Enter...The Daleks!

First off, let me give you a little history lesson regarding my relationship with this particular set of episodes. Remember the days of Woolworths, of double-video cassettes retailing for £19.99? Well, it was those days in which I first spied this story on sale in my local Woolies. Being about 12 at the time, I didn't have £20 just knocking around waiting to be spent on Doctor Who videos, so I had to wait. And save. And save I did. Clutching my crisp £20 note, I virtually ran into town to pick up my copy, only to find that they had sold out! Gah! I asked the lady if the had any more copies of Doctor Who & The Daleks, only to be met by a slightly bemused and amused shake of the head. Needless to say, I was a little sad. There was a copy of the double-video cassette of the following Dalek story, so I took this home instead, in what I thought at the time was a bit of a compromise (turns out it wasn't, and loved DIOE!).

Fast forward to Christmas time, and remembering my slight disappointment earlier in the year, I asked Santa (aka my Mum) for a copy of Doctor Who & The Daleks. Come Christmas morning, I was slightly put out to see nothing that could be a double-video cassette wrapped up, and assumed that Santa (aka my Mum) hadn't been able to find the Dalek-y gift I was wanting. However, there was one video cassette wrapped up with my name on it from my Mum (aka Santa). Ripping of the paper I found a copy of....Doctor Who and the Daleks starring Peter Cushing! So near, yet so far! Bless her, she wasn't to know. I'm not saying that I wasn't grateful for the Cushing outing; I was. In fact, I grew to love that movie, and its follow up, and its why I'm now a hell of a lot more familiar with the film version of this particular story than its TV counterpart. In fact, the first time I saw it was when 2 Entertain released The Beginning box set DVD and this time is only my second time through it. I suppose the point of all this is that I'm not necessarily as familiar and entrenched in the fan dogma of this story as other may be.

Now, this serial, and I don't say this lightly, is probably one of the most important serials broadcast. Its influence and contribution to the success of the early days of Doctor Who, cannot be understated. It is simply because of the Daleks themselves that Doctor Who is on the air today. They catapulted the show from a risky Saturday night prospect to a runaway success - a success that would only escalate once the following Dalek serial was broadcast in 1964, leading to "Dalekmania".

But what of the episodes themselves. How do they fare as entertainment in their own right? The first episode is quite simply brilliant. A master-class of tension and mystery. Things start off well enough when the regulars land on the planet Skaro, but the quality increases further once we reach the seemingly deserted Dalek city. The sound design here is wonderful, giving us an ambient, abstract noise that is wonderfully alien. As Barbara searches for Mercury on her own (not that they really need it - the Doctor being an arse again!), she is quietly and systematically being herded and guided towards something unknown. That final scene with a SOMETHING reaching out towards Barbara and a blood-freezing scream, fade, and out to the spooky theme, is one of my favourites.

The Daleks enter full in the following episode, and we finally get a look at the insane little dustbins. But I'm sure that enough has been said about the Daleks in the past; I don't feel I can add anything new here.

The serial is a little bloated at 7 episodes and does begin to drag around episodes 5 and 6. Nevertheless this is a great story for the show, and one that proves the show could do sci-fi with "bug-eyed monsters" brilliantly.

Next up: All Aboard!

And So It Begins... An Unearthly Child

Or "The Tribe of Gum", or "100,000 BC" or "Unamed Serial". Whichever you choose to call it. Please no comments regarding correct/incorrect story titles; I really can't be bothered with the arguments and I firmly sit on the side of "you can call it whatever you like as long as everybody knows what you're going on about" camp.

But onwards, onto the episodes themselves. Part One - An Unearthly Child - is simply one of the finest episodes of Doctor Who ever broadcast. It positively drips atmosphere, from the unique and famous theme tune (many thanks Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire!) to the opening shots of a fog bound street, the camera's journey through the gate of an old junkyard and finally fixing upon a Police Telephone Box, humming with an uncommon power... the mystery of the box, Susan and the Doctor is delicious. Don't forget that at this point, we knew nothing of Time Lords, Gallifrey, regeneration, jellybabies or multicoloured scarves. This was an old man and his granddaughter, on the run from who knew what.

This first 25 minutes of television was a landmark not only in the history of the BBC, but to the popular culture of the entire country. TARDIS, The Doctor, bigger on the inside, companions, time travel. This is where it all started, leading to generations growing up with a hero, and a leaving a legacy that is stronger than ever today, 49 years later.

However, it must be said that initially the Doctor was not the hero of the piece, at least not the hero as we came to know him. Hartnell's Doctor here is arrogant, selfish and not a little frightening. We're never quite sure what his agenda is. He resorts to kidnapping Ian and Barbara to preserve his own secret, and later on in the serial is prepared to bash in a caveman's skull to make good his escape. This ain't your kids' Doctor Who! But its all down the Hartnell's superb performance that his Doctor never wanders into the realms of absolute villainy, nor does he slide too far to the other side, becoming the stereotypical eccentric dotty old professor. No, this Doctor is someone we can't quite get a handle on, at least not yet.

Unfortunately, it all goes downhill from episode 2. I have to say that I don't find cavemen particularly exciting and the story unfolding is simplistic to say the least. The three episodes spent on the search for fire are tedious and its a massive relief when they finally make it back to the Ship and go somewhere, anywhere, else.

But its that first episode that sets the seemingly indestructible foundations of Doctor Who and its brilliance more than excuses the tedium that follows over the next three episodes.

Next up: The exterminators arrive...

Here We Go...

OK, so I may be mad. I probably am. But, taking inspiration from the brilliant Wife In Space blog (www.wifeinspace.com), I've decided to watch Classic Doctor Who, from the beginning, in order :S This Blog will be a record of that journey; my thoughts, feelings and observations on each story.

I will just say at this point that I don't plan on watching each and every episode of the Hartnell/Troughton eras, mainly because I find recons slightly dull, but also because I don't have access to all these episodes. Hopefully, from Spearhead From Space onwards, it'll be as comprehensive as is possible.

I'm not sure yet what the rate of play will be. I've already completed the first serial and onto the second episode of The Daleks at the time of this writing, and I only started yesterday.

So that's what this is all about. Hopefully I can be entertaining and reach the end of the thing. It'll be a long slog, but I hope I'll get there...

So come with me, to a junkyard in Totter's Lane....