An Unearthly Child (TV story)

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An Unearthly Child was the first televised story of Doctor Who. It premiered on Saturday, 23 November, 1963 and first introduced viewers to the Doctor, played by William Hartnell, and his fantastic machine, the TARDIS.

Synopsis

Curious about an unusual pupil, Susan Foreman, two school teachers follow her home to a junkyard. This leads to an encounter with the mysterious Doctor and his police box which turns out to be a craft capable of travel in time and space.

Afraid that the teachers will reveal his secrets, the Doctor whisks them back in time. They arrive in 100,000 BC and encounter a group of cave people desperately trying to create fire. Kidnapped and imprisoned in a cave filled with skulls the unwilling travellers have to work together to create fire and escape their captors.

Plot

An Unearthly Child (1)

Ian and Barbara discover the secret of Susan

School teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright become concerned about one of their pupils, Susan Foreman. She seems to have a very alien outlook on 1963 England and though her knowledge of some issues is very advanced, she has other curious gaps in her basic understanding or extends concepts beyond their normal parameters. Following her home, Ian and Barbara discover that she appears to live in a junkyard with her grandfather. In fact, Susan and her grandfather, the Doctor, are aliens, who travel through time and space in the TARDIS, a time machine disguised as a police box that is much larger on the inside than it is on the outside. When Ian and Barbara stumble into the TARDIS, the Doctor, who appears to be a wanderer and a fugitive, decides that it is too dangerous to remain in 1963 London and so dematerialises the TARDIS with himself, Susan and the two school teachers on board.

The Cave of Skulls (2)

File:Anunearthlychild3.jpg
The Doctor lights his pipe

As they travel back to the Stone Age, Ian and Barbara blame the Doctor for kidnapping them from contemporary society. They also have difficulty believing they have actually travelled in time, but the remoteness of their situation and the vileness of the civilisation they encounter convince them that they have indeed been taken far back into the past. The Doctor is concerned too because the exterior of the TARDIS does not seem to have changed when the ship rematerialised. Susan explains that the ship is supposed to change its appearance to blend in with its surrounding, but for some reason it has remained in the shape of a police box.

They soon become involved in the power struggles of a Stone Age tribe (known in an early working title of the serial as the Tribe of Gum), where leader Za is being mocked for not being able to produce fire, which his father, the previous leader, was able to do. Kal, an interloper from another tribe, only heightens the tension when he offers himself as an alternative leader who could make fire. His evidence is the Doctor, whom he saw trying to light his pipe, but the old man has dropped his matches and is unable to help. As a punishment the four time travellers are incarcerated in the hideous Cave of Skulls, containing remnants of executed people and sacrifices, and promised a similar fate for refusing to co-operate. They are freed by Old Mother, the naïve widow of the last tribal leader, who believes that they could make fire but does not want them to do so, as she considers it a bad omen. The four travellers then flee into a Palaeolithic forest pursued by Za and his partner Hur.

The Forest of Fear (3)

File:Anunearthlychild4.jpg
The Doctor and his companions in the forest

When Za and Hur catch up with them the tribal leader is attacked by a wild beast and seriously injured. The Doctor is so desperate to leave that he contemplates killing the caveman, but is stopped by Ian. They build a makeshift stretcher to help convey Za back to the tribal settlement, hoping by doing so to prove their good intentions. However, in their absence Kal has killed Old Mother and blamed it on Za. Kal assumes leadership of the tribe and leads a party of tribe members after the strangers, capturing them just as they reach the TARDIS.

The Firemaker (4)

File:Anunearthlychild5.jpg
Susan devises an escape plan.

The four travellers are returned to the encampment, but the Doctor is able to convince the tribe that Kal killed Old Mother and leads them in an attack which drives Kal into the forest. The recovered Za is once more declared leader, but instead of expressing his gratitude by freeing the travellers as the Doctor expected, he orders them returned to the Cave of Skulls, this time with Old Mother’s body for company. Ian is eventually able to make fire for Za using friction for a spark, hoping that this gift will convince the cave dwellers to set them all free. As Za watches intently, and the travellers try to explain to him how "in our tribe, the fire maker is the least important person," they are attacked by Kal, who has killed Za's guard and slipped into the cave, seeking revenge. Za fights with and kills Kal, further confirming his leadership of the tribe. With fire at his disposal, he is now undisputed leader. In this security he decrees that the travellers will merge with his tribe rather than leave and orders them confined to the Cave indefinitely.

