Doctor Who: Classic 1x3: "The Edge of Destruction" Parts 1-2 | Reaction!

[@iansmith4023]

The behind-the-scenes reason for this story coming into being,was that a four-part story was due to conclude the initial 13 episode remit - but it fell through. Subsequently,the Daleks was stretched out to 7 episodes (hence two episodes of walking through a cave,and jumping across a small gap);and this short two-parter. In addition,(as Alex correctly surmised) the Dalek story ran over-budget;so the remit was a two-parter with absolutely no new sets or characters. Consequently,the show's script editor came up with this story taking place entirely within the TARDIS standing set. Nonetheless,out of all these constraints,something fundamentally important fortuitously happened - the concept of the TARDIS being,in some way,a sentient machine that cares (in some fashion) for the safety of the person who operates it.

[@Joey15811]

This story is important because it’s the story that focuses on the relationship between the doctor and Ian/Barbara and finally accepts them as friends/companions and allows him to become warmer rather than cold

[@robertbrown569]

This two-parter was a matter of a last-minute panic for a two-episode story with no scenery other than the TARDIS and no cast save for the regulars. It works pretty well, though, in terms of mood and establishing the TARDIS as being more than just a vehicle. It also gives the first indication of the strong character that Barbara Wright is going to become later on. The only glaring absurdity about the story is that we have to accept a machine that can psychically attack its occupants, project chosen images on the scanner screen and mess around with the furniture, but can't display a message saying, "Fast Return Switch Stuck - please attend."

[@ClintBandito]

I LOVE THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION!!! On of my personal favourite classic serials, love the character growth with the Doctor and the relationships, it's something I really love about the early days and I love this crew and how they are after this story. I love the clostraphobic ship in a bottle type as they all just kinda go a bit crazy and paranoid. Love it, I really love it. Also the first incling of the Tardis being alive

[@thewhovianwithasmallcollec7319]

you mean the edge of destruction?

[@ClintBandito]

@@thewhovianwithasmallcollec7319 ...oops😂

[@TomGallagherSuperboyBeyond]

i like it too. it's so weird in the first half in a way that reminds me of Midnight. It feels dreamlike and nightmareish. It's a divisive episode for sure. But it's one i love.

[@DarkLordoftheMeme]

If you're looking for something else doctor who-ish to watch I'd recomend Terry Nation's other great sci-fi creation Blake's Seven, a massively influential classic!

[@thomasleedham6572]

I've always liked this story. It's a rare example of a short first doctor story. The first part is a little slow but the second is great. I really enjoy the doctor's interaction with Barbara at the end showing his tough exterior starting to crack.

[@robvanriot]

The First Doctor is so abrasive here! I've seen all these episodes before in full, but it's been years. More recently Sesskasays has been going through the First Doctor era, but she's approaching the end of it. The raw aggression of the character in the early episodes can really catch you off guard!

[@Mrazmatmahmood]

The story your Dad is talking about is called "The Web Planet", which is quite an infamous story in the DW fandom. That won't come up until you're halfway through the 2nd season though, so you're still a long way off. It'll be interesting if it holds up for him all these years later....

[@jpbitable]

Reruns: Doctor Who only did one rerun in the 60s, and that was the pilot episode because of the Kennedy assassination the day before, so it also aired the following week. But BBC generally did do reruns at the time, because unlike in the U.S. TV was kind of a new thing and the idea of wanting to see something again hadn't been considered.

[@whobp8]

The story which was originally supposed to be the third Doctor Who story had to be abandoned at a late stage of development due to script problems, The Edge of Destruction had to be crafted as a hasty replacement and due to the speed at which it had to be written and produced it couldn't use any characters other than the four regulars or any sets other than the TARDIS. You touched on something that I find fascinating about this particular story, which is the Doctor's character arc. The Doctor undergoes a definite bit of personal growth in this story in terms of how he views Ian and Barbara in particular and human beings in general. Whereas in the first two stories he is disdainful of humans and treats Ian and Barbara as people he's been saddled with temporarily, this story opens his eyes to how clever and resourceful humans can actually be. From this point on his relationship with Ian and Barbara is one of genuine friendship as opposed to reluctant companionship. For the record the next Hartnell story is called Marco Polo, not The Abominable Snowmen. There is a story called The Abominable Snowmen, but that comes much later. The story with the insects which your Dad is trying to recall is called The Web Planet. Marco Polo is indeed a missing story. Most of Doctor Who was retained by the BBC for awhile, until a fire inspection of their film archives lead to the BBC being chastised by the authorities for storing film unsafely. The film racks in the archive were so full that they had started placing boxes of film on the floor between aisles, which presented an obstacle if anyone needed to evacuate quickly in the event of a fire. Subsequently the BBC decided to start purging the archive, more or less at random. This was the early 70's and they failed to anticipate either home video or the rise of cable. Older shows that were on video tape were recorded over to save money on having to buy new tapes. Episodes on film were sent to be incinerated. Several episodes from the Third Doctor's era were also destroyed, but fortunately all of these were ultimately recovered from other countries Doctor Who had been sold to in syndication. Doctor Who was a very popular show which was sold to over 60 different countries, so it actually fared better than a lot of other shows. There was one series, which I believe was called Manchester, from which not a single episode survives. Dudley Moore and Peter Cook had starred in a sketch comedy show from which many episodes were purged. They told Terry Jones of Monty Python's Flying Circus what had happened to their show so he went to the BBC and bought the Python episodes outright to prevent them suffering the same fate. The BBC didn't wake up and discontinue their practice of destroying old shows until Doctor Who's 15th anniversary, around 1977 or 78.

