“Have you ever thought what it’s like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension? Have you? To be exiles…” – The Doctor
Ep. 001: An Unearthly Child
(Production A/Story #001: "An Unearthly Child" - Part 1 of 4)
Ep. 001: An Unearthly Child
(Production A/Story #001: "An Unearthly Child" - Part 1 of 4)
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The opening shot is beautiful shadow and fog, almost film noir-ish. Unfortunately, for me, the effect is undermined by the theme continuing past its title sequence. I have to remember that those seeing this for the first time wouldn’t necessarily find the theme tune as comforting as I do. It’s a familiar sound from my childhood, but back in 1963, this haunting melody was not at all likely to be heard in your sitting room right before Juke Box Jury. I won’t go into how unique and groundbreaking it was, and still is. I'll only say that it’s very eerie if I don’t take it for granted.
Ron Grainer's music ends right about the same time our eyes meet the police box. [1] The box begins humming mysteriously. Maybe it knows what’s coming.
In following scenes, I detect obvious chemistry between Ian and Barbara. I like them instantly. I loved the bit where Ian knows all about the band Susan is listening to. I’m sure most of the kids think he’s square, and probably he is, in every important respect. Still, he has an “enquiring mind,” and probably similar to Susan, he lets out his (pop culture) knowledge “a little bit at a time, so as not to embarrass” them.
I wonder why Susan expects to return Barbara’s book the next day. Will she have finished it because she's had the time to read it, after countless adventures in time and space with her grandfather? Doesn’t that imply her grandfather has more control over the time machine than he lets on? Or does time pass differently inside the ship? And why is she borrowing a book on the French Revolution, if she has already witnessed it? Viewing the episode through the eyes of the 60s, her comment, “that’s not right,” regarding the history book is the audience’s first clue of the adventure to come.
I love the flashbacks with Susan, and for the first time, it becomes obvious that the show was shot live to tape in a single studio. Though the flashbacks are presumably on different days, Susan clothes haven’t changed at all. Even ignoring this little continuity error, the scenes are effectively awkward. Director Waris Hussein’s use of close-ups evoke memories of classroom embarrassments, humanizing Susan’s rather alien dialogue. [2] (One curious point, and maybe someone can explain this to me… If dimensions A, B and C, are effectively space, why does Susan say that E is also space? [3])
I find the Doctor quite creepy in his very first scene. He is suspicious and defensive from the start. If I try to watch this first episode from the perspective of never having seen it before, the Doctor appears (at the very least) to be an abusive grandfather. Think of it this way: Ian and Barbara do not know this stranger. They suspect he’s Susan’s grandfather, and is a doctor of some kind, but know nothing else about him. Worse, they’re convinced he’s got Susan locked up in a box that’s not roomier than two feet square. Scary.
In an aside to himself, the Doctor mutters, “Not the police, then?” in reference to Ian and Barbara; securing his criminal intent. Once inside the TARDIS, the audience [4] is relieved that Susan’s all right, but that doesn’t matter - because now we have the paradigm shift of entering the ship for the first time.
The Doctor continues to be creepy, albeit for new reasons. If we were prepared to believe that he was an abusive grandfather, what might he do to Ian and Barbara while trapped in his domain? Here, nothing makes sense. Anything could happen.
While the schoolteachers are distracted by the trappings of the TARDIS, he argues, “The point is not whether you understand. What is going to happen to you?” confirming this dark sentiment. The more the Doctor speaks, the more we’re compelled to find out more about him. He cycles through ignoring and mocking Ian’s inability to comprehend, until finally the Doctor’s motivations become clearer. He mentions that he and Susan are on Earth “without friends or protection,” implying they might be on the run from someone; or at least, vulnerable enough to be caught up in warfare, disease, crime, or any other dangers that exist at their destinations. The universe is dangerous, and in turn, the Doctor must also be dangerous to protect himself and Susan. His vigilance keeps their lives secret. If they let the intruders go - he and Susan must flee, or be discovered. Creepiness turns to tough love, as the Doctor decides to take on (or kidnap) Ian and Barbara in order to keep an upset Susan from staying in the 20th Century with her teachers…
…on the other hand, it’s clear the Doctor wanted to leave anyway. He remarks, “I tolerate the 20th Century, but I don’t enjoy it.”
As the TARDIS leaves for the first time on television, the Doctor and Susan turn away from the console, as if doing that is somehow necessary for dematerialization. The Doctor looks as if he’s suffering from severe heartburn here. Thank goodness this sequence of events is not necessary in future episodes. We rush into the next segment, and I realize this is not the Doctor I remember. He's more mysterious and unpredictable. Maybe not a dark lord [5], exactly, but certainly more complicated than I remember from childhood. As an adult, I can recognize a tighter performance. Hartnell plays him with more depth than I may given him credit for in the past.
