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Dr Who - An Unearthly Child [VHS] [1963]
 
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Dr Who - An Unearthly Child [VHS] [1963]

VHS ~ William Hartnell
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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4 new from £6.90 13 used from £0.85 5 collectible from £3.50

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
The "unearthly" strains of Ron Grainer's soon-to-be-famous title music announced the arrival of Dr Who to British TV screens on Saturday 23rd November, 1963. It must have been quite a baffling experience for first-time viewers: the swirling abstract graphics, the weird electronic sound effects courtesy of the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop, the very oddity of the show's title. This really was groundbreaking TV. "I think you'll find there's a very simple explanation for all of this", says schoolteacher Ian Chesterton (William Russell) condescendingly, shortly before being taken on board the TARDIS and transported to an alien planet. For audiences, too, this was something entirely unfamiliar, yet obviously appealing: Dr Who ran for almost 30 years and even long after cancellation it remains one of the BBC's most popular shows.

His later incarnations were all eccentric in their different ways, but William Hartnell's original Doctor is an irascible and distinctively alien character, not at all happy having to put up with ignorant 20th-century humans. The "Unearthly Child" of the title is his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford), temporarily attending school on Earth. She is conspicuously different from her classmates and attracts the attention of two of her teachers who resolve to find out why. After an encounter with her mysterious grandfather they are whisked away on an adventure to a different time and place where angry cavemen are trying in vain to learn the secret of fire. Thus the show's trademarks are established from the outset: the Doctor and his more or less reluctant human companions, the mechanical unreliability of the TARDIS, the cliffhanger ending of each episode. It was a formula that rarely changed but that allowed apparently limitless variation, the only constraint being the BBC's budget. In later years the show tried vainly to compete with blockbuster special effects movies; but its original low-key incarnation relied more on inventive scenarios and good writing--qualities that are just as important now as then. --Mark Walker

Synopsis
The very first episode from the long-running sci-fi TV series set in London in 1963. Teachers Ian and Barbara follow a mysterious pupil, Susan, home one evening and find that she lives in a junkyard. Suddenly her uncle, the Doctor, appears but they suspect Susan is being held in the police box. On entering this box their lives change forever...

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An Unearthly Start, 5 Sep 2002
If you are a fan of Doctor Who then it would be wise to either view this or have it in your collection. This is the very very fist doctor who story and the first episode is the best one of the lot, for the sole point that it is great seeing the chemistry which continue for years between Ian and Barbara. It is also strange to see William Hartnell as a very harsh and rude old man. After the first episode it looses a bit of momentume but not plot or excitement. The main idea is for the travellers to try and make fire for the stone age people and try to come to terms with what is going on, they do and continue to face the Daleks.

This is a story which I advise every Doctor Who fan to watch because it is nice to see how it all began. Well worth the money.

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A legend is born., 13 Jan 2001
By A Customer
In 1963, BBC executives took the H.G. Wells theme of a time machine and created a series of (almost) endless possibilities. Such was the strength of this early adventure that a series intended to run for 13 weeks lasted for 26 years.

William Hartnell delivers some good lines that introduce the viewer about what he is: an exile from another planet. Of course, being black and white, the picture and sound quality is far from what we expect today, but the acting by William Hartnell is good and no programme of the last ten years has had such a feel of adventure and mystery.

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars No imitations will do., 8 Jan 2001
By A Customer
Enjoy the first Doctor Who adventure, from back in 1963, long before the series became a parody of itself. William Hartnell, towards the end of his life, played the little old man with long, white hair and a stiff upper lip. He was a fantasy hero unlike any other, before or since. There have been many imitations since but nobody has been quite able to match the winning formula of this extraordinary British Broadcasting Corporation invention. Thank goodness they did not put this on the bonfire like so many of its successors.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Beginnings
As a viewer of the latest series of Doctor Who it is great to see how this unique show began.

I saw the very first Doctor Who story back in 1980 when it was repeated... Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2006 by Mr. Matthew J. Carter

4.0 out of 5 stars promising first story.
i didn't get the chance to see this doctor who story for quite a while, but i'm glad that i have.
even though the programme took a short time to get going, the soon-to-be... Read more
Published on 18 Jul 2006 by Mr. A. E. Ward Davies

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor
I am quite surprised that Doctor Who ever took off with this story. The first episode is quite enjoyable but then the story goes downhill. It just isnt very exciting. Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2004 by tommytuckerhadsome

5.0 out of 5 stars William Hartnell in his best television role.
If you only ever own one Doctor Who video, surely 'An Unearthly Child' has to be it. A fantastic debut with William Hartnell playing the role of his career in television. Read more
Published on 22 Nov 2000 by bughunt@ntlworld.com

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid.
It's peculiar, isn't it that the "Unearthly Child" of this story's title is Susan, the Doctor's so-called granddaughter; however, she does not appear on the video cover... Read more
Published on 28 Oct 2000 by Andrew Harvey

5.0 out of 5 stars An overlooked classic ! ! !
This video is often overlooked by many Doctor Who fans, who instead concentrate on the Daleks story that follows. Read more
Published on 21 Sep 2000

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