14 Tales From The History Of Doctor Who From William Hartnell To Jodie Whittaker

14. Nearly Booted Out Of Showbusiness By Noël Coward

Before originating the role of the eponymous alien, William Hartnell was a struggling actor before and after the Second World War. He suffered a nervous breakdown during his time in the Royal Armoured Corps, requiring him to leave the service.

This may have had a lasting effect on him, as he was very publically berrated by Noël Coward, the famous author, playwright and director. Hartnell had held up filming on the movie by being very late, and he was summarily dismissed. To have such a figure in the industry give him such a dressing down was a hard pill for the young actor to swallow.

He was run-down, the costumes were giving him a terrible reaction and he had caught scarlet fever along the way, all contributing to his ill health (and highly uncharacteristic lateness).

He managed to get by and in 1963, he appeared in a supporting role in the film This Sporting Life. It was this performance that was spotted by Verity Lambert....and the rest is history.