The Beginning Box Set
(Special Edition DVD)


Starring William Hartnell
Featuring 3 Stories
An Unearthly Child (4 episodes)
The Daleks (7 episodes)
The Edge of Destruction (2 episodes)
311 minutes (black and white)
Triple Disc




 

 

Production Notes
Doctor Who
William Hartnell

Barbara Wright
Jacqueline Hill

Ian Chesterton
William Russell

Susan
Carole Ann Ford
Written by
Anthony Coburn
Terry Nation
&
David Whitaker

Directed by
Waris Hussein
Christopher Barry
Richard Martin
&
Frank Cox
Produced by
Verity Lambert

Original Airdate
Nov 23 - Dec 14, 1963
Dec 21, 1963 - Feb 1, 1964
&
Feb 8, 1964 - Feb 15, 1964

US DVD Release Date
March 2006

Warner Home Video
#E2489


U.K. Box Set Cover



 

Cover Blurb
On November 23, 1963, the BBC launched Doctor Who, which became the longest running science fiction series in television history.  Five weeks later, a Dalek suction arm was thrust into the final sequence of the cliffhanger ending, and history was made once more.  Now fans can revisit the first exciting months of Doctor Who on DVDs with digitally remastered picture and sound quality.

Includes:
An Unearthly Child - (4 eps, 95 mins)
Two teachers follow a mysterious student home to a police box, and the Doctor takes them on a short excursion back to 200,000 B.C.

The Daleks - (7 eps, 169 mins)
The TARDIS lands on the dead planet Skaro, where the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan explore the deserted city inhabited by the notorious Daleks!

The Edge of Destruction - (2 eps, 47 mins)
An explosion aboard the TARDIS triggers irrational feelings of aggression, paranoia and despair.



 

DVD Features
 

Disc One
All 4 episodes of "An Unearthly Child" as they were originally broadcast in 1963 plus the original, untransmitted pilot episode.  Additional DVD features include...

 
  • An Unearthly Child Pilot Studio Recording:
 35 minutes worth of unedited studio recording from the entire session for the original pilot episode.  This footage is accompanied by commentary from producer Verity Lambert and director Waris Hussein (see audio options below).
 

 
  • Doctor Who - The Musical:
 A rare chance to listen to the original Doctor Who theme music remixed into 5.1 Dolby Digital surround, stereo, or original mono, and set to some of the original opening title test film.
 

 
  • Comedy Sketches:
 Four short comedy skits are included from the 1990's.  Included are "The Pitch of Fear," "The Corridor Sketch," "The Web of Caves," and "The Kidnappers."  The first two skits centers around the early years of the program, while the last two are a more general spoof of Doctor Who.
 

 
  • Photo Gallery:
 A collection of both black and white as well as color photographs showing many publicity stills from the production of An Unearthly Child.  Many of the pictures are rare or even never before seen.
 

 
  • Information Text:
 Lots of trivia and tidbits of Whovian detail are provided.  The text appears intermittently along the bottom of the screen and is written by members of the Doctor Who Restoration Team
 

 
  • Audio Options:
 Audio commentaries were recorded for the following episodes...

"An Unearthly Child" Unaired Pilot Episode - Waris Hussein (director) and Verity Lambert (producer).

"An Unearthly Child" Episode 1 - William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Carole Ann Ford (Susan), and Verity Lambert (producer).

"The Firemaker" Episode 4 - William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Carole Ann Ford (Susan), and Waris Hussein (director).


Long time Who fan and producer of the Big Finish radio plays, Gary Russell serves as moderator for all three episodes.
 

 
  • Easter Eggs:
 There are no easter eggs on this release.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.  
 
 

 

 

 

Disc Two
All 7 episodes of "The Daleks" as they were originally broadcast in 1963 plus the following DVD features...

 
  • Creation of the Daleks:
 A 17 minute featurette that chronicles the rise of the Doctor's single most popular enemy - the Daleks.
 