[@Muckylittleme]

Coronation Street was Granada TV not BBC by the way. (longest running soap opera in the world)

[@josefschiltz2192]

Hey Alex! What your Dad said at 21:30, as an observation, 'Tomorrow' may not repeat, (Doctor Who) but it sure as hell rhymes alot! That said however, I do really like 'Legends Of Tomorrow' for it's characters, their dysfunctionality and especially Gideon the AI, and her "ohh deear, something's gone wrong again!" personality and I really like Mick Rory! Oh, of course the Doctor wrote 'fast return' adjacent to the switch. In the very first episode he needed assurity as to which switch performed which function.

[@barriehull7076]

A reference of a nail losing a battle by the losing of a horse is directly linked to King Richard famously shouting "A Horse! A Horse! My Kingdom for a Horse!", as depicted in Act V, Scene 4 from the Shakespeare play Richard III.

[@derJOgelle]

Oh man, I really enjoy these videos! Fun to see you guys discover the greatness/craziness that is Classic Who! As always, very nice that you go the extra mile and have these discussions/reviews after the reaction! Cool thoughts! Thank you for this series! Can't wait to continue this journey with the two of you!

[@MrPaulMorris]

It was very rare to repeat programmes in the sixties. Senior management still regarded programming as essentially ephemeral, more like a stage play than a motion picture, and its monetary value was limited to overseas sales. There was no mandate (or funding) for the BBC to hold archives of video tapes (although, oddly, it did maintain an archive for material held on film). Even today, the BBC does not archive all its output. Shows that are considered to have only ephemeral value (the phrase still used by senior management), like game shows, have only representative episodes archived. If everybody had done their job properly, there would be no surviving episodes before the mid seventies. All tapes held at the BBC were supposed to have been wiped and the film copies shipped overseas were supposed to have been either destroyed by the last network to use them (as the copies were passed from country to country) or returned to London for destruction. Of course, people being people, tapes were misplaced, networks threw the used films into cupboards rather than pay the cost of return shipping so that decades later many could be found either in odd corners of the BBC or in far flung corners of the world. There are currently around a hundred missing episodes and it is increasingly unlikely (although not impossible) that more will turn up. The BBC seem to have recognised that the gaps are not likely to be filled and is gradually producing animated reconstructions based on the original audio.

[@D-Cameron]

No, Doctor Who was only repeated once during the 1960s, when a Patrick Troughton story was re-run to cover a break during the summer. In the first six seasons, Who was on about 48 weeks of the year, and they were only ever recording about a month ahead of transmission. Re, The Web Planet: Although I rather like it, I think your dad might possibly come to regret watching it again when you get around to it, and you yourself will probably lose the will to live about half way through the story. What your dad would really enjoy, though, is the docudrama, An Adventure In Space and Time, and so would you, I'd be willing to say. When you get to the fiftieth you should definitely include that, along with The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.

[@MuchWhittering]

The very first episode also got a repeat before Episode 2.

[@Chiggins_]

Marco Polo is the next story (really admirable of you to go through the telesnaps btw). Your dad is thinking of The Web Planet which is the 13th serial, with The Crusades immediately following it, so it'll be nice for him to have both back to back. The Abominable Snowmen is a 2nd Doctor story, which The Web of Fear, the next story you're reacting to, is actually a sequel to it. But yeah, both Marco and Snowmen are missing. An episode of The Web of Fear is too.

