Since it came as a three pack, and I have a lot of building to do today, I figured I would watch the first three Doctor Who serials. With pie breaks it's taken me more than 12 hours. An Unearthly Child is the first and it aired November 23 1963. The 4 part serial ended December 14 1963. It was written by Anthony Coburn and directed by Waris Hussein. They shot a pilot episode and it had some technical problems. The BBC had a few changes in mind and they asked for a second go of it. The Doctor was made less cold and harsh. They changed the staging of some shots. Some bits of costuming were replaced. There are commentaries, with producer Variety Lambert and director Waris Hussein, on the pilot and the 1st and 4th episodes that explain a lot of these changes.
I might have have seen these programs but I don't remember anything from them. I got this bit from the Wikipedia about the series on the CBC.
The series made its North American premiere in January 1965 on CBC with the broadcast of William Hartnell's first 26 episodes, fourteen months following their first airing on the BBC. The CBC did not renew the program and it would not reappear on the network for 40 years.
I thought that the reason I didn't become a fan of the show was that I didn't care that much for it and quit watching it. I might have liked it more if I'd had more exposure but the CBC took care of that. Here's another odd bit from the same Wikipedia article.
Doctor Who had an early Canadian connection. The series was conceived by Canadian expatriate Sydney Newman while he was the BBC's Head of Drama. The series may have been inspired by a short-lived segment (canceled because parents complained that it was "too frightening" for their children) on the Canadian version of Howdy Doody. It featured a surprisingly similar character, a puppet called Mr. X who travelled through time and space in his "Whatsis Box" teaching children about history. Newman oversaw this series while working as a programming head for the CBC. Newman maintained a guiding influence over Doctor Who until he left the BBC in 1967.
Weird. Well, one thing leads to another, huh.
The first story, An Unearthly Child, starts in a typical London school in 1963. An unusual girl leads two teachers to ponder on her personality. Susan is real smart about science and history but totally ignorant about common place items like the value of money. Her teachers try to visit her at home. Instead of a house or apartment they find a salvage yard and a Police Box. They have a confrontation with her grandfather and force their way into the Police Box when they hear Susan's voice coming from inside. Oh, oh. It's all big inside and confusing. There's plenty of yelling. The cabby old Doctor gets tired and sends the Tardis into the past. Then they have to figure out how to survive being kidnapped by stoneage cavemen. William Hartnel is the First Doctor, Carole Ann Ford is Susan Foreman, Jacqueline Hill is Barbara Wright and William Russell is Ian Chesterton. Back in the past they get captured pretty quickly and they nearly get killed a couple of times. They bring fire to a tribe that lost it, as well as the concept of strength through numbers and stoning. People love stoning. When they finally escape they take the Tardis to an unknown planet where they first encounter the Doctor's longest running foe. I enjoyed this serial more than some of the ones that have come after.
The Daleks is a 7 part serial that aired from 21 December 1963 to 1 February 1964. It was written by Terry Nation and C E Webber and directed by Richard Martin and Christopher Barry. The Doctor and the gang go exploring on the planet Skaro and find a dead city. The Doctor tricks everyone into going into the city; putting them in danger of course. They find the place is filled with radiation so they need some drugs from the Tardis. Susan goes to get them and the crew are captured by the Daleks. Susan meets some humans living on the surface away from the city. The Thrals are pacifists who Ian stirs into battle. They wipe out the Daleks and the Thrals are in charge. As the Tardis leaves there's an explosion and everyone is knocked out. This is one that seems a bit long winded and draggy. Especially in the last half. It might have been better to let it play out in 4 episodes rather than the 7 it has. We almost see a Dalek but it's only his little pinky. Don't worry, they'll be back to Exterminate!
The third serial was a two parter, The Edge Of Destruction, and it aired Feb 8 & 15 1964. The whole story takes place in the Tardis. This was to keep costs down. The cost of an episode was budgeted at about 2500 Brit Pounds which was under $7000 back in 1964. That didn't go that far even back in those days. The Doctor and the gang wake up from the explosion and everyone acts strangely. They nearly kill each other before they figure out what's going on. Turns out they were on the way to the end of time and the Tardis was trying to communicate with them. Too bad they didn't think of an easy way for the computer to talk to them. You know, like a screen with a read out or a printer or something. The Doctor fixes the switch causing the issue and everyone makes up. Not a bad episode for one stuck in the Tardis. We do see a bit more of the ship.
There are a few extras. Here's the list from Amazon:
- Commentary by producer Verity Lambert, directors Waris Hussein, Christopher Barry and Richard Martin, actors Carole Ann Ford and William Russell and moderator Gary Russell.
- Pilot Episode - a 40-minute unedited studio recording, including outtakes
- The featurettes "Creation of the Daleks," "Doctor Who: Origins," "Over the Edge" and "Inside the Spaceship"
- 30-minute condensed version of the lost 7-part story Marco Polo
- Episode 2 of The Edge of Destruction in Arabic
- Production note subtitles
- Still galleries.
Not a bad bunch of stuff. I enjoyed the commentaries pretty much. The featurettes repeat some of the material in the commentaries but that's to be expected. The Pilot Episode was pretty interesting to see. Marco Polo would have been the 4th episode but the tapes were wiped. This shortened version is made up of some video and audio clips that work to condense down the story. It works fairly well to give you an idea of what the episode was about. I didn't listen to the Arabic track. Not even for a second. I skipped the info track but looked at the still galleries.
The list doesn't mention the comedy sketches that parody the making of the series at the BBC in the 60's or the theme music and credits video. The theme is always enjoyed and the sketches, produced for a BBC Doctor Who Night, were funny. David Williams and Mark Gatiss are in the sketch in the link above. Williams was in Little Britian, which I haven't seen. He's been in some episodes of Doctor Who also. Gatiss has acted in The League Of Gentlemen, Sherlock (which he co-created and played Mycroft Holmes) and Doctor Who. He's also written Doctor Who novels. All in all a jam packed set. It looks like the thing is out of print at Amazon and people are asking a lot for copies. Good thing I don't need to buy one.
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