William Hartnell – A Significant First
William Hartnell made numerous TV and Stage appearances during his career,as well as acting in over 75 British films, but will perhaps be best remembered as The first Doctor Who.
Doctor Who has gone on to become one of the most popular TV shows ever made and is still running to this day. So being the first actor to take on the lead role was a significant achievement.
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However Hartnell would go on to be a first in two other significant landmarks.
During the 1950’s there had been significant developments in the world of comedy. The race was on to create the first sitcom and by 1957 television had 2 channels and ITV would present their first sitcom: The Army Game. William Hartnell would star in the first series as Sergeant Major Bullimore, returning in 1961 for the final series.
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In 1958 he played the role of Sergeant Grimshaw in Carry On Sergeant. The Carry On films would continue for 30 films until 1978, the largest of any British film series and of course there was Carry on Columbus in 1992 taking the number to 31.
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There are few actors who have starred in such significant series and it’s a true tribute to such a fine actor.