Doctor Who - The Beginning

Doctor Who - The Beginning features four early episodes. Includes the previously unreleased pilot episode and the very first episode from the long-running sci-fi TV series. Set in London in 1963, "An Unearthly Child" is our very first brush with the Doctor. 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... Also includes "The Daleks" and the two-part episode of "The Edge Of Destruction".

Special Features

1. An Unearthly Child Pilot Episode
2. Episode 1: Commentary
3. Episode 4: Commentary
4. an in-depth look at the creation of Doctor Who
5. Creation of the Daleks

Product details

Actors: William Hartnell, Carole Ann Ford, Jacqueline Hill, William Russell
Directors: Waris Hussein, Richard Martin, Christopher Barry, Frank Cox
Run Time: 346 minutes
Language English
Subtitles: English

Reviews form Amazon

'Doctor Who - The Beginning Boxset' comprises of the first three William Hartnell adventures and contains some interesting special features, along the way.

There's something for everyone on this boxset, which up to now is probably the best Doctor Who release for fans of the original series.

I myself, didn't get the chance to watch these episodes on their original run (1963-64) but one of my friends, kindly lent me VHS copies of some Hartnell stories and I can tell you for sure that the Restoration Team (the people who improve the picture quality of these episodes) have clearly made a difference to the way we watch them, which makes them look as if they'd just been shown recently.

As for the features themselves, they have got to be among some of the best First Doctor outings ever.

'An Unearthly Child' (the first story) is a very entertaining T.V. gem to watch, even though its been over 40 years since it was aired on 23rd November 1963-14th December 1963. We are introduced to two schoolteachers, Ian Chesterton and Babara Wright who are suspicious about a strange pupil who they teach, Susan Foreman. A series of events follows, leading them to a mysterious stranger who calls himself the Doctor, and a police box standing in a junkyard, which is believed to travel through time and space. After an argument breaks out between the Doctor and the two teachers, the time-machine accidently transports them to the year one million B.C.

The second story (The Daleks), introduces us to Doctor Who's most popular villain, which Terry Nation created. Even though these episodes are must-sees, admittedly it does towards the end drag on, partly because 'The Daleks' runs one or two episodes too long.

Finally, 'The Edge of Destruction' is definitely the weakest of the three, but at the time a two-parter had to be written with only the Tardis and the main actors in it, within a very low budget.

Coming on to the extras, the stand-outs include 'Doctor Who: Origins' a great documentary looking back at nearly everything that lead to this phenomenal Saturday tea-time show and there's also a reproduction of the missing historical seven-parter 'Marco Polo' which followed after 'The Edge of Destruction'.

Overall, a great set which every Whovian should buy, to relive the birth of Doctor Who or discover how it all began in the early 60s.

Amazon Price

RRP:	£29.99
Price:	£8.99