The Doctor and Susan, Barbara, and Ian

As I mentioned recently in my post about the 2nd Doctor and Jamie, in  July I spent some time watching some really old episodes of Doctor Who.

The 1st Doctor appeared (I think) exclusively in black and white, so that's where I went with this drawing. Early Doctors were older and feebler than modern Doctors, so there was always some action stud around. Early days it was high school teacher Ian Chesterton, and later it was time traveler Steven Taylor and later still Royal Navy seaman Ben Jackson.

While I have enjoyed the modern Doctors all in their special way, I confess—despite the production values—the early episodes' bevvy of male companions and assistants are also enjoyable. Getting all weepy over Rose isn't my scene, and these early episodes had no love interests for the Doctor. Barbara was Ian's love interest, and Susan was the Doctor's granddaughter. Most modern fans don't know that the Doctor has a granddaughter.