An Unearthly Child

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An Unearthly Child (also known as 100,000 BC) was the first episode of the Classic Doctor Who series. This show introduced the audience to The Doctor, his granddaughter Susan Foreman and their two traveling companions - Ian and Barbara.

Synopsis

The Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara united in the Tardis for the first time.

An image of the I.M. Foreman scrapyard door as seen in the Pilot Episode of An Unearthly Child.

Originally aired in Britain on 23 November 1963, An Unearthly Child marked the start of the Doctor Who series. An Unearthly Child begins with a rather nondescript opening scene involving a camera shot of a policeman on patrol that then passes through a set of exterior doors labeled "I.M. Foreman - Scrap Merchant - 76 Totter's Lane" where the viewer is quickly escorted through a scrap yard and then briefly shown their first look at a police box - the exterior of The Tardis. The show then gets underway at the Coal Hill school where the series' first three companions are introduced. Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton are both teachers at the Coal Hill School and are sen to be discussing one of their students - the Doctor's granddaughter - Susan Foreman.

Both Ian and Barbara are curious about Susan; they both feel that she is an exceptionally gifted student however her performance in her studies leaves a lot to be desired. Their curiosity leads them to follow her home one night to a seemly abandoned lot (76 Totter's Lane), where out of concern for Susan's well being, they force their way into the Tardis after a chance encounter with the Doctor.

Whence inside the Tardis, the Doctor's identity as Susan's grandfather is finally revealed to Ian and Barbara as well as the fact that both the Doctor and Susan are not from the planet Earth. "We were born in another time - another world" says Susan to the disbelieve of Ian and Barbara.

With the Doctor and Susan's identities now revealed and their secret disclosed, the Doctor takes rash action and decides to move the Tardis. The viewers get their first glimpse into time travel in Doctor Who as the Tardis travels back in time to pre-historic Earth prior to when knowledge of fire was commonplace. When the Tardis lands, we get a rare view of the outside world as the Tardis doors open (this seldom happened in the classic series - usually the only view of the exterior of the Tardis was through the Scanner) to show the baron, cold terrain outside.

While the new companions explore this strange world in disbelief, the Doctor is captured by a cave dweller who witnesses the Doctor lighting his pipe. The caveman believes that the Doctor has the ability to make fire with his hands, and for this reason he brings him back to his tribe to make fire for them.

In the midst of tribal warfare over who controls power, the Doctor and his companions are repeatedly placed in danger and forced to fight for their lives. Only through careful stratagem are they able to free themselves from their captors in time to narrowly make it back to the Tardis and escape harm.

Production

Episodes in this Serial:

*Reportedly, the 23 November 1963 viewing of An Unearthly Child had a significantly lower audience due to widespread power outages in Britain at the time in addition to being transmitted the day after the assassination of John F Kennedy.

Images

The cast in the Tardis Console room.

The Tardis landing on prehistoric Earth.

The cast in the Cave of Skulls.