The Reign of Terror

There is a very significant conversation at the end of The Reign of Terror. Barbara suggests that they might write a letter to Napoleon explaining the futility of his ambitions. Susan replies that if they had, Napoleon would either fail to read it or conclude its writer was mad. This is the strongest statement in Doctor Who of the immutability of history. When Dr. Who says in The Aztecs that you can't change history, one could always retcon that and argue that he means one should not or must not change history. However, Susan's statement at the end of this serial indicate in the strongest terms that history cannot be changed.

While later writers have moved away from the notion of history's immutability, to some extent it does make sense that history does not normally change in the Whoniverse. When Dr. Who arrives on Dulkis, he says that it is a peaceful planet. He assumes a prior knowledge of events on that planet that have not changed. Likewise, when Romana arrives on Tara, she assumes that the outfit she picks will still be in fashion and that Taran fashions have not changed as a freak result of some temporal interference. Yet the immutability of history does present a dilemma in terms of telling historical Doctor Who stories. We see this particularly in The Reign of Terror, in which the writer ends up simply telling a story about a contrived series of perils in which the characters are placed, with only a very superficial reflection on the historical events.

An Unearthly Child was an historical reflection on the inter-TARDIS power struggles, Marco Polo was an epic about the beautiful grandeur of history and The Aztecs was a cosmic drama centered on the inevitability of history. The Reign of Terror, in contrast to these stories, is a collection of historical set pieces, some dark, some comic. I think the tone is more even than the rather overrated Romans, but it feels more drawn out than that flawed story.

For the most part, The Reign of Terror is lacking in meaningful reflection on the fascinating subject matter it covers. On the surface it might appear to be heavily biased against the French Revolution (being an ultraconservative monarchist, that should not really bother me!). However, the revolutionary side is given its say in Leon, villain though he is. Barbara later offers some sympathy for Leon and his revolutionary comrades. Her comments are interesting because they raise difficulties with the historical Doctor Who genre. Frequently in historicals, the TARDIS crew take sides as a matter of convenience with little regard to the right or wrongs of each party. This self-serving tendency comes across as particularly manipulative in The Time Meddler, where the crew effectively enlist the locals to ensure the conquest of their own nation.

The Reign of Terror is the first story in which we see Dr. Who's mischievous nature coming out. Throughout this serial, he seems to delight in meddling for its own sake. This is facilitated by his impersonating a revolutionary official, the first incident of Dr. Who adopting the guise of a person in authority, something that would become a regular part of his modus operandi.

It is unfortunate that Susan was so ill served by writers, but it in this story that she gets her worst scripting. She spends nearly all of the story either ill or whining and crying. She is so pathetic that she refuses to try to escape the guillotine because she is terrified of rats. Bizarrely, Barbara just accepts this. I'm sure I'm not the only viewer who wants to see Barbara slap the girl and tell her she will die if she doesn't start acting sensibly.



The Reign of Terror is not the most impressive of the Hartnell historicals, but it is a worthy landmark in the development of the show and paved the way for more sophisticated historicals such as The Massacre and The Gun Fighters. It is also the more enjoyable for the fact that here the characters are forced to rely on their wits, while in the current series, every problem is solved with some mysterious piece of technology or just the wave of a the sonic screwdriver.

The Sensorites

Although a lot of fans hate The Sensorites, claiming it is a sleep-inducing plodder, I absolutely love it. It is one of those stories that I will defend whatever critics say.

The Sensorites has an element of nostalgia for me. The novelization was among the first Doctor Who books that I read at the age of nine. Like most I read, it was in the beautiful WH Allen hardback edition, borrowed from the local library. What is more I read it during my first holiday in France. I remember sitting outside my parents' caravan in the sunshine of Brittany, reading about the City Administrator's treachery, about Ian getting poisoned and the Doctor being given a stylish black cloak as a reward. It was all very charming stuff and I thoroughly enjoyed it then. Watching the DVD twenty-two years later, I still love this story.

Part of why I like this story is because it is very gentle. The story is about 'alien monsters' but they turn out to be relatively friendly. There is only one onscreen death and the villains are treated with mercy at the end. This contrasts with the morbid sadism of the Hinchliffe era and the pointless violence of the Saward era. The story is also quite radical for its time in that it has humans as the villains.

The most common complaint against The Sensorites is its slow pace. This is a charge that could be levelled against most Hartnell stories. Perhaps this is more noticeable with this serial because of its low level of violence. Another complaint is the round feet of the Sensorites themselves. I don't get this complaint at all; the point of the round feet is that they are not human. I think the Sensorite costumes are very effective.

