Dr Who At 50 The Monsters And The Critics

The Dr Who A Team consisted of William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton ,Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker.They carried the series all the way from its start in 1963 up to 1981,eighteen years in all.They were all excellent character actors who had screen as well as TV experience before they took on the role of the Doctor.Each was very different from the other and provided a unique take on the role of Doctor.William Hartnell was a veteran screen actor who had starred in gangster films such as Brighton Rock and Odd Man Out and in war films such as The Way Ahead where we played a tough Sergeant licking a new platoon into shape.He was later to reprise this role in comedies such as Privates Progress and the first Carry On film Carry On Sergeant.He later became almost stereotyped in the role as Sergeant Bullymore in the TV series The Army Game Britain's comedy answer to Sergeant Bilko. Patrick Troughton had acted in Olivier's Shakespeare films and also in Ray Harryhausen's Jason And The Argonauts.Jon Pertwee was a veteran comedy actor who had acted in British comedy films and in BBC Radio comedy.Both Troughton and Pertwee were Royal Navy veterans who had seen action in the Second World War.Pertwee had been trained in unarmed combat hence his action role in his version of the Doctor.Tom Baker the longest running Doctor in the A Team who in the end had come to set a bench mark for the role was also an excellent character actor who had movie experience appearing in one of Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad films.These four Doctors saw the programme become a national treasure in Britain during the 60s and 70s a seemingly permanent part of the cultural landscape. When Tom Baker stepped down from the role in 1981 it seemed the series would be good for another eighteen years. yet eight years later it was gone seemingly for good.