Doctor Who The Firemaker (1963–1989) Online

Kal has become leader and turned his fellow cave dwellers against Za The TARDIS crew head back to the safety of the ship, but are ambushed. The Doctor exposes Kal as the old woman's killer, turns on him and forces him out. Kal isn't gone for long when he returns and a massive fight to the death with Za begins. Kal has become slightly more reasonable and said he believes they are from beyond the mountains, not from the gods, they try to show him how to make fire. A victorious Za addresses his tribe victorious with fire, this time a true leader. Imprisoned Susan comes up with an idea and a clever Ian devises a plan to set them all free.

Considering this was family tea time viewing, the fight scenes would I think have been quite graphic for the time period. Actually rather well acted, with a true sense of terror, one particular rather gruesome moment.

The first part was outstanding, the second and third were good, the finale again been pretty good. A well developed story, well acted, and a satisfying conclusion, a little thin on the ground in some areas but fun viewing nonetheless. 7/10

The Doctor and his companions work together to find a solution to their predicament. Through teamwork, the Doctor and his companions successfully escape and return to the TARDIS.

Considering that "Doctor Who" was a science-fiction/fantasy series, setting the show's first adventure at the time of prehistoric man seemed to be an unusual choice. However, the characters were well developed; and, there were moments of suspense. The power struggles among the members of the tribe were well depicted. The problem-solving skills of the Doctor and his companions were fun to watch. Overall, this first "Doctor Who" adventure worked quite well and ended in a very satisfactory way. This was a great start to a series which would run for decades to come.

This review is really gonna be separated into two parts. Part 1: An Unearthly Child. Part 2: The Tribe of Gum story. An Unearthly Child is an episode with a lot of responsibility. Being the first episode of a show that would go on to become a national, and international, staple of science fiction, does this premiere episode stand up to what came after it?

Before the story even begins, the title scene sets the mood. Eerie, totally alien 'music' with bizarre visuals open the series with the famous "DOCTOR WHO" written in ghostly letters--this was not your typical opening of a TV show in 1963. For me this has always been among my top five favorite themes, instantly putting a smile on my face. The opening in the junkyard adds a nice atmosphere, but it's when we meet Ian and Barbara, two school teachers at Coal Hill School, that the episode really kicks into gear. Susan Foreman is a new addition to the student body. Incredibly intelligent in some areas, she astounds both teachers. But at the same time, baffles them on her apparent cultural confusions (not knowing that England wasn't on the decimal system...yet), and apparent misunderstanding on subjects that should be child's play to her. Jacqueline Hill and William Russel have great chemistry right off the bat, and their curiosity directly speaks for the audience. We're happy to follow our two intrepid busy bodies, as they go to Susan's "Home" in search of answers. It's here that we meet the Doctor, and what a meeting it is. Condescension and disinterest are the Doctor's main deflectors, but he can be down right mean as well! Hartnell seems to have fun with it, but I can't say I do! Eventually the two enter the Tardis and there's a lot of great dialogue thrown out by all. (Just a side note, this version of the Tardis is definitely a favorite. The room is so unique and without any sort of real dimension, mirroring the ship's dimension bending abilities in travel, and transcendentalism. Love it! After a lovely scene of Hartnell talking about his and Susan's people, it becomes apparent that he's not going to allow Ian and Barbara to leave. There's a struggle, and the Tardis takes off, landing onto one of the best cliffhangers in the show's history...It really is a thing of beauty.

Part. 2 The tribe of gum trilogy (it's not a trilogy) is, in my opinion, rather unfairly derided by the Doctor Who community at large. The story is quick, easy to follow, without holes, and establishes the group dynamic of our crew pretty efficiently, for the most part. I think the big problem with it is, it came after An Unearthly Child. We learn that the Doctor has no control of the Tardis, and that it seems to be rather faulty. Our poor teachers are really out of luck, in regards to getting home. But, although they haven't realized it yet, they've found a kindred spirit in the Doctor, who shares their knack for sticking their noses in things. And decides they should go exploring outside. It's around here we meet the characters of our main plot: Za, the would be leader of the tribe of gum, if only he could figure out how to make fire as his father did (because the firemaker is the leader of the tribe, by default apparently!) and Kal, a newly arrived rival for leadership. This is the main crux of the story, and in some small way mirrors the struggle Ian and the Doctor will have in seeing who calls the shots. This conflict is short lived though, as Ian, seemly more out of spite (although he can tell the Doctor is quite intelligent) eventually hands the reigns over to him.

There really isn't a ton to say about this side of the story, as the plot is pretty uncomplicated. The Doctor is captured by Kal, and is saved (somewhat) by Za when he mentions he knows how to make fire. Za sends him to the cave of skulls, where the T-Crew will spend most of the story in. There's a brief stint where the crazy old lady in the village, fearful of the change fire brings, frees them. And a rather nice moment when Za, injured by a boar while searching to recapture them, is helped by Barbara, contrary to what the Doctor wants. He shows very little sympathy for what he considers a savage, at one point even picking up a rock, seemingly intending to kill him just so they can be done with it, and get back to the Tardis. Thankfully Ian stops him. Kal finds out what the old lady did, kills her and blames it on Za, and there's a pretty great moment where the Doctor, showing his cleverness, points out that Za's knife has no blood on it, and tricks Kal into revealing his own with blood on it. Kal is cast out by the tribe, but makes a reappearance for a fight with Za...meeting a rather unpleasant fate. But after that it's more hanging out in the cave of skulls until they manage to trick the tribe and escape back to the Tardis.

