Product Details

• Actors: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Carole Ann Ford
• Directors: Waris Hussein, Christopher Barry, Richard Martin, Frank Cox
• Writers: Anthony Coburn, C E Webber, Terry Nation, David Whitaker
• Producers: Verity Lambert
• Format: Box set, Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Worldwide
• DVD Release Date: March 28, 2006
• Run Time: 311 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000CNESV2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,806 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Doctor Who: The Beginning (An Unearthy Child / The Daleks / The Edge of Destruction) (Stories 1 - 3)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The "unearthly" strains of Ron Grainer's soon-to-be-famous title music announced the arrival of Doctor Who to British TV screens on Saturday, November 23, 1963. It must have been quite a baffling experience for first-time viewers: the swirling abstract graphics, the weird electronic sound effects courtesy of the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop, the very oddity of the show's title. This really was groundbreaking TV. "I think you'll find there's a very simple explanation for all of this", says schoolteacher Ian Chesterton (William Russell) condescendingly, shortly before being taken on board the TARDIS and transported to an alien planet. For audiences, too, this was something entirely unfamiliar, yet obviously appealing: Doctor Who ran for almost 30 years and remains one of the BBC's most popular shows. His later incarnations were all eccentric in their different ways, but William Hartnell's original Doctor is an irascible and distinctively alien character, not at all happy having to put up with ignorant 20th-century humans. The "Unearthly Child" of the title is his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford), temporarily attending school on Earth. She is conspicuously different from her classmates and attracts the attention of two of her teachers who resolve to find out why. After an encounter with her mysterious grandfather they are whisked away on an adventure to a different time and place where angry cavemen are trying in vain to learn the secret of fire. Thus the show's trademarks are established from the outset: the Doctor and his more or less reluctant human companions, the mechanical unreliability of the TARDIS, the cliffhanger ending of each episode. It was a formula that rarely changed but that allowed apparently limitless variation, the only constraint being the BBC's budget. In later years the show tried vainly to compete with blockbuster special effects movies; but its original low-key incarnation relied more on inventive scenarios and good writing--qualities that are just as important now as then. --Mark Walker

The Daleks (sometimes called "The Dead Planet") is the second-ever Doctor Who serial. First broadcast between December 1963 and February 1964, the seven-episode story ensured the program's success by introducing the Doctor's most iconic enemies. Five hundred years after a nuclear war has devastated the planet Skaro, the Doctor (William Hartnell), Barbara, Ian, and Susan materialize in a petrified forest where the pacifist, and decidedly camp, Thals face starvation. Our heroes visit a nearby city, the home of the last remaining Daleks, terrifyingly cold-blooded mutants encased in armed, pepper-pot-like shells, and become involved in a desperate battle for survival. Given a nightmarish atmosphere by Tristram Cary's surreal electronic score, The Daleks proved the template for many a future Doctor Who adventure. Hartnell's Doctor is a surprisingly self-serving hero and the ambitious storytelling, which reflects the Cold War fears of the time, belies a tiny budget. The remastered picture sometimes looks digitized, but this story, remade for the cinema as Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and starring Peter Cushing, is still both an effective, if at times unintentionally hilarious, entertainment and an essential piece of television history. A superior sequel, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, was screened in late 1964. --Gary S Dalkin

One of the rarest of the early Doctor Who series, with William Hartnell as the crusty old Doctor, Edge of Destruction is entirely based in the TARDIS, which has stopped somewhere between worlds and times. The Doctor blames Ian and Barbara, the two teachers who came aboard in search for answers about his granddaughter, Susan, assuming they have committed sabotage in an attempt to return to their own time. They, in turn, in spite of recent shared escapes from Cavemen and Daleks, have no particular reason to trust his sanity. Something is causing one after another of them to act with violent irrationality, and the clock is ticking towards their destruction... This is a claustrophobic two-episode plot in which the series examines closely some of its more beloved assumptions. --Roz Kaveney

