An Unearthly Child (TV story)


 * "100,000 BC" redirects here. For the year, please see Prehistory

The first televised Doctor Who serial was produced under the title 100,000 BC, but later marketed under its more common name, An Unearthly Child. It first introduced viewers to the Doctor, played by William Hartnell, and the TARDIS.

As the first episode it laid the groundwork for the cliché Who story of capture and escape; in this case, the Doctor and company are captured by primitive humans. An Unearthly Child was the only televised story in which the Doctor smoked.

By 1963 standards, An Unearthly Child (and hence, Doctor Who) was launched with an accompanying blitz of publicity. A trailer ran a week prior to broadcast and Hartnell narrated a radio advert. Radio Times ran a large feature on the show, and it was originally intended to be the cover story but Kenneth Horne's return to radio was considered more important.

Rex Tucker was originally listed as the director, but filming schedules interfered with a holiday he had planned to Majorca. Therefore, the role of director went to the inexperienced Waris Hussein.

Synopsis
Curious about an unusual pupil, Susan Foreman, two school teachers follow her home to a junkyard. This leads to an encounter with the mysterious First Doctor and his police box which turns out to be a craft capable of travel in time and space.

An Unearthly Child (1)
On a foggy London night, a Policeman makes his rounds passing I.M. Foreman's junkyard at 76 Totter's Lane. In the junkyard stands an incongruous-looking police box, from which emanates an eerie hum.

Another day of classes ends at the Coal Hill School. History teacher Barbara Wright and science teacher Ian Chesterton compare notes about an enigmatic student, Susan Foreman. Her knowledge of history and science surpasses that of the rest of the class, and possibly even the teachers themselves. However, she has very curious gaps about present-day culture - she forgets, for example, that England has yet to adapt the decimal system of currency. Barbara had encouraged her to specialise in history, but Susan was resistant to her suggestion about in-home tutoring, stating her grandfather with whom she lives ("he's a doctor, isn't he?" Ian asks) doesn't like strangers. Barbara admits to Ian that earlier she got Susan's address, 76 Totter's Lane, from the school secretary, following it to find not a house but a junkyard. They go and find Susan so that Barbara can lend her a book on the French Revolution. Ian offers Susan a ride, but she declines. Ian and Barbara resolve to follow her home. Meanwhile, Susan reads the entire book in two seconds, and remarks, "That's not right! "

Arriving by car at 76 Totter's Lane, Ian and Barbara see Susan enter the junkyard alone. Following from a distance, Ian and Barbara search for Susan in vain. Ian is transfixed by the presence of a police box which appears to hum. Touching it, he exclaims that it's alive. Hearing someone coming, they hide. An old man approaches the police box and unlocks it. The teachers seem to hear Susan's voice from inside, greeting him. They confront the old man, who brusquely closes the door and refuses to acknowledge that anyone is inside. When they threaten to go to the police, the old man calmly dismisses their claims. The door opens from the inside. Hearing Susan's voice again, Ian and Barbara push past the man into the police box, and are astounded to find themselves in a much larger space, with futuristic electronic panels and a central hexagonal control console. Susan is shocked to find her teachers there, and the old man, her grandfather, is furious at their intrusion.

Susan and her grandfather, who calls himself simply the Doctor, explain that the police box is actually a disguise for their space-time ship, the TARDIS, and that they are alien refugees from their own planet and time. Against Susan's protests, the Doctor prepares the TARDIS for takeoff, saying he must kidnap Ian and Barbara in order to protect their own identities. The sudden takeoff renders the two schoolteachers unconscious. The TARDIS materialises on a barren, rocky landscape. An ominous humanoid shadow falls across it.

The Cave of Skulls (2)
The shadow is that of a man dressed in animal skins. He watches over the TARDIS ominously.

A tribe of cavemen are gathered around one of their members, Za. Za is the son of the tribe's previous leader, but he never taught his son the secret of making fire. As Za (futilely) tries to make fire, a female tribe elder throws scorn on Za's ability as a leader and states that Kal, a stranger from another tribe, would be a far better leader. This frustrates Za. Hur, a young cavewoman, tries to pacify him but also warns him that if he loses his position as the leader of the tribe he will lose her; her father is intent on her bearing children with the leader.

