The Original Pilot for Classical Doctor Who Analysis

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Originating in 1963, Doctor Who has become a staple of British society. From the sole BBC watcher, who only consumes the visual canon to the avid reader of the novelizations, to the disgruntled civilian tired of seeing the Doctor’s face everywhere, one would be hard pressed to find a British citizen unassociated with the cultural phenomenon that is Doctor Who. With an audience base ranging from adults in their 30-50’s, who grew up with the Doctor on their small screens to young children discovering the Doctor for the first time in present day, the presence of the Doctor can be felt everywhere. Although with fifty years of product, the fanbase (known affectionately as Whovians) is as varied as the incarnations of the Doctor. This essay will attempt to compare and contrast the cultural and technological changes seen within the opening episodes of the original pilot serial in 1963, and the continuation pilot episode and consecutive first season aired in 2005.

The original pilot for Classic Doctor Who, entitled “An Unearthly child”, opens with a shot of a police officer strolling through the Foreman junk yard before settling on the first onscreen sighting of the TARDIS. The narrative then begins in a school with two teachers discussing one of the pupils, Susan Foreman, who seems rather odd with an intense knowledge of history and science but "does not know how many shillings there are in a pound." She is described as "a fifteen year old girl who is absolutely brilliant at some things, and excruciatingly bad at others (Doctor Who 1963)." Continuing their conversation, the two teachers, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton, travel to Susan’s given address to find themselves at the junkyard shown in the opening scene and there wait for he...

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...s between the pilot of Classic Who and the revival; however much has changed in technological and formatting between these two eras. The original series of Doctor Who was

Works Cited

Doctor Who 1963, television program, BBC One, United Kingdom, 23 November

Doctor Who 2005, television program, BBC One, United Kingdom, 26 March

Nicola Melhuish. 2011. Compare the opening episode of Doctor Who in 1963 to a recent episode (post-2005) of your own choice. How has it changed? How has it remained the same? What does this tell us about the changing make-up of the audience?. [online] Available at: http://nicolamelhuish.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/compare-the-opening-episode-of-doctor-who-in-1963-to-a-recent-episode-post-2005-of-your-own-choice-how-has-it-changed-how-has-it-remained-the-same-what-does-this-tell-us-about-the-changing-make-u/ [Accessed: 24 Mar 2014].

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