WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:07.000 The British Library's newspaper archive in London contains a wealth of hidden information 00:08.840 --> 00:14.840 and opinion about Doctor Who. This series looks at the comments made by the critics 00:14.840 --> 00:20.640 and reporters who reviewed the programme for daily newspapers and other publications. What 00:20.640 --> 00:25.840 do these comments tell us about the way the programme was perceived in the days and weeks 00:25.840 --> 00:32.840 following the broadcast of the original episodes? 00:32.840 --> 00:39.840 The world of 1963 was shocked and confused in the wake of President Kennedy's assassination. 00:56.600 --> 01:02.120 The newspapers of Saturday the 23rd of November were dominated by reports and analysis of 01:02.120 --> 01:09.120 this terrible event, so it's understandable that a new tea time serial from BBC television 01:09.200 --> 01:16.120 received little initial publicity. The following Monday, the Mail became the first daily newspaper 01:16.120 --> 01:19.200 to review Doctor Who. 01:19.200 --> 01:22.680 It goes without saying that circumstances were hardly favourable for the launching of 01:22.680 --> 01:29.360 the BBC's space satellite Doctor Who on Saturday afternoon, said the Mail's TV critic Michael 01:29.360 --> 01:34.960 Gower. Unlike many journalists who would later repeat the myth that Doctor Who was only designed 01:34.960 --> 01:41.960 to run for several months, Gower correctly predicted that the new series would have legs. 01:41.960 --> 01:48.960 The machine which carries this mysterious old man, his inordinately precocious granddaughter and her unfortunate science and history teachers 01:48.960 --> 01:54.160 will apparently be circumnavigating our screens for the next 52 weeks at least. 01:54.160 --> 02:00.960 The success of the Daleks effectively launched Doctor Who at the end of 1963. Perhaps aware 02:00.960 --> 02:05.720 they had failed to predict the impact made by the Daleks, the journalists of Fleet Street 02:05.720 --> 02:12.600 were quick to promote the other monsters making their debut in 1964. The Vord were hyped by 02:12.600 --> 02:17.760 a number of newspapers, all of whom seemed strangely preoccupied with the actors' rubber 02:17.760 --> 02:18.760 costumes. 02:18.760 --> 02:24.640 The Vords are all rubber, reported an incredulous Daily Mail on the 11th of April. 02:24.640 --> 02:29.520 They bounce across BBC TV screens today in the first episode of a new Doctor Who space 02:29.520 --> 02:32.800 series and could rival the dreaded Daleks. 02:32.800 --> 02:39.440 The Dalek invasion of Earth began in November 1964 and the Daily Mail reported that the 02:39.440 --> 02:46.440 BBC switchboard was jammed with over 400 telephone calls following the first episode's cliffhanger. 02:47.120 --> 02:51.800 Angry viewers protested that the Daleks' appearance was far too brief. 02:51.800 --> 02:57.000 Reporter John Sandilands was duly dispatched to the BBC where he tracked down Doctor Who 02:57.000 --> 02:59.680 producer Verity Lambert. 02:59.680 --> 03:03.800 At all dark and shapely, she became positively forbidding when I suggested that the Daleks 03:03.800 --> 03:05.680 might one day take over Doctor Who. 03:05.680 --> 03:09.880 I feel no way obligated to bring them back for a third time, even if this present story 03:09.880 --> 03:11.760 is a tremendous success. 03:11.760 --> 03:17.080 Sandilands seemed to find story editor Dennis Spooner rather less intimidating. Spooner 03:17.080 --> 03:18.720 told him... 03:18.720 --> 03:22.240 Writers have to be divided into those who can cope with trips back into the past and 03:22.240 --> 03:27.240 those who can write adventures set in the future. Very few can do both. The futuristic 03:27.240 --> 03:31.440 stories ought to be easier because the scope is endless, but we have to set some limits 03:31.440 --> 03:35.680 to remain mildly plausible and we have found that many writers are completely lost with 03:35.680 --> 03:37.240 science fiction. 