Richard Hurndall

Richard Hurndall (3rd November 1910–13th April 1984) portrayed the First Doctor in DW: The Five Doctors, replacing the late William Hartnell. Hurndall was born in Darlington. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he appeared in several plays at Stratford-upon-Avon. Hurndall acted with the BBC radio drama repertory company from 1949 to 1952.

In 1958 he became the third host of the Radio Luxembourg program called This I Believe. (This show had originally been hosted by Edward R. Murrow on the U.S. CBS Radio Network from 1951-1955 and it was then edited in London for rebroadcast on 208 with a British style of presentation at 9:30 PM on Sunday evenings.)

Hurndall appeared in numerous radio and stage plays, films and television series over the course of his lengthy career, including The Avengers, The Persuaders!, Whodunnit! (with another Doctor, Jon Pertwee), and Bergerac. He played the suave London gangster Mackelson in the 1968 drama series Spindoe and did a camp turn as a gay antique dealer who takes a shine to Harold Steptoe in the comedy Steptoe and Son.

Doctor Who
In 1983, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, producer John Nathan-Turner planned a special event, "The Five Doctors", a 90-minute episode to feature the five actors who had at that point played the role of the Doctor. However, William Hartnell, the actor who originated the role, had died in 1975. The show's unofficial fan consultant, Ian Levine, had seen Hurndall in Blake's 7, another BBC science fiction series, and suggested him to the producers as a possible replacement. Hurndall eventually won the role of the recast First Doctor, playing him as acerbic and temperamental but in some ways wiser than his successors. When the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, decided not to appear in the programme, Hurndall's role was beefed up slightly to have the First Doctor take a greater part in the action.