400
700
900
Doctor Who: The Beginning

Doctor Who (1963)

Doctor Who: The Beginning

BBC (1963)
DVD
TV Series | Action | Adventure | Drama | Family | Mystery | Science Fiction | Television
UK | English | Black & White | 05:11

On November 23, 1963, the BBC launched Doctor Who, which became the longest running science fiction series in television history. Five weeks later, a Dalek suction arm was thrust into the final sequence of the cliffhanger ending, and history was made once more. Now fans can revisit the first exciting months of Doctor Who on DVDs with digitally remastered picture and sound quality. An Unearthly Child Two teachers follow a mysterious student home to a police box and the Doctor takes them all on an excursion back to 200,000 BC. (4 episodes, 95 min.) The Daleks The TARDIS lands on the dead planet Skaro, where the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan explore a deserted city inhabited by the notorious Daleks! (7 episodes, 169 min.) The Edge of Destruction An explosion aboard the TARDIS triggers irrational feelings of aggression, paranoia and despair. (2 episodes, 47 min.)


Episodes View details

1 An Unearthly Child 25 min | Nov 23, 1963

London, 1963. Schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright are perplexed by the behaviour of one of their pupils, Susan Foreman. Her knowledge of science and history exceeds theirs, yet she seems totally ignorant of many common aspects of everyday life. They follow her to her home address, a junkyard with a police telephone box standing in it, and encounter her grandfather, the enigmatic Doctor. When they force their way past him into the police box, Susan's secret is revealed: she and the Doctor are aliens, and the police box is a time machine, the TARDIS, capable of visiting any point in the universe at any moment in time…

Director: Waris Hussein
Writer: Anthony Coburn
Guest stars: Reg Cranfield
2 The Cave of Skulls 25 min | Nov 30, 1963

Earth, 100,000 B.C. The enigmatic Doctor, afraid that schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright will reveal his secrets to the people of 20th century Earth, has taken them and his granddaughter Susan back to the dawn of human history. There, the four travellers are dragged into the savage politics of a tribe of cavemen who have lost the secret of making fire…

Director: Waris Hussein
Writer: Anthony Coburn
Guest stars: Jeremy Young, Howard Lang, Alethea Charlton, Eileen Way, Derek Newark
3 The Forest of Fear 25 min | Dec 07, 1963

Prisoners of the earliest humans, the TARDIS crew are caught in a deadly power play for leadership of the tribe.

Director: Waris Hussein
Writer: Anthony Coburn
Guest stars: Jeremy Young, Howard Lang, Alethea Charlton, Eileen Way, Derek Newark
4 The Firemaker 25 min | Dec 14, 1963

The TARDIS crew must make fire for the early humans to stay alive. But once they do, they may not be allowed to leave!

Director: Waris Hussein
Writer: Anthony Coburn
Guest stars: Jeremy Young, Howard Lang, Alethea Charlton, Eileen Way, Derek Newark
5 The Dead Planet 25 min | Dec 21, 1963

Time Unknown, Planet Unknown. The TARDIS lands in an eerie petrified forest overlooking a magnificent steel city. The Doctor wants to explore the city – but what is waiting there?

Director: Christopher Barry
Writer: Terry Nation
6 The Survivors 25 min | Dec 28, 1963

The dead planet is not uninhabited after all. The Doctor is about to meet what will become his greatest enemies. And he and his crew are dying of radiation sickness.

Director: Christopher Barry
Writer: Terry Nation
Guest stars: Michael Summerton, Peter Hawkins, David Graham, Robert Jewell, Kevin Manser, Gerald Taylor
7 The Escape 25 min | Jan 04, 1964

Imprisoned on Skaro by the scheming Daleks, the Doctor and his companions work to escape their clutches.