03:37.240 --> 03:43.520 As the latest Doctor Who serial continued, the Mail promoted another briefly seen monster, 03:43.520 --> 03:49.120 the Dalek's pet, the slither. Actor Nick Evans, whose job it was to bring the creature 03:49.120 --> 03:53.440 to life, described his less than enviable task. 03:53.440 --> 03:56.520 It's like being inside a boiler suit with its hood and lumpy skin made of rubber and 03:56.520 --> 04:01.360 plastic with straggly pieces outside and waggly claws. Frankly, it does nothing for my career 04:01.360 --> 04:05.680 and in any case I'm playing a Roman slave trader in the next Doctor Who story. 04:05.680 --> 04:10.960 Writing in the Financial Times on the 6th of January, T.C. Worsley mistakenly suggested 04:10.960 --> 04:16.640 that the original story editor was in fact responsible for devising Doctor Who. 04:16.640 --> 04:21.480 Why has its creator David Whittaker not collected one of the awards being thrown around at this 04:21.480 --> 04:23.080 time? 04:23.080 --> 04:27.800 Worsley claimed he overcame his allergy to science fiction to watch the first episode 04:27.800 --> 04:33.040 of The Rescue. He suspected that the Dalek's absence was only temporary. 04:33.040 --> 04:38.640 Will Mr. Whittaker do it again with the half-animal automata from the planet Dido? I rather doubt 04:38.640 --> 04:43.720 it. Coquiltion is a memorable enough name to catch on, but these beast-machine men have 04:43.720 --> 04:49.160 not the beautiful simplicity of their predecessors nor their catchy mode of speech. 04:49.160 --> 04:54.720 Obviously not a well-informed fan of the programme, the confused Mr. Worsley then laid into its 04:54.720 --> 04:56.320 production values. 04:56.320 --> 05:00.800 The first episode of the show was actually disappointingly inexpert in the handling. 05:00.800 --> 05:06.160 It ended indeed in fiasco when the pearl white fade-out with the Doctor and Ian poised above 05:06.160 --> 05:11.400 a dragon-infested abyss was ruined by a misplaced camera. 05:11.400 --> 05:16.200 Worsley then became one of the very first commentators to question Doctor Who's suitability 05:16.200 --> 05:17.820 for children. 05:17.820 --> 05:23.240 If I believed, which I do not, in the baleful effects on children of tales of violence and 05:23.240 --> 05:27.160 horror, Doctor Who would be high on the danger list. 05:27.160 --> 05:34.360 On the 23rd of January 1965, The Times placed the Romans high on another list. 05:34.360 --> 05:39.040 The strongest weapon in the BBC armoury remains Doctor Who. The departure of the Daleks has 05:39.040 --> 05:43.440 broken small hearts all over the country, but the new series with Miss Jacqueline Hill 05:43.440 --> 05:48.200 and Mr. William Russell in the hands of the slave traders promises well. 05:48.200 --> 05:52.080 Miss Verity Lambert's production is once again flawless. 05:52.080 --> 05:58.960 As 1965 continued, positive reviews of Doctor Who became increasingly rare. 05:58.960 --> 06:04.400 The programme was frequently criticised for its perceived over-reliance on the Daleks 06:04.400 --> 06:06.960 and its low production values. 06:06.960 --> 06:13.840 On the 15th of February 1965, the web planet was slated by the Daily Mail. 06:13.840 --> 06:17.440 This really is inaction, wrote Peter Black. 06:17.440 --> 06:21.120 The rushing about is mostly off-screen. The actors run into the shot and then suggest 06:21.120 --> 06:25.440 speed and tension by breathing hard. When the story's crawling at full gallop, half 06:25.440 --> 06:28.000 the dialogue consists of panting sounds. 06:28.000 --> 06:32.080 The heroes are the dullest quartet in fiction, and so remarkably incompetent that it would 06:32.080 --> 06:36.740 take their combined intellectual resources to toast a slice of bread. I suppose the attraction 06:36.740 --> 06:40.560 is the ancient one of watching people who are dafter than yourself. 06:40.560 --> 06:45.600 Although Doctor Who's ratings peaked during the early part of 1965, the show received 06:45.600 --> 06:50.480 very few positive reviews for the remainder of William Hartnell's tenure. 