As you may know, I have been listening to a lot of early William Hartnell episodes recently (if you're interested then please check out my reviews in
The Space Museum) and one thing above all else has struck me; how utterly amazing Ian and Barbara are!
It's interesting to look at how the role of the companion and the Doctor have changed since these two stumbled into the TARDIS. Ian (played by the protean William Russell) was wonderful as the male lead, questioning the Doctor and providing the human equation. It is something that I have noticed both RTD and Moff have tried to inject into Nu-Who with varying degrees of success, but the blueprint for this lay with Ian and Barbara.
Special mention should be made of the peerless Jacqueline Hill as Barbara. In many ways, I don't think I've ever seen a better, stronger female companion. She exudes a quiet dignity, managing to portray vulnerability without showing weakness. She is smart and fully the intellectual equal of Ian, and is not afraid to challenge the Doctor on every level. She is attractive but isn't defined by her sex or sexuality. She provided one of the (if not
the) most iconic images in the whole of Who history - that classic ending to The Daleks with the succour closing in on her screaming in terror.
This was the original couple in the TARDIS and the more I listen to them and watch them, the better their performances get.