Anonymouswizard
2020-03-16, 07:17 PM
well I must be mad, because I recently decided to watch every surving episode of Doctor Who, in order, from An Unearthly Child. Even more mad because I decided to give my thoughts on every serial, explain what I think works and what doesn't and comment on how the show grew and evolved.
As a side note, I am well aware of the problems for the serials before the casting dalek changed it's views. Some of the views or lines of dialogue would be considered inappropriate, and I have occasionally referred to the first two Doctors as habing been broadcast in 'white and white' instead of in greyscale. I will be mostly skipping over this, so as to not say 'and every actor was caucasian' over and over again.
So, let's not stand on Ceremony!
So the first thing to note is that this serial spends half an episode pretending to be a different show, one about Barbara and Ian trying to save Susan from her abusive grandfather. It pulls it off incredibly well, there's something off about Susan, the details of her personal lifedon't quite add up, and everything is especially mysterious. Especially when it turns out that she might live in this junkyard. Even the old man who we presume to be her grandfather is creepy and evasive.
And then Ian and Barbara run into the TARDIS and we get the first appearance of that monster which is to haunt us for another six Doctors or so, bad special effects! The just appear slightly too far into the console room, although it's possible you might not notice that. The old man follows them in and gets Susan to close the door, and what follows is a very well done scene of Barbara and Ian in denial trying to convince Susan that her being from a different planet is just a delusion. It feels a little long but it manages to continue what we were assuming is the main plot of this show ('who is this doctor') and introduce us to the key elements of the actual plot, i.e. time travel and our main character is from the future (kind of).
To set the actual plot in motion the Doctor Foreman decides that he can't let the existence of time travel be known and kidnaps Ian and Barbara to an unknown time and place. Or decides it's a good excuse to finally leave 1963 England, if you want a motivation more in keeping with later Doctors. At the very least it's better than 'Barbara's boyfriend Ian accidentally trod on the button'. We end of a cliffhanger with a strange shadow approaching the TARDIS.
Before exiting the TARDIS the characters have a nice little discussion where they continue assuming this is all some trick, and we learn that the Doctor's surname isn't Foreman. Guess he's Susan's maternal grandfather (or that Foreman isn't her surname either, but we don't know about Imet Ordls yet).
Ian and Barbara finally begin to cotton onto the fact that they're in a science fiction program as the Doctor gets captured as he's searching for samples to identify the time and place. Because have have appeared in the land before years where people wore skins that somehow manage to be tight around their rears while fighting, and a caveman sees the Doctor lighting his pipe with a match and decides to kidnap him to make fire for the tribe. Something something karma, but of course Susan wants to save her grandfather and Ian and Barbara want to get home, so it's off to save the Doctor. But it turns out that the Tribe has two people vying to become chief by discovering the secrets of fire, bad guy Za who is the son of the old chief, wants the secret of fire, and is willing to imprison the Doctor to get it, and badder guy Kal, who kidnapped the Doctor in the first place, is willing to kill people to get what he wants, and wants the Doctor to make fire for him. So I guess we're abandoning a 'kidnapped to avoid information getting out' plot for a 'kidnapped for MacGuffin' plot.
Well the Doctor can't make fire without matches, and was never a member of the Scouts in the 42nd century, so when everybody arrives to rescue him they all get captured andleft in a cave to give up the secrets of fire or die at dawn. We end of a cliffhanger, the skulls in this cave are from those killed violently! Or, well, at least had holes cut in their heads to let the demons out.
During the night an old woman sneaks into the cave, cuts their bonds, and shows them a way out, because she's distrustful of fire and wants them to leave before they're forced to give it up. Za and his love interest Her discover the old woman just after the group has fled and give chase, eventually catching up because the Doctor is old and has to rest. But just before the two groups meet Za fights a wild animal and gets injured, causing Ian to rush over and give aid, delaying the arrival of the next serial by an entire episode in order to save a life and because the Doctor doesn't know medicine they jury rig a stretcher to carry Za back to the TARDIS, although apparently the Doctor's sharp stone was not a required material. This episode ends with the group being ambused on the way back to the TARDIS, as Kal has convinced the tribe that Za and Her have killed the old woman, and taken away our intrepid band of prisoners in order to keep the secrets of fire to themselves!
