Doctor Who (1963) 1.03.02

The Brink of Disaster

It turns out that Ian is the one who has grabbed the Doctor by the throat. Ian isn't quite himself. The Doctor is able to break free and knock Ian to the ground without much in the way of effort.

Ian and Susan recover. Everyone puts their heads into trying to figure out what is going on. Barbara is the one who solves the mystery. It is the TARDIS trying to warn them that something is wrong. The Doctor rejects this idea at first but later sees that she was right.

The Doctor finds a malfunctioning part of the control panel. He fixes it and everything goes back to business as usual aboard the TARDIS.

The TARDIS lands in a snowy region. Barbara and Susan go outside and find a giant footprint. 

Doctor Who (1963) 1.03.01

The Edge of Destruction

Something shakes the TARDIS violently. All four passengers fall to the ground and pass out. Barbara is the the first one of wake up. Eventually the other wake up. Susan acts very strange. The doors to the TARDIS are open but when Ian starts to approach them they close on their own. Susan says that's impossible.

The Doctor has suffered a head wound. Susan gets a bandage for it. Barbara applies the bandage to the Doctor's head. Susan goes to lie down. Ian goes to see her. She has a knife and threatens him with it and continues to act very odd.

Barbara and the Doctor gets into an argument over nothing at all. Ian, Barbara and Susan all go to sleep. The Doctor doesn't know where the TARDIS is. The episode ends with the Doctor by the console. Someone grabs him from off screen by the neck.

Doctor Who (1963) 1.01.04

The Firemaker

The Docotor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara are recaptured and taken back to the tribe's home. The Doctor and Ian lead a rebellion against Kal who tries to take over while Za is unconscious. Kal is driven from the home of the cave people.

Za assumes command and has the strangers put back in the Cave of Skulls. A guard is placed at the rear entrance so they cannot escape that way. Ian makes fire. Za shows up just in time to see the fire begin to burn. He takes the fire and shows it to the tribe. They are impressed. They do not let the Doctor and the others go.

Susan and Ian come up with a plan. They place four skulls on burning sticks of wood. When the tribe enters the cave they are scared of the burning skulls. The Doctor, Ian, Susan, and Barbara escape while the tribe is looking in awe at the burning skulls. Eventually the tribe realizes that they have been tricked and go after the strangers.

Doctor Who (1963) 1.01.03

The Forest of Fear

The Doctor and the others are unable to escape on their own. There is a big rock in front of the entrance to the Cave of Skulls. The Old Woman takes Za's knife. She gets into the cave via a secret entrance. She frees the Doctor and the others on condition that they agree not to teach the tribe how to make fire. They run into the forest.

Hur wakes up and tells Za that the old woman is going to free the captives. Za moves the great rock. Za and Hur are too late. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan have escaped. Za and Hur go after them. They have almost caught up to the time travelers when Za is attacked by a great beast. Ian thinks it is their chance to make a run back to the TARDIS but Barbara insists that they help Za.

Hur is suspicious of the time travelers' motives but she allows them to help Za. They make a stretcher with wooden poles and coats. The carry Za through the forest and back to the TARDIS. They find a gang of cavemen led by Kal waiting for them. 

Doctor Who (1963) 01.01.02

The Cave of Skulls

The Doctor argues with Ian who insists that what they are seeing on the screen in impossible. Ian thinks they are still in the junk yard. The Doctor opens the door and proves that they are not in the junkyard anymore.

The counter on the TARDIS indicates that they are in the year zero. The Doctor is convinced that it is malfunctioning and goes to look for evidence that will help him pinpoint the year in which they have arrived.

The Doctor disappears but the others find his gear. They go looking for him and find him in a cave that in inhabited by a group of cave people. Kal, one of the cave men, captured the Doctor and took him to the cave. Kal is arguing with Za, another cave man, when Susan, Barbara, and Ian arrive.

Za and Kal both want to lead the tribe but there is only room for one leader. Za claims he can make fire but so far he has yet to prove it. Kal is a great hunter who brings the group dead animals to eat. Kal saw the Doctor make fire with his hands and tries to use a threat of violence to convince the Doctor to make fire.

The Doctor says he will make fire but then realizes that he has misplaced his matches. The Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian are tied up and placed in the Cave of Skulls.

Doctor Who (1963) 1.01.01

An Unearthly Child

There are some minor differences between this episode and the pilot but nothing major. Everything happens in the same order with some things changed slightly.

• Susan does not mess around with an ink blot test
• Susan's clothes in the second half of the episode are different from the pilot
• Ian does not try to wrestle the Doctor away from the controls of the TARDIS before it takes off

Doctor Who (1963) 1.01.01.a

An Unearthly Child - Pilot

Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, two teachers at Coal Hill School, compare their experiences with Susan Foreman, one of their students. They are both impressed by her and somewhat puzzled. She seems to know both more and less than they expect that a student her age would know.

Ian and Barbara offer her a ride home. She declines the offer. They know where she lives. Barbara has even been there but it is odd because it isn't a home but an old junk yard. Ian and Barbra return to the address where Susan is supposed to live. They watch her enter the yard. They follow her in but she has disappeared.

