"An Unearthly Child"

An Unearthly Child
Disc 1 of "The Beginning" Box Set
(Special Edition DVD)


Starring William Hartnell
4 Episodes
1963
95 minutes (black and white)
Disc 1 of a Three Disc Box Set
"The Beginning Box Set"




 

 

Production Notes
Doctor Who
William Hartnell

Barbara Wright
Jacqueline Hill

Ian Chesterton
William Russell

Susan
Carole Ann Ford

Written by
Anthony Coburn
Directed by
Waris Hussein

Produced by
Verity Lambert

Original Airdate
Nov 23 - Dec 14, 1963

US DVD Release Date
March 2006

Warner Home Video
#E2487

U.K. Box Set Cover


U.K. Individual Cover



 

Cover Blurb
Susan Forman is a mystery to teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, seemingly knowing more than she should about the past... and the future...  Their curiosity leads them to follow her home one night, only to find that her "home" appears to be a deserted junkyard.  In the junkyard, they discover an odd police box, and a strange old man, who claims to be Susan's grandfather, and calls himself the Doctor.  The journey of a lifetime is about to begin...

The first ever story of the world's longest running science fiction series comes to DVD for the first time!



 

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.  
 

 

 

 

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 "An Unearthly Child" was 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.