Product Description

William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee. The renegade alien Time Lord is discovered by his granddaughter's teachers who follow her home. So he kidnaps them in the premiere episode of Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child" followed by The Daleks" and The Edge of Destruction." 3 DVDs. 1963-66/color/3 hrs., 18 min/NR.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

133 of 136 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars THE DOCTOR is IN!!!! January 10, 2006

By Kevin J. Loria VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

WHAT A WAY TO CELEBRATE 40+ years in time and space with the first 3 episodes! Presented here are the first 3 William Hartnell stories arcs in 1 set. This is a great way to be introduced to the longest running TV sci-fi series in (and of) history. When we first meet the Doctor's "granddaughter" SUSAN, through her concerned and curious school teachers, IAN & Barbara. The Doctor, very the ANTI-HERO, almost frightening in this story, as he almost abducts the pair to protect his secret (not that he is a Timelord) that he is from "the future" and can travel in time and space. The outer shape of the time machine, A.K.A. the TARDIS remains stuck in the famous police-call-box disguise as it appears on the cusp of the "ice age." After a great 2 episode start, "Unearthly Child" becomes a fairly cliched tale of escape and capture RUNNING from and with cavemen. In 1963, Film and time was at a premium for the fledgling show, so many flubbed lines and missed cues remain in this remastered set. IT IS STILL A MUST SEE/OWN STORY FOR new and old DR. WHO FANS.

The next story introduces the Doctors 40 yr. nemesis, and easily he revial for pop culture popularity, THE DALEKS in the aptly title story arc, "The Daleks." For a series that was intended to introduce history to children, the show immediately gets off track in this 2nd story, introducing the Doctor's classic alien-cyborg foe, thank God. Overall, not a great story, but it is so monumentous a meeting that it is fun to watch on that merit alone!

The 3rd story arc "The Edge of Destruction" is what the Trek writers refered to as a "bottle episode." In an attempt to cut costs on enough stories to save money for the big shows, we have a story contained completely in the TARDIS control room.... The "characters trapped in an elevator" story is a fast, cheap way of establishing and defining characters early in a series, Edge of Destruction is highly successful in this way.

This is a great set at a good price.
DON'T SETTLE FOR crummy BOOTLEGS! GET THESE CLEANED & POLISHED PIECES OF TIMELORD HISTORY! Read more ›

118 of 121 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The beginning of a phenomenon February 28, 2006

By Nigel Sawyer

Format:DVD

For those of you who may be considering buying this DVD set as the obvious introduction to "Doctor Who" but don't necessarily know much about it, here is some background to the series (those of you in the know can skip this if you want).

Made by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), "Doctor Who" is the world's longest-running science-fiction TV show, beginning in November 1963 and initially running until December 1989 when the show appeared to run out of both steam and significant viewing figures. A large and loyal global fan base kept the Doctor `alive' however through various alternative medias (such as books, audio CDs and video cassettes) until the triumphant return of the show to television in 2005 where it has once again become one of the BBC's most important, most talked about and most watched TV shows.

Although the program is called "Doctor Who", the main character is consistently known only as "The Doctor" ("Doctor Who" being nothing more than a simple reference to the mysterious lead character). Some of the mysteries surrounding the Doctor are revealed throughout the course of the series when it is established he is part of a race known as The Time Lords from the planet Gallifrey.

At one point in the show's history, it is suggested that the Doctor was bored with merely observing time and space on Gallifrey and decided to "borrow" a TARDIS (which stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) to explore the universe, taking his granddaughter, Susan with him. A TARDIS is a `capsule' engineered by the Time Lords with the ability to travel anywhere in time and space. Its interior is larger than its exterior because it is "dimensionally transcendental".... Upon materializing, the exterior of a TARDIS normally blends in with its surroundings to `camouflage' itself. However, the Doctor's TARDIS has a fault in its `chameleon circuit' and so constantly appears as a 1960's British police telephone box, a fault that presumably occurs when the TARDIS leaves 1960's London at the end of the first episode of the very first story, "An Unearthly Child". The Doctor was originally played by William Hartnell but declining health forced him to give up the part after three years and he was replaced by Patrick Troughton. Thus, further "Who" folklore was established by introducing the concept of regeneration - a Time Lord's ability to "cheat death" by "renewing" all the cells in his body leaving him with a completely different physical make-up and personality. This ingenious idea enabled the show to continue without Hartnell and beyond Troughton, making the show somewhat unique in the sense that it is now almost expected to change its leading actor every once in a while.

