100,000 B.C.

And so, we land in the middle Palaeolithic for the first of many adventures in time and space- and we are confronted with one of the most alien societies that the programme has ever depicted. This is the most uncompromising depiction of early Homo sapiens that had been seen up to this point. These are not bumbling cartoon cavemen or Victor Mature in animal skins. These are people with broken and blackened teeth, filthy and unkempt, who dominate their world, but still do not master it. They can keep the tiger at bay, but it will attack when the fire goes out. This is a society before morality because it is before the safety that is needed for ethics to develop.

The writing on "An Unearthly Child" was sound, but it is here that Coburn really excels. The story is simple- the tribe must rediscover the secret of fire or die- but Coburn uses it to probe interesting anthropological questions. The tribe have language, a vital key to skills being passed on, but have not yet learned to work as a community, that Kal is not stronger than the whole tribe. The vocabulary of the tribe is small, but Coburn and Hussein avoid the trap of having them speak in Tarzanese, and Coburn turns the paucity of their lexicon into some beautiful dialogue. Ian’s concern over the injured Za is seen as being like the only type of tenderness known to the tribe- that of a mother to a child. Coburn also deserves praise for not allowing the regulars to teach the tribe the meaning of love or mercy. Even though Ian saves Za’s life, Za shows no gratitude as it is a feeling that is simply not part of the tribe.

The performances of the supporting cast is excellent, considering that, to us, the tribe seem barely more than animals. We actually want Za to make fire and Derek Newark ably gets our support, if not our sympathy. The regulars are good too, with Ian establishing himself as the square-jawed hero. Hartnell continues to astonish as the Doctor, who is a very different figure to that which he would become. He is curious, but not interventionist and would like to get back to the TARDIS as soon as possible- it is very strongly implied that he would rather kill Za than help him. In the hands of a lesser actor, the Doctor would come out as cowardly, but what we get is determined pragmatism, and the start of a bond with Ian and Barbara.

Although not as striking as in "An Unearthly Child", Hussein’s direction is still excellent. The fight between Kal and Za constantly cuts to reaction shots from the regulars, which increases the effect of the brutality without depicting too much explicit violence. The black and white ‘cinematography’ is, again excellent, making the viewer forget that the cave is only polystyrene and making the ‘skulls of fire’ shot suitably spooky.

This brings me to a very important observation- there is no way this would have been made as a Doctor Who story today. Za is viciously mauled by a wild animal, and we see the bloody gashes in his chest. In the fight between Kal and Za, the loser is brained with a boulder. There are no sympathetic characters, because sympathy hasn't emerged as a human characteristic. It’s really grim television, and it’s sad to see how ‘kids TV’ could be more adult than so-called adult TV today.

A truly brilliant story that deserves greater acclaim.

NEXT: The Daleks

"An Unearthly Child"

The first episode has been almost universally acclaimed, and I have to agree with this. From the beautiful establishing shot of the TARDIS at the beginning, it gripped me and didn’t let me go, which brings me to my first observation- how visually dynamic it is. The recollections of what Susan said in class are accomplished by flashbacks which consist of POV shots, something that I don’t recall ever happening later (but maybe I’ll be proved wrong). The shot of Barbara bursting into the TARDIS is done simply but extremely effectively- she almost runs into us in her (and our) surprise. And, of course, the taking off of the TARDIS is a marvellous combination of the ‘howlaround’ effect and shocked faces- we literally don’t know what is happening to them.

Waris Hussein directs with superb skill. His shot choices are perfect and the way he got the performances to gel together from the beginning is amazing. The performances are first-rate- the script doesn’t establish the characters of Ian and Barbara that much, but Russell and Hill easily fill in the gaps- we not only know very quickly what types of people they are, but get to care about them before the end of the episode. And then there’s William Hartnell. Physically, he doesn’t do much in this episode- he doesn’t even appear until half-way through the episode- and yet this strange and sometimes rather scary old man captivates us from the second he appears on screen. His performance is subtle, yet somehow gives the impression of a larger-than-life, hugely intelligent and somehow alien character.

The script for this episode is very taut and almost naturalistic- the only bits that could possibly seem false are the aforementioned recollections of what Susan said in class, but the way they are shot more than compensates for it. However, when there is a need for it, the writing is beautiful, notably in the famous ‘travellers in the fourth dimension’ speech.

I would talk about the set design, but in this episode, there’s only one set that matters, and it’s easy to see why the TARDIS interior changed very little between 1963 and 1989.

Finally, I don’t know how appropriate the word ‘cinematography’ is to something shot with multiple cameras in a TV studio with the director calling the shots in a booth, but the stark black and white photography is stunning. The entirety of the episode seems to take place after dark and the use of shadow is very evocative, which makes the cut from Barbara in the junkyard to Barbara in the brightly lit TARDIS all the more effective.

In summary, this would be an astonishing piece of television even if it wasn’t the first episode of Doctor Who.

NEXT: 100,000 B.C.