmer Phud

        Re: I love that prop.

        Yes, it worked when there were such things as 'police boxes' but now they are merely a device for travelling in.

        I doubt if many core Who fans actually remember such things on the high street.

  4. John Ruddy

    I thought that after his performance as Gaius in "Merlin", tha Richard Wilson would be ideal - he also has the grumpy persona off to a t.

    1. Andrew Moore
      Megaphone

      "Doctor- Cybermen have inflitrated the TARDIS..."

      "I DON'T BELIEVE IT!"

  5. MJI Silver badge

    Brian Cox

    He always seems to be making speeches.

    Well he does on that new sitcom and also in my favourite multiplayer game

    1. Spanners Silver badge
      Boffin

      Re: Brian Cox

      It's a pity that it is not Prof Bryan. He seems to be getting everywhere lately and I suspect he has watched Doctor Who as well.

      I bet he could have given us a really good explanation of how the chameleon circuit works too.

      1. MJI Silver badge

        Re: Prof Brian

        Getting a bit too everywhere, seems to be on everything

  6. WonkoTheSane

    But who...

    would be right to play Troughton & Pertwee?

    1. W.O.Frobozz

      Re: But who...

      Sean Pertwee has a frighteningly strong resemblance to his father. So does David Troughton at certain angles although I think he's too old for his dad's role now.

      1. Petrea Mitchell
        Coat

        Re: But who...

        For that matter, if they're going to dramatize events that far down the line, who's going to play David Troughton (who appeared in the series himself more than once)?

        I think I'll be off before the local time-space continuum develops too much recursion...

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Pretty sure that this one is only going to focus on the Hartnell years.

    If you want a true multi-Doctor story - you'll have to check the one from Big Finish which I think features all the currently available Doctors.

  8. Bernard M. Orwell

    I do hope...

    ...that Tom Baker plays his own (mad) self!

    1. Tom 7

      Re: I do hope...

      has he ever not?

  9. Jon Green
    Coat

    Transfiguration?

    Neat trick for a squib!

  10. Ken Hagan Gold badge

    Harry Potter's <actor>

    What exactly is this vogue for describing any and every actor in terms of their relationship to the HP series. I saw a newspaper the other day that referred to Miriam Margolyes as "Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes". Er, yeah, she'd been picking up odd parts for years and years but eventually her big break came when she was asked to play a (let's be honest, fairly minor) character in HP. Riiight.

    And now El Reg is at it. Stop it, children! The world did not begin with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. We had actors in the black and white days, too, you know.

    1. Michael Habel
      Trollface

      Re: Harry Potter's <actor>

      "We had actors in the black and white days, too, you know."

      What is this Black & White of which you speak of is this the next BIG thing after HD and 3D?

      1. Andus McCoatover
        Windows

        Re: Harry Potter's <actor>

        "Dad - dad... Was the world really Black & White when you were a kid?"

        "Yeah, Son, I only used Ilfachrome, when everyone else used Kodachrome. It's only a passing fad. Just like in the Silent movie time, when Nancy Reagan said 'who wants to hear actors speak! She had a point." Got this new thing called 'Polaroid' now. Can't wait to try it...Now, where's my box of cubic flashbulbs???"

    2. graeme leggett Silver badge

      Re: Harry Potter's <actor>

      Apart from her cracking parts in Blackadder, I recall her being in The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, as was Tom Baker.

      1. BoldMan

        Re: Harry Potter's <actor>

        She also did most of the dubbed female voice in The Water Margin!

  11. Joseph Haig

    Twelve Doctors?

    When I first saw this news I thought that there were going to be plans for a "Twelve Doctors" episode. However, this would probably require replacements for most of the other doctors as well, including several who are still alive. Either that, or a serious amount of make-up.

    1. Chad H.

      Re: Twelve Doctors?

      Fear not, Big Finish has you covered with all doctors up to McGann...

      1. EyeCU

        Re: Twelve Doctors?

        McGann doesn't count, that film was dreadful

        1. graeme leggett Silver badge

          Re: Twelve Doctors?

          His Big Finish work - a fair bit of which was on Radio 4 Extra a couple of weeks ago - is quite good.

          1. Craig Chambers
            Thumb Up

            Re: Twelve Doctors?

            I also picked this up when it was on Radio 4 extra - cracking stuff, and he's every bit the Doctor as any others.

            p.s. is it sad that I recognise the Hartnell photograph as one of the stills from the missing Marco Polo story?

        2. TheProf

          Re: Twelve Doctors?

          You can't blame McGann for that.

  12. Andrew Halliwell

    Re: Twelve Doctors?

    McGann doesn't count? Of course he does, we saw sylvester mccoy regenerate into him,

  13. mIRCat
    Coat

    Why not jump in their type 40 mark 3 then have Hartnell play himself?

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