Doctor Who: Ranking Debut Doctor Stories From Worst To Best
5. An Unearthly Child - The First Doctor
5:16pm, November the 23rd 1963. The theme tune. The weird alien pattern on the screen. Suddenly two words appeared, those words were: Doctor Who. And thus began a television legend. 5 million people couldnt believe what theyd seen. The very first episode of Doctor Who, called An Unearthly Child, is a phenomenal piece of television, and its wonderful Doctor Who. Anthony Coburns script sees Teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright follow their school pupil Susan Foreman home, and begin exploring the junkyard she apparently lives in. Its during this that we first witness our hero, The Doctor. Wearing a hat, a cape, and a scarf, he finds Ian and Barbara, and has an unbelievably sassy and aggressive confrontation. The story begins, the 50 years of history begins. But not before a little trip back to 100,000 BC. The next 3 episodes are almost bizarre in comparison, with inter-tribal politics and the quest for fire being the big bad of the day. The Cavemen themselves are rather good actually, with one of my favourite lines in Doctor Who ever being Tomorrow, I will kill MANY bears!!! being a top top highlight. The story features some very interesting elements, such as the Doctor being selfish enough to offer to go first in a line being chased by angry Cavemen, and even attempting to kill someone with a brick to the head in order to move on and leave. This story on the whole, is a tad on the dull side, but not offensively so. Its really the first 25 minutes that are truly magnificent, and set the benchmark for the future of science fiction telvision.
Massive Doctor Who fan, guitarist, chubby fella with a passion for long coats and heavy metal. Journalism graduate, and comedy fascist. Occasionally spotted in dark alleys dressed as The Undertaker. Tweet me.
