Doctor Who-An Unearthly Child (1963)

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General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Cast And Crew - Episodes 1 and 4 Bonus Episode-Pilot Episode Studio Recording, With Optional Commentary Music Video-Theme Music Video Featurette-Comedy Sketches Gallery-Photo Informational Subtitles
Rating
Year Of Production	1963
Running Time	121:15 (Case: 183)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Waris Hussein
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	William Hartnell Carole Ann Ford William Russell Jacqueline Hill
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	Box	Music	Ron Grainer

    IAN: Just open the doors Dr. Foreman!

    DOCTOR: Heh? Doctor who? What's he talking about?

    Broadcast for the first time on 23 November 1963, An Unearthly Child marked the modest debut of our beloved Gallifreyan time-traveller at large, Dr Who. One can only imagine what viewers thought as they tuned in for the first time: Rorschach-like images clash and collide to a driving beat, an eerie melody chimes in (ooo-wee-ooh!) and the camera begins to weave its way through a dark English fog. A policeman paces around a junkyard; we pass by a creepy assortment of discarded objects, finally zooming in through the doors of an inauspicious police-box: the makings of a cultural icon.

    Susan Foreman (Carol Ann Ford) is a highly intelligent student who has her teachers concerned when her home address is revealed to be the junkyard in Totters Lane. Following her home one night, teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara are shocked to discover an old man (William Hartnell) appears to have trapped Susan inside a police-box. Forcing their way inside they discover Susan in a room impossibly larger than the box's exterior dimensions. The old man turns out to be Susan's grandfather and a doctor of some kind and both claim to be time-travellers from far in the future. Ian and Barbara refuse to believe what they hear and are promptly whisked away by the Doctor in his ship, TARDIS, to pre-historical Earth where a tribal conflict over fire puts them in a spot of hot water . . .

    Face it: no self-respecting Dr Who will miss snapping up this release. The nostalgic and historical value for Who fans is simply too high to resist. Granted, the caveman plot is just a little slow, even dull at times (and director Waris Hussein had serious reservations about starting the series here); but the enigmatic character of the Doctor is captivating and raises the serial above its budget and story limitations. William Hartnell deserves more than just a little of the credit for getting Dr Who off the ground so successfully (although the appearance of his ultimate nemesis in the very next serial certainly helped to seal the deal). No one expected Dr Who to run for more than a few weeks, let alone still be on our screens some forty years later. An Unearthly Child, in all its cheap and quirky glory, remains something of a testament to the highly creative minds and determination of those behind Dr Who.

Video

    Presented with the usual love and care that goes into a Dr Who, the video transfer is very good considering the limitations of the source material. An Unearthly Child is presented in its original full frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

    Sharpness and detail are somewhat limited, but actually far better than expected. The pilot episode particularly is softer than the serial, but generally the entire feature is a little soft on detail, although displaying some moments of strong clarity. Shadow detail is a little murky at times. Grain is present throughout and contributes to the softness of the image. It's not as bad as it sounds: the transfer is very watchable. Compared to some of the footage shown in the extras (on The Edge of Destruction), the difference is night and day. The image is clear: just don't consistently expect razor sharp video, especially in the fog scenes.

    An Unearthly Child was shot in black and white. Contrast and grey-scale are quite good, even given the limitations of its video source. Again, compared to footage in the extra features, the black and white footage has been vastly improved for the main feature.

    MPEG artefacts are mostly absent. The opening credits exhibit some relatively heavy macroblocking, but the rest of the feature shows only minor pixelization due to visible grain. I also noticed some moments of posterization at times. The TARDIS can show aliasing at times. Torch lights leave comet trails and mild microphony can be seen. There is also some unobtrusive vertical line damage. A few specks of dust are visible but the transfer is quite clean in general.

    Subtitles are excellent, as always, and presented in a readable, white font. Very few words are dropped from the titles. Also included are the usual informational subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono and is adequate and faithful to the source.

    Dialogue is clear and audible. Constant hiss is audible during the entire serial. The mono audio is naturally somewhat flat and undynamic, but perfectly acceptable. Audio sync is accurate.

    Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire put together the famous Dr Who theme. Norman Kay provided incidental music. The score is suitable to the action but entirely unmemorable.

    There is no surround or bass information.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Introduction

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Audio Commentary

Bonus Episode (35:38)

    The pilot episode was remade for broadcast with several changes, especially in the Doctor's and Susan's character. The Doctor was made less acerbic and Susan was made less aloof and a little more hysterical. The Pilot is an excellent addition and well worth watching. If Play All is selected, the Pilot (edited for broadcast) will play first. When selecting the Pilot from Extra Features, the studio recording plays unedited, including retakes. An audio commentary is also available, with Russell talking to Verity Lambert and Waris Hussein. The commentary is only available if the Pilot is selected from the Extra Features.

Music Video (2:36)

    Watch the opening credits in mono, Dolby Digital 2.0, and Dolby Digital 5.1. Kind of amusing, but mostly pointless.

Featurette

Gallery-Photo (6:03)

    Behind the scenes photographs with audio.

Informational Subtitles

    Both Region 1 and Region 2 releases are identical to ours outside of NTSC formatting for Region 1.

    The very beginnings of Dr Who. Need I say more?

    Video is very good when the limitations of the source are taken into account.

    Audio is adequate.

    The commentaries are good, but the remaining extras are uninteresting.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall