An Unearthly Child – Part 3

Thank you for joining me at the last entry about An Unearthly Child. Three points are discussed today, then I will sum my reviews up.

The Visual Component
The Score
An Unaired Pilot Version
Summary

The Visual Component
Classic Doctor Who usually has this problem: the special effect looks cheesy; the costumes are funny and ridiculous. Of course, there are some impressive exceptions, but the majority afflicts from this problem. Newcomers are often intimidated and then discouraged by it. Special effect and the realistic costume design should be an integrating factor of any on-screen art form. Classic Doctor Who failed to use this opportunity to relay their concepts. That is largely due to the technical limitations of their time. Understandable. I did not blame it on their budget because the revived series is also low on budget, but it still blows me away 95 per cent of the time.

The visual work in An Unearthly Child is quite surprising. I need not say much about the opening, it is quite a creative way to make the time vortex. Bizarre enough to match the theme of Doctor Who. Savour it yourself.
The Original 1963 Titles

The costumes of the primitives and the forest are pretty convincing. Despite the technical issue with fire capturing (you can see unpleasant black spots in the middle of it), the visual component is strangely good. The special effects are not impressive judging by today’s standard, but it must be fancy back then.

My favourite bit is the interior design of the TARDIS. The iconic hexagonal-shaped walls and control panel are just fantastic. This design remains the same with some minor changes from time to time in the classic series.

The Score
I observed a shift of focus of Doctor Who score. The revival series has more epic themes of characters and sometimes multiple version of that specific theme. In contrast, the classic Doctor Who seems to be more exotic and experimental. The underlying reason is probably this: in the revival series, after the Time War, the Doctor is a legendary and notorious figure. The Doctor or his/her companions tend to be the centre of every story. (I know this show is Doctor Who, but I just think they have overemphasised and made the Doctor somewhat like a comic book hero).

Here are few tracks which I enjoy particularly in An Unearthly Child, the first is the famous original theme ( its remixes are used after William Hartnell’s doctor and in the revived series also). It is played in the first opening sequence which is the video above. The second is a track called “Three Guitar Modes“, the one which Susan played in her first scene.

There are also some unnamed tracks, including the music in the forest. It gives a jungly feeling and aids the tension.

The Unaired Pilot Version
You might not know there existed an unaired pilot version of the first episode of this serial. This unaired version is in the link of the resource page which you can find on my website. (Resource page link) Before I get into it, I hope you have had fun spotting a few minor differences in the pilot version.

Ian and Barbara had minimal changes in the transmitted version. The costumes, the lines and the acting remain largely the same. One or two scenes were cut a little too quickly. That is it. Susan and the Doctor had their lines partly changed in the transmitted version. The Doctor appeared to be fiercer. I like the creepy dummy head in the junkyard of the pilot version. Most details are negligible when compared to the transmitted version.

Susan however, had bigger changes. Her reduction of mystique was a problem. For instance, she sprinkles ink on a piece of paper in a scene instead of pointing out a mistake in the history book. One of the most criticised lines of Susan in the pilot version was ‘I was born in the 49th century.’ while her line in the transmitted version was ‘I was born in another time, another world.’. Its implication can be severe if it was taken.

The pilot version is not as good as the transmitted version while keeping the essence of the latter. I am glad that it was remade.

Summary
We now come to an end of the three-part review of An Unearthly Child. The fandom of Doctor Who has two divided opinions about it. I am on the side which finds it good. There is the perfection of acting of the regular casts, interesting premise and impressive special effect and score.

Here is my rating:
7.8/10 for the plot (weight 6)
6.5/10 for guest casts (weight 6)
9/10 for the regular cast (weight 6)
8.4/10 for the visual and score (weight 2)
7.83/10 overall