Ignoring the appearance of a young Herbert in Timelash, the real HG Wells (pictured) had an undeniable impact on Doctor Who. Taking The Time Machine as a given, and allowing War of the Worlds as an influence, I think it goes beyond that. I’d like to mention the connection to another Wells classic – The First Men in the Moon.

When I was listening to the Big Finish release of The First Men in the Moon, I was first struck by how much Nigel Planer seemed to be a candidate for the First Doctor. The style of his Professor Cavor is not a long way from William Hartnell, at least in my mind’s eye. This then led to consider how the whole character of a somewhat idealistic Professor, better at science and big ideas than the practicalities of survival was a prototype for the Doctor, particularly the grandfather Doctor of early adventures. The ship used to visit the moon is also a sphere – let’s not forget the original design for the TARDIS was an invisible bubble!

Professor Cavor also has an assistant, though there the comparison starts to fail – Bedford is no Ian Chesterton or Steven Taylor!

Thoughts?