06:50.480 --> 06:53.760 Peter Black became the first of several critics to observe that 06:53.760 --> 06:58.680 The weekend serial shows a sharp and calamitous decline from older days. 06:58.680 --> 07:04.760 Philip Purser, writing in the Sunday Telegraph on the 13th of June, continued the Doctor 07:04.760 --> 07:08.640 Who backlash. Purser was less than impressed by the new 07:08.640 --> 07:14.760 Dalek story, The Chase. He expressed his disdain with one of the politically incorrect insults 07:14.760 --> 07:15.760 of the day. 07:15.760 --> 07:19.880 Generally, this is a ramshackle old serial these days. 07:19.880 --> 07:25.260 The Daleks, recalled with increasing frequency and increasing desperation, are fast losing 07:25.260 --> 07:29.400 their ancient menace. One of them has acquired a South London accent, 07:29.400 --> 07:31.320 and another is undoubtedly queer. 07:31.320 --> 07:41.160 Later that month, the movie Doctor Who and the Daleks premiered in London. It was met 07:41.160 --> 07:43.680 with almost universal derision. 07:43.680 --> 07:50.120 The film is just coy, wrote Philip Oakes in the Sunday Telegraph on the 27th of June. 07:50.120 --> 07:55.280 The Daleks themselves, a tribe of space Nazis clad in steel ballards, are still pretty menacing, 07:55.280 --> 07:59.600 but Peter Cushing's Doctor is a pale shadow of the TV grouch. 07:59.600 --> 08:05.120 On Monday, the 28th of June, the Daily Mail's Desmond Zwa shared lunch with Dalek creator 08:05.120 --> 08:10.560 Terry Nation and asked him his opinion on the cinematic version of his story. 08:10.560 --> 08:15.040 I find that against my will I am sort of taken over by the Daleks. I've written better things, 08:15.040 --> 08:19.360 you know, without wanting to sound too pompous, I hope. I was a rich scriptwriter before I 08:19.360 --> 08:20.840 dreamed up the Daleks. 08:20.840 --> 08:26.800 The film was a huge success, however, and a sequel, based on the Dalek invasion of Earth, 08:26.800 --> 08:33.360 would soon enter production. Doctor Who's continued ratings success also led to a West 08:33.360 --> 08:40.200 End stage play, The Curse of the Daleks. The Times sent a bemused critic to Wyndham's 08:40.200 --> 08:43.040 theatre on the 22nd of December. 08:43.040 --> 08:47.360 No less compelling on the stage than the television screen, the Daleks are the undoubted stars 08:47.360 --> 08:52.160 of this futuristic adventure story. Gliding sleekly around the stage, carefully articulating 08:52.160 --> 08:56.660 their orders, they possess a magnetism lacking in the flesh and blood characters. 08:56.660 --> 09:03.280 On the 5th of February 1966, the Daily Worker Stuart Lane previewed the episode, War of 09:03.280 --> 09:09.980 God. Betraying a hint of his newspaper's political agenda, Lane predicted that business 09:09.980 --> 09:14.680 concerns would soon dictate the Daleks' return. 09:14.680 --> 09:18.960 Today Doctor Who moves to 16th century Paris with plotting between the Catholics and the 09:18.960 --> 09:24.480 Huguenots, but I fear that the Daleks may return yet again. After all, the BBC has already 09:24.480 --> 09:29.840 granted 60 licences for the production of Dalek toys, with more still being negotiated, 09:29.840 --> 09:33.560 and it gets 5% of the wholesale price on each toy. 09:33.560 --> 09:38.640 In 1966, the historical stories which were generally interspersed with more fantastical 09:38.640 --> 09:44.260 adventures were proving particularly unpopular with audiences. It's therefore surprising 09:44.260 --> 09:49.160 that David Whittaker's story, The Crusade, was adapted as one of the very first Doctor 09:49.160 --> 09:55.200 Who novelisations. Whittaker had contravened his own advice in the original Doctor Who 09:55.200 --> 10:00.520 Writer's Guide by introducing a potential romance between Ian and Barbara in his first 10:00.520 --> 10:06.760 novel, Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks. For his next book, Doctor 10:06.760 --> 10:11.040 Who and the Crusaders, he experimented with a few more adult themes. 