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locker_monsterDoctor Who is 45 years old today and doesn't it look great? ;-) Anything special going on in the UK? Specials? Re-broadcast of the first serial?
I found a copy of "An Unearthly Child" a few months back and was surprised by how good the story was. It's always easy to fall into the trap of thinking the show was crap because it was the 1960s and they had no money or special effects. But really, that's the charm of these early episodes. The stories were still cool, even if the set looked like it was made out of cardboard.
And who could have known that 45 years later the show would still be going strong. I mean, time travelling alien who files around in a blue Police Box with friends and saves the day doesn't sound that impressive. I showed a friend "Rose" the other day and she's so not a science fiction fan. She couldn't get into the episode at all. She spent the 45 minutes complaining about plot points. I think if you want to be a Doctor Who fan, you just have to go with the flow.
And here are our very first companions, Barbara and Ian, history and science teacher respectively. It's interesting that they went with two companions, well three really with Susan, but Barbara and Ian are the audience's way into the show. The creators could have easily gone with one human. But if you think about it, Barbara's there to explain all the history stuff and Ian was there to be the physical guy, doing stuff the elderly Doctor couldn't.
I'm totally convinced Barbara and Ian had a crush on each other, even before they went travelling through time and space. First humans aboard the TARDIS and they're a couple. Who says Doctor Who never dealt with romance? ;-)
See, just look at them, smiling away at each other. It's too bad the show never visited these characters after they made it home. Did they get married, have kids? I like to picture them with kids and the two of them regaling the children with stories about their travels. "On one trip, Mum was mistaken for an Aztec god and Dad became an Aztec warrior!"
And here's Susan, the "unearthly child" of the episode's title. I thought she would be more annoying, you know, screaming a lot and tripping over things (it was the 60s) but she's sort of the voice of reason when it comes to the Doctor. She basically spends the last half of the episode trying to convince her grandfather to let the humans go after they stumble upon the TARDIS. Susan really looked after the Doctor and shamefully you never really see what happened to her after she left either. Sure, she showed up twice for the occasional anniversary special, but the Doctor never got a second to ask her, "So, how's life?" Plus she's the only family member of the Doctor's we've seen, genetic anomalies not withstanding.
Sorry for the blurriness of the screen cap, but it says "The French Revolution" on the cover of the book. Susan has a cute little moment while reading the history book, noting things that didn't actually happen. Oh, the many adventures that happen off screen.
So anyway, the plot of the episode is Barbara and Ian both notice that their student, Susan Foreman, is a bit odd. She says stuff in class that doesn't make sense, she's falling behind in the homework, etc. Barbara also notices the address for Susan's home is actually a junk yard, though Ian is convinced it's just a mistake. So they follow Susan home. Which turns out is the junk yard.
And what do Barbara and Ian find inside? The TARDIS of course!
And here's the Doctor, cranky grandfather Doctor. He's a bit of a jerk actually, but I guess it highlights how he's an alien. Plus he's just starting out, so he's "trying to be old and grumpy and important". :-) So Time Lords sort of mellow with age.
Barbara and Ian eventually shove their way into the TARDIS and are baffled by the inside, as are all good companions. Ah, old school TARDIS. There's a weird amount of stuff in the console room, like an antique chair, a fancy looking clock, and the ever present hat stand. But all the basic elements are there and it's cool how it's been carried on from this episode to the present.
Team TARDIS, version 1.0. It actually works with three companions here. Later on Five had three companions as well and it was just too many. Here, well, everyone seems to have their role. I wish the Doctor now had more than one companion. Not "Journey's End" more, but one more wouldn't hurt.
So to stop the humans from telling anyone else about the TARDIS and him, the Doctor takes off, though with much protest from Susan. Naturally, it doesn't go so smooth and Barbara and Ian get knocked out. I actually didn't realize the Doctor had no control over where the TARDIS when in the early stories. Once he left a place, there was no going back. It's not until "The Three Doctors" I think, when Three gets a new dematerialization circuit, that he gains any control over where he goes. Though, we all know the TARDIS doesn't always land where she's supposed to. :-)
Case in point. Actually, I don't think the Doctor had a destination in mind when he took off. He just wanted to leave Earth. But so begins Barbara and Ian's lives a time travellers. There's something much more cooler in the idea that the companions can't return home. They're stuck with the Doctor until he lands back on Earth in the right time.
Ooh, cliffhanger. I kind of like the serial format. The story is spread out over four episodes, so you get more time to tell the plot. Unless of course the script is short, then there's needless scenes and really longs recaps, but hey, that's how it was sometimes.