All in all, a pretty strong start. "The Tribe of Gum Trilogy" (I'm trying to get it to catch on, just go with it) is a bit slower, and bit less interesting than "An Unearthly Child", but it's really not bad and can have it's fun moments. Ian comes off the best in this story, with his constant clashes with a rather not so nice Doctor, and although Barbara spends more time crying than she would later in the series, she still has a couple good moments and comes off pretty well overall. Susan really doesn't do much of anything, but it's forgivable. 8/10

When teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright are concerned about a very smart but rather odd teenager called Susan in their classes, they follow her home to find nothing but a junk yard and an old police telephone box. When a man reporting to be Barbara's grandfather appears, Ian and Barbara follow him inside the box and are amazed to find it is much bigger on the inside. Once inside the grandfather (the Doctor) refuses to let them go but rather seems to "move" the police box, sending the foursome back to the stone age where they land in the middle of a tribe in conflict over leadership.

I recently decided to watch a few of the original Dr Who episodes and to be honest it was mainly motivated by how weak the most recent season was – I was curious to see how the show was from the start just to compare it to where it currently was. In this regard it is of course chalk and cheese in terms of technology and resources but also in the detail of the focus, the tone and the characters. Although the Doctor is the main character I was surprised by how he was very much the plot device rather than the whole deal; once he moves the action, he is no longer the main character really. In this regard we follow the group evenly while also having time with the characters of the time/world that we have entered. As an approach I liked it because it felt like a permanent place rather than yet another temporary time zone for the Doctor to do his thing in then move along.

This is helped by the multi-episode story arch and the actual sense of danger. The 2 hour story is pretty solid and does include actual danger; while sometimes the conclusions are a bit too easy, there is a genuine sense of the characters not knowing what will happen and being in trouble – not to moan about the new series but this is a nice change from everything being a bit of fun and games that can be solved by the Doctor within 5 minutes as long as the BBC Orchestra play dramatic music loud enough. This isn't to say it is perfect though, because it isn't and has dated. The acting from the cavemen is an odd mix of "grunt and be Neolithic" and "BBC acting workshop", so they are basic characters but yet have good vocabulary and their training shows. This isn't a massive deal but it feels odd. In the main four the acting is better. Hartnell doesn't have much to do but I liked his aloof start and will be interested to see where he goes. His "granddaughter" is a nice presence – Ford is a bit "children's TV" here perhaps but I liked her and again comparing to the new series the lack of constant flirting was refreshing. The two that bring us into this story are probably the strongest; Hill may be a bit obvious in her hysteria but she does it pretty well, but Russell is a good lead and is convincing in his anger etc – when the episode needs a tougher edge it is normally him that brings it.

Direction wise it is pretty good. Sets and costumes have dated but I was surprised by the iconic music and Tardis and other detail being in place from the start. The "freeze-frame" at start and end doesn't always work particularly well and can be a little corny but it is still a nice idea. I'm hoping the rough edges are knocked off as the four characters settle in but the approach of longer stories, focus shared with the characters of the week and not just on the mains and the idea that real danger exists shows potential even from these first few episodes.

Following on from the brilliant opening episode the remainder of the '100,000 BC' story is a slight disappointment.

It is not remotely bad as it has interesting elements and is of good quality in all respects but it is somewhat ill conceived to start the series with a story set in a prehistoric world with cavemen and their squabbles over the discovery of fire.

Any criticism that the story is not correct historically can be answered in that it is not specified that the setting is actually Earth. It could, therefore, be another planet at a time of caveman civilization. Also, criticisms of how cavemen could converse in English are explained because later on in Doctor Who we are told that the Doctor's time machine - the TARDIS - allows the travellers to converse with aliens or people speaking other languages via some sort of telepathic means. However, it is somewhat less interesting and somewhat more confusing for viewers of the day than if they had an opening serial featuring alien beings or a more suitable human era such as recent past or the future. Also why would Ian and Barbara not question the fact the cavemen speak English?

The discovery of fire story with tribal in fighting is not really typical of the series to follow and does not afford good guest characters or sufficiently intelligent plot to get really into it. There is some very annoying screeching and grunting at times and the cavemen are somewhat lacking in interest. There is, though, a lot more intelligent scripting and interest provided with the Doctor and his companions. Their characters begin to be fleshed out and their relationships begin to develop. That aspect of the story is very good.

Overall 100,000 BC is really good but could have been an all time classic with aliens instead of cavemen to follow up the wonderful debut episode.

My Ratings: Episode 1 - 10/10, Episode 2 - 7, Episode 3 - 7, Episode 4 - 6.5

Overall 7.63/10