Doctor: William Hartnell
Companions: Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright
Creators: Verity Lambert (Producer), Anthony Coburn (Writer), Waris Hussein (Director)
Season 1

What's the rating?

Must See. This particular episode and the first 10 minutes of the next one, that is; see below for an explanation.

What's interesting about it?

In 1963 a few people putting together the first episode of a children's TV series managed to make an astonishing number of choices that resonate fifty years later. All the critical elements of Who are here: The memorable opening theme and graphics; the exterior and interior of the police box TARDIS; the concept of a strange man traveling through time and space yet unable to return to his home. The next fifty years would be spent fleshing out what was presented in the first half hour of the series.

The first episode sets everything in motion, with two teachers destined to become the first companions following their odd student to her "home", to discover William Hartnell and the police box. Hartnell's Doctor is no warm-hearted cuddly bear; in fact he kidnaps the teachers, unwilling to let them tell their tale to authorities. He's prickly, quick-witted, and doesn't really like people. As such, for his performance in the first few episodes (before he becomes more cuddly) he's become my favorite Doctor.

Susan, his grand-daughter, has her finest moment in this episode. She's alien, smart, and interesting. Never again would this be the case, alas, leading to actress Carole Ann Ford's early exit from the show, as she had signed up for an intelligent female action role a la The Avengers, not to be yet another screaming victim waiting to be saved.

The first episode ends with the TARDIS dematerializing to an unknown destination in space and time...

The DVD contains the "Pilot episode", which is really the episode that was originally intended for broadcast but which was reshot to make it more friendly; of course watching the pilot is of interest, but even more of interest is the commentary provided by Verity Lambert (no longer with us) and Waris Hussein.

What's the definition of a story?

For those viewing Doctor Who back in the day, there wasn't a clear delineation between stories. There was simply a string of episodes, each ending by showing the title of the episode the next week, but with no indication of when a particular story officially began or ended. This only results in a problem for the modern viewer with the first episode…is it part of the story that follows in subsequent episodes, as has been held traditionally and as represented on the DVD, or is it in fact a stand-alone story?

I agree with Philip Sandifer of TARDIS Eruditorum that this is a stand-alone story that deserves viewing and consideration on its own merits. This is particularly important since I can't recommend watching the next story…however I will go Philip one further and say that the first ten minutes of the next episode is really the ending of this story, given the important revelations that occur there that help define the series. For example, for the first time the Doctor finds that his TARDIS doesn't take on a new, location-appropriate shape, but is seemingly stuck in the form of a police box. Not only is this important information, but given that this is something new happening to the Doctor , we're now included in the story in a way we couldn't be if the Doctor was always all-knowing and impervious to the universe around him. The series starts with the Doctor himself being surprised, and we're off on a journey together.

After ten minutes, the second episode goes into the cave man story, which I'll cover in my next post but which you really don't need to see.

All told, a remarkable start to the series, and one that couldn't be bettered today.

What are others saying?

The first episode is pretty widely regarded as a classic. The other episodes typically grouped under this name, not so much.

Wife in Space (score: 7/10)
The Memory Cheats podcast #34
The Tin Dog podcast #1
Hoo on Who podcast #11
I was a Dad Once: An Unearthly Child (TARDIS Eruditorum blog)
The Ood Cast season 5 episode 10

How can I see it?

It's part of The Beginning collection, which contains the first three stories of the series (four by my count!)