The FireMaker
You may wonder why I use the title The Firemaker. I actually sit and watch the the first story of Doctor Who. As I st there and take it all in, to my surprise it is really rather good. Admittedly, the special effects are not the best, but I do have to think about the time and the budget for the show.
I wrote about this one time before mostly on what I read about this story, but I buy it and watch it. I pretty much know about the episode The Unearthly Child from seeing it one time before. So, I can relate with the actions of Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright as teachers. I am trying to get my license so that I can teach and I am sure one day I will have the same concerns for some of my students. Their concern leads them to things most teachers are not going to do. They truly care about Susan and go to see if they can help.
Their concern lands them in a time machine and they travel to a far away distant time on earth. They meet a very primitive tribe which is looking for fire. in the process they become prisoners and then find a way to escape. The crew sees the death of of two people and I believe this affects the TARDIS crew. They travel through a jungle. The tribe really does not like them at first but through helping them out they are able to escape.
The idea of the tribe is that whoever finds out how to make fire will be the leader. This is the one thing they use to escape. After showing Za how to make fire, he gains leadership of the tribe. He promises to let them go if they show him how to make fire. Well, in the end he tries to go back on his word, but before the crew gets away and leaves their time.
The story flows very well but seems at times to bog down. Of course this is only my opinion. This episode is 53 years old and really does not appeal to many of today’s Doctor Who fans. The writing id good for the time and the action is as well. We get the real side of the first Doctor. He is very rude and seems not care for others, but as the show moaves on he warms up to the teachers and things go very well.
Overall, I like this first story and will watch over and over as I can since I now own it.