I've watched "An Unearthly Child" about a million times, but for some reason I've never gone beyond that. Mostly because of the received wisdom that this first serial is pretty dull and stupid.
RECEIVED WISDOM WAS WRONG.
I mean, yes, it was a bit of a culture shock going from Community to HELLO 1963, and I sort of had to set aside everything I learned in Anthropology 101. But it was a nice, tense character drama, and I liked that. The stylised dialogue of the cave people worked for the most part, although I got a bit tired of hearing "I, Kal".
Mostly the biggest surprise was how much Barbara screamed and panicked. She's such a dignified presence in the first episode that it's almost shocking how she falls apart and has to slowly pull herself back together.
One thing I noticed, that I never spotted before: "She can't be foreign," says Ian in regard to Susan's unfamiliarity with the currency. In "Remembrance of the Daleks", Ace's Fascist Boyfriend of the Week assumes she's foreign for the same reason.
Also, Barbara's hair is magnificent. Once I'm done here, I'm planning to go off and craft my own bouffant.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-10-23 02:39 am (UTC)RECEIVED WISDOM WAS WRONG.
I mean, yes, it was a bit of a culture shock going from Community to HELLO 1963, and I sort of had to set aside everything I learned in Anthropology 101. But it was a nice, tense character drama, and I liked that. The stylised dialogue of the cave people worked for the most part, although I got a bit tired of hearing "I, Kal".
Mostly the biggest surprise was how much Barbara screamed and panicked. She's such a dignified presence in the first episode that it's almost shocking how she falls apart and has to slowly pull herself back together.
One thing I noticed, that I never spotted before: "She can't be foreign," says Ian in regard to Susan's unfamiliarity with the currency. In "Remembrance of the Daleks", Ace's Fascist Boyfriend of the Week assumes she's foreign for the same reason.
Also, Barbara's hair is magnificent. Once I'm done here, I'm planning to go off and craft my own bouffant.