"Have you ever thought what it's like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension?"

I recently re-watched the first episode, "An Unearthly Child," on a whim, and only then did I really notice just how much William Hartnell had gone downhill during his time as the Doctor. Mr. Hartnell had atherosclerosis, which, during the course of the series, effected his memory. in later episodes it's really sad to watch him stutter on his lines, not quite remembering what he was supposed to say, and even what seemed like him completely missing a line in one later episode. But it was because of William Hartnell's disease that one of the most basic tenants of Doctor Who was created - his regeneration.


In the first episode, we're introduced to the Doctor's first set of companions, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton, both teachers at the Coal Hill School. Barbara is a history teacher, and Ian teaches science. They meet the Doctor by way of his granddaughter, Susan Foreman, who is a fairly new and very strange student of theirs.
While they both acknowledge she's a genius, they've noticed her homework quality has decreased lately. Barbara tried to go talk to Susan's guardian, her grandfather, but the address in Susan's records leads her to a vacant lot.
So one day after classes are over, they basically decide to stalk her and wait outside of 76 Totters Lane, the address on Susan's record, for her to arrive home. While they wait in the car they discuss her strangeness, such as not knowing how many shillings are in a pound but then being completely disinterested in a science experiment because it seems so pointless and juvenile to her.
When they follow her inside, the area is full of odds and ends. A junkyard. Then they stumble across something extremely odd- a Police box, in a completely unexpected and unusual spot. They're even more startled when they realize it's humming. Something leads Ian to speculate that it's "alive," although I don't know what would make him come to that conclusion rather than something more normal, like a machine's running inside it instead...
They're just about to go find a cop when they hear coughing. The Doctor totters out of the dark and heads to the Police box. They approach him when they think they hear Susan's voice coming from the Police box and inquire about Susan. The Doctor tries to dodge their questions by asking why they were following her in the first place, and then suddenly becoming very interested in an old painting sitting on the floor.

The teachers want to check inside the Police box to make sure Susan's not in there, but of course, the Doctor isn't about to let them. This just makes them more and more suspicious until Susan sticks her head out of the Police box, asking what her grandfather is up to out there. Ian and Barbara rush inside and, naturally, are stunned by the massive interior. It's the first time any of us see the inside of the TARDIS.

The Doctor is concerned that if he lets them go, they'll blab all about it. Ian and Barbara rejected any understanding of the TARDIS when Susan tried to explain, and she begs her grandfather to let them go, but he's still worried about letting out their secret.

So against their will, Barbara and Ian become the first companions of the Doctor. Over time, they see his sense of humor come to light and that his grumpiness and gruffness is pretty much just a cover for how much of a big softie he is. The 1st Doctor pouts every time he loses companions and never seems to really adjust when they do leave.

I think my favorite story arc from the 1st Doctor is the second one, beginning with the episode called "The Dead Planet."
The TARDIS lands on Skaro and we meet the Daleks for the first time, as well as a tribe of humanoids called the Thals. This story arc explains how a long war with an opposing tribe, the Kaleds, eventually made the latter tribe mutate into what we know as Daleks. This is an especially interesting story arc for anyone who just wants to get their feet wet in the classic series and to learn more about the origins of one of the most famous and enduring Doctor Who villains.