Richard Hurndall

RICHARD HURNDALL autograph d1984. English actor probably best known nowadays for his role in Doctor Who's "The Five Doctors" famous 1983 episode. In 1983, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BBC sci-fi TV series Doctor Who, producer John Nathan-Turner planned a special event ; The Five Doctors. This was a 90-minute episode that featured the four of the five actors who had at that point played the role of the Doctor. William Hartnell (the original Doctor) had died in 1975 and so Hurndall gained the role of the First Doctor, playing him as acerbic and temperamental but in some ways wiser than his successors (even though, as the first incarnation, he was also the youngest Doctor chronologically). His casting in the role was approved by Hartnell's widow, Heather. When Tom Baker (who played the fourth Doctor) declined to appear in the programme, Hurndall's role was expanded slightly to have the First Doctor take a greater part in the action. He died of a heart attack aged 73 just a month after the programme first aired. It is claimed that he was therefore never paid for his role.