William Hartnell
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.
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor
as The Doctor (1) (archive footage)In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London's National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot...
Movie pageDoctor Who: Twice Upon a Time
as The Doctor (1) (archive footage)As the Twelfth Doctor nears regeneration, he stumbles on his first incarnation, also refusing to...
Movie pageBrighton Rock
as DallowCentring on the activities of a gang of assorted criminals and, in particular, their leader – a...
Movie pageAn Adventure in Space and Time
as The Doctor (1) (archive footage)Actor William Hartnell felt trapped by a succession of hard-man roles while wannabe producer...
Movie pageThis Sporting Life
as 'Dad' JohnsonIn Northern England in the early 1960s, Frank Machin is mean, tough and ambitious enough to...
Movie pageThe Mouse That Roared
as Will BuckleyThe Duchy of Grand Fenwick decides that the only way to get out of their economic woes is to...
Movie pageOdd Man Out
as Fencie - the barmanBelfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.
Movie pageCarry On Sergeant
as Sergeant GrimshaweSergeant Grimshawe wants to retire in the flush of success by winning the Star Squad prize with...
Movie pageThe Way Ahead
as Sgt. Ned FletcherA mismatched collection of conscripted civilians find training tough under Lieutenant Jim Perry ...
Movie pageHell Drivers
as Cartley, Hawlett ManagerAn ex-con trying to go clean ends up working for a crooked trucking company swindling money.
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Daleks in Colour
as The Doctor (archive footage)The very first crew of the TARDIS land in a petrified forest on an alien planet. Determined to...
Movie pageThe Pickwick Papers
as Irate CabmanThe Pickwick Club sends Mr. Pickwick and a group of friends to travel across England and to...
Movie pageFootsteps in the Fog
as Herbert MoresbyA Victorian-era murder mystery about a parlour maid who discovers that her employer may have...
Movie pageThe Holly and the Ivy
as Company Sergeant MajorAn English clergyman's neglect of his grown children, in his zeal to tend to his parishioners,...
Movie pageThe Magic Box
as Recruiting SergeantNow old, ill, poor, and largely forgotten, William Freise-Greene was once very different. As...
Movie pageThat's Carry On!
as Sergeant GrimshaweCelebrating twenty years of classic Carry On films, two of the films’ best-loved stars, Kenneth...
Movie pagePrivate's Progress
as Sgt. SuttonStanley Windrush has to interrupt his university education when he is called up towards the end...
Movie pageShake Hands with the Devil
as Sergeant JenkinsIn 1921 Dublin, the IRA battles the "Black & Tans," special British forces given to harsh...
Movie pageYangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst
as Leading Seaman Leslie FrankWhile sailing lawfully up the Yangste in 1949, the British warship Amethyst found its return to...
Movie pageThe Goose Steps Out
as German Officer at StationSchoolteacher William Potts is the double of a captured German spy, so he is sent to Germany by...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Daleks
as Dr. WhoThe TARDIS brings the Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian to the planet Skaro where they meet two...
Movie pageThe Ringer
as Sam HackettAn underhand solicitor receives threatening notes, and the police are called in to protect him.
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Five Doctors
as The Doctor (1) (archive footage)Many incarnations of the Doctors and their old companions are taken out of time and deposited in...
Movie pageThe Dark Tower
as Jim Towers (as Bill Hartnell)While working at a circus, a man hypnotizes a trapezist to kill her partner.
Movie pageThey Drive by Night
as Bus Conductor“Shorty” Matthews having recently been released from prison visits his girlfriend in London only...
Movie pageTalking Doctor Who
as Self / The Doctor (1) (archive footage)As part of the sixtieth anniversary celebrations of Doctor Who, David Tennant time-travels back...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
as The DoctorThe TARDIS arrives in a desolate future London, where the Doctor discovers his old enemies the...
Movie pageAppointment with Crime
as Leo MartinSmall-time jewel thief Leo Martin is deserted by his partners-in-crime, club owner Gus Loman and...
Movie pageDate with Disaster
as TraceyA car salesman and suspected safecracker Miles saves his fiancee Sue from those who would kidnap...
Movie pageDoctor Who: Marco Polo
as The DoctorThe TARDIS crew lands in the Himalayas of Cathay in 1289, their ship badly damaged, and are...
Movie pageDouble Confession
as Charlie DurhamThe hero discovers his estranged wife dead and tries to frame her lover for the murder. He...
Movie pageFarewell Again
as Minor RoleFarewell Again is a multiplotted British comedy/drama about soldiers on leave and the people...
Movie pageTemptation Harbour
as Jim BrownThe story of a harbor signalman who retrieves a suitcase full of money after witnessing a...
Movie pageMurder in Reverse?
as Tom MasterickTom Masterick, a dock worker, is wrongfully convicted of a murder charge. His death sentence is...
Movie pageDoctor Who: An Unearthly Child
as Dr. WhoBarbara Wright and Ian Chesterton, two humble teachers during 1963, discover a genius student's...
