|
|
Post by magnusgreel on Jun 22, 2011 20:59:46 GMT
I may not have sufficient reason to start a thread on this story, but every story deserves one, so there. Anyway, a friend requested that I show him and his 12-year-old daughter this story. Imagine being that young, and having eleven doctors to choose from, and catch up with? She's very enthusuastic about it all. She fixates on K-9, of course.
Eventually she got restless, and started roaming all over the adjoining rooms. Explaining this to her father as best she could, she said she really liked the story (she'd never seen Dr #1 before), and that made her want to get up and gave her energy. Then I realized that I remembered that about childhood. Getting excited about what I was watching must have made me mobile as a kid, since it sounded familiar to me....
I'm very glad that B&W TV isn't off-putting to her, as is true with kids in general, apparently.
|
|
kirkg
Auton Daisy
"Hello, Sweetie!"
Posts: 442
|
Post by kirkg on Jun 22, 2011 23:13:51 GMT
Was this the VERY first story of Dr. Who?
Or just in the first season or with the first doctor?
Who knows what the very first Dr. Who story was called?
What was the subject? I suspect there was a bit of ground-laying to educate the viewer...and very basic, since it was aimed at kids.
Anybody know?
|
|
|
|
Post by magnusgreel on Jun 23, 2011 0:53:23 GMT
I've been watching DW for 30+ years, so yes, I know. First story: Unearthly Child. They had seperate titles for every half hour episode then though, and that referred to half-hour episode #1. Often the following three episodes are included these days with that first episode, to make a four-parter called "An Unearthly Child" (or "The Tribe of Gum", after the cavemen in it).
I think The Dalek Invasion of Earth was first season. I just meant that my unofficial neice hadn't seen Dr #1 before.
|
|
|
|
Post by clocketpatch on Jun 23, 2011 1:22:49 GMT
That story about your Niece getting up and running around because it gave her energy is adorable Magnus. I've been working with children for the past few months and they are exactly like that when they get excited.
Honestly, I don't think they find Black and White stuff boring unless they're told it's supposed to be (or, you know, unless it is). Otherwise they just approach it with the same wide-eyed, take it on its own merits, curiosity that kids apply to everything.
Kirk, the first story as Magnus says is An Unearthly Child. It's technically a four-parter, but the first half hour stands independent of the next three which are about some not particularly bright cavemen who the Doctor tries to murder with rocks...
The first part at least is a very good, and very surprising bit of television. If you're only familiar with the new series it seems a bit surprising at first that this is the way the show started. The Doctor is a very different character than what he's become - older (younger?), brasher, more violent, less human (except... I don't think they'd actually defined him as an alien at this point).
The show starts with some teachers following a strange young student home from school. You don't meet the Doctor until half way into the episode - actually, the TARDIS is introduced first, even though we don't know her yet. And she's introduced as being alive, right there in the very first episode. ;D
I recommend it heartily. 50 years on and the episode doesn't seem dated. It's fresh and creepy and sends a shiver down your spine.
|
|
|
|
Post by magnusgreel on Jun 23, 2011 4:02:54 GMT
Clocket-- I enjoyed the fact that the energized thing struck me as familiar! Even without any specific memories... The Tribe of Gum episodes don't stand out for me, except in one sense: I was surprised and impressed with the adult feel of how they dealt with their situation, even then, in what was meant to be a children's program, supposedly. The Doctor here could be said to have a complicated chip on his shoulder. (There's this legend of the alternate pilot, where the Dr was more "dark", and the fan parody group I was in did a parody of this legend where One actually shot people dead on a whim, etc.) Anyway, it was a harsh survival story as I recall, where the teachers really had no clue whether this whatever-he-was was going to save them, or whether they'd have to save him, or some other alternative... It seemed more adult than I'm guessing their mission statement dictated.
PS-- Nice remarks on Unearthly Child, Clocket!
|
|
|
|
Post by Maggadin on Jun 23, 2011 12:22:03 GMT
I'm not sure if I'd define him as ''less human'', as he isn't any more human today.  Anyway, what I mean is that the traits that that we define as human are also traits we see in other species in the show, including Time Lords. Magnus, I have seen that alternate pilot of which you speak. I love it! |
|
|
|
Post by jjpor on Jun 23, 2011 21:47:53 GMT
Maybe not less human, but less...less of a humanitarian, for want of a non-human-centric way of putting it? Or whatever. Certainly, he softened and became more compassionate over the course of One's early stories. I like the sort of in-universe fan explanation of Barbara's essential goodness rubbing off on him. Certainly, it makes sense in the context of those stories.
I've seen the alternative pilot too - it's interesting in quite a few ways. Some of the differences between it and the aired first episode are immediately apparent, but many of them are quite subtle. I don't know about "darker", but it's certainly a different take, like the slightly uneasy mirror-universe version, and you can't help but imagine Who would have turned out quite differently had they gone with this vision instead...