10:11.040 --> 10:19.400 The science fiction element in the new Doctor Who story is irrelevant. An undistinguished 10:19.400 --> 10:23.360 historical story is neither helped nor hindered by the intrusion of the ubiquitous Doctor 10:23.360 --> 10:28.200 and his young companions. What makes a rather silly book just a little disturbing is its 10:28.200 --> 10:34.560 tone. Barbara is captured by a kinky Ymir who rewards her with a ceremonial flogging, 10:34.560 --> 10:39.920 from which she is rescued later than convention in such stories demands. This introduction 10:39.920 --> 10:46.120 of a 007 sexual sadistic element into children's literature, however unimportant and lacking 10:46.120 --> 10:53.440 in quality it may be, is disquieting. In July 1966, the second Doctor Who film, 10:53.440 --> 10:59.680 Daleks Invasion Earth, 2150 AD, opened in London. The critics were just as scathing 10:59.680 --> 11:03.360 as they had been about the first film the year before. 11:03.360 --> 11:08.640 I find the Daleks, cross little dustbins that they are, quite the most unattractive figures 11:08.640 --> 11:14.080 in science fiction, wrote David Robinson in the Financial Times. He went on to describe 11:14.080 --> 11:20.040 the production as a film of unusually low standards. Nina Hibbin, writing in the Morning 11:20.040 --> 11:28.560 Star of the 23rd of July, was similarly unforgiving. The stated year is 2150 AD, but all the non-Dalek 11:28.560 --> 11:34.160 props, clothes, furniture, packagings, radios, even homemade bombs, look like leftovers from 11:34.160 --> 11:38.600 an old film about the London Blitz. Much of the action takes place in an old warehouse 11:38.600 --> 11:44.640 that was cleared for demolition in 1875. Here, a crowd of at least ten people is planning 11:44.640 --> 11:49.560 a rebellion against the robot invaders. As predicted by the critics, the popularity 11:49.560 --> 11:57.280 of Doctor Who and the Daleks was on the wane. 1966 was a year of frequent cast changes for 11:57.280 --> 12:02.360 the programme, and on the 2nd of August, the Daily Telegraph announced the most serious 12:02.360 --> 12:06.640 cast change of all. Tougher Doctor Who is chosen. 12:06.640 --> 12:11.160 Reporter Norman Hare claimed that the new Doctor, Patrick Troughton, would appear in 12:11.160 --> 12:17.080 stories that were tougher, with a greater emphasis on science fiction. Hare also spoke 12:17.080 --> 12:21.920 to Sidney Newman, Doctor Who's co-creator, who explained what he'd looked for in the 12:21.920 --> 12:25.480 new Doctor. Our problem in choosing the new Doctor Who 12:25.480 --> 12:30.080 was very difficult because we have decided to make considerable changes in the personality 12:30.080 --> 12:34.240 of the character. We believe we have found exactly the man we wanted. 12:34.240 --> 12:38.200 The departure of William Hartnell received very little attention from a press that was 12:38.200 --> 12:43.200 now bored of Doctor Who. Hartnell told The Times he was leaving because, 12:43.200 --> 12:47.800 I think three years in one part is a good innings and it is time for a change. 12:47.800 --> 12:51.160 The Daily Mail quoted a friend of Hartnell's who said, 12:51.160 --> 12:56.040 It has been a great strain for William over the last three years. The serial demands a 12:56.040 --> 13:00.000 great deal from him as an actor. He has often said he would like to leave and return to 13:00.000 --> 13:03.400 the theatre. And so the William Hartnell years of Doctor 13:03.400 --> 13:08.240 Who came to an end. The departure of the show's leading man barely 13:08.240 --> 13:13.080 remarked upon by critics who, for the last three years, had been far more interested 13:13.080 --> 13:16.800 in Daleks. Twelve million people watch Doctor Who if 13:16.800 --> 13:23.440 the Daleks are in it. Only seven to eight million if they are not, said the observer, 13:23.440 --> 13:30.400 summing up the early impact of the programme. However, unlike newspaper critics, twelve 13:30.400 --> 13:59.320 million people can't be wrong.