An Unearthly Child (Story #1, 1963)
             and
The Romans (Story #12, 1965)
Viewed 30 Apr 2012

Doctor/Companion:   One, Susan, Ian, Barbara / One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki
Stars:  William Hartnell, Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Maureen O’Brien
Preceding Story:  None / The Rescue (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki)
Succeeding Story:  The Daleks / The Web Planet (One, Susan, Ian, Barbara / Ian, Barbara, Vicki)
Notable Aspects:

• First ever episode

I’ve got something a little different for you this time. I have a dear friend of a slightly different generation who remembers watching Doctor Who in its early days. She would have been within the target age range when it first graced the air waves in 1963, but – as an American – didn’t really watch until college, and occasionally at that. From what she tells me, she watched off and on, but hasn’t seen it in ages – probably since Four’s tenure.

Some time over the past year, we got to talking about Who, and she said she was really interested in seeing what they’d done with it (meaning post-Hiatus). Since then, our plan has gradually morphed into a sort of variation on a theme, similar to and yet different from both my regular Nu-Views and The Experiment of Adventures with the Wife in Space. G is not a novice viewer, but neither is she someone who has followed the show religiously for decades. I’ll be showing her a sample of each Doctor and sharing with her what I love about each of them, and she’ll be telling me what she remembers and how it strikes her now.

So here we go!

It goes without saying that we start with “An Unearthly Child” (the single episode of that name, not the entire 4-part serial sometimes given the same name). G’s never seen Hartnell, and while she’s immediately taken with the “very Jack the Ripper-esque” atmosphere of the opening shot and memories of the theme tune, her attention quickly turns to more mundane concerns. “I remember looking like that in school,” she says as we are introduced to Coal Hill. Apparently she also had a transistor like Susan’s. And remembers the ‘dos well. As we get into the story a bit more, the commentary dies down a bit.

Or, should I say, the commentary dies down but the questions start to fly! G is really intrigued by the show’s history, and delighted with what’s on screen (“So ahead of its time! Isn’t it great?” (talk about preaching to the choir…)), but she’s so curious about it all, we have to pause a lot so I can answer her questions. She wants to know about regenerations, and how the show transitioned into what it is today, and… just everything. It’s a delight for an addict like me to share what I’ve learned with such an eager audience.

She loves Ian & Barbara’s reactions to the TARDIS interior and is amazed at Susan’s explanation of its name. “I never knew that!” On the other hand, she doesn’t take very well to One. “Condescending” is her one-word review of him. And, frankly, who can blame her, based on that opening episode?

Just to give her a little more history – about the broken chameleon circuit – I showed her a few snippets out of “The Cave of Skulls,” but as I can’t really stand the rest of that story, we skipped ahead a bit to The Romans. The “temporal color,” so to speak (like the togas and the lyres), was a big hit. I think G’s really going to like historicals. It’s almost like watching with a child (I imagine… my daughters are still such sensitive little flowers they get upset during the tamest of films, so it’ll be a while before I can watch Who with them) – she let out a little squeal when Maximus Pettullian is murdered by the roadside, then give a bit of a shudder at the drama. She’s also delighted with the constant close shaves our heroes’ two parties keep having, not quite meeting up.

Unfortunately, we’ve spent so much time with general chit-chat that it’s getting too late for us to finish more than the first two episodes. We won’t be letting too much time pass before we get back to it, though. She’s insisted that we have to get through all the Doctors by the end of the calendar year.

This is going to be fun.

Verdict:  Thumbs up

Looking ahead: Finishing The Romans / The Second Doctor