William Hartnell regarded me with great suspicion when I arrived. He knew I was the new boy and he wasn't slow to remind me how many hundreds of films he'd done and how many directors he'd advised on how to get the shots. Bill used to say 'I don't know why you've put the camera there, it'd be much better here. Then I can walk into a big close-up and you'll be fine, you see'. I quite liked the old boy, I respected some of the work he'd done in the past and I remember the dear old man saying 'I have carte blanche on all the casting and all the script alterations, because they can't do the serial without me'. One did have to tread very carefully with him, but he warmed to me and I to him. We sort of found a way of communicating, as one had to do.
