Classic Doctor Who 1x1 “An Unearthly Child” FULL REACTION

Good reaction. Nice to see you get a bit of insight on The First Doctor. A bit of a grump but you're right, he grows along the way. Ian and Barbara are some of my favourite companions from Classic Who. :)

JY

I’m using Britbox

Other Boy Reactions

There are lots of different sites that you could watch classic who for free, or if you want to pay For Brit Box they have most of Hartnell and Troughton's episodes. They do however have all of the shows from 3 on to 7

Amy Chlebus

I’ve never watched Classic who before so this was a fun reaction/watch. How different yet the same lol

S

I also do hope you watch An Adventure in Space and Time because it helps put into context a lot of the show's early success and what decisions were being made.

Evan!!

It will take them many many many many years for many of the elements of the Doctor's mythology to be established, but it's truly interesting both how long it took and by how many different writers those things came about.

Evan!!

It's really good! Also, there's this little comedy side-offering called The Five-ish Doctors Reboot which has the surviving classic Doctors trying to get parts in the 50th-anniversary special. It's really funny. 😀 (To be watched *after* the 50th special). The title is a reference to the 20th-anniversary special.

Will

I don't know TOO MUCH about Classic Who but I think it's safe to say that the Doctor eventually picks up some humanity and human tendencies from his time spent on Earth I guess! He does seem like an asshole haha

Toby Harmon

Absolutely! It was an invention of RTD, who felt that the Classic series had developed too much 'baggage' in the form of it's ever growing back-story (all the Gallifreyan machinations etc),which could easily put off new viewers. So,Time War = Blank Slate. Interestingly,by the time the 10th Doctor regenerated RTD had brought all the Gallifreyan stuff back INTO the series again :)

Ian Smith

Also Gallifrey was still around at this point of the show, the Time War didnt destroy the planet until before Eccleston.

Adam C Turek

The BBC made a TV movie called An Adventure in Space and Time, which is a drama depicting how the show came about and the struggles the 1st Doctor William Hartnell had with his health as he wanted to keep the role. sounds slow but it was great.

Adam C Turek

A pleasant surprise to wake up to hopefully helping to setup the WHO 50th Anniversary Specials you're about to watch. Glad you liked it.

Henry from CO

Glad you're watching this, and that you enjoyed it. Imagine yourself as a school kid seeing this show with these mysterious character, and no context, and just how trippy and compel,ing it would have been. This was first broadcast the day after the Kennedy assassination, so wasn't watched by very many initially - everyone was glued to the news. But the BBC repeated it be following week, and after a few stories people,e were hooked. As you noted, tbe Doctor is a bit unpleasant at this stage. William Hartnell didn't like the way he was written, though, and over time he softened the character and made him more likeable. The other thing to remember is that in Classic Who each stories is generally 4 or 6 episodes of 22 to 25 minutes, rather than a single story per episode. In the first season or two, each episode has its own title, though the story arc will have an overarching title (An Unearthly Child is both the name of the first episode and the first story arc of several episodes). Only later did they drop the individual episode titles and just named the under the story title, ep 1, 2, etc..

Lloyd B

Ditto! I was one when this first aired, and I'm not older either!😉

Lloyd B

That episode was broadcast the day after JFK was assassinated so was delayed because of news reports etc. Just to contextualise how old it really is.

Mark Ward

I love how much of an anti-hero the Doctor is at the start. :D It makes for such interesting viewing and it really surprises people when they first see William Hartnell's Doctor. I think you're right that really throughout the Hartnell era the Doctor does grow to like humans more. (This Doctor is actually in my top 3 Doctors of all time. He's so different to so many of the others and it's really interesting to see him develop.) When I watch that first episode I really do try to watch it imagining I'm in 1963 and seeing that for the first time and thinking 'what the hell is this???'

Mark Ward

I don't know if its on your list or bot but there's this docu-drama made for the 50th called an adventure in time and space about the making of doctor who and the first doctor. Its honestly so good and you should definitely watch it before the 50th if you have time!

The Time War which separated the Doctor from his people is a fairly recent event in Who history, prior to that the Time Lords were still out there but when the series starts he has been exiled from his home planet due to some unspecified event. At this point you are right - he is a bit of an arrogant arsehole! He hasn't yet travelled with human companions and gradually his exposure to humans - and the responsibility of looking after them - does change him. Dr Who continuity is patchy at best in the original series, it was never envisaged that the series would go beyond one season, but over the years various writers did attempt to link things together and the overall mythos of the series did gradually make some sort of sense... Great reaction, it's always fun to see someone experience 1960s Who from the perspective of the 21st century :)

Dennis Orman

Hey watch it now! It was made 9 years before I was born. I was born in 1972, and I'm not old..

Amy Chlebus