[@57305northernprincess]

The Edge of Destruction was written as because the scripts for Marco Polo were late so David Whittaker wrote these 2 episodes to fill in the lateness. As there was no budget for a full cast story David used the ready made TARDIS set and the main characters

[@eclecticdog2k901]

“I’m not implying anything” well Neil Gaiman and Steven Moffat sure were lol

[@Mrazmatmahmood]

I agree that the first episode is a bit too slow and doesn't have enough dialogue. The second episode is a big improvement though with some great exchanges between the Doctor, Barbara and Ian. I love how much this episode sets up future plot points like the Tardis being alive and the heart/power of the Tardis being an entity that can escape. The character development the first Doctor gets is also brilliant to see. You're exactly right that the Doctor has to grow into the Doctor we know him to be and stories such as this show that growth very well. The next classic Who reaction should be a great one! Very much looking forward to you guys getting into "The Web of Fear".

[@iansmith4023]

You really get the feeling of the Doctor bonding with his companions by the end of this story. For the first time since he stole the TARDIS and escaped from Gallifrey,he realises he has other people than himself and his granddaughter to look after and care about. Throughout these early stories it is clear that the Doctor is learning a great deal from Ian and Barbara in regard to human feelings,care and sympathy. Once they are no longer around,the First Doctor becomes indisputably the hero of his own show - saving the day with his intellectual and moral code.

[@Mrazmatmahmood]

@@iansmith4023 The First Doctor goes through the most noticeable change out of any classic Doctor. It's a natural progression too, which is why Tom Baker doesn't count. His character changed because he had so many different producers and script editors in his era. All of them had different visions for the way the character should be, plus Tom increasingly did whatever he wanted as time went on. There was no actual character arc. His zenith is definitely the Hinchliffe produced and Robert Holmes script edited seasons 12-14.

[@Joey15811]

Marco Polo is next. Glad you are going to watch the recons

[@gametrollerprime1594]

Marco Polo is next. The Abominable Snowman is a Second Doctor story

[@wobaguk]

This one always reminds me of Amy's Choice, the way it ends anyway, with an anticlimax of oh it was a simple mundane problem after all, its fixed now.

[@thewhovianwithasmallcollec7319]

looking at marco polo like .... what we gonna do for that ... did i hear audios ... plz be 8th doctor plz be 8th doctor PLEASE BE 8TH DOCTOR

[@7thHourFilms]

We will have 1 8th Doctor audio. It will be The Chimes of Midnight.

[@thewhovianwithasmallcollec7319]

@@7thHourFilms ... YES ... that is all for now dont wanna spoil it

[@Muckylittleme]

Cool you will be doing some new who with your Dad. I think it is a great idea but then I requested it a few months ago so I would. :D

[@icantthinkofagoodusername4575]

Marco Polo is the next Story . The Abominable Snowmen is a Second Doctor Story

[@7thHourFilms]

I realized that later. I think it's the first one on one of the season spreadsheets in the schedule so I just remembered it out of order.

[@Fardawg]

Peter Cushing was a great Dr. Who.

[@fluffibuni8663]

I'm slightly concerned about you saying you're next watching the Web of Fear, as it has a number of references to previous stories, and so might fit better during a chronological viewing sequence rather than a one-off, out-of-sequence viewing. It's just something to think about as I'd consider there are other 2nd Doctor stories that are much more standalone.

[@7thHourFilms]

I knew that it was a sequel episode when we recorded it. The schedule-maker informed me and we were able to pick up on the references quickly. Remember, these episodes we're watching right now are to prepare for the 50th.

[@jeckjeck3119]

I love cranky TARDIS:)

[@vanillamc1]

I like The First Doctor. Sassy!

[@benichsthepheonix4418]

Please watch Trial of a time lord for a classic who reaction please it’s a really good episode

[@matthewjh138]

This is the cheapest episode of dr Who to make

[@booradley8895]

Dr who and the daleks was the only reaction that after a few minutes I stopped watching because it was an abomination

[@stevencassidy6982]

i only choose your channel when you play classic and get your dad involved. Why can't you do this permanently? As Nu-Who goes swirling down the toilet

[@7thHourFilms]

Good news! Classic Who is now going to be every week! While I go through New DW S7, we'll be watching specific episodes to build towards the 50th anniversary. Then, once I start New DW S8, we'll be picking up back at the Hartnell era and going in order.

[@stevencassidy6982]

@@7thHourFilms It is good news. It will be good to see your dad again. I know you are doing the Web of Fear (excellent story) but have you got anything lined up for Pertwee and Tom

[@stevencassidy6982]

Season 8 is not good

[@gallifreyanbuccaneer1896]

Series 8's probably my second favourite New Who season behind Series 9. We're sooo close now to that new golden age. (opinions!)