Being one of the few fans of Susan, I particularly like the way this story, unlike the others of Season 1, makes good use of the character. She is given impressive telepathic powers, reflecting her ethereal alien quality and for once, she gets to stand up to her grandfather. It is sad that other writers could not do more with Susan. Notable also, is Susan's delightful line about her planet having a sky like a burnt orange and silver leaves on the trees. That line was used so hauntingly in the New Series.

The Sensorites should be regarded as one of the most creative and interesting stories of the Hartnell era.

The Keys of Marinus

There are some Doctor Who stories which get less interesting or enjoyable with every viewing. The Ark in Space comes into this category for me. It's a rather dull story once you have seen it a couple of times. In contrast, The Keys of Marinus becomes more enjoyable with every viewing. Each time I watch it, I get something new out of it. I did not care much for The Keys of Marinus on first viewing, but since then I have come to love it. Yes, the production values are very low in this story, but it still has a simple charm that does not fail to entertain. The Keys of Marinus reveals Terry Nation's main skill as a writer; he is brilliant at filling a story with exciting events. There is no shortage of tension or excitement as he takes the characters on a roller-coaster ride from one danger to another.

At the time of The Keys of Marinus, the format of Doctor Who was still in a state of flux. The Doctor was still not that likable and Barbara and Ian were the main characters. The loose-structured nature of this story, with it's episodic narrative makes a strong contrast with later serials, but it reflected the experimental nature of Doctor Who at this time.

Remember the Chrystal Maze? That program had different zones, an Aztec Zone, an Industrial Revolution Zone, a Medieval Zone and a Futuristic Zone. This serial likewise puts people the main characters into similarly diverse settings. And like the participants in The Chrystal Maze, they have to hunt for keys.

The first episode has a few problems, most caused by the small size of the sets. The cast do their best, but they are clearly struggling to make it convincing. This is not helped by the remarkably large number of fluffs from William Hartnell.

The Velvet Web's sets are a little cheap-looking as well, but this episode uses them better. The premise of things not looking like what they are is very cleverly done, with different points of view shots. The brains in the jars are very well conceived and their voices are highly effective. It is just unfortunate that their final scene is ruined by Jacqueline Hill's inability to break the glass.

There is a nice eeriness to the Screaming Jungle and this is backed up by a real sense of urgency. Unfortunately, this is a really cheap looking episode, with the dreadful idol and the laboratory that appears to be in a garden shed.

The next episode is more effective, mainly because of the great acting from Vasor, the trapper. I must admit, I am a bit in two minds about the scene where he appears to threaten Barbara with rape; it is a children's show after all. There is something a little worrying about the way that Barbara is repeatedly threatened with rape in the Hartnell era, though I suppose it is sadly true to life.

The ice warriors (what else do you call them?) look as cheap as the rest of the story but they are hilarious. The moment when they are stuck on the wrong side of the chasm is hilarious. I recently watched the Eisenstein's Russian classic, Alexander Nevsky. Every time I saw the Teutonic Knights, I kept thinking of the ice warriors in The Keys of Marinus and it made me crack up.

From the snows of the mountains, we are brought into a murder mystery in the more modern environment of Millennius. There is plenty of suspense and tension in this. I love the way Hartnell conveys frustration as Ian's plight becomes more desperate. I also really enjoyed the performance of Fiona Walker as Kala, which is especially impressive, given that it was her first role.

The conclusion is rather clumsy. Having a villain who only appears in the final episode can sometimes work, but in this story it does not. The Voord also appear to have changed their nature. In the first episode, they appear to be humans or humanoids in wetsuits. Now they are described as 'creatures' and Yartek their leader seems unable to remove his mask while disguised as Arbitan. That said, Yartek's pretence at being Arbitan is hilarious and not a little camp. Coming across as Fu Manchu in a rubber suit, he is one of the sillier Doctor Who villains.

As with a lot of other serials, Susan does not come across well in this, as she goes into a screaming fit at the slightest provocation. She is slightly redeemed in the fourth episode when she summons the courage to crawl across the deep chasm on a fragile pole of ice. I love Susan. She was such a great character, but if only she had been given a better deal by the writers.

Sabetha and Altos are interesting in the pseudo-companion like role they take on. They might have worked a little better if their background had been fleshed out a bit more. Their romance is suddenly sprung on us at the end. Sabetha is rather bland, though I do like the way she is so prim and proper. Altos is just a little bit too camp and definitely needed a longer tunic.