 
  • Photo Gallery:
 A collection of both black and white as well as color photographs showing many publicity stills from the production of The Daleks.  Many of the pictures are rare or even never before seen.
 

 
  • Audio Options:
 Audio commentaries were recorded for the following episodes...

"The Survivors" Episode 2 - Christopher Barry (director) and Verity Lambert (producer).

"The Ambush" Episode 4 - William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Carole Ann Ford (Susan), and Christopher Barry (director).

"The Rescue" Episode 7 - William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Carole Ann Ford (Susan), and Richard Martin (director).


Long time Who fan and producer of the Big Finish radio plays, Gary Russell serves as moderator for all three episodes.
 

 
  • Information Text:
 Lots of trivia and tidbits of Whovian detail are provided.  The text appears intermittently along the bottom of the screen and is written by members of the Doctor Who Restoration Team
 

 
  • Easter Eggs:
 There are no easter eggs on this release.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.  
 
 

 

 

 

Disc Three
Both episodes of "The Edge of Destruction" as they were originally broadcast in 1964 plus the following DVD features...

 
  • Doctor Who - Origins:
 Nearly an hour long, this documentary lays the foundation for the beginning of a consecutive 26 year run for Doctor Who.  Included are interviews with both cast and production crew as well as series creator Sydney Newman.
 

 
  • Over The Edge:
 This featurette goes in depth on the production of "The Edge of Destruction" and runs for approximately 30 minutes.  Produced by long time fan and missing episode hunter Ian Levine.
 

 
  • Inside the Spaceship:
 A 10 minute featurette focusing on the TARDIS set.
 

 
  • Masters of Sound:
 Using footage from his documentary "30 Years in the TARDIS" director Kevin Davies lays out his 13 minute documentary on the creation of the distinctive theme music and sound effects for Doctor Who.  Those interviewed include Dick Mills, Brian Hodgson, Verity Lambert and Delia Derbyshire.
 

 
  • Marco Polo:
 All 7 episodes are gone.  All that remains are audio recordings.  Condensed down to 30 minutes and telesnaps taken with a camera pointed at a TV screen, this featurette gives fans a taste of what came after "The Edge of Destruction."
 

 
  • Photo Gallery:
 A collection of both black and white as well as color photographs showing many publicity stills from the production of all three stories in this boxset (and even the 4th, now missing story "Marco Polo").  Many of the pictures are rare or even never before seen.
 

 
  • Audio Options:
 No commentary option is available on this disc.  However, episode 2 of The Edge of Destruction is available with an Arabic soundtrack (i.e. Arabic actors doing voice-overs).  Mildly interesting, but not something that most fans would watch more than once.
 

 
  • PDF Files:
 Rare press clippings from over 40 years ago combined with the original script to the pilot episode all available via your computer.
 

 
  • Information Text:
 Lots of trivia and tidbits of Whovian detail are provided.  The text appears intermittently along the bottom of the screen and is written by members of the Doctor Who Restoration Team
 

 
  • Easter Eggs:
 There are no easter eggs on this release.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Notes
  • Unlike other R1 Doctor Who box sets which have the individual story titles also sold separately, The Beginning is sold ONLY in the box set format.
     
  • "An Unearthly Child", the first Doctor Who adventure ever made, premiered on November 23, 1963 (one day after the Kennedy assassination).  It was repeated a week later before episode two aired.
  • Hartnell's portrayal of the Doctor was very harsh in this first story but would be toned down over his three year tenure.
     
  • Because the early episodes carried individual titles instead of an overall story title "An Unearthly Child" has also gone by the name "100,000BC" as well as "The Tribe of Gum."  "An Unearthly Child" is the official BBC recognized title.
     
  • The name TARDIS is first revealed in this story (Time and Relative Dimension in Space) as is the malfunctioning chameleon circuit that has left the Doctor's TARDIS stuck as a Police Telephone Box.
     
  • The Doctor's identity would remain a mystery for many years, as would the reasons for his wish to remain hidden and unnoticed on Earth.
     