That's a great story, anyway, Magnus - I'm always heartened when I hear of young people being introduced to the original series, and I do think people tend to underestimate them when they think they might find it boring or cheap-looking or whatever, because good storytelling always speaks for itself I think. Of course, with that in mind, there are some introductory stories that are better than others... ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by Maggadin on Jun 23, 2011 22:15:10 GMT
Yes, I just take issue with restricting traits such as empathy and kindness to humans, seeing as we're dealing with a canon where the Universe is full of different kinds of sentient beings. ;D Either way, I don't think we really see the Doctor becoming a better man as much as we see him rediscovering the person he once was again. It's hinted at more than once that he wasn't always the bitter, angry Time Lord we seen in AUC. That's what I like about it: You sort of get the sense that we first ''meet'' him after he's already lived a full life with lots of experiences and adventures and we sort of ''turn on the screen'' in the middle of it. Anyway, my point is: Barbara did not change him as much as she made his ''true self'' come alive again.
|
|
|
|
Post by clocketpatch on Jun 24, 2011 0:52:08 GMT
Ooo, I do not think I've seen this alternative pilot of which you speak. That would probably be a fun back-to-back viewing - the one we got and the one that could've been... or it could be insanely boring because it would be basically the same story twice. Heh.
"Helped him to rediscover himself" I really like that Maggadin, and you're right - empathy and compassion aren't traits which are restricted to humans. One and Susan though - well, more so Susan - they had something else about them that was alien. This sense that they didn't belong.
|
|
|
|
Post by magnusgreel on Jun 24, 2011 2:51:38 GMT
In the DW universe, and in my own, compassion and empathy aren't particularly human traits, and aren't all that common. It seems otherwise because we keep talking about how we embody those qualities! We belong to the only intelligent species on the planet (unless we're wrong about that), without any other verbal species around to dispute our claim to be so wonderful and compassionate and noble that these are our defining characteristics. We do love to go on and on about that. And we love to talk!
I can't wait for real First Contact, where we might meet aliens who can disllusion us of all this... I'm not saying people are "bad", but that there's a great mass of people in the middle of the spectrum, hovering in the middle of the scale, at around zero: not especially good, not especially bad. A lot of evil gets done by people who are just doing their jobs and don't really care...
|
|
|
|
Post by clocketpatch on Jun 24, 2011 5:20:10 GMT
We belong to the only intelligent species on the planet (unless we're wrong about that), without any other verbal species around to dispute our claim to be so wonderful and compassionate and noble that these are our defining characteristics. We do love to go on and on about that. And we love to talk! I'd agree and disagree here - because if there's one thing in this life that I am certain of, it's that "intelligence" may be a variable term, but we're definitely not the only species on this planet to exhibit it. We do like to talk though (I love love LOVE talking!). But, if you've ever listened to a murder of crows cawing out their superiority... I don't think we're the only ones who like to talk about how great and unique we are. ;D I'm not saying people are "bad", but that there's a great mass of people in the middle of the spectrum, hovering in the middle of the scale, at around zero: not especially good, not especially bad. A lot of evil gets done by people who are just doing their jobs and don't really care... Very well said. |
|
kirkg
Auton Daisy
"Hello, Sweetie!"
Posts: 442
|
Post by kirkg on Jun 24, 2011 5:40:43 GMT
OK, I nominate "An Unusual Child" for a future DWLive viewing/review. If it's really that good, it must be shared, right?
Or has it been screened recently?
I mean, if we're likely to wind up with Doc #1 as our skin, we might as well see what we're buying, right?
|
|
|
|
Post by IMForeman on Jun 24, 2011 14:02:27 GMT
OK, I nominate "An Unusual Child" for a future DWLive viewing/review. If it's really that good, it must be shared, right? Or has it been screened recently? I mean, if we're likely to wind up with Doc #1 as our skin, we might as well see what we're buying, right? We watched An Unearthly Child last year, sometime around the 47th anniversary in November. |
|
|
|
Post by magnusgreel on Jun 24, 2011 15:01:41 GMT
I'd agree and disagree here - because if there's one thing in this life that I am certain of, it's that "intelligence" may be a variable term, but we're definitely not the only species on this planet to exhibit it. We do like to talk though (I love love LOVE talking!). But, if you've ever listened to a murder of crows cawing out their superiority... I don't think we're the only ones who like to talk about how great and unique we are. ;D On the first part, I'm leaning in that direction myself. A "murder" of crows... that's really the collective term? I notice birds more these days, or did when I could get out more. One plopped onto the window sill of my not-very-cracked-open living room window and checked the place over. One suddenly appeared on the hood of car (when I had one) looking at me straight in the eye when I'd just driven into the parking lot. Walk in a preserve or something, and bird sounds may stay in the background for us, but the birds are often paying close attention to you and trying to interact. The alternate Unearthly Child was disappointing to me, after hearing everyone talk about it. It's not very different. People are reading the same lines with different clothes on. I could see the subtle differences, but can't remember them now. |
|
kirkg
Auton Daisy
"Hello, Sweetie!"
Posts: 442
|
Post by kirkg on Jun 25, 2011 0:15:29 GMT
We watched An Unearthly Child last year, sometime around the 47th anniversary in November. Oh bummer.... So what are the chances that someone was rolling a VCR or captured it? Hmmmm?  I mean, if it was REALLY that good... |
|
|
|
Post by IMForeman on Jun 25, 2011 16:07:43 GMT
We watched An Unearthly Child last year, sometime around the 47th anniversary in November. Oh bummer.... So what are the chances that someone was rolling a VCR or captured it? Hmmmm? I mean, if it was REALLY that good... It's available on DVD. |
|