One piece of Doctor Who lore that deserves to be discussed here is The World Shapers comic strip, by Grant Morrison and John Ridgway. This remarkable story revealed that Marinus is Mondas and that the Cybermen were originally the Voord! A lot of fans are unwilling to consider this story canon, as it has Jamie McCrimmon dying an horrible death. Yet there do seem to be some good reasons for thinking that Marinus really might well be Mondas. The only reason identified in The World Shapers is the physical similarity between the Voord and the Cybermen. Both have handlebar like appendages on their helmets. There are other reasons. Marinus is an earth-like planet inhabited by near humans. It could easily be Earth's twin planet. There is also the stuff about computers controlling people's behavior. The episode The Screaming Jungle gives hints that Marinus might be threatened with environmental problems. Perhaps the ice creatures are cybernetic proto-Cybermen. As one of them screams, they cannot be robots. Personally, I am very keen on this theory as it seems to enlarge the importance of an otherwise throwaway story.

The Aztecs

In an attempt to alter the timeline, a being from the far future masquerades as an Aztec goddess.

There have been a fair few advanced beings masquerading as deities in the Doctor Who universe- Magnus Greel, Cessair of Diplos, Sutekh, the Jaggoroth, the Mandragora Helix and that wicked creature, Barbara Wright! It is ironic that in this early story, Barbara, who is portrayed as far more noble and heroic than the Doctor, is doing exactly the sort of thing that Doctor Who villains do! The villain of this story, Tlotoxl shows the sort of sceptical and questioning mind that would usually be celebrated in Doctor Who. I think this adds to the sense that season 1 is so enjoyable because it differs in so many ways from the very tightly defined ethos of later Doctor Who.

The story has a very melancholic mood. Nothing has really been acheived at the end. Barbara attempted to do something incredible in changing a whole culture, but discovered the hopelessness of this task. The Doctor and Cameca part with not a little sadness and Autloc's life is torn apart. This downbeat ending really sets the story apart from others across the history of the show. In my opinion, Genesis of the Daleks would have benefited from a similar ending. It seems manifestly obvious that when the Fourth Doctor claimed that he had set back the progress of the Daleks he was talking nonsense (probably to cheer Sarah and Harry up). The Daleks were hardly going to have too much trouble clearing away a bit of rubble. The Doctor had attempted to do what Barbara did here and like her, he failed.

Despite the melancholy tone, a good deal of the plot has a somewhat comedic structure with a lot of coincidence and irony. There is a certain of comedy of manners in Barbara's brilliantly scripted exchanges with Tlotoxl. Susan's preference of torture and gruesome execution over forced marriage seems (probably unintentionally funny). It's not like she is being forced to marry an ugly old man, and the bridegroom-to-be was going to be offered as a sacrificial victim anyway, so she would be a widow pretty quickly.

The Doctor's brief affair with Cameca at first seems grossly out of character. We never again see the Doctor falling in love in the classic series. Yet given what we see of the Doctor in his first season this makes sense. There are two things that are distinctive about the First Doctor. The first is that he is, contrary to appearances, a younger version of his future selves. Contrary to the impression given by The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors, the First Doctor is not older and wiser than the others. He is consistently shown to be less moral, less responsible and less emotionally mature (except when compared with the Sixth Doctor). If the Fifth Doctor is an 'old man in a young man's body,' then the First Doctor is a teenager in an old man's body. It should not thus be a surprise if he takes a woman on an emotional ride. Secondly, he is unlike the others, a family man. We don't know anything about the Doctor's sexual partner or children, but if we accept Susan at face value (there is no evidence whatsoever that Susan is only an adopted 'granddaughter'), then the Doctor has had a family (the novels Cold Fusion and The Infinity Doctors offer an whole backstory about the Doctor's marriage to a nurse called Patience, but this is of debatable canonicity). The later Doctors may have forgotten the joys of love and marriage, but they are a more recent memory to this one.




It does seem a bit odd that Barbara, an historian and apparent expert in Aztec history, believes that the abandonment of human sacrifice might save Aztec civilization from the Conquistadors. Surely, she must know that the conquest of South America was motivated but greed for gold and the ambition to create a new Christian empire on the continent, not moral disapproval of Aztec sacrificial practices. The Conquistadors were hardly men who were ashamed of bloodshed!