Back at the TARDIS Ian and Barbara regain consciousness to find the Doctor and Susan puzzling over some readings that are being displayed on the TARDIS's main console. The Doctor explains to them that they have gone back in time. This annoys Ian who demands concrete proof from the Doctor. The Doctor opens the door to the TARDIS revealing the barren desert. The foursome go outside where the Doctor professes confusion as to why the TARDIS has retained the shape of a police box. Ian apologises to Susan and Barbara for his stubbornness with regards to disbelieving the Doctor's story. Susan is also surprised that the TARDIS is still in the shape of a police box, explaining that it has been an ionic column and a sedan chair in the past. The Doctor is elsewhere, checking the environment for radioactivity, when the caveman that was watching the TARDIS sneaks up on him and attacks him. His three companions hear him shout and run to his rescue. When they get there, all they find is the Doctor's bag, hat and geiger counter smashed on the floor. Susan runs off to look for him in hysterics. Ian and Barbara soon follow but not before Ian realises that the sand is freezing cold.

Horg, Hur's father, tells Za that Kal states that he knew how to make fire in his previous tribe. Za angily responds that Kal's last tribe all died out and he would have died too if he and his tribe had not saved him. Hur again warns him that Kal is bringing in meat and is winning favour amongst the tribe. Za warns that if he has to kill a few people to exert his authority he will do so. At this point Kal, the caveman who attacked the Doctor, comes in with the old man's unconscious body on his shoulder. Kal tells the tribe that he saw the Doctor make fire and that he should be leader of the tribe now he overpowered him, stating that the Doctor had immense strength and fighting prowess. Za scorns and mocks Kal; however Horg states that Kal is doing far more for the tribe than Za is and if his capture can create fire Kal should be made leader. Za says that the Doctor should be taken to the Cave of Skulls and sacrificed so that Orb will return. At this point the Doctor wakes up stating that he can create fire for the whole tribe without any need for killing, but he soon realises he has no matches with him. When he tells the tribe he will need to go back to the TARDIS before they get fire, Za mocks Kal saying that his promise of "an old man who can make fire" was lies. The tribe begins to turn against Kal, and in his frustration Kal pulls his knife on the Doctor. Kal is on the verge of killing him when Susan, Barbara, and Ian attack the cavemen, knocking Kal off of the Doctor. The companions are soon overpowered. Kal approaches Barbara and just before he kills her Za gets in the way and says that the foursome need to be taken to the Cave of Skulls and sacrificed as a gift to Orb. The Doctor and his companions are led away. Horg tries to take Hur from Za, but Za states that with the Doctor's sacrifice the orb will return and fire will return also which will retain Za as leader. Horg seems to accept this.

The Doctor and his companions are bound in the cave. The Doctor apologises to his companions before Ian points out that the cave is littered with skulls, all with the same wound: a direct blow that has shattered the skull.

The Forest of Fear (3)


Still in the Cave of Skulls, Ian, Barbara, and Susan try to find a way of escaping; however the Doctor seems disconsolate and unhelpful. Ian shouts at him, prompting the Doctor to help: he suggests that they use the bones of the dead to cut the ropes that bind their hands and legs together. The group begins to unify.

Back at the main cave, the tribe are all are asleep. The female elder wakes up. She steals Za's knife and heads towards the Cave of Skulls. Unbeknownst to the Old Woman, Hur has seen her. When she arrives at the Cave of Skulls, she is met by a large stone that blocks the door. However, she seems to know an alternate route.

Inside the Cave of Skulls, the Doctor and the others are trying to free Ian so that he can defend them if necessary. Susan screams as the elder bursts though a gap in the cave blocked up with undergrowth.

Hur wakes Za and calls him outside of the cave to inform him that the elder took his knife and headed out of the cave. They decide she went to the Cave of Skulls. Hur believes the elder is afraid of fire, so she will kill the foursome to prevent the tribe from learning the secret.

However, the elder is using the knife to free the foursome, whilst outside Za and Hur are trying to move the stone. Just as the stone begins to move, the foursome manage to escape out the back of the cave. Za, frustrated, throws the elder to the floor. Hur convinces Za that the only way that he will be able to retain the leadership of the tribe is by capturing the Doctor and harnessing the fire. Za and Hur plunge into the forest in pursuit of the Doctor.

