RIP Doctor Who Star William Russell

By Owen Quinn author

A real Doctor Who legend has sadly passed away. Actor William Russell who played the very first male companion, teacher Ian Chesterton has died.

He was part of the original line when Doctor Who began. As Ian , he provided the muscle alongside elderly Doctor William Hartnell. William was the quintessential hero with his good looks and bravery. Alongside fellow teacher Barbara Wright, Ian was the scientific side while Barbara was the historian. In the beginning, Doctor Who was intended as an educational programme for kids. The Tardis was originally supposed to travel throughout earth history at landmark events and viewers would be educated about them through the eyes of Ian and Barbara. There was to be no bug-eyed monsters, just historical people and places. Ironic in the end that the historical adventures proved the least popular, slowly being outed by the science fiction element.

Ian and Barbara were school teachers at Coal Hill, Ian a man of science and Barbara a history teacher and both their attentions were caught by the super brilliant pupil Susan Foreman, in reality the Doctor’s granddaughter. Her behaviour at seemingly brilliant leaps of logic and a knowledge of things she couldn’t possibly know intrigued them.Following her home, they come across an old police box in a junkyard and a crotchety old man whom they believe is keeping Susan against her will.

Forcing their way into the box, they find themselves inside the Tardis and discover Susan and her grandfather are time travellers from another world. Russell T Davies always said Earth companions work best because they act as the door for ordinary viewers to explore the Doctor’s world by asking questions the viewer would and reacting similarly.

Indeed, their first adventure took them to the era of the cavemen seeking the secret of fire. Originally, the Doctor was very much the anti-hero, prepared to murder a man to save themselves and get back to the Tardis. He resented the two newcomers’ invasion of his home and wanted to get rid of them asap but without being able to control where the Tardis travelled, getting them home was all hit and miss. Ian and Barbara that showed the Doctor the value of humanity and, I believe, brought him to realize he was not alone and the importance of family. Indeed, he was devastated by their departure after battling the Daleks in the Chase, the first time we saw how lonely the Doctor truly was.

Photos copyright BBC

Throughout their adventures, Ian and Barbara’s talents were put to the test. Ian was the action hero in the tradition of the Hollywood beacons of goodness. He was fiercely protective of his friends and frequently argued with the Doctor but they had a grudging respect which evolved to the point where the Doctor trusted Ian to get them home on more than one occasion and take the lead, especially in their trek with Marco Polo and Richard the Lionheart. Barbara wasn’t afraid to tackle the Doctor either when he behaved badly, forcing the Time Lord to look at himself and actually think about the consequences of his actions on others. They forced him to be human and the more time they spent together the more the Doctor enjoyed showing them the wonders of the universe without being condescending. Ian and Barbara showed the Doctor what he was to be human and cemented his love for the human species through their travels.

The historical stories were prevalent in their time, cleverly using Barbara and Ian’s talents without diminishing the characters. This Tardis team were all equal and faced death in the French Revolution, the burning of Rome, a journey with Marco Polo, the Crusades, as well as Daleks, Voorrd, Mechanoids, Mire beasts and they even returned to their right time except they had been miniaturised. But they faced it together, becoming the family the Doctor and Susan had lost.

Their return home was celebrated with a montage of shots showing them doing normal things like taking a bus. It was widely believed they married after leaving the Tardis and it was further explored in the BBC novel series. Their team featured in more Missing Adventures, another book series showcasing stories set in between the televised shows. These remain some of the strongest tales and perfectly recapture the team sending us back to the beginning of this incredible 61 year journey.

William Russell, who played Ian, has done several plays for the Big Finish companion chronicles as well as narrating audios of old Target novels. He even voiced William Hartnell o several audio stories. With most of the missing episodes from the Troughton era, the majority of Hartnell shows still exist though there will be a DVD release of the Reign of Terror with missing episodes completed via animation. Once again Ian and Barbara will grace our screen in another adventure just as they did all those years ago.

There is something ageless about this team and in the Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor they are name-checked as still fighting the good fight as seemingly ageless people. It is a touching line that evokes memories and you really can believe they are married, still out there and carrying on everything they learned from the Doctor.

Ian was due to return to the show in the twentieth anniversary story Mawdryn Undead but it never happend so the Brigadier was used instead. However Ian’s story was not over and returned in the Jodie Whittaker finale Power of the Doctor. Graeme (Bradley Walsh) brings together old companions including Ian. He is puzzled when they refer to the Doctor as her. But this set a world record for the biggest gap between appearances for a television character. Seeing Ian again just took our breaths away. If not for his portrayal we would never have secured the show’s popular beginnings.

Unsurprisingly Ian and Barbara returned to meet the eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) in the 50th anniversary comic strip Hunters of the Burning Stone in a sequel to the Unearthly Child. It was voted the best comic strip of 2013 as Ian and Barbara get to meet their old friend once again.

I met William Russell in Belfast at a convention in Belfast and he was so lovely. He wandered around between queues showing a genuine interest in fans. We chatted about his time on the show and his autograph remains pride of place in my collection. I am so glad I got the chance to meet him as the character of Ian together with Barbara are the stuff legends are made of.

Rest in peace sir. A legend has died today yet will live forever. William, you truly will never be forgotten.