The Doctor tells us in this story that one cannot change history. I think it is clear by this that he means it is impossible, rather than that it is morally wrong. There is never any suggestion that any of the actions of the other members of the TARDIS crew could affect history. Given how fragile the timeline appears to be in Big Finish stories, one might imagine that Susan attending an Aztec school could easily have major implications. The Doctor is trying to show Barbara the futility of her actions. In my opion the premise that history in Doctor Who is immutable is the 'correct' one. I think it is unfortunate that later stories suggested that history could easily be altered. I am particularly concerned by Steven Moffatt's belief that Doctor Who is all about funny things happening to the timeline and parallel versions of history. I think that is a complete distorion of the ethos of the show.

The Aztecs is a great story. Given the loss of so many historical serials, we can be thankful that this one survived.

The Edge Of Destruction

Weird things are going on inside the TARDIS and Susan goes bezerk with a pair of scissors.

Also called by the less inspiring title of 'Inside The Spaceship.' Debating the correct title of early Doctor Who stories seems a good deal less interesting than trying to figure out the dates of UNIT stories, but some fans like to obsess over that particular issue.

Given that the TARDIS concept was completely fresh, it is natural that the viewer would appreciate an exploration of the TARDIS' interior. Thus, it made perfect sense to do a story set entirely inside the ship. Once viewers were more familiar with the TARDIS idea, 80s stories which spent large amounts of time onboard the TARDIS were questionable. Of the later explorations of the TARDIS, I think The Invasion Of Time is the best because of its quirkiness. The trip through the TARDIS in Castrolvalva was rather dull. The Edge Of Destruction got there first and brings home the unearthly character of the ship.

As Tat Wood and Lawrence Miles pointed out in About Time, David Whitaker's view of the TARDIS is completely at odds with that of Terry Nation, who had written the previous story, The Daleks. Nation essentially viewed the TARDIS as an oddly shaped space rocket (with a useless life support system- apparently the crew would suffocate in the vacuum of space, we are told in The Chase). Whitaker reveals in this story that the TARDIS is a thing of almost magical properties, in itself a living being. While Terry Nation's view of the TARDIS had it dependant on a component called 'the fluid link,' Whitaker's idea of the TARDIS would probably have had the TARDIS growing a new 'fluid link.' Whitaker's idea of the TARDIS as a sentient life form has come to be the dominant idea of the ship.

This story captures the creepy atmosphere of an haunted house. The scene with Susan and the scissors is genuinely disturbing. The story also has a very theatrical feel, with its shortness and unity of location. The claustrophobic atmosphere among the TARDIS crew rather suggests one of Harold Pinter's plays. After the excitement and adventure of the previous story, The Edge of Destruction provides some much needed character drama, enabling the resolution of the tense relationship between the characters. In this story, the Doctor reaches the height of his hostility towards Ian and Barbara, yet finally manages to reach accommodation with them (despite his inability to say sorry to Barbara).

William Hartnell is excellent as the Doctor. He becomes quite terrifying as he threatens to throw Ian and Barbara off the ship in their nightwear. Yet it is lovely to see him realising his arrogance at the end and making friends with Barbara, even though unable to utter the words "I'm sorry."


While Hartnell is fantastic, Jacqueline Hill is the real star as Barbara. She gives a truly powerful performance. We see just how hurt and disgusted she is at the Doctor's arrogance. We see her refusal to excuse him until she is sure he is really sorry and she shows real nobility in finally accepting his friendship. This is probably not William Russell's best performance. It is safe to say that he is at his best when he is acting the part of the square-jawed hero, and the psychological drama is not his style.

Susan has never been the most popular of companions. She was often badly scripted and Carol Ann Ford was never the best of actresses, but I have a liking for the character. Susan had a wonderfully ethereal quality that is particularly at home in this story. This is very much a story to suit Carol Ann Ford's role.

This story is very different to what was to come, but it plays a vital part in the early part of the show's mythology in easing in the disturbing and Machiavellian character of the Doctor and enabling viewers to come to terms with him and his relationship with the other characters.

The Daleks

The First Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara land on a strange planet. Is that unearthly metal city inhabited?

This may not be the first Doctor Who story, but it is the story that made Doctor Who what it is. The creation of a vivid archenemy for the Doctor in this story gave the show a creative energy and dynamism that would enable it to last for three decades and then be revived later. In reviewing this story, one is also reviewing the greatest of Doctor Who's creations as a show.

