Audience Member
I love this piolt episode of the best tv syfy of all time.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The first episode of Doctor Who is really good but the rest of the story isn't too great. There are some good parts in the other episodes but not that many to drown out the bad.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/12/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The very first Doctor Who serial introduces us to two school teachers who are perplexed by Susan, a teenaged girl who attends their classes. Ian teaches natural sciences, and is amazed at the scarily vast knowledge of Susan, knowledge that seems to far exceed his own. History teacher Barbara on the other hand is struggling with the girl as she doesn't seem to know anything about her subject.
The teachers follow their mysterious student to a junkyard, where they discover a lone police call box. They enter the box only to discover Susan's intimidating grandfather inside a futuristic control room that far exceeds the outer proportions of the box. The box is indeed a multidimensional craft known as a T.A.R.D.I.S, capable of travel through time and space. Susan and her grandfather are aliens living in London in order to study the human race.
Fearful of discovery, Susan's grandfather- who calls himself simply The Doctor- hijacks Ian and Barbara and takes them to Earth's stone age, where a tribe is being torn apart by internal conflict which soon involves our protagonists.
"The Unearthly Child" is a fairly unoriginal piece of writing. A straightforward time travel adventure that does a good job in presenting the main characters but does little else. As a Who serial it's not awful but a bit tedious. Still, you can detect the ambition of the writers already when you put the tale in the context of its times. It's raw, but already transforming into a series that has withstood time for half a century already, forever transforming and reinventing itself. It all started with a mediocre whimper, but soon shone as something uniquely innovative and enduring.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The Very Beginning Is Where I'm Starting For My New Series Of Classic Who.
This 4-Part Adventure Is Based In 2 Different Time Zones, Episode 1 Is Completely Based In London 1963, The Last 3 Are On Earth, Year 0.
2 School Teachers Ian & Barbara Worry About 16 Year Old Student Susan. One Night They Decide To Follow Her Home, To A Junkyard & Come Across A Police Force, With A Mysterious Energy. Having Heard Susan's Voice While Arguing With The Doctor Out Side They Barge Their Way Into The Tardis. Finding Out That The Doctor Is Actually Susan's Grandfather And That Both Are Actual Aliens & Their Standing In Their Ship. Being Paranoid The Doctor Kidnaps The Two, And They Land In The Year 0. All Hijinks And Adventure Happens As They Try To Get Away From A Tribe Of Cavemen, Who Want To Know How To Make Fire.
All In The Story Was Decent, But The Performance From William Hartnell Is Excellent.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I really liked the first episode in the serial, but hated the other episodes with the cave-men ("The Cave of Skulls", "The Forest of Fear" and "The Firemaker". It was interesting however to watch the original version of the pilot.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/02/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The first Doctor Who story starts out wonderfully with a fun first episode about how Susan, a student at a school, is far too intelligent for her own good.
There's a fun mystery at play in the first episode, and even though you know The Doctor and the TARDIS are involved, it's neat to see how everything started!
Then the actual adventure begins, and it's a long, dull snooze. The next three parts of the story have our motley crew encountering a tribe of cavemen who can't figure out how to make fire. The lack of a budget really hinders this episode as the characters spend most of their time in a cave.
William Hartnell isn't particularly great as the Doctor. He comes across as just an angry, old man, and the series really falls on the shoulders of the companions. Susan is perhaps the most interesting as she turns out to be The Doctor's granddaughter. Having basically just seen the 2000s version of "Who" it's strange to see other Time Lords traveling with The Doctor.
It's funny to see how many things were in place early on, but outside of a fun first episode, this is only for the most curious and diehard Doctor Who fans.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/24/23
Full Review
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