First Doctor

Played by William Hartnell

"If you could touch the alien sand and hear the cries of strange birds and watch them wheel in another sky, would that satisfy you?"

First Regular Appearance Last Regular Appearance
An Unearthly Child The Tenth Planet

An exile from his homeworld, wandering space and time in his trusty TARDIS with granddaughter Susan, the First Doctor appears to be a frail old man. But don't be fooled. With a chuckle and a twinkle in his eye, he has an unquenchable thirst to explore, and a knack for getting himself into trouble doing it. Sometimes doting, sometimes difficult, the First Doctor was both a loving father figure and a fierce opponent. He plays deadly games with the Celestial Toymaker, he fools Roman emperors, Mongol warlords and French revolutionaries, and he foils each and every machination of the evil Daleks.

After preventing the Cybermen from absorbing the Earth's energy and with his body “wearing a bit thin”, the First Doctor collapses to the TARDIS floor and begins to change…

But that was not to be the end for the First Doctor. The original would return to team up with two of his successors to defeat renegade Time Lord, Omega, and then with three of his future selves to battle Lord President Borusa on Gallifrey, and then again with twelve of his regenerations in a bid to save their home planet from the Daleks in the Time War.

Shockingly, we also discover that he also came into contact with the Twelfth Doctor in person…

Portrayed by Years Active
William Hartnell 1963 - 1966, 1973
Richard Hurndall 1983
David Bradley 2017, 2022

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