The foursome are lost in the forest trying to find their way back to the TARDIS. Yet again, Ian and the Doctor fall out as Ian takes leadership of the group. Whilst they are arguing, Barbara trips and falls. She lands on a dead boar, causing her to scream. This alerts Za and Hur. The movement of the undergrowth in the forest causes the Doctor and his companions to hide.

When Za and Hur catch up with them Za is attacked by a wild beast and seriously injured. Much against the Doctor's wishes, Barbara and Ian try to help Za. The Doctor tries to stop Susan from going, insinuating that he would leave Ian and Barbara behind. Ian and Barbara begin to help Za, much to the bemusement of Hur who does not understand the concept of friendship. Hur is openly hostile to Susan, thinking she is trying to steal Za from her. The Doctor is so desperate to leave that he seemingly contemplates killing the caveman, but is stopped by Ian. The Doctor then reminds his companions that the tribe elder is still with the cavemen. He worries she may wake the tribe and set off in pursuit of the travellers. This prompts Ian to build a makeshift stretcher to help convey Za back to the TARDIS to heal him there.

Meanwhile back at the settlement, Kal has returned to the cave to find it empty. He questions the prostrate figure of the elder who says that she set the Doctor and his companions free. Kal kills her. He then goes back to the tribe to inform them that it was Za that let the Doctor free so that he could have fire to himself. The tribe are sceptical and Kal says the elder will back him up. When Kal goes back to the cave to 'discover' the dead elder, he states that it must have been Za that killed her. Kal declares himself leader and leads his new tribe off to find Za.

Much to their pleasure, the Doctor and his companions discover the TARDIS. Their joy is short-lived however, as three cavemen who were camouflaged against the desert rise up as an obstacle between them and safety.

The Firemaker (4)
The four travellers are returned to the encampment. Initially the tribe is hostile to Za and his friends, especially when they accuse him of killing the tribal elder, but the Doctor is able to convince the tribe that Kal killed Old Mother by tricking Kal into showing the tribe his bloody knife. The Doctor and Ian lead the tribe in an attack which drives Kal into the forest. The recovered Za is once more declared leader, but instead of expressing his gratitude by freeing the travellers as the Doctor expected, he orders them returned to the Cave of Skulls wherein he will either uncover the secret of fire from them or sacrifice them to Orb.

Whilst in the Cave of Skulls Ian makes fire for Za using friction for a spark, hoping that this gift will convince the cave dwellers to set them all free. Za comes to speak with them and is immediately entranced by the fire. Ian states that in his "tribe" all members know how to make fire. Za asks Ian if he is the leader of his tribe, to which he responds (with a nod to Susan) that the Doctor is the leader.

While this is going on Kal sneaks back into the camp, killing the guard outside the cave, and attacks Za. Za fights with and kills Kal, further confirming his leadership of the tribe. With fire at his disposal, he is now undisputed leader. However he still leaves the Doctor and his companions to languish in the cave.

After going out hunting Za decrees that the travellers will merge with his tribe rather than leave and orders them confined to the Cave indefinitely. The foursome try to think of a means of escape; absentmindedly Susan places a skull in a flame. This leads Ian into devising a plan to scare and distract the tribes’ people enough to allow them to flee. Four skulls are placed on top of burning torches, and this ghoulish vision is enough to distract the cave dwellers, allowing the travellers to escape back into the forest. This time the four travellers make it back inside the TARDIS, The Doctor only just making it in before the tribesmen catch up with them. The TARDIS begins to dematerialise as they throw spears at the craft.

The Doctor explains that he has no idea where or when they will end up next due to the fact that the TARDIS is not displaying any data to help him direct the ship. In time the scanner shows their new destination, a mysterious jungle with strange-looking trees. Before they go out to explore the planet the Doctor asks Susan to check the radiation levels: they read normal. As the four leave the console room to clean themselves up, the radiation detector's needle passes into the "Danger" zone.

