Brief Summary
This video summarizes the first season of Doctor Who, which aired between November 1963 and September 1964. The season consisted of 42 episodes across eight stories, featuring the Doctor, his granddaughter Susan, and teachers Ian and Barbara. The initial educational focus shifted away from historical and futuristic themes. Key storylines include the introduction of the Daleks, a missing story involving Marco Polo, and adventures in various historical settings like the Aztec empire and revolutionary France.
- The first season established the groundwork for the show's future success.
- The Daleks' introduction was a major hit, leading to significant popularity.
- Several stories are missing, with some episodes later animated for DVD release.
The first season of Doctor Who aired between November 23, 1963, and September 12, 1964, comprising 42 episodes within eight stories. Early episodes had individual titles, later consolidated into story titles. The companions included Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter, and teachers Ian and Barbara. The show initially aimed to be semi-educational, alternating between historical and futuristic narratives, with Barbara teaching history and Ian teaching science.
The first episode, "An Unearthly Child," is highly praised as a perfect introduction to the series. Susan, a student at Coal Hill School, is considered strange by her teachers, Ian and Barbara. They follow her to a junkyard where they discover a police box and meet the Doctor. The Doctor, upon being discovered, essentially kidnaps Ian and Barbara, taking them on a journey to ancient history. The subsequent three episodes involving cave people are considered of poor quality.
"The Daleks" is credited with solidifying Doctor Who's popularity and ensuring its renewal for a second season. The Daleks were immensely popular in the 1960s, even inspiring two movies. This seven-episode story established the template for the show's science fiction narratives and the recurring formula used by Terry Nation.
"The Edge of Destruction" is a two-part story considered a potential classic. The narrative involves the TARDIS crew being trapped with strange occurrences, such as melting clocks and Susan stabbing furniture. The explanation for these events is considered illogical.
"Marco Polo" is the first currently missing story. The TARDIS is damaged, and the crew joins Marco Polo's caravan en route to Kublai Khan. This seven-part story featured impressive costumes and sets. Despite being filmed in black and white, photos suggest it would have looked stunning in color. The writing is noted for being relatively non-racist for its time.
"The Keys of Marinus" is a six-part story where the crew quests to find the keys of Marinus. The Voord, the antagonists, are considered an unsuccessful attempt to create another iconic alien race.
"The Aztecs" is a four-part historical adventure where Barbara is mistaken for a god and tries to stop human sacrifice. The Doctor attempts to maintain historical accuracy but gets sidetracked by an accidental engagement.
"The Sensorites" is a science fiction story featuring the Sensorites, aliens with telepathic abilities. The story involves conflict between human astronauts and the Sensorites.
"The Reign of Terror" is a six-part historical story set during the French Revolution. The crew becomes involved in intrigues involving Robespierre and an English spy. This story marked the first instance of location shooting and the Doctor dressing in period-appropriate attire. Some episodes were lost and later animated for the DVD release, though the animation quality is criticized.
Season 1 was a mixed bag but laid the foundation for the show's future. Even minor details from this season, such as Susan's description of Gallifrey, have been referenced in later series. Season 2 promises significant changes, including the loss of companions and the introduction of a rogue Time Lord.
