I'm watching the rerun of An Unearthly Child on BBC 4 as I write this, with a big grin on my face. Admittedly, this is mostly because tomorrow I get to see my fiancée again after eleven long days but, blimey, what a piece of telly that was! A real tribute, and amazing, from my perspective as a fan who knows about this stuff, that a drama is being shown on BBC 2 about this of all things.
The cast is superb, but is very much led by David Bradley, who simply is Bill Hartnell. His mannerisms when playing the Doctor are perfect, and the similarities and differences with the "real" Hartnell are brilliant too: the clip of the interview with Hartnell shown after the programme, presumably a major source of research for Bradley, shows us that he nailed it; Hartnell as himself was irascible, considerably less posh, and very prickly about his status as an actor.
Mark Gatiss' script is excellent too; indeed, this sort of thing plays exactly to the strengths of the arch-nostalgic. Gatiss takes the messy, complex reality of television production and selects he people and events on which to focus. The result is a tight, focused drama with real heart. The presentation of Hartnell, in particular, is a fine line; Gatiss and Bradley don't shy in any way from his difficult side, but we can't help but like this deeply emotional man who cares deeply beneath the gruff exterior, and who delights in his unexpected popularity with children.
The script judges correctly how much to show of his rather bigoted opinions, I think, with just one quip to Waris Hussein about A Passage to India being a "one way trip" hinting at a side of Hartnell which would not much endear him to us. But there's a much greater focus on the tribulations faced by, and solidarity between, "the posh wog and the pushy Jewish bird". We first meet Verity Lambert (the excellent Jessica Raine) on an uber-trendy party straight out of Mad Men. This is her world; metropolitan, sophisticated and mostly populated by women like herself, who stop to turn on the telly to see Valentina Tereshkova do her bit for the cosmic sisterhood. The BBC, ruled by middle aged men in NHS specs who address Verity as "dear lady" is manifestly not her world, and she has to fight against its misogyny every step of the way.
Of course, Waris Hussein constantly suffers the racist digs that would have been everywhere in 1963, and can't get served at the BBC bar without Verity's help. There are also hints at his sexuality; he is doubly alienated, and not exactly the sort of person whom one would imagine getting on with Hartnell. And yet, a couple of years later, Hartnell is nostalgic for both of them, trapped in a show he loves but with familiar, friendly faces dropping away. The recreation of the speech from The Massacre may have used a little artistic licence, but it was wonderful, and as sublime a performance from Bradley here as the original was for Hartnell.
The whole thing is beautifully shot, and there are plenty of lovely touches, from the cameos by Jean Marsh, Anneke Wills, William Russell and Carole Ann Ford to the Cyberman who is allowed to puff away on a fag in his fibreglass suit by the 1963 Health and Safety bods. The many recreations- of The Daleks, The Edge of Destruction, Marco Polo, The Reign of Terror and many more are great fun. We open with the 1963 BBC ident, a lovely touch, and there are brief nods to Delia Derbyshire's work on the theme tube and Peter Brachaki's jobsworth genius on the TARDIS control room. We close with a highly appropriate cameo from Matf Smith. But this is Bradley's and Gatiss' triumph, and a triumph it surely is.
I Googled this, and apparently Anneke Wills (Polly) remembers Hartnell being racist towards Earl Cameron, the actor in question - but Cameron himself said he wasn't aware of any such racism from Hartnell at the time (of course, that could just mean Hartnell was racist about him behind his back). Both Wills and Cameron are in the DVD commentary on The Tenth Planet, so possibly they discuss it there (I'm afraid I haven't listened to it).
ReplyDeleteYeah, it seems complex - Wills says that Hartnell refused to work with Cameron when they were discussing casting him, and though Cameron didn't receive any illwill personally from Hartnell, I guess it's telling that they didn't have any scenes together.
I think with Hartnell, I get the impression that he seems more to have been - for want of a better way of describing it - a "theoretical bigot". So many people, including his own granddaughter, make mention of his general anti-Semitism, homophobia, racism and xenophobia, but by all accounts he absolutely adored Verity Lambert, Carole Ann Ford (both Jewish) and Waris Hussain (Indian and gay), and got on very well with Sydney Newman (Canadian). There was a quote from his granddaughter along the lines of how Bill "didn't like foreigners, but once he'd met you you weren't a foreigner any more, you were his friend." It's like he had all the nasty ingrained attitudes of many of his generation, but as soon as he got to know someone he just couldn't stick to it.
So I reckon that Wills and Cameron are probably both right - that Hartnell kicked off about Cameron being cast and didn't want to share any scenes, but as soon as they were on set together there was no actual animosity at all and they got on well. But I haven't listened to the commentary either, so I'm not sure if they say any differently there.
Bill Hartnell was a complex dude, and no mistake.
That makes total sense, and reminds me of many working class people I knew from generations no longer with us... bigotry, yes, but very much with "well, YOU'RE all right" syndrome.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I suspect he would very much not have been aware that Waris Hussein was gay!
Also, you can be racist back then, and still acknowledge positive aspects of some people you were bigoted against. Hartnell's Desert Island Discs mention admiration for Paul Robeson and Louis Armstrong (according to a transcript of an unreleased section of his DID interview, Hartnell allegedly said "Good singers those darkies").
