The last time I endeavoured to contribute to Nouse was in my very first article back in August, where I delved into the latest entry in the ‘Whoniverse’ - 2024’s Doctor Who Season One. Nouse’s 60th anniversary has now given me the perfect opportunity to return and look at the very first ‘Whoniverse’ entry in the Season One of 1963, specifically Doctor Who’s first ever episode. I want to approach this as authentically as audiences would have in 1963. No informed knowledge, no preconceptions or expectations.
So, without further ado, let us explore Doctor Who episode one -- ‘An Unearthly Child’.
We open with a policeman walking through fog. He enters a junkyard and after a time we see the police box that rests in the middle of it. Following these visuals, the whole episode is predicated upon two school teachers named Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) and their concern over a frighteningly brilliant student named Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford), whom Ian labels “a genius”. It’s essentially a safeguarding issue - the address the school has for her is nothing but a junkyard, and her grandfather seems disinterested in her academic affairs. Investigating the junkyard, the very same one as in the beginning, they meet a puzzling old man who tells them that Susan is not there.
After hearing her call out from inside the unassuming police box however, they rush in, believing she is trapped, only to make the iconic discovery that the box is bigger on the inside (an observation that they never actually verbalise). The old man, revealed to be Susan’s grandfather, explains to them that they are in the TARDIS, a ship which has the ability to travel in time and space, and that he and Susan are aliens. Ian and Barbara are not keen to accept these revelations, so the Doctor starts working the controls. The TARDIS begins shaking violently and Ian and Barbara fall unconscious. There are some black and white visuals of swirling, rippling light against a black background, and then suddenly we are in a completely different environment, with sand and dead trees. A shadow looms over the TARDIS, and… the credits roll.
As the introductory episode to a wider show, ‘An Unearthly Child’ is incredibly effective. Mystery builds upon mystery - the meaning of the police box at the beginning; the strange living circumstances of the unnaturally intelligent girl; the old man who denies she is there even when we have heard her voice call out. And yet, when we receive answers, they’re so peculiar that we are naturally expectant of more.
Additionally, this episode’s soundscape is fascinatingly unique. The opening - when the TARDIS is first seen - is accompanied by the show's theme tune, the musical lovechild of composer Ron Grainger’s melody and arranger Delia Derbyshire’s synthesiser work, making it the first electronic musical theme created for television. Also, when the TARDIS takes off, it emits an alien-like, eerie, groaning and wheezing sound, which I’d imagine that if this show were to go on for, let’s say, another 60 years, these would be some of its most consistent and most notable pieces.
When considering this episode independently, it actually feels like something that would be well suited to the horror genre. That is solely due to the performance of William Hartnell as grandfather, or as he is called in the credits: ‘Dr. Who’ (apologies to everyone I have raved at about how that is not his name). This figure is enigmatic and unhelpful, to the extent that his character is almost villainous. He asks many questions, and you easily get the sense that he is toying with and lying to Ian and Barbara in their attempt to find Susan. After they have all made their way into the TARDIS and deception is no longer feasible, he then switches to chastising them and belittling their intelligence, saying that they “don’t deserve any explanations” and offering sardonic comments about their lack of understanding.
While this could just be passed off as a rather unlikeable grumpy old man, his real cruelty is shown by his refusal to let Ian and Barbara leave, by laughing in their faces when they try to open the doors. When he moves the TARDIS at the end, no one else has agreed - even Susan says that she would “rather leave the TARDIS and [her grandfather]” than leave 1960. A trailer for the latest A24 horror film, Heretic (2024), really reminded me of this episode. An older man pretends to be something he is not, and when two strangers find themselves in his house, he stifles their attempt at leaving. Whilst this comparison might be a bit of a stretch, Dr. Who transporting three people across time and space against their collective will is, to me, quite horrifying.
As we know, this is ultimately the first episode of many and so much has changed in the Doctor Who Universe. The credits now label the titular character as ‘The Doctor’; we know more about their species and planet; the show has seen them portrayed by upwards of 20 actors, have upwards of 60 companions (most of whom have joined them willingly) and ’The Doctor’ is now firmly presented as heroic.
However, what has not changed about the show is its sense of identity. It continues to survive as a cultural bastion, with many of its iconic images and sounds remaining a staple to this day. In 2024, Doctor Who is still celebrating its history - the second episode of the latest season made reference to Susan and the very junkyard we spent so much time in in the first episode, ‘An Unearthly Child’. This feels overly sentimental to me, but the balance of longevity and change that Doctor Who displays reminds us that growth and development does not have to mean sacrificing the people we are, and we can still respect our past while pushing on towards our futures.
It’s an enormous shame that the first episode of the show isn’t actually readily available for viewer consumption, because of licensing issues I won’t bore you with. Nevertheless, after sixty years on our screens (and a bit), Doctor Who should be rightfully proud of its beginnings and the impact it has had - as should Nouse. So here’s to another sixty years of time travel, and another sixty years (and beyond) of the best student newspaper out there!