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Transcript
Full transcript of “A Quick Guide to Classic Who Season 1”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:16 treasures of history to be Oh season one run between the 23rd of November 1963 and the 12th of September 1964 there were 42 episode spread over 8 stories the first story was an unearthly child named after the first episode in the first few years of the show's history each episode had its own title a bit like an old-school 40 cereal ad
1:03 years later they to choose which episode title made for the best overall title for the story the companions were Suzan allegedly the doctors granddaughter with Ian and Barbara two teachers the show was designed a semi educational in nature one story would feature the team in the past for some thrilling historical adventure Barbara was a history teacher and another would have in the future were some scientific principle would be explained ian was a science teacher now the semi educational angle was mostly jettisoned in the historical x' and thrown down a deep mineshaft on the spikes and the futuristic stories so don't expect to learn much Susan is a student at coal Hill School and her teachers in and Barbara think well they think she's weird
2:05 but he wouldn't they follow her home one night to a police box in a junkyard and meet the doctor Susan had wanted to do some regular schooling you see the doctor's reaction to being discovered is to kidnappee annum Barbara and sendeth Hardison - ancient history the first episode of an earthly child is amazing it's the best episode the show has ever produced it is simply perfect you couldn't hope for a better setup for the show it's just amazing the people kept watching after the next three weeks the next three parts this story involved the TARDIS crew interacting with cave people there's just about a sacred fire and there's an [ __ ] called cow who was the king of the dung mountain that everyone lives on in short it's crap only watch if you really want to I suggest you go straight from episode 1
2:51 to the second story the Daleks featuring a little race that you might have heard of yeah the fouls there are many reasons doctor who became the pop culture powerhouse it is the thing that made damn sure it will be renewed for a second season is right here the Daleks hit and they hit big you think Doctor Who is popular now well it is but the Daleks were even more popular back in the 60s how popular they made movies two of them with Peter Cushing they weren't very good the Daleks is seven episodes long and it set the template for a lot of things the science fiction stories of the show the Daleks themselves and more importantly how Terry nation would try to remake the same story over and over
3:37 again next up is the two-part edge of destruction a story that's on the short list for future classic 20 who reviews it's not bad it's really not it's just the explanation for what's going on is mind-bendingly stupid everyone's trapped on the TARDIS and shit's [ __ ] up the clocks are melting Susan stabs furniture and the doctor threatens to throw in and Barbara at the door nearly literally and the explanation for why is too stupid for words so I won't say it after that we have Marco Polo the first currently missing story a little ironic when you remember the kids game the TARDIS is damaged and badly needs repairs it lines in the middle of a snowy wasteland of the crew join up with Marco Polo's caravan on their way to Kublai Khan the story is seven parts
4:23 long and the costumes and sets were some of the best in the show's history generally black and white classic who looks better than classic who in colour because it hides a fuckload of issues but based on photos taken during the filming this one didn't need to be in black and white to look stunning on top of all that the writings almost not very racist at times and the guy who plays Marco Polo looks a bit like Gerald Harper from Adam adamant all in all a really good start for the pure historical 's v story is the keys of marinus the show's first six-part ER where the crew were sent in a quest to find the titular keys of marinus each of them are held in different areas on the planet and they have to find them so the evil word can't the vert are the first example of the show trying and failing to find another iconic alien race to put beside the Daleks men in wet suits with
5:10 things attached to their heads just wasn't a good look and they never took off the next story was another historical and one of my favourite William Hartnell adventures the four part the Aztecs we're basically Barbara gets mistaken for a God because fight women are amazing and decides to force the Aztecs to stop with the human sacrifice the doctor tries to make her keep history as it is until he gets distracted by being accidentally engaged to a woman called Kamaka and everyone tries to no avail to convince this guy that he isn't Richard the third my voice will be like thunder in the sky but what is the way she is too clever then there's the censor writes a science fiction story featuring the censor i'ts a race that are so clearly the basis for
5:56 the that the 10th doctor mentioned that their homeworlds were in the same solar system the huge sphere up into the solar system before years ago ages close to the planets sense fear it's a trick used in you who ever so often choose a classic alien race that has a funky concept but aren't famous enough to have name value and then remake them but make sure you point out the similarity to the original alien because that makes it okay this is another six partner and is but a conflict between human astronauts from the future and the telepathic and usually gentle sense rights the final story of season 1 was the reign of terror another six parter it's a William Hartnell historical set in France so it involves a lot of off-screen killing it's the height of the French Revolution the terror
6:42 Robespierre is guillotining any [ __ ] you can get his hands on and the crew get mixed up in master nations involving an English spy this was the first story to involve location shooting and the first one where the doctor actually dressed up to fit in with the time period now some of the story was lost so it was animated for the DVD release so that's nice it's a pity the animations not very good that was season 1 of Doctor Who a mixed bag but it set the groundwork for the show that I loved and the show that you probably have heard of [ __ ] that happened even this far back occasionally impacts the show today and I'm not talking about big things like the Daleks for instance Susan's description of Gallifrey is having trees with silver leaves and an orange sky was quoted almost exactly in the new series its
7:28 agents who seen our planet but at night the sky is a burnt orange and the leaves on the trees are bright silver so see you soon ish for season 2 when we'll see Giants lose all three companions and even meet another rogue Time Lord midgel mystery
