3. A Creepy Undercurrent
It is commonly held that there is no antagonist in An Unearthly Child, but there is; The Doctor. In hindsight this can seem baffling to newer fans, as the Doctor is unquestionably the ultimate protagonist. He saves the day weekly, he never kills and most of the time the story is told from his perspective. But did you know that, in the story that follows An Unearthly Child, the Doctor tries to murder a wounded man, because he is "slowing them down"? It is only Ian, the companion he has recently kidnapped against his will, that stops him from doing so. And that's the thing; in 1963 the character wasn't conceived as the heroic, do-gooding protagonist (that role was left to the companions), but as a dubious, mysterious old grandfather whose motives are never made clear. As such, he is the closest thing An Unearthly Child has to a Weeping Angel (and spookily, they aren't that different; an ancient alien, hiding in the shadows, waiting to send unsuspecting humans through time for their own needs). The Weeping Angels are repeatedly voted "Greatest Villain Of All Time", but there is little more unsettling than The Doctor as the enemy; this has been shown intermittently throughout the show, from strangling Peri in The Twin Dilemma to declaring himself 'Time Lord Victorious' and driving his companion to suicide in The Waters of Mars. What could be scarier than not being able to trust the person who is supposed to save the day? Beyond the antagonist, each story remains creepy throughout, deftly selecting locations that remain stalwart in their spook factor. Jokes about how terrifying school can be notwithstanding, the bulk of An Unearthly Child takes place in an old junkyard at night, while Blink takes in lonely cemeteries, abandoned manor houses and shadowy basements to ram home its inherent creepiness. The slow-burning discovery of who the Doctor is really has to be an unsettling affair, and both An Unearthly Child and Blink revel in knowing this.