Movie pageAnd the Same to You
as Walter 'Wally' BurtonDickie Dreadnought is the boxing-mad nephew of pious clergyman Reverend Sydney Mullet. To...
Movie pageJackpot
as Supt. FrawleyBack in London after serving time, an ex-convict learns that his wife is not willing to return...
Movie pageEscape
as Inspector HarrisA convict sentenced to three years for killing a detective escapes from a prison and goes on the...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Rescue
as The DoctorOn the planet Dido, the Doctor, Ian and Barbara meet two survivors from a crashed spaceship who...
Movie pageThe World Ten Times Over
as DadEarly 1960s realist drama following a day in the lives of two London flatmates. Sylvia Syms and...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
as The Doctor (voice)While the Doctor plays the Trilogic Game, Steven and Dodo are forced to play seemingly childish...
Movie pageThe Peterville Diamond
as Joseph (as Bill Hartnell)Frantic farce involving a neglected wife, a stolen diamond and four identical briefcases.
Movie pageThe Guv'nor
as Car SalesmanThe Guv'nor (released in the U.S. as Mr. Hobo) is a 1935 British comedy film starring George...
Movie pageThe Agitator
as Peter Pettinger (as Billy Hartnell)The Agitator is a 1945 British drama film directed by John Harlow and starring William Hartnell,...
Movie pageHeavens Above!
as Major FowlerA naive but caring prison chaplain, who happens to have the same last name as an upper class...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Romans
as The DoctorThe TARDIS crew take up residence near Rome in 64AD, where Ian and Barbara are kidnapped by...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
as The Doctor/Abbot of AmboiseThe TARDIS materialises in Paris in the year 1572 and the Doctor decides to visit the famous...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Keys of Marinus
as The DoctorThe TARDIS arrives on the planet Marinus on an island of glass surrounded by a sea of acid. The...
Movie pageDoctor Who: Earthshock
as The Doctor (1) (archive footage)The Doctor and his companions must prevent the Cybermen from bombing the Earth in the 26th...
Movie pageDoctor Who: Galaxy 4
as The DoctorThe Doctor, Vicki and Steven arrive on an arid planet where they meet the beautiful Drahvins and...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Myth Makers
as The DoctorWhen the TARDIS arrives on the plains of Asia Minor not far from the besieged city of Troy, the...
Movie pageThe Night We Dropped a Clanger
as Sgt. BrightThe movie takes place during WWII. A dashing British RAF Officer is earmarked for a secret...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Chase
as The DoctorThe Doctor and his companions are pursued through time and space by the Daleks on the desert...
Movie pageTomorrow at Ten
as Freddie MaddoxA British policeman (John Gregson) tries to find a rich man's (Alec Clunes) son before a...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Tenth Planet
as The Doctor (1)The Doctor's TARDIS lands at the Snowcap space tracking station in Antarctica in December 1986....
Movie pageWill Any Gentleman...?
as Detective Inspector MartinA trip to the theatre changes a meek bank clerk's life, as he undergoes hypnosis and leaves...
Movie pageHeadline
as DellA crime reporter begins to investigate the disappearance of his bosses wife who had witnessed a...
Movie pageThe Bells Go Down
as BrookesComedian Tommy Trinder plays it straight in this tribute to the wartime AFS (Auxiliary Fire...
Movie pagePiccadilly Third Stop
as ColonelA playboy tries to recruit a gang, who include an American who needs cash to satisfy his wife's...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Savages
as The Doctor (voice)The Doctor, Steven and Dodo land on an alien world in this animated reconstruction of a lost...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
as The DoctorThe travellers arrive in a strange domain presided over by the Celestial Toymaker — an...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Savages
as The DoctorThe TARDIS has arrived on a far-distant and seemingly idyllic world. Yet the Doctor, Steven and...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Space Museum
as The DoctorOn the planet Xeros, the TARDIS crew discover their own future selves frozen in time as exhibits...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Aztecs
as The DoctorThe TARDIS materialises inside an Aztec tomb. Outside it, the Doctor and his companions soon...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Smugglers
as The DoctorThe TARDIS arrives on the coast of seventeenth century Cornwall — much to the astonishment of...
Movie pageCreation of the Daleks
as The Doctor (archive footage)Featured on the "Doctor Who: The Beginning" box set and tells the story of the Creation of the...
Movie pageThe Dark Man
as Superintendent of PoliceA killer called 'The Dark Man' commits double murder. This is witnessed by the young aspiring...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan
as The DoctorIn the year 4000, the Daleks conspire to conquer the Solar System. Their scheme involves...
Movie pageThey Flew Alone
as ScottyThe story of flyer Amy Johnson the girl from Yorkshire who won the hearts of the British public...
Movie pageThe Desperate Man
as SmithTwo reporters are held hostage in old castle, by thief, looking for jewels, that he had buried,...
Movie pageThe Lost People
as BarnesSet in a German theatre after the Second World War, two British soldiers are holding a disparate...
Movie pageFreedom Radio
as Radio Location Aerial Operator (uncredited)Hitler's doctor is gradually realising that the Nazi regime isn't as good as it pretends to be...
