Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: The Beginning (An Unearthy Child / The Daleks / The Edge of Destruction)

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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!

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, naïve 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.

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!

I only recently became a Doctor Who fan, through the Christopher Eccleston episodes that have been airing on SciFi Channel. I bought these DVDs to see where the series began, and this review is written with people like myself in mind -- in other words, people who enjoy the recent episodes, but may not know anything else aboutthe show's history.

Personally, I was not disappointed. Obviously, over forty years stand between the current Doctor and the original Doctor, and in that time, the series appears to have changed quite a lot. However, these original episodes, considering that they appear to have had as tiny a budget as a show can possibly have, are entertaining, and will make you think.

"An Unearthly Child," the beginning story, is the lesser of the three, featuring an odd story about cavemen who are trying to figure out how to make fire. It's not bad, especially the very first episode, which is all about how the characters get stuck with the Doctor . . . but the cavemen are a bit silly.

"The Daleks" introduces the series' (apparently) major villains; it's a very good serial, with some strong morality play and character interaction that is far superior to that of most TV shows (sci-fi or not) from this era.

"The Edge of Destruction" is a two-parter that makes very effective use of the TARDIS.

There are several excellent bonus features, as well, including an hour-long documentary about the show's creation; some funny comedy bits from the BBC; and an audio recreation of a storyline ("Marco Polo") for which the episdoes have been lost.

In short, if you are a fan of the new Who, then I think you'll probably also dig these DVDs.

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.

With Doctor Who back on our screens after a long rest, it's highly appropriate that BBC Video have taken the opportunity to remind everyone where it all started with this DVD package. However, if you've fallen under the spell of Christopher Eccleston & David Tennant's portrayals of the mysterious Time Lord in the new adventures, you may find the roots of the long running show a little bit on the dull side! It certainly serves as a reminder as to how TV production has changed in forty plus years!

The Beginning Collection takes us all the way back to November 1963 when Doctor Who first aired on Britain's BBC TV in its traditional Saturday evening slot. This set of three discs (in two cases) brings the first four stories from the show's forty-two year history back to life and explains the origins of the format that led to the world's longest running sci-fi TV show.

Not that it was all sci-fi based. The first story - An Unearthly Child aka The Tribe of Gum otherwise aka 100,000 BC - features the original crew of the TARDIS going back into ancient Earth history to deal with a tribe of cavemen desperate to rediscover the secret of fire. But that was always the intention of the show; to educate as well as to entertain and for the first four years of it's life, the stories regularly took the time travelers back in time as well as way into the future and into other worlds. The second story - The Daleks aka The Mutants - was the first story to be set in outer space on an alien world and was the kick start to the ratings phenomena that lasted for twenty six years; introducing the evil Dalek race who in many ways became as popular in their own right as the Doctor himself. The third installment is the two part adventure featuring only the original four-handed cast and set entirely within the Doctor's space and time machine - The TARDIS - variously known as Inside the Spaceship, The Edge of Destruction and Beyond the Sun. Alas, the fourth installment in the show's history, an adventure featuring Marco Polo's trek across Cathay, has long been wiped from the video archives. Thankfully, the soundtrack still exists, as do many still photographs, and the disc producers have put together a montage of the two to recreate a thirty minute version of the story on these discs. In view of the systematic wiping of tapes carried out by the BBC in the 1970's, this recreation is probably the closest we'll ever come to the real thing.

Indeed, as almost always with the Doctor Who releases, it's the extras and the restoration work that makes these discs so worthwhile. The two surviving members of the original cast, Carole Ann Ford and William Russell Enoch (who played the Doctor's grand-daughter Susan and her science teacher Ian Chesterton) both have come together once more to provide fascinating commentary on several of the episodes, along with the show's original producer Verity Lambert and directors' Waris Hussein, Christopher Barry and Richard Martin. Despite how long ago it all took place, their memories are quite sharp and very clear, although they only commentate on selected episodes, thus avoiding any embarrassing silence as the thoughts dry up! There are several documentaries regarding the creation of the show, the original design elements, music, special sound and effects and some comedy sketches from the Little Britain team to enjoy amongst many other special inclusions. Also added is an Arabic soundtrack of episode two of the third story!

Possibly the most interesting `extra' is the inclusion not just of the pilot episode of the show, but also the alternative takes that all miraculously still exist. More than anything, this exceptional look at what `might have been' gives real insight into the creation of Doctor Who and how it developed before being broadcast to the unsuspecting UK audience. The pilot is actually included twice on the disc. Immediately preceding episode one in its `final' format and again separately in its first take with all the alternative filming, narrated by Verity Lambert and Waris Hussein. Overkill perhaps, but worth it for the fans. It's true that all the episodes (including the pilots) have been released on VHS tape in the last decade or so, but here they been meticulously restored, remastered and "VidFired" to bring them back to almost original broadcast quality. Some of the footage in The Daleks isn't quite up to the standard of the other episodes, but that's understandable based on the quality of the remaining tapes.