There has been a tendency for some fans to rubbish this story, exagerrating its flaws. I think this is unfortunate. It is true that it has perhaps not dated well, but it is a landmark Dr Who story that is highly crafted for the most part. A common opinion is that the second Dalek story, The Dalek Invasion of Earth is much better. I reject that opinion. The Dalek Invasion is a great story, but the Daleks in that tale are not so well characterised. They are simply monsters with a mad scheme for conquering the universe. The Daleks gives them a history and a personality that is much richer. The Daleks in this story are survivors and victims of war. They are fearful and paranoid, obsessed with survival. They do not care for conquest but want only to destroy potential enemies. They are weak and pitiful. On the whole, I find The Daleks more enjoyable to watch than Dalek Invasion, though this is to a certain extent a matter of taste.

The most common complaint levelled against this story is that it is far too long and gets boring. This is not surprising, given that it is not written to be watched in one go on DVD, but in seven installments. These episodes are each coherent narratives that are gripping in themselves. Each ends with a fantastic cliffhanger. This is a serial, not a feature film and this has to be appreciated.



That cliffhanger at the end of episode one, where Barbara is confronted by an unseen menace, extending a sucker towards her is a truly iconic moment. Its hard to imagine the suspense this must have generated in viewers had never seen a Dalek before. When finally revealed, the visual appearance of the Daleks is brilliantly conceived. While not looking like robots, they completely lack any human features. One could never look for pity or compassion in such a faceless monster. These Daleks are smaller than later versions, which helps to make them look non-human. The brief glimpse of the Dalek creature inside the armour is wonderfully tantalizing in black and white. The malevolent character of the Daleks is slowly revealed through the serial. Their moral character is uncertain during the second episode, when we first encounter them.

The Dalek city is also well designed, both as a model shot (wonderfully complimented by an ambient electronic theme) and its creepy interior, with its narrow corridors and sinister surveillance devices. This is an unwelcoming environment indeed.

As with the previous story, the Doctor is not yet being portrayed as the hero he would come to be. He is very much an anti-hero, lying to Ian and Barbara so he can investigate the city and later quite willing to sacrifice the lives of the Thals. I don't understand the fans who neglect Hartnell; he is a pleasure to watch. The Daleks is probably not William Russell's best performance, but he does a decent enough job of being he stoic Ian. Jacqueline Hill is wonderful as ever as Barbara. Carol Ann Ford was also pretty good in trying to work with a character who was badly scripted as ever.



The Thals have come in for a lot of criticism, which I find hard to understand. I can't agree with the conclusion that they are all played by dreadful actors. They come across very well and each has a distinctive personality. What is most important to recognise is that they, along with the regulars, are taking the story absolutely seriously and playing it perfectly straight. There is no attempt at all to send up the premises of the story. When Doctor Who later failed to maintain this no-nonsense attitude, things would get wobbly. The Thal costumes have been ridiculed an awful lot, but they are interesting. Do we expect the inhabitants of other worlds to where jeans and leather jackets? Barbara evidently approves as she borrows a pair of Thal trousers and sandals (Barbara wears open-toed shoes more often than any other regular character in Doctor Who). Thal society is not well conceived; there seems a fair degree of ambiguity as to their level of technology. Strangely, Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood make the mistaken statement, in 'About Time: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who' that there is only one Thal woman in this story (as in Genesis of the Daleks). There are in fact at least three Thal women.

Terry Nation was clearly somebody who liked the Dan Dare comic strips in The Eagle. Dan Dare, particularly the first story about the mission to Venus. The Daleks is very much an old fashioned space adventure. That is not what the sci-fi viewers of today are used to, so naturally this story comes across a little oddly. While it may not have aged well, it is an highly crafted tale with production values that were outstanding for its time. It is perhaps unfortunate that Terry Nation would plunder so much of the plot of this story for his later stories, which accounts for the sense of deja vu that many fans feel when they watch this story. The Daleks worked best the first time. The derivative Planet of the Daleks was a terrible mistake.

An Unearthly Child

The first ever Doctor Who story! Two teachers unwittingly find themselves on a time machine with a strange old man and his granddaughter.

How do you review the first Doctor Who story? Obviously, everything else is just a sequel to this story. The temptation is to either write gushing stuff about how exciting it must have been to have seen the Doctor and the TARDIS for the first time, or else to point out all the ways in which it differs from the later, refined version of Doctor Who.