Movie pageThey Came by Night
as Undetermined RoleA man is blackmailed into taking his brother's place in a gang for a jewellery heist.
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Gunfighters
as The DoctorArriving in the town of Tombstone, the First Doctor finds himself involved with gunmen out to...
Movie pageJosephine and Men
as Detective Sgt. ParsonsThe trouble with Josephine is that her ever-loving and over-sympathetic nature leads her to...
Movie pageTons of Trouble
as BertAn apartment handyman is unusually attached to a pair of boilers he names "Mavis" and "Ethel."
Movie pageTo Have and to Hold
as Insp. RobertsA young woman is harassed by a man and seeks help from the police. The officer who visits her...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The War Machines
as The DoctorThe TARDIS arrives in London in 1966 and the First Doctor and Dodo visit the Post Office Tower....
Movie pageStrawberry Roan
as Chris LoweFarmer Chris Lowe meets and falls in love with Molly , a chorus-girl. Despite the fact that she...
Movie pageMidnight at Madame Tussaud's
as StubbsExplorer Sir Clive bets that he can spend the night alone in Madame Tussauds Chamber of Horrors....
Movie pageThe Sets of Marinus
as The Doctor (archive footage)The Sets of Marinus is a BBC documentary looking at set design for the Doctor Who story The Keys...
Movie pageSabotage at Sea
as Jacob DigbyThe captain of a British cargo ship shanghais a group of sabateurs, unaware that the daughter of...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Three Doctors
as The DoctorTime itself is in peril! The Time Lords and UNIT find themselves besieged by a mythic figure...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Time Meddler
as The DoctorIn England, 1066, the Doctor confronts a mysterious Monk who is attempting to change history.
Movie pageDoctor Who: Planet of Giants
as The DoctorWhen the TARDIS malfunctions, it and its travellers land on Earth at the size of insects. They...
Movie pageThe Hypnotist
as Inspector RossCulver is a psychiatrist who uses hypnotism to treat his patients. When Carpenter, a test pilot,...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Crusade
as The DoctorIn 12th century Palestine, the Doctor and his friends are drawn into the holy war between the...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Sensorites
as The DoctorThe Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan arrive in the TARDIS on board a spaceship. Their initial...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Web Planet
as The DoctorOn the planet Vortis, the Doctor and his companions aid the butterfly-like Menoptra in their...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Ark
as The DoctorThe Doctor and his companions Steven Taylor and Dodo Chaplet arrive some ten million years into...
Movie pageNow Barabbas
as Warder JacksonA prison governor deals with a variety of different prisoners, including a charming murderer.
Movie pageSuspected Person
as SaundersAfter a $50,000 heist in New York, two of the suspected robbers walk free from the courtroom and...
Movie pageThe Crimson Circle
as uncreditedBased on the novel by Edgar Wallace, detectives at Scotland Yard try and track down The Crimson...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Reign of Terror
as The DoctorThe TARDIS materialises not far from Paris in 1794 — one of the bloodiest years following the...
Movie pageInside the Spaceship: The Story of the TARDIS
as The Doctor (archive footage)A feature on Doctor Who: The Beginning box set which tells the stories of the Doctor's time...
Movie pageDoctor Who: The Edge of Destruction
as Dr. WhoIn this completely TARDIS-based story, the crew find themselves and their ship acting very...
Movie pageRemembering 'The Aztecs'
as The Doctor (archive footage)The guest actors of the 1964 "Doctor Who" (1963) story, "The Aztecs", reminisce about their time...
Movie pageDon't Lose Your Head
as The Doctor (archive footage)Don't Lose Your Head was a DVD documentary concerning Doctor Who that was released on 28 January...
Movie pageVision On
as The Doctor (archive footage)Vision On was a documentary of Clive Doig discussing the role of the vision mixer in making...
Movie pageDoctor Who: Galaxy 4
as The Doctor (voice)The TARDIS lands on a planet on the verge of total annihilation as it drifts too close to the...
Movie pageMasters of Sound
as The Doctor (archive footage)Documentary on the sound effects of Doctor Who in the 1960s.
Movie pageDoctor Who
as The Doctor (archive footage)The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who...
TV Show pageDoctor Who
as The DoctorThe adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores...
TV Show pageNo Hiding Place
as uncreditedNo Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by...
TV Show pageThe Army Game
as uncreditedThe Army Game is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1957 to 1961. Made in black-and-white,...
TV Show pageTales of the Tardis
as The DoctorClassic Doctor Who duos are reunited as they board a very special TARDIS on a nostalgic voyage...
TV Show pageGhost Squad
as uncreditedGhost Squad, known as G.S.5 for its third series, was a crime drama series about an elite...
TV Show pageDoctor Who: The Doctors Revisited
as SelfAs the Doctor's newest companion, Clara Oswald, steps into the TARDIS, take a look back at...
TV Show pageDoctor Who: Lost in Time
as The DoctorA digitally restored collection of rare 1960s Doctor Who episodes, from stories which no longer...
TV Show page