Susan eventually devises a plan to scare and distract the tribes people enough to allow them to flee. Four skulls are placed on top of burning torches, and this ghoulish vision is enough to distract the tribe and allow the travellers to escape back into the forest. This time the four travellers make it back inside the TARDIS before the tribe can capture them and, once they are ensconced, the ship dematerialises once more.

The Doctor explains that he has no idea where or when they will end up next. In time the viewscreen shows their new destination, a mysterious jungle whose trees appear petrified. The travellers venture outside the TARDIS doors while, behind them on the console, the radiation detector's needle passes into the "Danger" zone...

Cast

Crew

References

Technology

  • At the start of Episode 2, caveman Za is attempting to create fire. He references his father, who made fire, but was killed for it. Later on, the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan are forced to give the cavemen fire in a struggle to be leader of the tribe.
  • Police box
  • The Doctor refers to television to help describe how the TARDIS is bigger on the inside.
  • Time travel
  • This is the first time the TARDIS has had a problem with the chameleon circuit

Astronomical Objects

  • The cavemen worship the Sun God, which they call Orb
  • Both Space and Time are mentioned by Susan as being related (with regard to dimensions).

London locations

Timeline

Cultural References

  • Susan refers to decimalisation. In 1963, England was working to a system of 240 pence to a pound. Decimalization actually took place on 15th February 1971 and it was just a guess by the production team that decimalization would take place at some time.
  • Reference is made to the Doctor and Susan having visited The French Revolution (1789 - 1799). It is also suggested that they have visited England after 1971 as Susan is aware of the introduction of the decimal system.
  • Susan is listening to John Smith and the Common Men when Ian and Barbara walk in, John Smith being the stage name of 'the honourable Aubrey Waites, also known as Chris Waites according to Ian. (This piece of music was also used in the documentary "Verity Lambert: Drama Queen", a tribute to the late Verity Lambert which was first broadcast on 5th April 2008 on BBC4.)

Story Notes

  • This is the first story broadcast on television.
  • This is the first broadcast story featuring the First Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.
  • This story is also known as 100,000 BC', The Tribe of Gum, The Firemakers and Cavemen. See disputed story titles for more information.
  • The episodes of this story went by different titles during the production stage. Episode 2 was originally known as The Fire-Maker, Episode 3 was originally known as The Cave of Skulls and Episode 4 was originally known as The Dawn of Knowledge.
  • All episodes exist in 16mm telerecordings.
  • All episodes are held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.
  • The first episode was repeated just before the second episode because of a power outage. This repeat was not however shown in Northern Ireland.
  • The original story line for this story was entitled Nothing at the End of the Lane. A short story by the same name written by Daniel O'Mahony can be found in Short Trips and Side Steps. It suggests the entire first season of the show may just be a psychotic fantasy in the mind of Barbara Wright.
  • Originally the names for the Doctor's companions were to be Bridget ("Biddy") instead of Susan, Lola McGovern (instead of Barbara Wright), and Clif instead of Ian.
  • The makers of the show originally considered the idea of having a functioning chameleon circuit but ruled it out on cost grounds.
  • The bones used in the cave of skulls were real bones taken from an abattoir and were very unpleasant to smell under hot studio lights.
  • Although assumed there is no evidence to suggest that episodes 2,3 and 4 are even set on Earth.
  • Other proposals considered for the first story included The Giants by C. E. Webber which was partially rewritten for the season 2 episode Planet of Giants and The Living World written by Alan Wakeman.
  • A pilot version of the first episode was made and exists in various versions. For more info on the pilot see the Pilot Episode.
  • The First Episode, An Unearthly Child has come to be seen as a classic of Science Fiction, which is in contrast to the less positive reaction of critics when it was first broadcast.
  • Bernard Lodge was the uncredited designer of the original title sequence.
  • We see the Doctor smoking a pipe in the Second episode but he is never seen smoking again.

Broadcast

  • The first broadcast of An Unearthly Child received only 4.4 million viewers. This was because a power outage in some parts of Britain had prevented some viewers from tuning in.

For this reason, on Wednesday 27 November, the Programme Review board decided to repeat the first episode immediately before the second episode. This repeat gained a significant more amount of viewers – 6.0 million.

