From what I can recall, I found it on PBS out of Chicago sometime in the late 1970's. Hanging out at a friend's place, he had recently discovered it; and -- knowing that I was about as jazzed with Science Fiction and Fantasy as he was -- he decided it was appropriate to give me a proper introduction. This was the era of the great Tom Baker; and, yes, I fell in love with it after a few viewings. (It didn't bite right away, but it did fairly quickly.)
And, kids, back in those days we couldn't just hit the corner video store (a few years away) or dial up the Information Superhighway to binge until our hearts were content. As I always remind you, we had maybe -- MAYBE -- six television broadcast channels on a good day; and, thus, we had to make do with what the programming executives were kind enough to give us. So I didn't get a chance to see what earlier Who looked like until much later, so William Russell's contributions didn't have as lasting an effect on me as did some of the other stuff.
Like many of you, I'm a bit of a purist, so I have gone back and watched some of it here and there. (Again, I don't exactly have access to the whole lot of it.) Also, my daytime gig as being the Internet's self-proclaimed resident of All Things Genre practically requires that I take a look at it when time permits; but, alas, I'm only circumstantially aware of Russell's contributions from the days gone by. I'll do what I can in the years ahead to rectify that, as a quick rundown of his IMDB.com profile suggests he most definitely has a legacy within that Intellectual Property, and I feel a bit saddened that I don't have more to say on it today.
As I also often point out, none of us gets out of this place alive -- well, you know what I mean -- and I saw yesterday that the actor's passing was being reported.
Our warmest prayers are extended to the family, friends, and fans of Mr. Russell.
May he forever rest in peace.
-- EZ