Encore
Jacqueline Hill (Barbara) later plays Lexa in 1980’s Meglos with Tom Baker.
Future Echoes
Ian doesn’t know how right he is when he touches the police box and declares, “It’s alive!” I forget how we find out the TARDIS is an intelligent living being with telepathic circuits, but I know it’s long before the new series. I believe the Doctor’s assertion in Rise of the Cybermen - that the ship is not built, but “grown” - is the first time we hear about a presumably organic component to the TARDIS. I can’t wait to hear more about it in future episodes, and rediscover it in past adventures.
I love how massive the TARDIS appears on the inside, and how Ian can’t wrap his head around it for several minutes. It was great how Ian walked all around the police box, which conflicts him greatly once inside. Chang Lee (1996 Movie) and Rose (Rose) both do the same, but after they’ve entered, if I remember correctly. Chang Lee and Rose aside, many later companions surprisingly take this dimensional aberrance in stride. True, it saves time and helps keep the long-term audience engaged, but I think this knocks down the believability a notch. It's also unfortunate that Console Room seems to be seriously reduced by the Tom Baker era.
The Doctor's temporary address, 76 Totter’s Lane, appears again in Attack of the Cybermen and Remembrance of the Daleks. The latter story also features the reappearance of Coal Hill School. Sam Jones of the Eighth Doctor BBC Novel range attended Coal Hill in the 90s.
Coming soon: The Unaired Pilot
__________
[1] Written by Ron Grainer, but realised by Delia Derbyshire, out of electronically created sounds in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
[2] Depending on how you look at it, Susan is an alien in time as well as space. She mentions in the unaired pilot that she was “born the 49th Century.”
[3] While it doesn’t really answer my question - maybe Susan meant E-space (Exo-Space), an area occupying the same space as our universe, yet negative. We journey to E-Space in Full Circle, State of Decay, and Warriors’ Gate.
[4] When I say “audience” or “we,” I assume this audience has the same emotions and reactions as I do. You’ll notice I’ll use “we” a lot, so I don’t have to say “I” all the time. Everyone, of course, is entitled to unique experiences, and if your perspective contrasts (or agrees with) mine, I invite you to comment.
[5] On the other hand, the Valeyard has to come from somewhere, right?
The opening shot is beautiful shadow and fog, almost film noir-ish. Unfortunately, for me, the effect is undermined by the theme continuing past its title sequence. I have to remember that those seeing this for the first time wouldn’t necessarily find the theme tune as comforting as I do. It’s a familiar sound from my childhood, but back in 1963, this haunting melody was not at all likely to be heard in your sitting room right before Juke Box Jury. I won’t go into how unique and groundbreaking it was, and still is. I'll only say that it’s very eerie if I don’t take it for granted.
Ron Grainer's music ends right about the same time our eyes meet the police box. [1] The box begins humming mysteriously. Maybe it knows what’s coming.
In following scenes, I detect obvious chemistry between Ian and Barbara. I like them instantly. I loved the bit where Ian knows all about the band Susan is listening to. I’m sure most of the kids think he’s square, and probably he is, in every important respect. Still, he has an “enquiring mind,” and probably similar to Susan, he lets out his (pop culture) knowledge “a little bit at a time, so as not to embarrass” them.
I wonder why Susan expects to return Barbara’s book the next day. Will she have finished it because she's had the time to read it, after countless adventures in time and space with her grandfather? Doesn’t that imply her grandfather has more control over the time machine than he lets on? Or does time pass differently inside the ship? And why is she borrowing a book on the French Revolution, if she has already witnessed it? Viewing the episode through the eyes of the 60s, her comment, “that’s not right,” regarding the history book is the audience’s first clue of the adventure to come.
I love the flashbacks with Susan, and for the first time, it becomes obvious that the show was shot live to tape in a single studio. Though the flashbacks are presumably on different days, Susan clothes haven’t changed at all. Even ignoring this little continuity error, the scenes are effectively awkward. Director Waris Hussein’s use of close-ups evoke memories of classroom embarrassments, humanizing Susan’s rather alien dialogue. [2] (One curious point, and maybe someone can explain this to me… If dimensions A, B and C, are effectively space, why does Susan say that E is also space? [3])
I find the Doctor quite creepy in his very first scene. He is suspicious and defensive from the start. If I try to watch this first episode from the perspective of never having seen it before, the Doctor appears (at the very least) to be an abusive grandfather. Think of it this way: Ian and Barbara do not know this stranger. They suspect he’s Susan’s grandfather, and is a doctor of some kind, but know nothing else about him. Worse, they’re convinced he’s got Susan locked up in a box that’s not roomier than two feet square. Scary.