Cast

 * The Doctor - William Hartnell
 * Ian Chesterton - William Russell
 * Barbara Wright - Jacqueline Hill
 * Susan Foreman - Carole Ann Ford
 * Za - Derek Newark
 * Hur - Alethea Charlton
 * Old Mother - Eileen Way
 * Kal - Jeremy Young
 * Horg - Howard Lang
 * Policeman - Reg Cranfield (uncredited)
 * School Children (all uncredited) - Francesca Bertorelli, Carole Clarke, Heather Lyons, Mavis Ransom, Cedric Schoeman, Brian Thomas, Richard Wilson, Leslie Bates
 * Members of Tribe (all uncredited)- Billie Davis, Brenda Proctor, Lyn Turner, Doreen Ubells, Frank Wheatley, Janet Fairhead
 * Tribe Children (all uncredited) - Antonia Moss, Julie Moss, Timothy Palmer, David Rosen, Trevor Thomas, Elizabeth White
 * Kal's shadow - Leslie Bates (uncredited)
 * Double for Kal - Billy Cornelius (uncredited)
 * Double for Za - Derek Ware (uncredited)

Crew

 * Writers - Anthony Coburn
 * Director - Waris Hussein
 * Producer - Verity Lambert
 * Script Editor - David Whitaker
 * Designers - Barry Newbery, Peter Brachacki
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Catherine Childs
 * Associate Producer - Mervyn Pinfield
 * Costumes - Maureen Heneghan
 * Fight Arranger - Derek Ware
 * Film Cameraman - Robert Sleigh
 * Incidental Music - Norman Kay
 * Make-Up - Elizabeth Blattner
 * Production Assistants - Douglas Camfield, Tony Lightley
 * Special Effects - BBC Visual Effects
 * Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Geoff Shaw
 * Studio Sound - Jack Clayton
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer

Astronomical objects

 * The cavemen worship the Sun God, which they call Orb.
 * Both Space and Time are mentioned by Susan as being related (with regard to dimensions).

Culture

 * Za attempts to create fire. He references his father, who made fire, but was killed for it. Later on, the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan are forced to give the cavemen fire in a struggle to be leader of the tribe.

Cultural references

 * Susan refers to decimalisation as something which she then realises has not happened yet in England. In 1963, the United Kingdom was working to a system of 240 pence to a pound. Decimalisation actually took place on 15 February 1971. The suggestion is that they have visited the UK after 1971.
 * Reference is made to the Doctor and Susan having visited the French Revolution (1789 - 1799), when Susan states that something she reads in the book Miss Wright lends her on the subject is wrong.
 * Susan is listening to John Smith and the Common Men when Ian and Barbara walk in.

London locations

 * The Doctor and Susan have the TARDIS at 76 Totter's Lane. The Doctor also returns there in 1985, 1963 (again) and 1997.

Timeline

 * This story takes place in both 1963 (in the 20th century) and roughly 100,000 BC.

Technology

 * Police box
 * The Doctor refers to television to help describe how the TARDIS is bigger on the inside.
 * Time travel
 * The TARDIS had taken on the disguise of a London police box during the Doctor and Susan's stay at 76 Totter's Lane. However, it didn't change appearance when it reappeared in the past, due to a problem with the chameleon circuit.

Story notes

 * This is the first story broadcast on television.
 * This story is also known as 100,000 BC, The Tribe of Gum, The Firemakers, and Cavemen. See disputed story titles for more information.
 * The episodes of this story went by different titles during the production stage. Episode 2 was originally known as The Fire-Maker, Episode 3 was originally known as The Cave of Skulls and Episode 4 was originally known as The Dawn of Knowledge.
 * All episodes exist as 16mm telerecordings and are held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.
 * The original storyline was entitled Nothing at the End of the Lane. A short story by the same name written by Daniel O'Mahony can be found in Short Trips and Side Steps. It suggests the entire first season of the show may just be a psychotic fantasy in the mind of Barbara Wright.
 * Originally the names for the Doctor's companions were to be Bridget ("Biddy") instead of Susan, Lola McGovern (instead of Barbara Wright), and Cliff instead of Ian.
 * The makers of the show originally considered the idea of having a functioning chameleon circuit but ruled it out on cost grounds.
 * The bones used in the Cave of Skulls were real bones taken from an abattoir and were very unpleasant to smell under hot studio lights.
 * Other proposals considered for the first story included The Giants by C. E. Webber which was partially rewritten for the Season 2 episode Planet of Giants and The Living World written by Alan Wakeman.
 * A pilot version of Episode 1 was made and exists in various versions. For more info, see the Pilot Episode.
 * Episode 1 has come to be seen as a classic of science fiction, in contrast to the less-positive reaction of critics when it was first broadcast.
 * Bernard Lodge was the uncredited designer of the original title sequence.
 * The Doctor smokes a pipe in Episode 2; neither it, nor the element of the Doctor smoking, are ever seen again.
 * According to the DVD info text, the striped top Susan wears in this and later stories belonged to Carole Ann Ford and was part of an alternate costume she suggested for the character after it was decided to abandon the more adult, futuristic look of the unaired pilot. According to the commentary Ford's suggested outfit also included black leggings and boots, which were rejected as too sexy, so jeans were worn instead. Ford would wear the same striped top in her later movie The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery.
 * This story was one of those selected to be shown as part of BSB's Doctor Who Weekend in September 1990.
 * A lizard was accidentally brought on set along with the tropical plants for the forest. Carole Ann Ford took it as a pet.
 * The piece of music that is purported to be John Smith and the Common Men is called "3 Guitars Mood 2," by The Arthur Nelson Group, which is featured on a CD called DOCTOR WHO: SPACE ADVENTURES. This piece of music was also used in the documentary "Verity Lambert: Drama Queen", a tribute to the late Verity Lambert which was first broadcast on 5 April 2008 on BBC4.