Happy 45th anniversary, Doctor Who. Just look how far you've come. And you did it all with just one show. None of this franchise stuff like how Star Trek does it. ;-)
I found a copy of "An Unearthly Child" a few months back and was surprised by how good the story was. It's always easy to fall into the trap of thinking the show was crap because it was the 1960s and they had no money or special effects. But really, that's the charm of these early episodes. The stories were still cool, even if the set looked like it was made out of cardboard.
And who could have known that 45 years later the show would still be going strong. I mean, time travelling alien who files around in a blue Police Box with friends and saves the day doesn't sound that impressive. I showed a friend "Rose" the other day and she's so not a science fiction fan. She couldn't get into the episode at all. She spent the 45 minutes complaining about plot points. I think if you want to be a Doctor Who fan, you just have to go with the flow.
And here are our very first companions, Barbara and Ian, history and science teacher respectively. It's interesting that they went with two companions, well three really with Susan, but Barbara and Ian are the audience's way into the show. The creators could have easily gone with one human. But if you think about it, Barbara's there to explain all the history stuff and Ian was there to be the physical guy, doing stuff the elderly Doctor couldn't.
I'm totally convinced Barbara and Ian had a crush on each other, even before they went travelling through time and space. First humans aboard the TARDIS and they're a couple. Who says Doctor Who never dealt with romance? ;-)
See, just look at them, smiling away at each other. It's too bad the show never visited these characters after they made it home. Did they get married, have kids? I like to picture them with kids and the two of them regaling the children with stories about their travels. "On one trip, Mum was mistaken for an Aztec god and Dad became an Aztec warrior!"
And here's Susan, the "unearthly child" of the episode's title. I thought she would be more annoying, you know, screaming a lot and tripping over things (it was the 60s) but she's sort of the voice of reason when it comes to the Doctor. She basically spends the last half of the episode trying to convince her grandfather to let the humans go after they stumble upon the TARDIS. Susan really looked after the Doctor and shamefully you never really see what happened to her after she left either. Sure, she showed up twice for the occasional anniversary special, but the Doctor never got a second to ask her, "So, how's life?" Plus she's the only family member of the Doctor's we've seen, genetic anomalies not withstanding.
Sorry for the blurriness of the screen cap, but it says "The French Revolution" on the cover of the book. Susan has a cute little moment while reading the history book, noting things that didn't actually happen. Oh, the many adventures that happen off screen.
So anyway, the plot of the episode is Barbara and Ian both notice that their student, Susan Foreman, is a bit odd. She says stuff in class that doesn't make sense, she's falling behind in the homework, etc. Barbara also notices the address for Susan's home is actually a junk yard, though Ian is convinced it's just a mistake. So they follow Susan home. Which turns out is the junk yard.
And what do Barbara and Ian find inside? The TARDIS of course!
And here's the Doctor, cranky grandfather Doctor. He's a bit of a jerk actually, but I guess it highlights how he's an alien. Plus he's just starting out, so he's "trying to be old and grumpy and important". :-) So Time Lords sort of mellow with age.
Barbara and Ian eventually shove their way into the TARDIS and are baffled by the inside, as are all good companions. Ah, old school TARDIS. There's a weird amount of stuff in the console room, like an antique chair, a fancy looking clock, and the ever present hat stand. But all the basic elements are there and it's cool how it's been carried on from this episode to the present.
Team TARDIS, version 1.0. It actually works with three companions here. Later on Five had three companions as well and it was just too many. Here, well, everyone seems to have their role. I wish the Doctor now had more than one companion. Not "Journey's End" more, but one more wouldn't hurt.
So to stop the humans from telling anyone else about the TARDIS and him, the Doctor takes off, though with much protest from Susan. Naturally, it doesn't go so smooth and Barbara and Ian get knocked out. I actually didn't realize the Doctor had no control over where the TARDIS when in the early stories. Once he left a place, there was no going back. It's not until "The Three Doctors" I think, when Three gets a new dematerialization circuit, that he gains any control over where he goes. Though, we all know the TARDIS doesn't always land where she's supposed to. :-)
Case in point. Actually, I don't think the Doctor had a destination in mind when he took off. He just wanted to leave Earth. But so begins Barbara and Ian's lives a time travellers. There's something much more cooler in the idea that the companions can't return home. They're stuck with the Doctor until he lands back on Earth in the right time.
Ooh, cliffhanger. I kind of like the serial format. The story is spread out over four episodes, so you get more time to tell the plot. Unless of course the script is short, then there's needless scenes and really longs recaps, but hey, that's how it was sometimes.
Happy 45th anniversary, Doctor Who. Just look how far you've come. And you did it all with just one show. None of this franchise stuff like how Star Trek does it. ;-)
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