Ratings

  • An Unearthly Child First Broadcast - 4.4 million viewers
  • An Unearthly Child Second Broadcast - 6.0 million viewers
  • The Cave of Skulls - 5.9 million viewers
  • The Forest of Fear - 6.9 million viewers
  • The Firemaker - 6.4 million viewers

Myths

  • An Unearthly Child was broadcast 10 minutes late due to an extended news report into the assassination of President Kennedy the previous day. ((It was transmitted only eighty seconds later than the scheduled 5.15 p.m.)
  • C. E. Webber co-wrote the story with Anthony Coburn. (Webber had actually been working on a proposed episode known as The Giants which was originally intended to be the first story but was later rejected).
  • This story was broadcast live. (This episode was not broadcast live, though many others of this era were broadcast live).
  • Jackie Lane was offered the role of Susan. (Although she auditioned for the part she withdrew before the role was cast).
  • Waris Hussein spotted Carole Ann Ford in BBC play called The Man on a Bicycle when he was looking for someone for the role of Susan. (This play was actually broadcast months before Hussein became involved with Doctor Who).
  • Jacqueline Hill worked as a model in Paris. (She didn't.)
  • The original police box was a prop left over from Dixon of Dock Green. (It was specially made for Doctor Who.)

Filming Locations

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • When Susan says "I like walking through the dark" neither Ian nor Barbara seem bothered about the thought of a teenage girl walking alone at night.
  • Why does Susan ask Barbara for a book about the French Revolution and then leave it in the classroom? As far as she is concerned at this point she will be at school the next day.
  • Just before Ian is electrocuted by the console someone in the studio can be heard shouting a cue.
  • At the end of episode one the caveman shadow is seen to extend much further than it really should.

Continuity

  • In Remembrance of the Daleks it appears to have been just weeks or even the day after the conclusion of episode 1 of "An Unearthly Child".
  • It is revealed in Remembrance of the Daleks that the Doctor was hiding the Hand of Omega in London when the teachers discovered his presence.
  • EDA's Interference - Book One and Interference - Book Two explain the importance of Foreman's Yard to the Doctor's timeline and introduces the character of I.M. Foreman.
  • During this adventure the Doctor encounters his Eighth Incarnation who has travelled back along his own timeline (EDA: The Eight Doctors).
  • The events of this story can be seen to follow on from those in TN: Time and Relative.
  • Susan claims that she made up the term TARDIS from the initials of Time and Relative Dimension in Space. But it is later revealed that Gallifreyan society is several million years old. An explanation for this apparent inconsistency is proposed in NA: Lungbarrow.
  • This story leads straight into The Daleks.

DVD, Video and Other Releases

DVD Release

Region 2 Box art

This story was released (as Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child) as part of the DVD box set The Beginning, together with The Daleks and The Edge of Destruction.

Released:

PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1882
PAL - Roadshow ????
NTSC - Warner Video E2489

Video Release

Cover for the original 1990 VHS release
  • First Release: Released as Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child

Released:

PAL - BBC Video BBCV4311
NTSC - CBS/FOX Video 3401
NTSC - Warner Video E1906

Notes: The 'Next Episode' caption has been removed from Episode 4.

Cover for the Remastered 2000 VHS release
  • Second Release: An unedited, remastered edition that the BBC originally intended to release in a box set with The Daleks and The Edge of Destruction. They changed their plans and decided to release each story individually.

Released:

PAL - BBC Video BBCV6959

Notes: A version of the Pilot has been released on The Hartnell Years video. The complete take has been released on The Edge of Destruction video.

Target Novelisations

Original Target cover
File:001c.jpg
1990 Re-issued cover

Titled Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child and written by Terrance Dicks, the book was published on 15th October 1981 by Target Books and priced at £1.25. With a cover by Andrew Skilleter, the book was issued in a 30,000 copy print run (ISBN 0-426-201442).

It was the first book published after a six month gap caused by a Writer's Guild strike and was later numbered as number 68 in the Target Books Doctor Who Library.

Reprints

  • 1982 (£1.25)
  • 1983 (£1.25)
  • 1984 (£1.35)
  • 1985 (£1.50)

The book was re-issued as Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child on 15th February 1990 (priced £2.50) with a print run of 5,000 copies. It featured new cover art using Alister Pearson's painting for the BBC Video release.

See also

External links

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