Broadcast

 * The first broadcast of Episode 1 received only 4.4 million viewers. This was likely due to the assassination of John F. Kennedy the previous day, coupled with a power outage in some parts of Britain that prevented some viewers from tuning in.
 * For this reason, on Wednesday 27 November, the Programme Review board decided to repeat the first episode immediately before the second episode. This repeat gained a significant amount of viewers – 6.0 million. Although such replays are common today (particularly on American networks), such a rerun was almost unheard of back in 1963.
 * An Unearthly Child was the first Doctor Who story to be broadcast internationally, appearing on New Zealand's Christchurch regional channel CHTV-3 on 18 September 1964.
 * Ninth Doctor director Joe Ahearne was born on the day that episode 1 was first broadcast.

Ratings

 * An Unearthly Child (first broadcast) - 4.4 million viewers
 * An Unearthly Child (second broadcast) - 6.0 million viewers
 * The Cave of Skulls - 5.9 million viewers
 * The Forest of Fear - 6.9 million viewers
 * The Firemaker - 6.4 million viewers

Myths

 * Episode 1 was broadcast 10 minutes late due to an extended news report into the assassination of President Kennedy the previous day. (It was transmitted only 1 minute, 20 seconds later than the scheduled 5.15 PM)
 * C. E. Webber co-wrote the story with Anthony Coburn. (Webber had actually been working on a proposed episode known as The Giants, which was originally intended to be the first story but was later rejected).
 * This story was broadcast live. (No episode was ever broadcast live. This rumour likely originated due to the fact episodes of the day were often videotaped in one continuous take with only occasional recording breaks).
 * Jackie Lane was offered the role of Susan. (Although she auditioned for the part she withdrew before the role was cast).
 * Waris Hussein spotted Carole Ann Ford in BBC play called The Man on a Bicycle when he was looking for someone for the role of Susan. (This play was actually broadcast months before Hussein became involved with "Doctor Who". However, according to a documentary included in the DVD box set "The Beginning", Hussein spotted her in an episode of "Z-Cars".)
 * Jacqueline Hill worked as a model in Paris. (She didn't.)
 * The original police box was a prop left over from Dixon of Dock Green. (It was specially made for "Doctor Who".)

Filming locations

 * Ealing Television Film Studios
 * Lime Grove Studios (Studio D)

Production errors

 * When Ian and Barbara are talking in the car in the first episode, Jacqueline Hill noticeably flubs a line. It happens again in the Cave of Skulls near the end of the final episode.
 * When Ian and Barbara enter the TARDIS and talk with the Doctor and Susan, a boom microphone can be seen for a few seconds at one point.
 * Just before Ian is electrocuted by the console, someone in the studio can be heard shouting a cue.
 * At the end of Episode 1, the caveman shadow is seen to extend much further than it really should.
 * The studio can be seen several times during the TARDIS console room scene in episode 1.
 * At one point, a stagehand can be seen through a gap of around 10 to 20 centimetres in one of the corners of the TARDIS.
 * The supposedly immovable "great stone" wobbles with ease when Hur falls against it in Episode 3.

Continuity

 * The Doctor returned to 76 Totter's Lane in 1963 in Remembrance of the Daleks, 1985 in Attack of the Cybermen, in 1997 in EDA: The Eight Doctors and 2021 in BFA: The Harvest.
 * In Remembrance of the Daleks it appears to have been just weeks or even the day after the conclusion of episode 1 of "An Unearthly Child".
 * It is revealed in Remembrance of the Daleks that the Doctor was hiding the Hand of Omega in London when the teachers discovered his presence.