Which is also where the next episode starts, and we see some of the Doctor of later eras first emerge when he uses the fact that Kal, not Za, has a bloodied knife in order to convince the Tribe that he murdered the old woman and get him thrown out of the tribe. Unfortunately Za and the tribe recapture the TARDIS crew and imprison them in the same cave (with added guard) and give them the same deal, fire or die. Fortunately Ian was a member of the Scouts and manages to make fire with sticks and stones, which he may or may not have taught to Za, but unfortunately Za decides not to release the heroes because he thinks they come from and want to return to a desolate waste.
Well with the use of fire, skills, sticks, animal fat, and supersition the group manages to convince the tribe they're dead just long enough to rereach the TARDIS before they're recaptured, and take off as stone spears are flung. We see the TARDIS has landed in a stange place with fog and trees, infer that the Doctor cannot control the TARDIS's destination unless he knows his exit time of takeoff, and end on an omnimous increase in the radiation scanner.
All in all it's not a bad first serial, but it falls apart a bit in the last two episodes as the prehistory story looses it's focus somewhat, with Kal showing up for a caveman brawl with Za just as Ian successfully makes fire, and the continual delay of the heroes' escape. This serial might have been served by having a somewhat weaker plot and having Ian and BArbara's suspicions about the Doctor take centre stage.
Although another interesting thing to note is that the Doctor isn't really the main character, not yet. Ian seems to be, being the most proactive of the group, while the Doctor is presented as a villain early on and at times a grudging follower of Ian's plan, although this begins to change in the forth episode where his intelligence and ability to think on his feat begin to take centre stage alongside his Charisma, allowing the show to begin to find it's feet.
However, next time we have the reason I started all of this. The serial that introduced something that kids hiding behind the sofa would never forget. Something so iconic that no British household will ever see a toilet plunger and egg whisk as a peaceful combination ever again. But it's going to be a while, it's seven episodes long and I want to get through them all before the week is up.
Well out with the unseen stories now and a return to the only story of the first two Doctors I've seen in it's original form. As long as I don't see Peter Cushing in the next episode I know I'm on the right track.
As a side note, I am well aware of the problems for the serials before the casting dalek changed it's views. Some of the views or lines of dialogue would be considered inappropriate, and I have occasionally referred to the first two Doctors as habing been broadcast in 'white and white' instead of in greyscale. I will be mostly skipping over this, so as to not say 'and every actor was caucasian' over and over again.
So, let's not stand on Ceremony!
So the first thing to note is that this serial spends half an episode pretending to be a different show, one about Barbara and Ian trying to save Susan from her abusive grandfather. It pulls it off incredibly well, there's something off about Susan, the details of her personal lifedon't quite add up, and everything is especially mysterious. Especially when it turns out that she might live in this junkyard. Even the old man who we presume to be her grandfather is creepy and evasive.
And then Ian and Barbara run into the TARDIS and we get the first appearance of that monster which is to haunt us for another six Doctors or so, bad special effects! The just appear slightly too far into the console room, although it's possible you might not notice that. The old man follows them in and gets Susan to close the door, and what follows is a very well done scene of Barbara and Ian in denial trying to convince Susan that her being from a different planet is just a delusion. It feels a little long but it manages to continue what we were assuming is the main plot of this show ('who is this doctor') and introduce us to the key elements of the actual plot, i.e. time travel and our main character is from the future (kind of).
To set the actual plot in motion the Doctor Foreman decides that he can't let the existence of time travel be known and kidnaps Ian and Barbara to an unknown time and place. Or decides it's a good excuse to finally leave 1963 England, if you want a motivation more in keeping with later Doctors. At the very least it's better than 'Barbara's boyfriend Ian accidentally trod on the button'. We end of a cliffhanger with a strange shadow approaching the TARDIS.
Before exiting the TARDIS the characters have a nice little discussion where they continue assuming this is all some trick, and we learn that the Doctor's surname isn't Foreman. Guess he's Susan's maternal grandfather (or that Foreman isn't her surname either, but we don't know about Imet Ordls yet).
