“You see? The first, faint glimmerings…” – The Doctor
Unaired Pilot Episode
Unaired Pilot Episode
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I can understand almost every change they made. There’s certainly a lot more shouting in the pilot version. Sydney Newman, the man often credited with creating Doctor Who, allowed the producers another shot at making the first episode. [1] He gave extensive notes, including, “Old man not funny enough.” [2] And while I don’t think the Doctor’s particularly wacky in the broadcast version, he’s almost evil in this. More about that later.
My first thought was actually: the Coal Hill schoolchildren are even quieter teenagers in the pilot. And, instead of a waiting for a book, Susan seems to stay after school for no reason whatsoever. After her teachers bid her good evening, she stays behind to create the Rorschach from Hell, again, for no reason.
Unfortunately, Ian and Barbara have a little less chemistry, which I guess is to be expected. In the broadcast version, I can almost see Ian asking Barbara out for a drink later; but I don’t get that sense here.
Finally, when William Hartnell steps on to the scene, he makes a huge difference. It’s obvious there were quite a few dialogue changes between this and the new version. However, what’s striking, was that his tone was originally even darker. If you didn’t have visions of Susan locked up in a cupboard while watching the broadcast version, this performance may do it. The Doctor appears almost predatorial as the TARDIS door opens. We hear a reprise of the music from Susan’s radio, and he jumps as a discovered kidnapper might.
The Doctor and Susan seem more argumentative in the pilot. At one point, he even calls her a “stupid girl,” blaming Susan for the breach in security. Hartnell plays it angry, rather than mysterious. Likewise, his argument with Ian is most pointed. As Ian claims it’s improbable to find a scientific breakthrough in a junkyard, the Doctor replies, "For your science, schoolmaster, not for ours. I tell you, before your ancestors turned the first wheel, the people of my world had reduced movement through the farthest reaches of space to a game for children."
The scene becomes heated, and soon we see Ian and Barbara beating on the doors to get out. It’s at this moment that the Doctor laughs at them, as if a villain. I have to admit, the moment gave me chills. The Doctor seems rather evil here, and it’s reinforced by his electrifying the TARDIS console, as Ian’s flipping switches. The broadcast version seemed less malevolent. The Doctor still chooses to turn the console “live,” but he steps away before Ian even gets to it. I'm not sure why, but the moment played this way strikes me as being more defensive than anything else.
The one bit of dialogue I wish they could’ve kept, was part of the Doctor’s conversation with Susan - trying to get her on his side. He explains that it doesn’t matter if the teachers don’t understand the TARDIS yet, just knowing that the dimensional anomaly is possible may pollute the timeline. He compares it to giving the ancient Romans gunpowder or supplying Napoleon with an air force.
Even the technical aspects of the pilot seem darker. There are more half-lit shots of ominous dummies in the scrapyard; and one shot with a voyeuristic view through an empty mattress frame in the foreground. The theme even has an extra electronic crack! at the beginning. It’s just not the comforting tune I grew up with, and I wonder how long the series would have lasted had it followed through with these darker characterizations...
Or, if it would’ve been canceled entirely.
Next episode: The Cave of Skulls
Finally, when William Hartnell steps on to the scene, he makes a huge difference. It’s obvious there were quite a few dialogue changes between this and the new version. However, what’s striking, was that his tone was originally even darker. If you didn’t have visions of Susan locked up in a cupboard while watching the broadcast version, this performance may do it. The Doctor appears almost predatorial as the TARDIS door opens. We hear a reprise of the music from Susan’s radio, and he jumps as a discovered kidnapper might.
The Doctor and Susan seem more argumentative in the pilot. At one point, he even calls her a “stupid girl,” blaming Susan for the breach in security. Hartnell plays it angry, rather than mysterious. Likewise, his argument with Ian is most pointed. As Ian claims it’s improbable to find a scientific breakthrough in a junkyard, the Doctor replies, "For your science, schoolmaster, not for ours. I tell you, before your ancestors turned the first wheel, the people of my world had reduced movement through the farthest reaches of space to a game for children."
The scene becomes heated, and soon we see Ian and Barbara beating on the doors to get out. It’s at this moment that the Doctor laughs at them, as if a villain. I have to admit, the moment gave me chills. The Doctor seems rather evil here, and it’s reinforced by his electrifying the TARDIS console, as Ian’s flipping switches. The broadcast version seemed less malevolent. The Doctor still chooses to turn the console “live,” but he steps away before Ian even gets to it. I'm not sure why, but the moment played this way strikes me as being more defensive than anything else.
The one bit of dialogue I wish they could’ve kept, was part of the Doctor’s conversation with Susan - trying to get her on his side. He explains that it doesn’t matter if the teachers don’t understand the TARDIS yet, just knowing that the dimensional anomaly is possible may pollute the timeline. He compares it to giving the ancient Romans gunpowder or supplying Napoleon with an air force.
Even the technical aspects of the pilot seem darker. There are more half-lit shots of ominous dummies in the scrapyard; and one shot with a voyeuristic view through an empty mattress frame in the foreground. The theme even has an extra electronic crack! at the beginning. It’s just not the comforting tune I grew up with, and I wonder how long the series would have lasted had it followed through with these darker characterizations...
Or, if it would’ve been canceled entirely.
Next episode: The Cave of Skulls
___________
[1] I tend to think of no one person as the creator of Doctor Who. Sydney Newman (the newly hired Head of Drama at the BBC) certainly got the ball rolling, and had final say in a lot of the original situations and character decisions. However, I consider him more seminal in organizing the show’s original production staff, including: Donald Wilson, C.E. Webber, and Verity Lambert, with whom he would often butt heads. The Doctor (as John Smith) in Human Nature, refers to his parents as "Sydney and Verity."
[2] Doctor Who: Origins. (DVD special feature)
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