The first three stories presented here in this DVD set show William Hartnell initially portraying the Doctor as something of an anti-hero. He is suspicious, cunning, patronizing and manipulative. In some cases we learn this is to protect his granddaughter Susan or simply to satisfy his own curiosity. Hartnell is in fine form as the mysterious time traveler, displaying some good alien qualities, particularly in the first story, "An Unearthly Child" in which he shows no sympathy to the plight of two London school teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, whom he feels he must `kidnap' to ensure his presence on earth is kept secret. Indeed, good acting performances are given from the entire main cast in these first three stories. Unfortunately, the captivating other-world qualities displayed by Susan (played by Carole Ann Ford) in the first couple of episodes of "An Unearthly Child" quickly evaporate and from then on she is reduced to playing a clichéd, whimpering, naďve teenage girl.

The epic second story, "The Daleks" turned the initial success of "Doctor Who" into a phenomenon almost overnight. Indeed, this story and it's follow-up, "The Dalek Invasion Of Earth" would later be made in color for the big-screen in two modestly successful films starring Peter Cushing as the Time Lord. "The Daleks" introduces the Doctor's now most famous nemesis on their home planet of Skaro, thousands of years after their war with a blonde-haired race called the Thals. The peaceful Thals live on the surface of Skaro while the emotionless Daleks are mutants who have survived only with the aid of mobile metal casings, confined to within a large city, their battle cry of "Exterminate! Exterminate!" now being a phrase cemented in British popular culture and mimicked in every school yard throughout the past 43 years. After more anti-hero displays from the Doctor at the beginning of this story, the Time Lord actually starts to show signs of a more friendly nature as "The Daleks" progresses.

However, he still retains enough mistrust to accuse Ian and Barbara of tampering with the TARDIS when, in the third story, "The Edge Of Destruction", a number of bizarre things start to happen to jeopardize the lives of all four time travelers. "The Edge Of Destruction" is a two-part story that simply acted as something of a "filler" to restrain budget costs and hence takes place completely within the confines of the TARDIS. The bizarre happenings prove to be a result of the TARDIS's warning system to its occupants that the ship is hurtling back in time to the beginning of the universe. The reason for this is actually rather ludicrous - a faulty spring in the TARDIS's control console being responsible for the near catastrophy! The theme of the TARDIS being an almost "living" entity within itself and capable of warning its inhabitants of potential danger is an interesting one but one that was sadly never really explored again until the new series in 2005. By the end of this story the Doctor actually comes very close to apologizing to Ian and Barbara for his behaviour and from now on the Doctor becomes a much more friendly and approachable character, although one that still maintains a temper when he wants to.

Sadly, the fourth "Doctor Who" story, "Marco Polo" is believed to be no longer in existence, all seven episodes being wiped by the BBC in the 1970's when it was customary to purge old shows once copies had been shipped to foreign TV companies and before home marketing possibilities were made available. However, the audio soundtrack for this story still exists, as do some off-screen telesnap photographs for all but one of the episodes. Presented on this DVD set is a condensed version of "Marco Polo" using the available soundtrack and telesnaps.

All in all this DVD set shows that "Doctor Who" got off to a compelling start with intelligent writing and some noteworthy acting performances and directing. With over 4 hours of bonus material. it is well worth a buy for good entertainment value to watch and enjoy over again. Read more ›

58 of 62 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's about time! December 8, 2005

By Dennis Maloney

Format:DVD

Finally the first 3 William Hartnell stories released in 1 package. This is a great way to be introduced to the series. The 1st story 'An Unearthly Child' starts off great, the first 1 1/2 episodes are excellent then the story becomes a fairly cliched 'be captured, escape, be captured, escape again' type of story. It's worthwhile because it introduces all the concepts still being used in the series today-the TARDIS, the Doctor as an alien on the run from his own race, having human companions to give the series a human perspective.

