November 23, 1963. It was a dark and stormy night… Wait, that’s not quite right. It was many, many years ago and the only storm brewing was one in America about the assassination of President Kennedy. But it was on this night that Britons got their first glimpse of a science-fiction phenomenon that would encompass nearly four decades and scare the bejesus out of millions of children in the British Isles and later in America.
An Unearthly Child has the distinct disadvantage of being overshadowed by its immediate successor, The Daleks, which is a shame because Child is quite good and serves as a stellar introduction in to the Doctor Who mthyos. It has excellent first turns around the wheel for what would be the principle cast members, serviceable and believable acting from the guests, mostly convincing sets, determined pacing, and simple but powerful and entertaining storytelling. One thing that doesn’t get too much attention today is how committed Doctor Who was to sticking to its premise and not being overly consumed with the other science fiction fads that would come along during its distinguished career.
Of course everything starts with the beginning and Doctor Who’s beginning was phenomenal. The theme combined with what is a very stunning visual that some how seems to convey the sense of time travel that some of the other “tunnel-less” versions. Even though this isn’t the first mix that I was introduced to, I find that I much prefer this version. It seems less produced, though clearly any research to that matter shows that Delia Derbyshire’s original mix was run through the ringer just as much as the others would be. Other than that the opening few seconds set the scene quite well in the 1960’s London. The mists rolling through the city and the policeman gazing through the junkyard isn’t quite eerie, but is definitely unsettling in some unspecified manner. It works great as a hook into the setting. If there is one thing to be said about Child, it is that it works great with establishing atmosphere.
Aside from the fact that Totter’s Lane looks like a junkyard for a movie set and the fact that the exterior sets that establish location in the first few moments when the Doctor and his companions travel back in time are utter rubbish, the sets in this story work incredibly well. The Cave of Skulls, the interior of the TARDIS, the Coal Hill School, and even the forest work superbly. The skeletons scattered about the cave set are convincing when they need to be. The first glimpse at the interior of the TARDIS is startling and stands in stark contrast to the grungy exterior of the junkyard and even surprises though I have seen that particular set or variations on it hundreds of times. Placing yourself in the shoes of Barbara and Ian in that situation yields a better appreciation for the set design in a show that was oft maligned for exactly such things.
All the better with the atmosphere set and the tone established from shot one, is the presence of some truly adroit actors who are supported by a script that fluctuates slightly in quality, but is ultimately focused on advancing a simple yet engrossing plot. Because this is the first time that we meet both Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton, I want to talk a bit about the first impressions that I garnered from their initial appearances and subsequent interactions with each other. Clearly these are both bright people who are intrigued by the problem of Susan Foreman. It is a credit to the acting of both William Russell and Jacqueline Hill that Ian and Barbara feel like colleagues who have known each other long enough to be comfortable discussing such a problem with one another. In Ian’s interaction with Susan, he is self-depricating and charming enough to try to lure Susan out of her shell by mentioning the name of the band that Susan is listening to on her portable radio. Barbara is clearly intelligent and forceful enough that Ian gives way to her opinion and listens carefully to her. A scene which hints at the depth of their relationship happens when the two of them express doubts about what they are doing and they both feel like real conversations that would be happening at this point. For a story that is so heavy in plot and action, it is nice to see some characterization in two people whose inclusion and character will become highlights of many following Doctor Who serials. Aside from the annoying and awkward flashbacks the car sequence works extremely well.
Then there is Susan. While Carol Ann Ford plays Susan as she is written and there seems to be little that she does that isn’t in the script, I have always had trouble with Susan. Her little smart-ass asides and quips are extremely annoying, but the character does shine through in the early part of An Unearthly Child in that she is bright and inquisitive, but that doesn’t really outstrip the more grating aspects of her personality. The most trying aspect of Susan in this story is the state of near panic when she finds that the Doctor had gone missing. Instead of just assuming that he had walked away from his notebook, she assumes that something has happened to him. And then noisily panics in a scene that is both grating and awkward. Despite the fact that she’s right about him, it feels like weak writing. It’s not really the most evident in this installment, but I certainly will have more to say about Susan as the series winds on.
Finally of course there is the impeccable William Hartnell as the First Doctor. Coming from later incarnations of this touchstone time traveler can be quite a shock when viewing An Unearthly Child for the first time. The Doctor is mysterious, evasive, stubborn, combative, and downright hostile when Ian begins to press him on Susan’s whereabouts. He exercises his reason to determine that Ian and Barbara have essentially trapped themselves in that situation at the junkyard. It takes an act of physical force to make the Doctor let them into the TARDIS and once there he essentially kidnaps them to prove his point. Susan is appalled at his actions and if you’re a Doctor Who fan you might appreciate how jarring this really is; to have the Doctor almost be the bad guy in the story. He warns Ian about the live lead on the console, but laughs capriciously when he electrocutes himself. Clearly this Doctor is not about to be judged by what he views as lower level intellects and flings himself and his companions a hundred thousand years into the past mostly just to prove a point.
Once the TARDIS lands in 100,000 B.C. the story moves to a straight forward plot based adventure, though good bits of characterization slip through in the process. Za is the son of the firemaker and has been charged with the task of making fire, which within the tribe of Gum appears to be of supreme political importance. The political power of something as simple as fire seems ridiculous, but then imagine a world without such a necessity and then imagine someone who has the power to make it at will and then feel all of the influence that he would yield. It is to the credit of Anthony Coburn, the writer, that such a simple concept can be taken to such an extreme, but arrive there logically. The needs and motivations of the cavemen are not complex, but they do flow right from events in the story and thus feel very logical and organic to both the characters and the viewers. However there gets a point where the constant campaigning for leadership and the constant jockeying for power seems a bit excessive. I can’t say whether or not this behavior was typical of early man, but it does feel like padding and gets excessive at points. On the other hand, if it is padding it’s decent padding and reasonably entertaining. Za’s ultimate goal is to gain complete control of the tribe by any means necessary and that includes a rather brutal and realistic fight near the end of the story.
Barbara and Ian really shine in this story. Barbara shows glimpses of her character and looks into the future when she shows compassion to the injured Za and both of them show their teachers’ tendencies when they try to instruct the cavemen on how to make a new society. Of course it all it fails, but it is entertaining to watch it do so. The power struggle between the Doctor and Ian show two different points of view; the Doctor clearly alien and pragmatic only concerned with the welfare of his crew and Ian who still views Za a human being despite their past adversity. At the end both Barbara and Ian realize their mistake of trying to place their views and perspectives on the way the world should work and realize that this was a very different time with a very different reality. As for the ending, two words: Flaming. Skulls. Quite a dramatic ending and a good one.
All in all An Unearthly Child is fundamentally sound with few weak spots. All of the regulars are immediately engaging or at the very least intriguing, the sets are convincing, and the writing just shines. The main structural weakness of being two stories in one is glossed over and by not spending any time on the jump makes it all the less jarring. A strong opening for Doctor Who and certainly one that made me want to see what would happen in the next installment. Of course we all know that The Daleks would turn what could have been an interesting aside in the annals of science fiction into a four decade long behemoth.
