The Pilot Episode

Original Pilot

Season:	1
Doctor:	First Doctor
Companion	Susan
	Ian
	Barbara
Original Airdate:	26th August 1991
Format:	1 25-minute episode
Production Code:	0
Writer:	Anthony Coburn
Director:	Waris Hussein
Producer:	Verity Lambert

The Pilot is made up of two sections.

Section 1 are the scenes of An Unearthly Child set in the School, Ian's car and the Junkyard. They are very similar to the broadcast version but with a few minor changes.

Section 2 is made up of 3 parts:

Part 1 - The scenes set inside the TARDIS Console room. This version has several technical problems and problems with the dialogue

Part 2 - Begins with the teachers and Doctor entering the TARDIS, there is some kind of problem and the take is abandoned.

Part 3 - The scene from the teachers first entering the TARDIS until the end of the episode, comlete with end credits of An Unearthly Child.

Cast

• Dr Who - William Hartnell
• Ian Chesterton - William Russell
• Barbara Wright - Jacqueline Hill
• Susan Foreman - Carole Ann Ford
• Policeman - Reg Cranfield
• School Children - Carole Clarke, Mavis Ransom, Francesca Bertorelli, Heather Lyons, Cedric Schoeman, Richard Wilson, Brinn Thomas
• Stand-In - Leslie Bates

Crew

Anthony Coburn (Writer), Waris Hussein (Director), Verity Lambert (Producer), Mervyn Pinfield (Associate Producer), David Whitaker (Story Editor), Peter Brachacki (Designer), Norman Kay (Incidental Music)

Bad Guys

• The Doctor - The closest this episode comes to a bad guy. He kidnaps two innocent teachers knowing they might never be able to return home, just to protect the secret of his existence.

Story Notes

• This episode was discovered in 1978 in a mislabeled film can
• Episode exists on 16mm telerecordings
• Episode held in BBC's Film and Videotape Library
• Version 1 of the Pilot was broadcast on BBC2 on 26th August 1991 as part of The Limegrove Story, a series of programs marking the closure of the BBC Limegrove Studio's where the episode had first been recorded. It consisted of Section 1 and Section 2 part 1.
• Version 2 of the Pilot was included on The Hartnell Years Video. It consists of Section 1 and Section 2 part 3. It has never been broadcast on television
• Version 3 of the Pilot was included on The Edge of Destruction Video. It consists of Section 1 and Section 2 parts 1,2, and 3.
• After viewing the original pilot Sydney Newman decided that the episode needed to be remade. As well as numerous technical and dialogue problems changes were also made to the story. These primarily consisted of changing the characters of the Doctor and Susan. The Doctor was made more likeable and less confrontational, while the character of Susan is made less alien.

Statistics

Duration

The Pilot - 25'23"

Ratings

The Pilot - N/A

Continuity

• The Pilot differs considerably from An Unearthly Child.
• The key difference is in the characterization of the Doctor. In An Unearthly Child he was a tetchy old man, in The Pilot he seems much nastier.
• The Doctor shows genuine anger towards Susan rather than the affection he showed in the broadcast version

More Info

• Story Synopsis

• Comparison of the Pilot Episode and An Unearthly Child

• Story Transcript

• Story Novelization

• DVD Release

External Links

Television

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