There is a tendency among fans to argue that the first episode, which introduces the Doctor, Susan and the TARDIS is absolutely brilliant and the stone age adventure with all the cavemen and cavewomen is just a stupid filler story that can be forgotten. I very much disagree with this view. The stone age story, beginning with the episode, The Cave of Skulls, is well written and acted and is vital in elaborating on the characters that are introduced to us in the first episode.

The story opens creepily, with the strange objects in the junkyard, among them the police box. This sets up the surprisingly dark atmosphere of the first episode.

The character of Susan is cleverly introduced slowly, through the recollections of Susan, enabling the viewer to build up a picture of this unearthly child. Its interesting to see how disturbed Barbara and Ian seem to be at the thought of Susan being a 'foreigner.' We see a snapshot of a much more suspicous and xenophobic society, which adds poignancy to the themes of racism in this same period that are dealt with in Remembrance of the Daleks.

Jacqueline Hill and William Russell come across brilliantly as two people thrust into a bizarre situation that they have no power to escape from. At this point, the show has not established the Doctor as the hero figure and this role falls to them. The caveman subplot reveals to us Barbara's compassionate nature and Ian's heroic resolve and ability to cope with danger and threats.

I think the moment where Susan is doing her 'Balinese dancing' to John Smith and the Common Men is such an iconic moment. It also introduces her well. We get the picture of a girl who obsesses with the popular culture and music of this society, but is somehow out of touch with it; like a British person living in Japan who obsesses over Japanese culture. Carole Ann Ford puts in a wonderful performance as the Doctor's strange granddaughter. She comes across as genuinely alien.

William Hartnell is truly the star of this story. He truly believed in the character and put his whole being into creating this strange person. Those who are used to later Dr. Who stories may be very surprised at the way the character is portrayed in this initial story. The first model of the Doctor is a character who is selfish, sinister and ruthless. It is as though the writers have not quite decided whether the man is an hero or a villain. Nevetheless, the circumstances of Barbara and Ian's first trip, into the prehistoric era, forces the Doctor to work together with his reluctant companions.

There is some uncertainty about the Doctor's motivations for taking Ian and Barbara prisoner. The pilot episode has the Doctor being concerned about changing the course of history, in the televised version, his concern is simply keeping the knowlege of himself and his craft secret. It is hard not to agree with Susan's suggestion that human minds are closed and nobody will believe what Ian and Barbara might claim about what they have seen. Remembrance of the Daleks provides a possible explanation. If the Doctor was involved in a plot to conceal an ancient Gallifreyan weapon, he might be concerned that the discovery of his ship could lead to the discovery of the Hand of Omega. It has been suggested that the Doctor might have been stealing electronic equipment, which would account for the presence of the policeman at the beginning.

It is when we leave Sixties London and head to the prehistoric age that fans let rip with a barrage of criticism. The story about the stone age cave dwellers is commonly held to be overlong, lightweight and silly. I cannot understand these criticisms. What is remarkable about episodes 3-4 of this story is how seriously all the cast are taking the story. It would be easy to send up a story about hairy cavemen and make it into comedy, but the direction has made it so earnest. It has been suggested that its hard for the viewer to identify with these primitive people. However, their struggle for survival is presented starkly to us. The power struggles amongst the tribe seems like natural territory for the drama at which Dr. Who excels. I find it hard to see any significant faults in the prehistoric part of An Unearthly Child.




The suggestion that the writers should have taken us straight from the first episode in Sixties London to Skaro and the Daleks is deeply wrong and fails to appreciate the way this narrative works. The Doctor is perfectly comfortable on an alien planet. It is an environment he is prepared to deal with. In the Stone Age, the two modern people are at sea, but so is the Doctor. The first episode sets up the Doctor is an all-powerful figure who holds all the aces, the second episode in the Stone Age has him helpless at the hands of cave dwellers. In contrast, Ian, with his boy scout ability to make fire is much better equipped to handle himself in the Stone Age. The first episode builds up the Doctor, the following episodes build up Ian and Barbara and establish the need for the TARDIS' disparate crew to start working together as a reluctant team.

Don't be fooled by the people who say only the first part of An Unearthly Child is decent; it is entirely a gripping story.

One trivial point, notice that all the cave people are barefoot. This seems much more realistic than a lot of other primitive peoples' in science fiction who are wear unlikely leather boots. A prominent example of this is Leela and the Sevateem in Face of Evil. Leela wears a very fine pair of leather boots. Is very doubtful that the Sevateem would be able to make such finely crafted footwear. It seems much more likely that Leela would have gone barefoot like the cave people in this story.