Current mood:	pensive
Entry tags:	an unearthly child, doctor who, first doctor, first story, meta

A look at the first story of each new Doctor (part 1 of 10): the First Doctor
Why is it that quite often the first serial of a new Doctor is seemingly not a strongly-written story?

Over time, I wish to examine this idea, and will present each story in a separate post.

(I would like to, if I may, excuse the writer and production team and director by saying that sometimes they are new to the show, or dealing with a new actor in the part, and things don't always go smoothly. But that's all in the technical details. If the writing isn't up to par, all the wonderful acting and pretty SFX won't cover up bad plotting, weak characterizations, and other troublesome points. Btw, I will mention the writer, director, and executive producer for each story from the Second Doctor on.)

So, let's look at things on a case-by-case basis:

The First Doctor: An Unearthly Child aka The Tribe of Gum



Well, this is not technically a regeneration-ending or carry-over story, but it is an introduction story nonetheless. At first, the plot centers around the Doctor's present and future companions, i.e., Susan, a student, and Barbara and Ian, her teachers. But it moves along quickly to a junkyard, where the two teachers run into a cranky man as they look for their vanished pupil. Hearing Susan's voice, the two teachers push pass the old man to go inside a Police Call Box, only to find themselves in the TARDIS and at the mercy of a seeming madman. This irritable Doctor runs off with them to another time and place, perhaps to teach them a lesson? (Mind you, the irateness is seen rather often in later Doctors, especially when they are dealing with righteous indignation.)

The caveman story is interesting, but seeing the Doctor and his companions trapped and at the primitives' mercy is a little disconcerting for fans who have seen other Doctors before they ever saw the First Doctor. This isn't Two, who will trick them by being clever and then run away, or Three who will only fight after much peaceful discussion, or Four who will hide his amazing knowledge behind a facade of seemingly silly statements, or Five who will out-good them (for lack of a better phrase), or Six who will just dazzle them with his brilliance (while stunning them with his arrogance), or Seven who will cunningly confuse them, or Nine who will help his companions figure out what to do, or Ten who will baffle them with logorrhea and outright brilliance. No, the First Doctor is none of this, but a weary older gentleman who just wants to get back home (i.e. the TARDIS) and will do anything, even stoop to low cunning or bashing a caveman's head in. He's ancient and tired, and we must forgive him much. With the help of Ian's knowledge of how to make fire, the weary travelers escape back to the TARDIS. But as soon as the Marco Polo serial though, the Doctor regains (again for lack of a better phrase) his social skills, but never of course loses his wisdom or intelligence.

An Unearthly Child (considering all four parts as a whole) was an interesting start to a new series, but I don't think that it would appear as that strong a story had the First Doctor been other than himself. From the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Unearthly_Child In many ways, the serial consists of two stories; there is a strong discontinuity between the first episode, introducing the characters and establishing the premise of the series, and the three episodes set in the Paleolithic. The first episode, in particular, is often seen as a classic of television science fiction (though the contemporary critical reaction was somewhat less positive). Like many fans, I adore the first episode of the serial, but do not find the other three episodes to be as strong in the writing.