Or 100,000 BC. Or Tribe of Gum. Or whatever else you want to call it – “Classic”, for example.
Every story on this list has earned its place by merit: they all have something about them that makes them stand out. This one is probably the only one that feels like it has a right to be here: the first one, the one that started it all off – there’s just something special about that. But like I say, every story has earned its place on this list; this one is no exception.
The Received Fan Wisdom (RFW) about this one is that the first episode is a classic, but then once the cavemen appear it goes down hill. Not for the first time, RFW is completely wrong. The first episode is indeed a classic, but the following 3 are also very strong, and just as important to the story – and indeed the next 60 years.
Starting then with the first, titular episode. It’s brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I watch it ever year on the 23rd November, just like I watch Die Hard on Christmas Eve.1 It sets everything up in 25 perfectly paced minutes: the mystery of Susan, the wonder of the TARDIS, and gives us our first look at the 1st Doctor – here a shadowy, elusive figure, mistrustful of strangers and catlike in the way he plays with Barbara & Ian before they get inside. He’s all there, fully formed; Hartnell has a firm grasp of who this character is & how he’s playing him. The edges may soften as we go, Dennis Spooner may reimagine him as an action hero with comedy chops in a year’s time, but the core of the character – alien, aloof and enigmatic – is right there. We get a good introduction to the companions too, the curious teachers and the mysterious pupil, but The Doctor is the centre of attention once he arrives and rightly so. When RTD brought the show back in 2005 he repeated the trick that was established here: introducing The Doctor & The TARDIS through the eyes of his companion(s).
We also get the first in a long, long line of great cliffhangers. With hindsight we know where the TARDIS has landed and who’s shadow that is, but when I first watched this – as an 11 year old budding fan who stumbled across the broadcast of the unaired Pilot as part of a BBC celebration of Lime Grove studio – I had no idea. That shot could have been ANYWHERE, any planet with any unknown race threatening the crew, and that idea was thrilling. Just magical. I can easily see how any child of the day could have been drawn in to this show and trapped in that magic. I always judge a cliffhanger on how well it makes me want to watch the next episode2 and this is one of the very best.
I remember being just as thrilled with the resolution a short time later when I got ahold of the VHS and was able to watch the rest of the story. When Kal is revealed as the owner of the shadow, I remember thinking “Great! A historical!” As someone expecting adventures in time and space it was a delight to have the rug pulled and get a historical. It’s not a full historical from this point though, we still have the aftermath of the never-seen-again ability of the TARDIS to knock you out if you look at the time rotor when taking off to deal with3, that marvelous speech about the birds in the sky4 and then some tentative exploring before we get stuck in properly.
Why I think the cavemen episodes of this story work so well is for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we throw our regulars out of their depth. It could have been easy for the travelers from the future to be vastly superior to the cavemen, but by taking the simplest things away from them – a box of matches – and showing how they struggle as a result, we not only get some good insights into our characters but a real, unexpected sense of danger and a hint of social commentary. It’s clever writing.
The characterisations are the second thing that makes the back end work. Sadly, Susan’s mystery and promise pretty much go out the window and she soon settles into the “damsel” role she’ll occupy for most of her run, but Ian & Barbara prove that they’re going to be key to this story, providing the compassion and moral direction that The Doctor will have to come to learn. The Doctor, meanwhile, is the brains of the bunch; it’s good for us to know he loses the selfish streak he has over the course of the season, but having it here to see is fascinating. By the time we ship off towards Skaro, our heroes are dirtied and damaged, but already finding a way to be stronger together.
An Unearthly Child has a job to do. It needs to get the show up & running; it needs to define our characters and give us a solid understanding of what this show is about; but more than anything it needs to leave us wanting more. And it does all of these things with style, and then some. It’s the foundation the next 60 years is built on, which is rock solid, and the roots of something really special. It’s the best possible start that Doctor Who could ask for, and an easy one to include in the Top 60 list.
COMING TOMORROW: “The back blast backlash will bounce back and destroy everything.…”
Skies Full of Diamonds 