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Doctor Who: The Beginning DVD Box Set
01/10/2006 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
DVD Region 2: pub: BBC BBCDVD 1882. 346 minutes. 3 stories spread over 12 episodes with loads of extras. Price: £ 29.99 (UK))stars: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill and Carole Ann Ford and assorted guest stars. Buy Doctor Who The Beginning in the USA - or Buy Doctor Who The Beginning in the UK  check out website: www.bbcshop.com
Watching these three stories again, my first time since 1963, has been quite a revelation with adult eyes for these are the first recorded adventures in the BBC TV series 'Doctor Who'.
'An Unearthly Child' actually introduces us to Susan Foreman (actress Carole Ann Ford) and her teachers, Barbara and Ian (actors Jacqueline Hill and William Russell) and their bewildering reactions to her long before we visit Totters Lane, the TARDIS and her grandfather, the Doctor (actor William Hartnell). In many respects, this looked atypical of plays that were available backwhen and if your eyes were accustomed to the then 'normality' everything was taken in as it was on the box, especially as we didn't have colour in those days. Seeing three different versions of the opening episode where little things were tweaked is actually more enlightening to how the cast can alter their performance. Bill Hartnell went from downright surly to being a little more bewildering without altering much of the script to accommodate this. A lesson in performance.
The first adventure into the Stone Age past at least reminded me of what I most remembered about it ie a lot of chases and static moments talking. It felt rather odd that I forgot the end fight sequence. Had the series maintained this type of story in Earth history, I think even backwhen, popular entertainment would have proven it wouldn't have lasted long.
Of course, that all changed with the second six-part story with the villains from Skaro, the Daleks. In many ways, this story should be regarded as significant but not only because this is their first appearance but actually the time when they realised that the Thals, their mortal enemies, had survived and through the Doctor, that there was a bigger universe out there to conquer. It's a good thing that some of them survived from here or we'd never see them in today's stories. It is also likely that Terry Nation's splitting of the cast to give the actors more room in the episodes was mirrored by other writers if you compare this story to 'The Web Planet'. In many respects, though, Ian and Barbara leading some Thals on a different route into the Dalek city appeared to be more padding out the number of episodes than would otherwise be needed. Then again, if you're commissioned for six episodes and want to be paid for them, things like this were done all the time.
The Daleks here are not just destructive beings as they showed themselves to be thinkers and planners in how they got their aims achieved. It's a shame that this has been neglected over the years, especially when you bear their technology in mind. Such dimensioning really does need to be applied if they aren't going to be turned into throwaway villains by over-use today.
The third story of two episodes, 'The Edge Of Destruction', was done to fill a gap in the schedule and low budget. In the past, I confused this one with a memory of a scene where the TARDIS apparently exploded but now don't think it was that one. Here, everything takes part in the TARDIS itself where they get caught in a stasis loop in time and paranoia over who was responsible takes charge. These two episodes are very much in the cast's domain with performance ruling and bringing the story to life. Whether today's generation would appreciate this is open to debate, but give yourselves twenty years more experience and look at this story again and you'll probably see what I meant.
All three DVDs are littered with extras from audio commentaries to interviews, together with modern day stuff as well and a thirty minute audio of the fourth story 'Marco Polo' with pictures. All that exists of the story today although I have vague memories of the original. It was rather weird watching that despite make-up and age differences that I picked out the names of the guest cast.
Whether or not these early stories will appeal to the modern generation is hard to say. Certainly, if you appreciate 'Doctor Who' or old enough to remember the early stories, then I think you'll enjoy looking over it again. Seeing these stories with adult eyes now, I see things in the performances that I took for granted the first time around. If anything, it's a demonstration of why we enjoy watching SF TV and films time after time, because there is always something different to find in each viewing. The same applies here. A piece of Science Fiction history.
GF Willmetts
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