10 More What Ifs About Doctor Who

9. What If Geoffrey Bayldon Had Played The First Doctor?

While we know that Verity Lambert always wanted William Hartnell in the role, it's interesting to note that Geoffrey Bayldon, who went on to appear in The Creature From The Pit in 1979, was asked not once but twice to play the Doctor, first in 1963 and then again in 1966. He turned it down both times, though he did go on to play the Doctor in two Big Finish audio dramas. But what if he had taken the role to begin with? For one thing, for reasons very similar to those given for the show being shorter if Hartnell left earlier, we might not be talking about it the same way today. Hartnell left the series mainly because of failing health, whereas Bayldon, despite playing the Doctor as an old man, was only 42 years old in 1966. It's unlikely he would have left a successful series after only three years. Then again, this also assumes that the series would have been just as successful with Bayldon. Let's say that it was. Bayldon would go on to play the part for, say, three or four more years, at which point the producers would either end the show or (if we're lucky) come up with the Time Lords/regeneration concept to extend its run. Either way, we have to wonder whether we'd ever have gotten Catweazle, a well-known Bayldon character which most American fans have never heard of. But let's imagine that, despite Bayldon's casting, the rest of the series goes on much the same as before. Bayldon, despite being in his prime, decides to leave the show after three years after all, leading to Troughton being cast. Bayldon is still working, and is in fine health at the age of 49, when producer Barry Letts asks him to participate in the 10th anniversary story The Three Doctors in 1973. We get a much more involved First Doctor in the proceedings of that story, which somewhat weakens the traditional rivalry between the Second and Third Doctors - but wouldn't that have been a decent trade-off? (Of course, he probably wouldn't have been in Creature From The Pit if this happened - but do we even care?) As for The Five Doctors: that story would very likely have remained unchanged, even though instead of a reasonable stand-in for the First Doctor, we'd still have the genuine article. Bayldon at 59 would most likely have been able to forego any of the makeup he originally used to play the First Doctor, but otherwise there would have been very little keeping him from participating (and this might even have thrilled fans otherwise disappointed by Tom Baker not showing up). As for Dimensions in Time, which he'd be around for... Um. Hard to make anything good out of that, isn't it? And yet, the idea that we'd still have a living First Doctor after all this time (Bayldon is still alive of as this writing, though his last role was in 2010), still able to participate in DVD commentaries alongside his co-stars William Russell and Carole Ann Ford, is an awesome thing to consider.