William Hartnell

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William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975), also known as Billy Hartnell or Bill Hartnell, was an English actor. Hartnell played the first incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, from 1963 to 1966. He was also known for his roles as Sergeant Grimshaw, the title character of the first Carry On film, Carry On Sergeant in 1958, and Company Sergeant Major Percy Bullimore in the sitcom The Army Game from 1957 until 1958, and again in 1960. Hartnell entered the theatre in 1925 working under Frank Benson as a general stagehand. He appeared in numerous Shakespearian plays, including The Merchant of Venice (1926), Julius Caesar (1926), As You Like It (1926), Hamlet (1926), The Tempest (1926) and Macbeth (1926). He also appeared in She Stoops to Conquer (1926), School for Scandal (1926) and Good Morning, Bill (1927), before performing in Miss Elizabeth's Prisoner (1928). This play was written by Robert Neilson Stephens and E. Lyall Swete. It featured the actress Heather McIntyre, whom he married during the following year. His first of more than sixty film appearances was in Say It With Music (1932). Hartnell continued to play comic characters until he was cast in the robust role of Sergeant Ned Fletcher in The Way Ahead (1944). From then on his career was defined by playing mainly policemen, soldiers, and thugs. Hartnell's performance in This Sporting Life was noted by Verity Lambert, the producer who was setting up a new science-fiction television series for the BBC entitled Doctor Who; and, mainly on the strength of that performance, Lambert offered him the title role.

Filmography

Movies and shows, newest first

2025
Doctor Who: Wish World & The Reality War
Movie Dr. Who (archive footage) (uncredited)
2025
Doctor Who: The Savages
Movie The Doctor (voice)
2024
Doctor Who at the Proms
Movie The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
2024
Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
Movie The Doctor (voice)
2023
Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour
Movie The Doctor (archive footage)
2023
Tales of the Tardis
TV show The Doctor
2023
Talking Doctor Who
Movie Self / The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
2021
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
Movie The Doctor (voice)
2021
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
TV show Doctor Who
2017
Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time
Movie The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
2015
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
Movie The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
2013
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor
Movie The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
2013
An Adventure in Space and Time
Movie The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
2013
Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited
TV show Self
2012
Don't Lose Your Head: The Making of 'The Reign of Terror'
Movie The Doctor (archive footage)
2012
Vision On
Movie The Doctor (archive footage)

More credits

2009
The Sets of Marinus
Movie The Doctor (archive footage)
2009
Mounting the Rescue
Movie The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
2008
Doctor Who: The Next Doctor
Movie The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
2008
The Ties That Bind Us
Movie The First Doctor (archive footage)
2006
Creation of the Daleks
Movie The Doctor (archive footage)
2006
Doctor Who: Origins
Movie The Doctor (archive footage)
2006
Inside the Spaceship: The Story of the TARDIS
Movie The Doctor (archive footage)
2006
Masters of Sound
Movie The Doctor (archive footage)
2003
Future Memories: Making 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'
Movie The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
2002
Remembering 'The Aztecs'
Movie The Doctor (archive footage)
1998
What's a Carry On?
Movie Sergeant Grimshawe (archive footage) (uncredited)
1984
Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks
Movie The Doctor (1) (archive footage) (uncredited)
1983
Doctor Who: The Five Doctors
Movie The First Doctor (archive footage)
1983
Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead
Movie The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
1982
Doctor Who: Earthshock
Movie The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
1977
That's Carry On!
Movie Sergeant Grimshawe (archive footage)
1976
Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius
Movie The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
1973
Doctor Who: The Three Doctors
Movie The Doctor
1972
Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks
Movie The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
1966
Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks
Movie The Doctor in the mirror (uncredited)
1966
Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet
Movie The Doctor (1)
1966
Doctor Who: The Smugglers
Movie The Doctor
1966
Doctor Who: The War Machines
Movie The Doctor
1966
Doctor Who: The Savages
Movie The Doctor