Doctor Who: The Beginning Collection

Doctor Who is the longest-running science fiction program in television history. And now Doctor Who: The Beginning Collection takes viewers back to the beginnings of the classic series in 1963. This three DVD set contains the first three DW stories – “An Unearthly Child,” “The Daleks” (a.k.a. “The Mutants” or “The Dead Planet”) and “The Edge of Destruction” with William Hartnell as the Doctor. As much as I have been enjoying the new DW series on SCI-FI, I am very pleased to see the BBC bring out this collection commemorating the launch of the original series.

“An Unearthly Child,” the four-part debut story, opens in London, 1963 where the Doctor is living with his teenage granddaughter Susan (played by Carol Ann Ford). Two of Susan’s teachers at Coal Hill School – Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) – follow her home one evening after school. They stumble into the Doctor space-time machine, the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space). And angry Doctor shanghais the teachers, and the adventure begins! They arrive in the year 100,000 B.C., where they discover a tribe of cavemen on the verge of dying out unless they can rediscover how to make fire. Episode One of “An Unearthly Child” aired on November 23, 1963, the day after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

“The Daleks” is the seven-part adventure which made Doctor Who into a television phenomenon. This story, written by Terry Nation, introduces the Daleks, who have become the Doctor’s most popular enemies, and are even used today in the new series. Nation’s morality play places the Daleks in the roles of Hitler’s Nazis, bent on the complete extermination of a humanoid race called the Thals (who represent the Jews). The Doctor, along with Ian, Barbara and Susan, must persuade the pacifistic Thals to stand up and fight the Daleks or face extinction.

“The Edge of Destruction” is a short two-parter set entirely inside the TARDIS and focusing entirely on the four principal characters. TEoD is a story which makes effective use of the TARDIS and helps develop the characters very well.

Verity Lambert, the original producer of Doctor Who, joins surviving cast members Carole Ann Ford and William Russell on the commentary tracks, as well as the respective directors of each story. Some other great bonus features include the featurettes “Creation of the Daleks,” “Doctor Who: Origins,” “Over the Edge” and “Inside the Spaceship,” as well as a condensed, reconstructed version of the lost “Marco Polo” story and Episode Two of “The Edge Of Destruction” in Arabic.

For newer viewers who only know Doctor Who through the new series, The Beginning Collection makes a great intro to the classic series. And for those of us who were addicted to the classic series years ago, watching these episodes is like sitting and enjoying a visit with an old friend. I wholeheartedly recommend Doctor Who – The Beginning Collection for ALL Doctor Who fans, young and old.