Ian and Barbara look around the junk yard. They find a police box. It seems out of place and there's a humming sound coming from it. They are thinking about leaving when an old man enters the yard. They confront him. They think they heard Susan's voice calling to him from inside the police box. They ask him to open it but he refuses.

Doctor Who (1963) 3.04 Extras (Part 1)

The Daleks' Master Plan Documentary

created and narrated by Josh Snares

42 minutes

Josh Snares goes through the prequel and all twelve episodes of the Daleks' Master Plan. Only three of the episodes (2, 5, 10) are known to still exist but there are sound recordings of all 12+1 episodes. Clips of scenes from those 3 episodes plus other clips which exist from other episodes that no longer in their entirety are included in this documentary. Clips from Loose Cannon's recreations of the missing episodes are also included in this documentary.

Snares covers a number of topics including:

• how two writers collaborated to write this story
• the reasons for killing off Katarina and the filming of her death scene
• the role Sara Kingdom plays in the story
• last minute changes to the script
• the attempt to make a Christmas themed episode in the midst of this story
• how to experience this "lost" story

Doctor Who (1963) 2.09.04

The Time Meddler

Part 4: Checkmate

Vicki and Steven explore the Monk's TARDIS. They find artwork and weapons from various eras. The Doctor talks to the Monk and learns his plan, to kill the Vikings before King Harold has to deal with them. His hope is that King Harold will be able to deal with William the Conqueror's invasion better if the Vikings are eliminated. The Monk takes the Doctor to see his TARDIS. Vicki and Steven are still exploring the TARDIS when the Doctor and the Monk arrive.

The Viking who was unconscious wakes up. He finds the other Viking and unties him. Together they look around the monastery. They arrive in the room where the Monk's TARDIS is located just as the Doctor and the Monk are exiting the machine. The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven get tied up. The Monk makes a deal with the Vikings.

Doctor Who (1963) 2.09.03

The Time Meddler

Part 3: A Battle of Wits

Vicki and Steven discover a secret passage which the Doctor must have used to escape from the monastery. They take the passage and find out where it leads. They don't find the Doctor but they do find a modern artillery piece along the top of a cliff.

The Doctor arrives back in the village. He has a chat with Edith who tells him that Vicki and Steven were there. He tells her about the Viking invasion and the Norman invasion before he returns to the monastery.

The Monk lets Wulnoth and Eldred into the monastery. He tends to Eldred's wounds but he is too weak to get very far so he stays there. Wulnoth returns to the village. 

The two Vikings who survived the fight in the previous episode argue about their best course of action. They decide to head to the monastery. Their plan is to hole up there until the Viking fleet arrives.

Doctor Who (1963) 2.09.02

The Time Meddler

Part 2: The Meddling Monk

The Monk has the Doctor locked up. He brings him some food and then leaves. Vicki and Steven are captured by some of the locals and taken to the village.

The Monk goes to the coast and, using a pair of binoculars, he spots a Viking ship. He seems pleased to see them coming.

Wulnoth, the village headman, and Eldred, another villager argue over what to do with Vicki and Steven. Wulnoth decides to let them go. Edith, Wulnoth's wife, prepares Vicki and Stephen some food for their trip. She tells Vicki what she knows about the whereabouts of the Doctor. 

The villagers go to work in the fields. Vicki and Steven go to the monastery. They talk to the Monk but he says no one has visited the monastery in days. They don't believe him and catch him lying to them. They don't call him out on it. They are convinced that he knows what happened to the Doctor and need to find a way in to the monastery.

The Vikings land and attack the village while Edith is the only one there. Wulnoth, Eldred, and the others return to find her unconscious. She recovers enough to tell them what happened. The men of the village head out looking for the Vikings. They find them. A fight ensues.

Doctor Who (1963) 2.09.01

The Time Meddler

Part 1: The Watcher

The Doctor and Vicki are in the TARDIS when they hear a noise. It turns out to be Steven Taylor. They are surprised to see him. They thought he was dead. He doesn't believe it when they tell him what they are in is a time machine. Steven cleans up, shaves his beard, and gets dressed in some clean clothes just in time for them to leave the TARDIS and see where and when they have landed.

It turns out to be England in the 11th century CE. Steven is disappointed to learn that the TARDIS is broken. It is difficult to control where it will land and it doesn't disguise itself like it is supposed to do. The Doctor goes for a walk on the beach. He tells Vicki and Steven to stay there. None of them see the man who watches them and overhears their conversation.

The Doctor winds up in a dwelling where he meets a woman. He asks her questions about the nearby monastery and recent events. He is able to deduce, based on her responses that the year must be 1066 and that there is a Viking invasion coming.

Steven and Vicki don't follow the Doctor's instructions. They go for a walk themselves. They see a man stop to pick something up. Steven goes to confront the man. The two men fight until the other runs away. Steven picks up the item that caught the man's eye. It is a wristwatch.

The Doctor goes to the monastery. There doesn't seem to be anyone there. The singing that the doctor heard is coming from a record player. He takes the needle off the record. He turns around only to discover that the man who was watching them earlier has trapped him.