Just as Christopher Eccleston brings the ninth Doctor to life on US TV and David Tennant begins his reign as the tenth in the UK, it's great to see William Hartnell's original Doctor making its first tentative steps into the TV world. As noted in the commentaries, Hartnell was almost alone in having enormous faith in the show, believing it would run for five years. How wrong can you be?

After years of delays (these three stories were originally supposed to be a VHS box set in 1999), we're getting what hordes of Doctor Who fans have been waiting for--a meticulously restored, extras-laden DVD release of the first three serials from 1963-64. These three stories encompass the 13 episodes that the series was originally commissioned for, before being quickly renewed due to the sensation caused by the first appearance of the Daleks in the second story (the series went on to run for 26 years).

This set, however, might not be the best starting place for neophytes unless they're fans of things like 1930s movie serials like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. Yes, early Doctor Who is in black and white, features early-60s TV production values, and, while Doctor Who DVDs are among the most painstakingly restored archive television product available, the ravages of time and poor storage on the source material may put off viewers who are unused to watching vintage TV. For anyone who's already a fan, however, what we have here is the answer to a lot of people's prayers, emails, and letters to the BBC.

I have the UK Region 2 version of this boxset and I see no difference in content in the Region 1 version. The contents of the set are as advertised and they are a must for every Doctor Who fan. I would start watching the DVDs with the uncut version of the Pilot Episode. Apart from being a look at how British television production worked in the early 1960s it gives an insight to the problems and tribulations involved in the making of a new, different type of program for children.
There is a 25 minute cut version of the origional pilot episode which is interesting when compared with the refilmed version which was origionally aired in 1963. The following episodes of An Unearthly Child are about their first adventure with the cave dwellers. A little hard to watch these days when we are spoilt with visual effects and superbs sound. They are however historically interesting as they show how the Doctor and his companions are developed. There has been a lot of critisism of the character of Susan Foreman as the Doctor's niece, but I think she was essential to the programs success.
The second disc is a must! The first look at the Daleks. Yes its true we did hide behind the chairs when the daleks came on, and I had numerous dreams about saving the earth from the Daleks. We even ran around the playground being Daleks.
The third disc The Edge of Destruction is one for the adults. It gives an insight into the importance of the TARDIS and its secret hidden powers. You 'MUST' watch this before you see the new Doctor Who series.

Those of you familiar with my reviews know that I am not too keen on DVD extras, an excuse to jack up the price of the DVD. However, Doctor Who The Beginning Collection contains two extras that, frankly speaking, are reason enough to buy this DVD set. The three stories featured here, Unearthly Child, The Daleks, and Edge of Destruction, are FIVE-Star stories themselves. However, there is nothing new offered as all three have been released on VHS, and enough has been written about those, so I won't ramble on about them. Great stories nonetheless.

The first of the two fantastic extras is a 55-minute documentary called Doctor Who Origins. It details the story of how our favorite tv show about our favorite time lord was conceived, featuring snippets of interviews with not only the surviving starring cast, William Russell and Carole Ann Ford, but also the original behind the scenes team of Producer Verity Lambert and Director Waris Hussein. Also interviewed for this special presentation was the creator of Doctor Who himself, Sidney Newman. We also get some great still shots of Doctor Who in production, as well as movie reels of Grandstand and Juke Box Jury, the two programs that sandwiched Doctor Who when it was first broadcast. To top it off, this documentary contains footage of Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire, who composed the eerie Doctor Who theme music, hard at work at the now defunct Radiophonic Workshop.

The second great extra in this collection is the 30-minute montage of stills and soundtrack to form the story, Marco Polo, which due to the BBC's lack of vision and foresight, has been lost forever. From all accounts, this story was a classic. Taking place over a span of several months gave Marco Polo an epic feel. While the full story is likely never to be regained, this condensed version provides us with a glimpse of its greatness.

In conclusion, the three featured stories are the reason to purchase this DVD set. However, the two extras I discussed justify their own separate release and heavily enhance this set.

This is what started it on flickering boob tubes across the UK on 23 November 1963.

100,000 BC: The first epsisode ('An Unearthly Child' sets the mark for the series, however you have to say something about the remainder as well. The psychological drama works OK and the fact that the Doctor and his human companions have to start working together, despite their fear and distrust of one another.

The Mutants (AKA The Daleks, AKA The Dead Planet): My favourite Dalek story. Great atmosphere, like when Alydon is 'chasing' Susan in the forest and the hunt for the Fluid Link. Despite some padding of later episodes, it stands up well even in 2006.

Inside the Spaceship (AKA The Edge of Destruction): 2 episodes, entirely within the TARDIS? How can it be done? David Whitaker showed it COULD be done and make great TV drama at the same time. The old suspicions of alien versus human are re-introduced and it's just superb television of the kind I wish they still made today. Sadly, writing has gone to the wayside nowadays. No current TV show could survive with what Dr. Who had to deal with in late 1963 and early 1964.

Also, this is coming out after 42 years, not 40 as another reviewer wrote. 42 years and it is still going strong (new series with Christopher Eccleston is a must see, IMO)