DeleteRegardless, these aspects of Hartnell does nothing to diminish my respect for him as an actor. Some of the other DW actors also had aspects that would be seen as odd then and now, although it could be argued that Noel Clarke's allegation of sexual assault are apples and oranges compared to Hartnell's nationalist comments or Tom Baker's sometimes being difficult to work with on set behaviour.
Yep, it's nuanced. We all remember such examples from now long-gone elderly relatives, I'm sure- casual verbal racism while refusing to buy South African wine during Apartheid. People are complicated.
DeletePlus as I said, there is a distinction between problematic personal views or behaviors from decades ago and more serious allegations like Noel Clarke’s. The former often reflect societal attitudes or personal blind spots (sometimes even unconscious ones), whereas allegations of sexual assault involve direct harm and criminal behavior. Comparing those is indeed apples and oranges
DeleteAgreed- violent or sexual misbehaviour is clear cut, whereas social attitudes should be seen in their historical context, if from decades ago. And even sexual misconduct can be subjective- fifty years ago, definitions of sexual harrassment would have been less strict. And, more recently, John Barrowman's behaviour was very much an open secret, if that, during the 2000s, and seen as harmless banter until suddenly, after MeToo, it got caught up in the wider furore.
DeleteIn the rerelease in 2023 for the 60th anniversary, there was a re-edit where David Bradley’s Hartnell sees Gatwa instead of Smith. Needless to say, this sparked a debate over whether Smith was better, even if in the original version, you can see Smith being pasted in front of the console. Plus, given Hartnell’s nationalism views (even if it is possible they mellowed overtime, especially if he lived longer), it’s probably safe to say he didn’t imagine his character being able to change into any race or gender. He probably would have thought it scandalous his character could become a woman, since he was established as a grandfather, even if Hartnell reportedly rewrote lines that minimised Polly's importance during his tenure (at one point, during production of web planet, I believe, Hartnell disliked a line about women cleaning!).
ReplyDeleteRegardless, there had been fan edits in which Bradley’s Hartnell sees a different actor playing the Doctor now. It could be argued that the heart of the message is still there; controversy aside as to how Hartnell may have felt about his successors, perhaps maybe in order to lessen the outrage over replacing Smith, perhaps maybe they could edit it so that when Bradley looks up, he sees multiple Doctors standing around the console, a scene that can then be reeedited to include various different Doctors overtime.
This is the kind of harmless re-edit that I don't tend to mind, the scene by its very nature works best with whoever the current Doctor happens to be, and it's not as though canonicity is an issue.
ReplyDeleteFrom what little we can glean, I suspect Hartnell's racism, sexism and homophobia seems to have been very casual and surface level, and he wouldn't exactly have supported the National Front. After all, he got on well with Waris Hussein. He clashed with Anneke Wills over values according to an old DWM interview- she got on much better with the Guardian reading Pat Troughton- but that seems to be as much a generational thing as political.
Interestingly, while Hartnell was likely homophobic, like many of his generation, he came to the notice of Verity Lambert after playing a character who was a suspected homosexual in the excellent This Sporting Life, a role he personally loved.
ReplyDeleteI think an article ranking best to worst Hartnell episodes summed it up best:
“Yet discussion of Hartnell's personal views always misses the main point, which is that, even if Hartnell was a racist behind the scenes and in his private life, the character he played wasn't. A man who responds "No, good gracious, no!" when asked if he's "English" and describes himself as "a citizen of the universe... and a gentleman, to boot." This was a creation who travelled round the universe suggesting that cultures learn to love one another... whatever was said in rehearsal rooms over half a century ago has been lost to time, whereas the message of peace and harmony that the Doctor espoused lives on.”
Damn right, an excellent point. I probably ought to watch This Sporting Life for his performance, I just keep getting put off by the fact that it's about rugby!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVg85OSgeGk
ReplyDeleteIn 2015, Part of Hartnell’s Desert Island discs interview was found. Hartnell describes Paul Robeson as a man whose voice is “so rich” and “completely in harmony”. Paul Robeson and Charlie Chaplain were well-known Socialists and supporters of the International Communist Movement, and (notwithstanding his being a man of the times), William Hartnell’s selection appears remarkably ‘multicultural’ and ahead of his time. Paul Robeson had suffered terrible persecution in the USA for his political beliefs, and I think it is significant that Hartnell had the fore-sight to place Robeson at the top of his list. Charlie Chaplin was hounded-out of the USA for his leftwing sympathies (and friendship with Ho Chi Minh). It is interesting William Hartnell expressed admiration for these entertainers and revolutionaries.
Unfortunately, the interview cuts off before he is about to talk about DW, though the transcript survives.
https://archivetvmusings.blog/2015/01/29/part-of-william-hartnells-desert-island-discs-interview-found/
Interestingly, it is the only known recording of Hartnell speaking in an unofficial tone, as his voice sounds so differently, from other recordings. In fact, his voice sounds more like David Bradley, which has led some people to have more appreciation for Bradley’s performance
Fascinating. And I suppose it's further evidence that Hartnell having the unthinking casual bigotries of a man of his generation and background doesn't necessarily tell us a great deal about his views and values.
ReplyDelete