8 Multi-Doctor Adventures Beyond The World Of Doctor Who
6. William Hartnell And Jon Pertwee In Will Any Gentleman...?
Aside from a wonderful promotional photoshoot, ill-health prevented William Hartnell from sharing the screen with his successors Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton in The Three Doctors. However, Hartnell got to be similarly stern to Jon Pertwee's face in the 1953 film Will Any Gentleman...?
The film is a farce about Henry Sterling, a stuffy bank clerk whose life is transformed by an encounter with a stage hypnotist. Occasionally lapsing into a hypnotised state, Henry becomes a financially flamboyant ladies' man. Henry's reckless actions when under the influence alert the attention of a suspicious police detective.
William Hartnell had made a solid career out of playing coppers and military men, and he's on fine form here. One of the film's standout scenes is when Hartnell pays a visit to the home of Henry and his philandering playboy brother Charlie. That brother is played by none other than Jon Pertwee!
The two future Doctors have great comic chemistry together. As Hartnell gets more and more stern, Pertwee gets more and more flustered, tripping over his words and revealing more information than he should. It's a wonderfully comic scene that hints at the similar relationship the 1st and 3rd Doctors would share nearly two decades later.