Story 2-'The Daleks'. What more can be said about this? We wouldn't be watching Christopher Eccleston or David Tennant today if not for this story. While we're on the subject of the Daleks-Hey BBC how about releasing Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker's Dalek stories soon?

Story 3-'Inside the Spaceship'-an interesting little 'bottle' show using only the 4 main characters and the TARDIS set. This story gets into the psychology of the characters and resolves the issue of distrust among the TARDIS crew, leaving them as a strong and friendly group.

I've also heard there will be a telesnap reconstruction of the 4th story 'Marco Polo' in this set as well. I listened to the audio version of this story and it's great. It's a real shame that this story no longer exists.

Thank you BBC for putting out such a great package!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth The Price for the Extras Alone April 1, 2006

By ROBERT W. SAINT JOHN VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Most who buy this set will do so because they are, after all, the first three stories of this series, and classics for that fact alone more than the actual content. Others have said a great deal about the stories themselves better than I might, so all I'll add is that the one of the great triumphs of this set is the brilliant work done by the BBC Restoration Team (VidFIRE is just amazing). I've never seen these stories look and sound so clean before; in fact, I don't think I've ever seen a video production (vs film) from this time period look so good.

But the real hidden treasures on these discs are the EXTRAS. There are hours of specials and interviews in this set that dig into the origins of the series and these stories in a way that has only been done before in books by the likes of Jeremy Bentham, Howe-Stammers-Walker and so on. Of particular note is the absolutely fantastic and engrossing special, "Doctor Who Origins". Steve Roberts is to be commended for this unprecedented look behind the the scenes at the year leading up to the production of the first serials. The absolute wealth of photos, footage, BBC memoes and interviews that exist in this special alone are worth the price of the entire set. I've loved and followed this show since the 70s, but this was the first time I felt that I'd really been taken back to 1962-63 and given a glimpse of the wonderful people and unsung heroes that brought this show to our screens. This special was almost immersive, and had me at times giggling like a child, feeling a chill up my spine, and at one or two points almost tearing up. It's not just a DVD extra, it's a historical archive, and I feel so fortunate to have it as a permanent addition to my library.... Attentive viewers will also see a remarkable amount of similarity to the choices made in the original series, and the new series now about to begin its second season.

Another extra is a wonderful 5.1 remix "music video" of the original Doctor Who theme by Ron Granier as realised by Delia Derbyshire and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The theme has never sounded so good, and kudos to Mark Ayres for breathing new life into this immortal theme tune once again. There's also a wonderful special -- "Masters of Sound" -- on the Radiophonic Workshop itself, which did so much in terms of sound effects and music for DW over the years. Again, a real historical document, and brilliantly written and directed.

Scattered throughout the extras are interviews with and great insights from those who were there: Verity Lambert (who steals my heart when I see her at the age of 27!), Sydney Newman, directors Waris Hussein (who is a delight to listen to) and Richard Martin, and of course actors Carole Ann Ford (Susan) and William Russell (Ian). I'm sure all of these people must have tired over the years of talking about the show, but you'd never know it watching this. I'm amazed everyones' memories are so sharp 43 years later!

One disc has a set of very funny comedy sketches, including a few with actor/writer (DW and "League of Gentlemen") Mark Gatiss. Do not miss the hilarious "The Pitch of Fear" and "The Kidnappers"!

There's even a audio/still photo recreation of the story "Marco Polo", one of the sadly "lost" episodes of DW. So you're not just getting 3 stories plus extras; more like 4 stories plus history! This release, possibly more than anything else in my collection, is what the DVD format is all about. It will be a hard one for BBC Video and the Restoration Team to ever top. Read more ›