In an aside to himself, the Doctor mutters, “Not the police, then?” in reference to Ian and Barbara; securing his criminal intent. Once inside the TARDIS, the audience [4] is relieved that Susan’s all right, but that doesn’t matter - because now we have the paradigm shift of entering the ship for the first time.
The Doctor continues to be creepy, albeit for new reasons. If we were prepared to believe that he was an abusive grandfather, what might he do to Ian and Barbara while trapped in his domain? Here, nothing makes sense. Anything could happen.
While the schoolteachers are distracted by the trappings of the TARDIS, he argues, “The point is not whether you understand. What is going to happen to you?” confirming this dark sentiment. The more the Doctor speaks, the more we’re compelled to find out more about him. He cycles through ignoring and mocking Ian’s inability to comprehend, until finally the Doctor’s motivations become clearer. He mentions that he and Susan are on Earth “without friends or protection,” implying they might be on the run from someone; or at least, vulnerable enough to be caught up in warfare, disease, crime, or any other dangers that exist at their destinations. The universe is dangerous, and in turn, the Doctor must also be dangerous to protect himself and Susan. His vigilance keeps their lives secret. If they let the intruders go - he and Susan must flee, or be discovered. Creepiness turns to tough love, as the Doctor decides to take on (or kidnap) Ian and Barbara in order to keep an upset Susan from staying in the 20th Century with her teachers…
…on the other hand, it’s clear the Doctor wanted to leave anyway. He remarks, “I tolerate the 20th Century, but I don’t enjoy it.”
As the TARDIS leaves for the first time on television, the Doctor and Susan turn away from the console, as if doing that is somehow necessary for dematerialization. The Doctor looks as if he’s suffering from severe heartburn here. Thank goodness this sequence of events is not necessary in future episodes. We rush into the next segment, and I realize this is not the Doctor I remember. He's more mysterious and unpredictable. Maybe not a dark lord [5], exactly, but certainly more complicated than I remember from childhood. As an adult, I can recognize a tighter performance. Hartnell plays him with more depth than I may given him credit for in the past.
Encore
Jacqueline Hill (Barbara) later plays Lexa in 1980’s Meglos with Tom Baker.
Future Echoes
Ian doesn’t know how right he is when he touches the police box and declares, “It’s alive!” I forget how we find out the TARDIS is an intelligent living being with telepathic circuits, but I know it’s long before the new series. I believe the Doctor’s assertion in Rise of the Cybermen - that the ship is not built, but “grown” - is the first time we hear about a presumably organic component to the TARDIS. I can’t wait to hear more about it in future episodes, and rediscover it in past adventures.
I love how massive the TARDIS appears on the inside, and how Ian can’t wrap his head around it for several minutes. It was great how Ian walked all around the police box, which conflicts him greatly once inside. Chang Lee (1996 Movie) and Rose (Rose) both do the same, but after they’ve entered, if I remember correctly. Chang Lee and Rose aside, many later companions surprisingly take this dimensional aberrance in stride. True, it saves time and helps keep the long-term audience engaged, but I think this knocks down the believability a notch. It's also unfortunate that Console Room seems to be seriously reduced by the Tom Baker era.
The Doctor's temporary address, 76 Totter’s Lane, appears again in Attack of the Cybermen and Remembrance of the Daleks. The latter story also features the reappearance of Coal Hill School. Sam Jones of the Eighth Doctor BBC Novel range attended Coal Hill in the 90s.
Coming soon: The Unaired Pilot
__________
[1] Written by Ron Grainer, but realised by Delia Derbyshire, out of electronically created sounds in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
[2] Depending on how you look at it, Susan is an alien in time as well as space. She mentions in the unaired pilot that she was “born the 49th Century.”
[3] While it doesn’t really answer my question - maybe Susan meant E-space (Exo-Space), an area occupying the same space as our universe, yet negative. We journey to E-Space in Full Circle, State of Decay, and Warriors’ Gate.
[4] When I say “audience” or “we,” I assume this audience has the same emotions and reactions as I do. You’ll notice I’ll use “we” a lot, so I don’t have to say “I” all the time. Everyone, of course, is entitled to unique experiences, and if your perspective contrasts (or agrees with) mine, I invite you to comment.
[5] On the other hand, the Valeyard has to come from somewhere, right?
1 comment:
You wondered about Susan returning the book to Barbara the next day?
I only saw the episode a couple of times so I'm not sure if it was made clear there, but I still have the book and in that it says at the time, Susan and her Grandfather were not traveling around in space and time, but had settled in the junk yard.
Barbara and Ian discovering them forced them to have to flee and as you wrote, the Dr. kidnapps them to keep Susan from doing something desperate.
I'm looking forward to your future viewings and comments.
BkWurm1--long term Dr. Who fan
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