Doctor Who’s Brutal Original Premise

Doctor Who’s very first story isn’t really about cavemen. It’s about what happens when people from the modern world are stripped of civilisation. That explains Barbara’s breakdown in the forest. It explains why Ian keeps trying to impose order. And it even explains one of the most infamous moments in the programme’s history: the Doctor apparently attempting to kill an injured caveman. But An Unearthly Child reveals something larger. Doctor Who was not originally conceived simply as a children’s programme that alternated between teaching history and fighting monsters. Its earliest stories were built around a more sophisticated idea: people are products of the civilisations that created them, and they cannot easily escape the assumptions those civilisations gave them. From Susan’s accidental revelations about the future to the struggle for fire in the Stone Age, the entire first story is constructed around clashes between different worlds and different ways of thinking. That same principle continues through The Daleks, Marco Polo and The Aztecs. Early Doctor Who was not merely having adventures on other worlds. It was exploring the civilisations that produced them. So why did that original premise become harder to see? The answer lies in a quirk of real world history! Chapters 00:00 Doctor Who’s Brutal Original Premise 01:18 Susan and the Assumptions of Civilisation 03:09 People Are Products of Their Worlds 04:45 Za Rubs a Bone 05:25 Stripped of Civilisation 06:41 Ian and Barbara Under Pressure 07:39 Why Barbara Breaks Down 08:49 The Doctor's Character 10:38 The Fire Maker Is the Least Important Man 12:30 It Wasn’t Just Children’s Education 13:23 How The Daleks Continues the Idea 15:02 What Doctor Who Originally Was 16:10 Idea-Led Science Fiction 17:42 Season One Changes Direction Background Music: “Dark Ambient Background” by Open Mind Audio. Licensed via Pixabay. Used with permission. https://pixabay.com/music/epic-classi... Background Music: “Slow Burner Ambient” by SamuelFJohanns Licensed via Pixabay. Used with permission. https://pixabay.com/music/ambient-slo... Background Video: “Golden Particles Overlay” by "Motionstock" Licensed via Pixabay. Used with permission. https://pixabay.com/videos/golden-par... Background Video: “fire-campfire-log-flames-8639” by KlausHausmann Licensed via Pixabay. Used with permission. https://pixabay.com/videos/fire-campf... Fair Dealing Notice: Clips from Doctor Who, Quatermass And The Pit And A For Andromeda, The Time Machine and Earth Vs The Flying Saucers are included under UK fair dealing for the purposes of criticism and review. All rights remain with their respective copyright holders.