Ian and Barbara finally begin to cotton onto the fact that they're in a science fiction program as the Doctor gets captured as he's searching for samples to identify the time and place. Because have have appeared in the land before years where people wore skins that somehow manage to be tight around their rears while fighting, and a caveman sees the Doctor lighting his pipe with a match and decides to kidnap him to make fire for the tribe. Something something karma, but of course Susan wants to save her grandfather and Ian and Barbara want to get home, so it's off to save the Doctor. But it turns out that the Tribe has two people vying to become chief by discovering the secrets of fire, bad guy Za who is the son of the old chief, wants the secret of fire, and is willing to imprison the Doctor to get it, and badder guy Kal, who kidnapped the Doctor in the first place, is willing to kill people to get what he wants, and wants the Doctor to make fire for him. So I guess we're abandoning a 'kidnapped to avoid information getting out' plot for a 'kidnapped for MacGuffin' plot.
Well the Doctor can't make fire without matches, and was never a member of the Scouts in the 42nd century, so when everybody arrives to rescue him they all get captured andleft in a cave to give up the secrets of fire or die at dawn. We end of a cliffhanger, the skulls in this cave are from those killed violently! Or, well, at least had holes cut in their heads to let the demons out.
During the night an old woman sneaks into the cave, cuts their bonds, and shows them a way out, because she's distrustful of fire and wants them to leave before they're forced to give it up. Za and his love interest Her discover the old woman just after the group has fled and give chase, eventually catching up because the Doctor is old and has to rest. But just before the two groups meet Za fights a wild animal and gets injured, causing Ian to rush over and give aid, delaying the arrival of the next serial by an entire episode in order to save a life and because the Doctor doesn't know medicine they jury rig a stretcher to carry Za back to the TARDIS, although apparently the Doctor's sharp stone was not a required material. This episode ends with the group being ambused on the way back to the TARDIS, as Kal has convinced the tribe that Za and Her have killed the old woman, and taken away our intrepid band of prisoners in order to keep the secrets of fire to themselves!
Which is also where the next episode starts, and we see some of the Doctor of later eras first emerge when he uses the fact that Kal, not Za, has a bloodied knife in order to convince the Tribe that he murdered the old woman and get him thrown out of the tribe. Unfortunately Za and the tribe recapture the TARDIS crew and imprison them in the same cave (with added guard) and give them the same deal, fire or die. Fortunately Ian was a member of the Scouts and manages to make fire with sticks and stones, which he may or may not have taught to Za, but unfortunately Za decides not to release the heroes because he thinks they come from and want to return to a desolate waste.
Well with the use of fire, skills, sticks, animal fat, and supersition the group manages to convince the tribe they're dead just long enough to rereach the TARDIS before they're recaptured, and take off as stone spears are flung. We see the TARDIS has landed in a stange place with fog and trees, infer that the Doctor cannot control the TARDIS's destination unless he knows his exit time of takeoff, and end on an omnimous increase in the radiation scanner.
All in all it's not a bad first serial, but it falls apart a bit in the last two episodes as the prehistory story looses it's focus somewhat, with Kal showing up for a caveman brawl with Za just as Ian successfully makes fire, and the continual delay of the heroes' escape. This serial might have been served by having a somewhat weaker plot and having Ian and BArbara's suspicions about the Doctor take centre stage.
Although another interesting thing to note is that the Doctor isn't really the main character, not yet. Ian seems to be, being the most proactive of the group, while the Doctor is presented as a villain early on and at times a grudging follower of Ian's plan, although this begins to change in the forth episode where his intelligence and ability to think on his feat begin to take centre stage alongside his Charisma, allowing the show to begin to find it's feet.
However, next time we have the reason I started all of this. The serial that introduced something that kids hiding behind the sofa would never forget. Something so iconic that no British household will ever see a toilet plunger and egg whisk as a peaceful combination ever again. But it's going to be a while, it's seven episodes long and I want to get through them all before the week is up.
Well out with the unseen stories now and a return to the only story of the first two Doctors I've seen in it's original form. As long as I don't see Peter Cushing in the next episode I know I'm on the right track.