An Unearthy Child is the first episode of this ongoing tv show, which has became part of the British culture. The first thing you may notice about this episode is that is it indeed still played in black and white. The first colour episode actually only aired in 1970, this means the first 2 doctors spent their life on black and white television, nevertheless this tv show a was a big success. In the first seen there is loud non-diegetic background music that is usually associated with aliens. It starts with a scene in the living room which is panned out and across of all the family members: grandfather and two daughters, reading science based books. The non-diegetic sounds fades away focusing on the ticking sound of a clock. The shots in the first couple of minutes of the tv show are simple panning in and out of characters, which to us now seems rather sad but was indeed high technology back then. I know this because a lot of money was put into the show therefore high technology would be used. The acting you may notice is very over the top compared to modern tv. Although commonly in rom coms or sitcoms some actors still use this over the top-mess to achieve the humor effect. The difference is this was considered normal. Because in the first couple the oldest daughters girlfriend is shown quite a lot it leads you to believe that he may be the hero. I feel this is almost programmed in our brains, as usually the protagonist, hero is a fairly good looking young man. You can even notice this stereotype arise as throughout the season the Doctor seems to become more of a young attractive male, then like here where he is a old grandfather. The Donor in this case I believe is the T.A.R.D.I.S, the time travelling police box space ship, as it gives the Doctor the advantage over others and allows them to go on these adventures. The boyfriend, Ian, I believe is the Dispatcher, as he sends the doctor and the rest of the family on the mission by accidentally setting the T.A.R.D.I.S on. The Hero, which although I felt was not that obvious through the filming, I figured out through my prior knowledge. The fact that the grandfather is called “doctor” and the t.v show is called "Doctor Who". He is also the one who made T.A.R.D.I.S. In addition throughout the episode the idea that the doctor is the hero became more clear, as he was focused on more. Hero’s are not perfect and can commonly be problematic, in this case the doctor is the one who put everyone in danger and generally seems kind off lost at points. This is a convention of Sci-fi movies, as hero's in that genre tend to be odd. The Helper I believe is the youngest granddaughter as she seems to help the doctor through most of the episode. She also seems to know how the everything works and you may notice how she’s always standing right next to the doctor either by his left or right side.The little girl is also limited to the hero’s ability, as she is younger less wise, this is another characteristic of a helper. If two helpers are allowed I would say that the older granddaughter is one too, although in the beginning of the episode she was reluctant to help later on she becomes quite interested too. The filming does not change much through the episodes stays quite simple, sticking too far away shots, close up and panning in and out. They also include some establishing shots, such as when the just walk out of the T.A.R.D.I.S for the first time. The Villains in this episode are the robots, as they stop the Doctor from leaving and struggles against the hero. Because of their actions we tend to dislike them “hate them” even which is a common stereotype of villains. The episodes ends on somewhat of a cliff hangers. More than that it seems undone and cut off, something that would be less common to nowadays. Although this effect summons the audience to watch the next episode.
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May 2018
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