While some believe the time before An Unearthly Child is sacred ground, something that should never be touched by either the TV series or other media, there have been a number of cases where the Doctor’s unseen life before Totters Lane has been explored. From older novels such as Lungbarrow and the Telos Novellas to recent television episodes The Name of the Doctor and Listen, there has been a recent trend toward exploring the origins of the Doctor and those early unseen adventures with Susan, perhaps nowhere more so than at Big Finish who have produced four full adventures for the Doctor and Susan set prior to the pair’s television debut in recent years.
So we listen as our hero began his epic journey through space and time, taking those tentative steps into the universe and learning the lessons that will lead him back in time from London to 100,000 BC, from Skaro to the Roof of the World, from Telos to Trenzalore, back to Gallifrey and one day to heaven itself. This however, is where it all began…
The Beginning by Marc Platt (2013)
When the First Doctor and his grand-daughter Susan escape through the cloisters of Gallifrey to an old Type 40 Time Travel capsule, little do they realize the adventures that lie ahead… And little do they know, as the TARDIS dematerializes and they leave their home world behind, there is someone else aboard the ship. He is Quadrigger Stoyn, and he is very unhappy…
The Beginning is highly effective at tying together a string of adventures and tidying up continuity surrounding those initial moments during which the Doctor left Gallifrey, such efforts being made to tie the play into The Name of the Doctor for example that Big Finish even changed the cover to feature the correct TT capsule design. There are references aplenty to the classic series’ Gallifrey adventures such as The Deadly Assassin, to the likes of The Doctor’s Wife, The War Games, Remembrance of the Daleks and of course An Unearthly Child. Questions are answered and yet The Beginning is no mere exercise in nostalgia and continuity… The Beginning is full of depth and is both stylish and charming, remaining respectful to the shows history without descending too far into the territory of fanwank, all the while opening up new avenues for further development and new questions to be answered.
The Alchemists by Ian Potter (2013)
The TARDIS lands in Berlin in the 1930s, where Hitler and his National Socialist party are in the ascendant. Some of the greatest scientific minds are gathering here: Einstein, Heisenberg, Planck, Schrödinger, Wigner. The people who will build the future of planet Earth. But the Doctor and Susan have brought something with them. Something apparently harmless, something quite common. Yet something that could threaten the course of history…
Searching for a place to store the Hand of Omega, the TARDIS lands in Berlin and the Doctor’s curiosity and eagerness to meet the likes of Einstein and Heisenberg leads him and Susan into the economically ravaged city, a city undergoing the impending rise of Hitler. Focusing on Susan, Ian Potter’s Big Finish debut doesn’t shy away from the realities of life in 1930s Germany and asks significant questions on the theme of justice. Carole Ann-Ford puts in one of her finest performances for Big Finish in a dark and harrowing tale that is masterfully directed by Lisa Bowerman with some inspired and atmospheric sound design completing the piece, adding to both the drama and the plays place in the series’ continuity.
Quinnis by Marc Platt (2010)
Before Totter’s Yard, before Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, before the Chameleon Circuit was broken… the Doctor and Susan travelled alone. The planet Quinnis in the Fourth Universe appears, at first glance, to be an agreeable, exotic refuge for the two travellers. But the world is experiencing a terrible drought, and the Doctor becomes its unwilling rainmaker. Meanwhile, Susan makes an ally in a young girl called Meedla. But friends are not always what they appear, and the long-awaited rain isn’t necessarily good news…
Looking back to her childhood, Susan tells the tale of the visit to Quinnis, early in her adventures aboard the TARDIS with her grandfather, the Doctor. Both with a youthful enthusiasm for travel and exploration, Quinnis sits well with both previous adventures highlighted, the contrast between the older Earthbound Susan and the Susan of her youth nicely highlighted. The Doctor meanwhile is perfectly captured, full of bluster and bluff, irritability and self-importance, the many traits seen as a hallmark of these early days. The sound and direction give the story a mythic quality, capturing the bustle of the market and the imagery of an entire world with aplomb, Marc Platt giving us yet another stand-out tale for the First Doctor, an era at which he excels.
Hunters of Earth by Nigel Robinson (2013)
Shoreditch, London, 1963. The Beatles have beaten John Smith and the Common Men to No. 1 and satellites are being launched in outer space. Back down on Earth, strange goings-on are occurring: the normally placid teenagers of Coal Hill are running riot and a master thief is stealing highly specialised equipment. Schoolgirl Susan Foreman just wants an easy life for herself and her grandfather, the mysterious Doctor. She wants to be liked and accepted by Cedric and all the other pupils at Coal Hill School. But there’s trouble in the streets and bombsites around Totter’s Lane. The teenagers are becoming dangerous… Their mission: to hunt down anyone different, or alien… Susan’s quiet life is about to spiral out of control. Having inadvertently started drawing attention to herself, she finds herself in a desperate situation. Suddenly, the chase is on and she and her grandfather are now the hunted.
The first in the 50th anniversary Destiny of the Doctor range, Hunters of Earth is set almost immediately prior to An Unearthly Child, with Susan and the Doctor already in place with the roles we were introduced to them in, having been on Earth for four months at the start of the audio. With a commentary on 1960’s attitudes to race and the era’s immigration (“Aliens out!”) and current youth culture, the play is an unusual contrast between an authentic atmosphere and sound and something too political to have been broadcast at the time. Again, the sound of the play is evocative and atmospheric, sounding suitably apt for 1963 and the script makes enough topical references to assure the listener of the time and the place. There’s even a visit to Magpie Electricals! Full of nostalgia, atmosphere and characterisation, Hunters of Earth was a great start to the Destiny of the Doctor range.
All audios are available from BigFinish.com
This article is the third in our new “Story by Story” series running all this week celebrating An Unearthly Child. DWW welcomes all submissions and pitches on the theme throughout the week at [email protected]
In future weeks we shall be celebrating The Daleks (Oct 27 – Nov 2), Inside the Spaceship (Nov 3 – 9), Marco Polo (Nov 10 – 16), The Keys of Marinus (Nov 17 – 23), The Aztecs (Nov 24 – 30), The Sensorites (Dec 1 – 7) and The Reign of Terror (Dec 8 – 14).