  • Years after its first VHS release in 1992 this story, along with "The Daleks" and "The Edge of Destruction," was scheduled for a special VHS box set release in the U.K in 1999.  Several months later the BBC decided to alter their plans and release each story individually over the course of three months.  These VHS releases (and in the case of the first two stories - rereleases) never made it to the North American market.  

  • Also included in this release is the original, un-aired pilot episode of the series.  The first pilot was rejected by BBC executives and the unusual step of ordering a second pilot was made.  This first pilot shows a much more unsympathetic characterization of the Doctor, an alternate history and background for the Doctor and Susan, a multitude of fluffed lines, and props refusing to work.
     
  • The unaired pilot has been released two previous times (first in the 1992 release "The Hartnell Years" and then later in 2001 with "The Edge of Destruction").  In each case the pilot was a rough edit.  For the first time, the pilot episode has been re-edited from scratch using the three takes from the interior TARDIS scene to make a much smoother (technically) version.
     

  • In the original unaired pilot the Doctor and Susan's origins are revealed.  They come from Earth's far future.  When the episode was re-shot, the references were dropped.

  • "The Daleks" marks the first story featuring the Daleks, and their initial success helped to propel Doctor Who's ratings for many years to come..
     

  • Look for one of the all time classic cliffhanger scenes at the end of episode 1.

  • Also look for some wonderful fluff moments including "anti-radiation gloves," styrofoam rock cliffs coming apart in the actors' hands, and Daleks colliding with consoles.
     

  • Because the early episodes carried individual titles instead of an overall story title "The Daleks" has also gone by the name "The Mutants" (not to be confused by the Jon Pertwee story with the same title).  "The Daleks" is the official BBC recognized title.
     

  • This story was literally saved on its way to being destroyed.  While at the BBC long time fan Ian Levine came across a platform full of old film cans wrapped in plastic and marked for destruction.  These were the film cans containing all 7 episodes of this story.  At Levine's (and other fan's) insistence the BBC soon halted their junking of old episodes that occurred throughout the last half of the the 70's.
     

  • Years after its first VHS release in 1992 this story, along with "An Unearthly Child" and "The Edge of Destruction," was scheduled for a special VHS box set release in the U.K in 1999.  Several months later the BBC decided to alter their plans and release each story individually over the course of three months.  These VHS releases (and in the case of the first two stories - rereleases) never made it to the North American market.
     

  • Due to the success of the Daleks - two feature films were made in the mid 60's.  The first one was a restructuring of this very story and starred Peter Cushing as Doctor Who.  The second film was a remake of "The Dalek Invasion of Earth."

  • "The Edge of Destruction" was apparently written at the last minute to fill in a two week gap as the crew needed more time to complete sets for the next story "Marco Polo."  David Whitaker, the show's script editor, cranked out a bizarre story involving the TARDIS crew seemingly going insane in a weekend long writing binge.
     
  • This story is also unique in that it has no other supporting cast and takes place entirely in the TARDIS (thus allowing the story to be made quickly and cheaply, while giving the crew the time they needed to complete sets for "Marco Polo").
     
  • This story is the first to establish that the TARDIS is a living, thinking machine.
     
  • Because the early episodes carried individual titles instead of an overall story title "The Edge of Destruction" has also gone by the name "Inside the Spaceship."  "The Edge of Destruction" is the official BBC recognized title.
     
  • "The Edge of Destruction" was also plagued with directorial problems.  It was initially decided that Paddy Russell (who would go on to direct many Who episodes) would take the helm for this two part adventure.  When she was unavailable, the job fell to Richard Martin as he was just finishing up "The Daleks."  However, Martin was only able to direct the first episode and so episode two went to the young director Frank Cox.
     

  • The idea for a beginning box set began in 1999 when "An Unearthly Child" and "The Daleks," and this story were scheduled for a special VHS box set release in the U.K.  Several months later the BBC decided to alter their plans and release each story individually over the course of three months.
     

  • All three stories were given the usual expert cleanup and VidFIRE treatment by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.  Specific details on the restoration of "The Beginning Boxset" can be found HERE.