 * Susan reads a book on the Russian Revolution. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks, SJA: The Curse of Clyde Langer)
 * Susan states that she and her grandfather have been in London for five months at this point.
 * The fact the first episode occurs in the year 1963 (and not some later or earlier year) is confirmed in episode 2 when Ian asks to go back to 1963.
 * EDA's Interference - Book One and Interference - Book Two explain the importance of Foreman's Yard to the Doctor's timeline and introduces the character of I.M. Foreman.
 * During EDA: The Eight Doctors, the Eighth Doctor travelled back along his own timeline to this story.
 * The events of this story can be seen to follow on from those in TN: Time and Relative.
 * DWM: Operation Proteus takes place a short time prior to this story.
 * Susan claims that she made up the term TARDIS from the initials of Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It is later revealed that Gallifreyan society is several million years old. One explanation for this apparent inconsistency is proposed in NA: Lungbarrow. Other speculative explanations also exist.
 * When the TARDIS dematerialises for the first time, both Ian and Barbara faint. This effect is unique to this story as Ian and Barbara show no further ill effects in subsequent dematerialisations (at least not of this nature and not caused directly by the TARDIS activating), nor do any future new TARDIS passengers. (It's possible the rather chaotic way the TARDIS entered flight somehow messed with the humans' equilibrium, as opposed to later, more-orderly dematerialisations.)
 * This story leads straight into DW: The Daleks, beginning a pattern that would continue through much of the 60s, with one story leading straight into the next.

Timeline
The beginning of the story takes place in 1963, as revealed in many subsequent stories by main characters. The rest of the story takes place sometime between 33,000 BCE and 8,000 BCE (assuming that it does take place on Earth). Pre-publicity stated that the story took place in 100,000 BC. Indeed, the serial's actual title is 100,000 BC. 100,000 BC is the time that many fans accept as placement, though some mysteries, such as the absence of ice despite being in an Ice Age and the use of religion, contradict real-world historical beliefs about this time period.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after DWM: Time & Time Again
 * This story occurs before DW: The Daleks
 * Occurring during this story EDA: The Eight Doctors and BE: Playtime

DVD releases
This story was released (as Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child) as part of the DVD box set The Beginning, together with The Daleks and The Edge of Destruction.

Released:
 * Region 2 30 January 2006
 * PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1882


 * Region 4 2 March 2006
 * PAL - Roadshow ????


 * Region 1 28 March 2006
 * NTSC - Warner Video E2489

Box sets
This story was released along with The Daleks and The Edge of Destruction in a box set called The Beginning.

Video releases
First Release: Released as Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child

Released:
 * UK January 1990
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV4311


 * US January 1992
 * NTSC - CBS/FOX Video 3401


 * US ????
 * NTSC - Warner Video E1906

Notes: The 'Next Episode' caption has been removed from Episode 4.


 * Second Release: An unedited, remastered edition that the BBC originally intended to release in a box set with The Daleks and The Edge of Destruction. They changed their plans and decided to release each story individually.

Released:
 * UK September 2000
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV6959

Notes: A version of the Pilot has been released on The Hartnell Years video. The complete take has been released on The Edge of Destruction video.


 * Editing for VHS and DVD releases completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.

Novelisation and its audiobook

 * Main article: Doctor Who and An Unearthly Child

Titled Doctor Who and An Unearthly Child and written by Terrance Dicks, the book was published on 15 October 1981 by Target Books and priced at £1.25. With a cover by Andrew Skilleter, the book was issued in a 30,000 copy print run (ISBN 0-426-20144-2).

It was the first book published after a six month gap caused by a Writer's Guild strike and was later numbered as number 68 in the Target Books Doctor Who Library.

Reprints
 * 1982 (£1.25)
 * 1983 (£1.25)
 * 1984 (£1.35)
 * 1985 (£1.50)

The book was re-issued as Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child on 15 February 1990 (priced £2.50) with a print run of 5,000 copies. It featured new cover art using Alister Pearson's painting for the BBC Video release.

Script book
In January 1988, Titan Books published the original teleplays for the serial in one volume as part of Doctor Who: The Scripts, using the serial's working title The Tribe of Gum.