An Unearthly Child

But it's bigger on the inside ... !

An Unearthly Child (1 X 25mins B&W)
Written by Anthony Coburn
Doctor Who Series one Episode one, transmitted BBC 23 November 1963

Synopsis

At 5.15pm, just after the football results, viewers saw a London police constable investigate a junkyard at 76 Totters Lane. Saturdays were when audiences would watch comfy BBC police drama series Dixon of Dock Green, and this opening reassures the audience, after the bizarre opening credit sequence with its strange electronic music, by the familiar. But just when the copper leaves the camera pans onto an abandoned police box (a familiar object to 1960s audiences), from which emanates a strange humming noise. Introducing a new TV show, like the opening paragraphs in a book, is extremely important but very difficult to pull off. This is superb, immediately tainting the everyday with a hint of something strange.
We then go to Coal Hill School where we find two staff members, history teacher Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) and science teacher Ian Chesterton (William Russell) discussing a pupil of theirs, Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) who puzzles them by her simultaneous great knowledge, well beyond her years, of history and science, and her general ignorance of everyday things, like British currency of the time. I don't know why, but this always reminds me of Dr Watson's list of Sherlock Holmes's knowledge. We then meet her listening to pop music on her transistor radio (quite a feat in 1963 as although the year of Beatlemania, there was no pop music radio stations run by the BBC then, and this is a good year before the advent of 'pirate' radio stations), which goes to show she's 'normal', at least to teens watching.
The teachers are concerned that she lives with her grandfather at an address that doesn't exist, an abandoned junkyard. So they follow Susan home and see her enter the yard. But when they enter, she's gone, and they see the police box. Hearing the hum, Ian touches it and exclaims the immortal line "it's alive!", thus (unconsciously maybe) linking the show to the great horror tradition of cinema. They meet her grandfather and confront him. Where is Susan and why doesn't he let let them in the police box to check, even though he has a key? Hearing Susan's voice coming from within the box, they enter, thus engendering for the first time the primal shock (or thrill) of entering the TARDIS for the first time

Astounded by what they see (it's bigger on the inside than on the outside) they mock the Doctor and Susan when they claim to be aliens from another century, and believe it's all an illusion. They also doubt the Doctor when he states it moves. Ian exclaims "a thing that looks like a police box standing in a junkyard, it can move anywhere in time and space?". Concerned that they'll alert the authorities if released, the Doctor launches the TARDIS, for the first time for we the audience. The episode then ends with a deserted landscape (we're not in Kansas anymore Toto), when the police box materialises and a threatening black shadow looms over the craft.

Review

What can one say about the very first episode? Unfortunately I was too young to see this originally, and living in an ITV household I didn't get to see the 60s episodes until at least  a quarter of a century later (and some only when released on DVD). The improvements on the 35 minute pilot are noticeable, faster pace, better characterisation and acting (especially from Carole) and none of the technical mishaps (the doors not working). I think if I had seen it originally I would have been hooked. The blend of the everyday (all the kids watching would recognise the school scenes) with the fantastic is very nicely judged. The opening, with that strange hum, sets the scene, but obviously the big impact comes when first entering the TARDIS.
This is one of the great iconic moments of British fantasy, akin to when Lucy stumbles out of the back of the wardrobe into Narnia. It's bigger on the inside! We've seen Ian investigate the outside so what we see now is outstanding. Obviously we're all familiar with this now, but imagine a 1963 audience, much less aware of TV special effects and production, watching people enter a small box and find themselves in a large room. I  imagine many people watching would have wondered in awe as to how it was done. 

We also have the mystery of the Doctor and Susan, they give little away about themselves, which adds to the mystery, but we know they're not human, so what are they? Added to this the strange TARDIS console, a masterpiece of design, the bizarre opening sequence with its strange wavy lines and spirals (which are repeated when the TARDIS takes flight), and unearthly electronic music, the weird noise the craft makes when it takes flight, and that menacing shadow at the end, this is TV at its best, firing on all guns. Great script, fast-paced and economic direction, and exemplary performances from all four. Who wouldn't watch it again next week?

TARDIS Rating 5/5.

Creators


  • Concept a combination of Sydney Newman, Head of BBC Drama, Donald Wilson, Head of Drama Serials, and staff writer C E Webber came up with the basic premise (note the show was made by BBC drama, it was never part of BBC Children's TV). Producer Verity Lambert, script editor David Whitaker, and writer Anthony Coburn 'fleshed' out the basic premise, and wrote and produced the pilot (effectively the first episode). 
  • Opening credits Bernard Lodge designed the innovative title sequence, of which nothing like it had been seen before, with electronic distortion caused by pointing the TV camera at its own monitor.
  • Theme tune Ron Grainer wrote the superbly memorable theme tune, Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop arranged it using analogue noise generators (this was long  before synthesisers, let alone computers).
  • TARDIS dematerialisation sound Brian Hodgson created this memorable sound by strumming his front door key down a piano wire, then manipulated the sound.
  • TARDIS interior Peter Brachacki designed the interior, including the now classic hexagonal TARDIS console design.

Credits

Dr. Who ..................................................................................... WILLIAM HARTNELL
Ian Chesterton .......................................................................... WILLIAM RUSSELL
Barbara Wright ......................................................................... JACQUELINE HILL
Susan Foreman .......................................................................  CAROLE ANN FORD

Special Effects ................................... by The Visual Effects Department of the BBC
Title Music ........................... by RON GRAINER with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Incidental Music ...................................................................... by NORMAN KAY
Story Editor ............................................................................. DAVID WHITAKER
Designer ................................................................................. PETER BRACHACKI
Associate Producer ...............................................................  MERVYN PINFIELD
Producer ................................................................................  VERITY LAMBERT
Directed .................................................................................  by WARIS HUSSEIN

Comments