Doctor Who - The Beginning (Box Set) (DVD)

...a new British version of Doctor Kildare was to begin that evening at 5:15pm. As families gathered round there televisions awaiting this magnificent new medical drama, for many their lives were changed forever.

As the show begun the music was not quite the norm for this sort of show; but a familiar feel waited just around the corner. A young girl called Susan Foreman was being analysed by two of her school teachers; while an unsuspecting ...
...set contains the first three Doctor Who stories: An Unearthly Child, The Daleks and The Edge of Destruction.

Story 1: An Unearthly Child

The Tardis crew are taken back to Earths humble beginnings; while there they encounter two different tribes who are at loggerheads with each other; and within one tribe a battle for power has begun.

Story 2: The Daleks

Keen to reveal to Ian and Barbara ... more

Picture the scene it's a Saturday it's the 23rd of November 1963; the previous day the world had stood still because of a tragedy, the American president John F. Kennedy had been assassinated while visiting Texas. Although not our leader here in the UK we still mourned his loss. It was time for UK television viewers to get a little escapism and the daily Mirror informed us that a new British version of Doctor Kildare was to begin that evening at 5:15pm. As families gathered round there televisions awaiting this magnificent new medical drama, for many their lives were changed forever.

As the show begun the music was not quite the norm for this sort of show; but a familiar feel waited just around the corner. A young girl called Susan Foreman was being analysed by two of her school teachers; while an unsuspecting Susan sat in a classroom Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright discussed her welfare. Both are fully aware that her intelligence was far beyond her other classmates their main concern is that she is being neglected or that she may be ill as her coursework is taking a turn for the worse. Having told Susan that she can leave for the day they offer her a lift home but Susan refuses, Ian and Barbara feel they have no alternative but to follow her home.

Their journey comes to an end at 76 Totters Lane a scrap merchant's yard in the East End of London. Ian and Barbara go in shortly after Susan enters but she has gone, all that sits in the yard other than scrap is an old Police Box. They are suddenly returned by someone entering the yard and hide behind some rubble. An elderly man enters the yard, coughing and spluttering. Susan, Barbara, Ian and the old man all come face to face where Barbara and Ian demand some answers. Before you know it all four are in the police box and it slowly disappears; when it re-appears it's in a completely different place. Ian and Barbara cannot understand what has happened; slowly the old man known as "The Doctor" and Susan explain to them what has happened. Not only have they moved but they have slipped back in time to the era of Neolithic man.

A legend had been born.

This special box set contains the first three Doctor Who stories: An Unearthly Child, The Daleks and The Edge of Destruction.

Story 1: An Unearthly Child

The Tardis crew are taken back to Earths humble beginnings; while there they encounter two different tribes who are at loggerheads with each other; and within one tribe a battle for power has begun.

Story 2: The Daleks

Keen to reveal to Ian and Barbara the Doctor takes the quartet from Earth to the far planet where two armies the Thals and The Kaleds battle for supremacy. Their arrival has come at a strange time as the Kaleds have evolved into emotionless robots called Daleks.

Story 3: Edge Of Destruction

After a freak accident the Tardis crew find themselves arguing with each other and plotting one and others demise; it appears an alien force has control of the ship.

Although a masterstroke of genius the very early Doctor Who stories were very simplistic in their design; I assume the creators thought that the time and space travel element was too much for the viewer to take in, so made very basic stories. This is why my overviews of the episodes are so short.

The show's first three stories were made on a very low budget; in fact I believe I heard that the budget including wage costs was about £1000 per episode. Luckily being in black and white the definition of the picture did not have to be quite so good so special effects were something very much on the back burner.

The acting was pretty good with the exception of the main character The Doctor played by William Hartnell, he was at the time quite sick and his memory was failing. As a result you often see Hartnell looking off camera for his lines or prompts.

Episode titles featured:-

1. An Unearthly Child
2. The Cave of Skulls
3. The Forest of Fear
4. The Firemaker
5. The Dead Planet
6. The Survivors
7. The Escape
8. The Ambush
9. The Expedition
10. The Ordeal
11. The Rescue
12. The Edge of Destruction
13. The Brink of Disaster

Special Features:-

Audio Commentaries on 6 episodes featuring William Russell, Carol Anne Ford, Verity Lambert, Christopher Barry and Waris Hussein. No amazing revelation's but it does give a newcomer an insight to the characters.

Studio footage that has never before been seen.

A documentary telling the story of the show, where the idea came from etc. It's a pretty good Talking Heads style documentary with lots of interesting points for fans.

A condensed version of the forth story this is the tale of Marco Polo; the first big budget episode which went missing presumably burned in a fire during the 70's; when the BBC heads decided that black and white television would never again be enjoyed.

Finally Comedy sketches taken from Doctor Who night back in 1999.

The DVD is available from Play.com for £17.49

Doctor Who Trivia:

The Doctor is a time lord; who can regenerate when his current life becomes worn out. This unique idea was created in order to allow different actors to play the Doctor the actors to play him are as follows:-

1) William Hartnell 1963-1966 (Came back in 1973)
2) Patrick Troughton 1966-1969 (Came back in 1973,1983, & 1985)
3) Jon Pertwee 1970-1974 (Came back in 1983)
4) Tom Baker 1974-1981
5) Peter Davison 1981-1984
6) Colin Baker 1984-1986
7) Sylvester McCoy 1986-1996
8) Paul McGann 1996
9) Christopher Ecclestone 2005
10) David Tennant 2005-

The Show was filmed in Black and White from 1963-1969

In 1985 the show was put on a sabbatical, but fans demanded its return. In 1989 the show was axed due to falling ratings and an ingenious plot of Michael Grade who hated the show. In 1996 the Americans bought the Franchise and despite being incredibly popular over here the Americans hated it. In 2005 the show returned and was the most popular no soap opera programme (ratings wise) of the year.
 

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