An Unearthly Child (TV story)

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

Afraid that the teachers will reveal his secrets the Doctor whisks them back in time. They arrive in 100,000 BC and encounter a group of cave people desperately trying to create fire. Kidnapped and imprisoned in a cave filled with skulls the unwilling travellers have to work together to create fire and escape their captors. (Click here for an extended synopsis)

Cast
Dr Who - William Hartnell

Ian Chesterton - William Russell

Barbara Wright - Jacqueline Hill

Susan Foreman - Carole Ann Ford

Za - Derek Newark (episodes  2 -  4)

Hur - Alethea Charlton (episodes 2 -  4)

Old Mother - Eileen Way (episodes 2 -  3)

Kal - Jeremy Young (episodes 2 -  4) Horg - Howard Lang (episodes 2 -  4)

Uncredited Cast

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

Story Notes

 * The first story broadcast on television
 * The first story featuring the First Doctor
 * The first story featuring Susan
 * The first story featuring Ian
 * The first story featuring Barbara
 * This story is also known as 100,000 BC, The Tribe of Gum, The Firemakers and Cavemen. See disputed story titles for more infomation
 * 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 in 16mm telerecordings
 * All episodes are held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library
 * The first episode was repeated just before the second episode because of a power outage. This repeat was not however shown in Northern Ireland
 * The original story line for this story 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 suggest the entire first season of the show may just be a psychotic fantasy in the mind of Barbara Wright
 * 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 abbatoir and were very unpleasant to smell under hot studio lights
 * Although assumed there is no evidence to suggest that episodes 2,3 and 4 are even set on Earth.
 * 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 the first episode was made and exists in various versions. For more info on the pilot see the The Pilot Episode
 * The First Episode, An Unearthly Child has come to be seen as a classic of Science Fiction, which is 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

Myths

 * An Unearthly Child was broadcast 10 minutes late due to an extended news report into the assassination of President Kennedy the previous day
 * 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 Doctor Who story has ever been broadcast live)
 * Jackie Lane was never 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
 * Jacqueline Hill worked as a model in Paris
 * The original police box was a prop left over from Dixon of Dock Green.

Broadcast Dates

 * An Unearthly Child - 23rd November 1963 - 17:15 - 17:40
 * The Cave of Skulls - 30th November 1963 - 17:30 - 17:55
 * The Forest of Fear - 7th December 1963 - 17:15 - 17:40
 * The Firemaker - 14th December 1963 - 17:15 - 17:40

Duration

 * An Unearthly Child - 23'24"
 * The Cave of Skulls - 24'26"
 * The Forest of Fear - 23'38"
 * The Firemaker - 24'22"

Ratings

 * An Unearthly Child First Broadcast - 4.4
 * An Unearthly Child Second Broadcast - 6.0
 * The Cave of Skulls - 5.9
 * The Forest of Fear - 6.9
 * The Firemaker - 6.4

Statistics on Repeat and non UK Broadcasts

Continuity

 * The Doctor returned to Foreman's Yard in 1963 in Remembrance of the Daleks, 1985 in Attack of the Cybermen and 1997 in The Eight Doctors.
 * 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.
 * Interference explains the importance of Foreman's Yard to the Doctors timeline and introduces the character of IM Foreman.
 * During this adventure the Doctor encounters his Eigth Incarnation who has travelled back along his own timeline (The Eight Doctors).
 * The events of this story can be seen to follow on from those in Time and Relative.
 * Susan claims that she made up the term TARDIS from the initials of Time and Relative Dimension in Space. But it is later revealed that Gallifreyan society is several million years old. An explanation for this apparent inconsistency is proposed in Lungbarrow.
 * This is the first time the TARDIS has had a problem with the chameleon circuit
 * We see the Doctor smoking a pipe in the Second episode but he is never seen smoking again.
 * Reference is made to the Doctor and Susan having visited the French Revolution (1789 - 1799). It is also suggested that they have visted England after 1971 as Susan is aware of the introduction of the decimal system.
 * Susan is listening to John Smith and the Common Men when Ian and Barbara walk in, John Smith being the stage name of 'the honourable Aubrey Waites, also known as Chris Waites according to Ian. John Smith was to become an alias used by the Doctor in several of the later stories

Influences

 * The Time Machine (HG Wells), the first story to really popularise time travel, and a recurring theme in Doctor Who
 * The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (CS Lewis) - A seemingly ordinary object can be a doorway into an extraordinary world
 * 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the Doctor's motivation for kidnapping people; series creator Sydney Newman acknowledged Captain Nemo as a major influence in his original concept for the Doctor's character and personality.

Location Filming
This story was filmed at Ealing and Lime Grove Studio D

Story Arcs
IM Foreman

Hand of Omega

Similar Stories

 * Rose - A new start

Associated Stories

 * "Attack of the Cybermen" - After affecting a (short-lived) repair to the chameleon circuit, the Doctor brings the TARDIS back to the place where it first malfunctioned.


 * "Remembrance of the Daleks" - A return to where it all began

Errors and Plot Holes

 * When Susan says "I like walking through the dark" neither Ian nor Barbara seem bothered about the thought of a teenage girl walking alone at night.
 * Why does Susan ask Barbara for a book about the French Revolution and then leave it in the classroom? As far as she is concerned at this point she will be at school the next day
 * Just before Ian is electrocuted by the console someone in the studio can be heard shouting a cue
 * At the end of episode one the caveman shadow is seen to extend much further than it really should
 * If not an error then something which hasn't really been thought through. Given that it is so cold in Episodes 2,3 and 4 why are the cavemen wearing so little clothing.

More Info

 * Story Synopsis


 * Story Transcript


 * Story Novelization


 * DVD Release


 * Video Release


 * In the Media