Director: Richard Martin
Writer: Terry Nation
Guest stars: Alan Wheatley, Michael Summerton, John Lee, Philip Bond, Virginia Wetherell, Peter Hawkins, David Graham, Robert Jewell, Kevin Manser, Gerald Taylor, Chris Browning, Katie Cashfield, Vez Delahunt, Kevin Glenny, Ruth Harrison, Lesley Hill, Steve Pokol, Jeanette Rossini
8 The Ambush 25 min | Jan 11, 1964

The time travellers work desperately to both escape the Dalek city and prevent a bloody massacre.

Director: Christopher Barry
Writer: Terry Nation
Guest stars: Alan Wheatley, Michael Summerton, Marcus Hammond, John Lee, Philip Bond, Virginia Wetherell, Peter Hawkins, David Graham, Robert Jewell, Kevin Manser, Gerald Taylor, Chris Browning, Katie Cashfield, Vez Delahunt, Kevin Glenny, Ruth Harrison, Lesley Hill, Steve Pokol
9 The Expedition 25 min | Jan 18, 1964

The time travellers have escaped from the Daleks, but left a vital piece of the TARDIS behind. Getting it back will mean pushing the Thals to mount a dangerous operation.

Director: Christopher Barry
Writer: Terry Nation
Guest stars: Alan Wheatley, Michael Summerton, Marcus Hammond, John Lee, Philip Bond, Virginia Wetherell, Jonathan Crane, Peter Hawkins, David Graham, Robert Jewell, Kevin Manser, Gerald Taylor, Chris Browning, Katie Cashfield, Vez Delahunt, Kevin Glenny, Ruth Harrison
10 The Ordeal 25 min | Jan 25, 1964

Ian, Barbara and the Thals struggle through the caves to reach the Dalek city. Will they get there in time? Is there even a way through the treacherous caves? And what are the Daleks planning?

Director: Richard Martin
Writer: Terry Nation
Guest stars: Alan Wheatley, Michael Summerton, Marcus Hammond, John Lee, Philip Bond, Virginia Wetherell, Jonathan Crane, Peter Hawkins, David Graham, Robert Jewell, Kevin Manser, Gerald Taylor, Chris Browning, Katie Cashfield, Vez Delahunt, Kevin Glenny, Ruth Harrison
11 The Rescue 25 min | Feb 01, 1964

Time is running out as the Doctor and his companions try to defeat the Daleks before they wipe out all life on Skaro.

Director: Richard Martin
Writer: Terry Nation
Guest stars: Alan Wheatley, Michael Summerton, Marcus Hammond, John Lee, Philip Bond, Virginia Wetherell, Jonathan Crane, Peter Hawkins, David Graham, Robert Jewell, Kevin Manser, Gerald Taylor, Chris Browning, Katie Cashfield, Vez Delahunt, Kevin Glenny, Ruth Harrison
12 The Edge of Destruction 25 min | Feb 08, 1964

A mysterious explosion has knocked the TARDIS into void. And in their confusion, the crew are turning on one another.

Director: Richard Martin
Writer: David Whitaker
13 The Brink of Disaster 25 min | Feb 15, 1964

The TARDIS is adrift, the crew turning on each other. Only by working together can they find their way out before they are destroyed.

Director: Frank Cox
Writer: David Whitaker

Cast View all

Tom Baker Doctor Who
William Hartnell Dr. Who
Jon Pertwee Doctor Who
Patrick Troughton Dr. Who
Frazer Hines Jamie
Nicholas Courtney Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart
Pat Gorman Guard
Elisabeth Sladen Sarah Jane Smith
Jacqueline Hill Barbara Wright
William Russell Ian Chesterton
Katy Manning Jo Grant
John Scott Martin Dalek
John Levene Sergeant Benton
Peter Davison The Doctor
Janet Fielding Tegan
John Leeson K9
Terry Walsh Primitive
Gerald Taylor Dalek
Robert Jewell Dalek
Carole Ann Ford Susan Foreman
Peter Hawkins Dalek Voices
Cy Town Dalek Operator
Roy Skelton Daleks
Wendy Padbury Zoe
Sarah Sutton Nyssa

Edition details

Nr Discs 1