Doctor Who - The Beginning (DVD Box Set)

Recently, I decided to conduct an interesting experiment in total immersion in classic Doctor Who, go right back to where it all started, and start watching my Doctor Who DVDs in order, starting with the earliest episodes first.

Well, you can't get any earlier than The Beginning three-disk DVD Box Set, which contains the first three Doctor Who adventures, starring (of course) William Hartnell as the First Doctor, his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford), and the very first companions, Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill).

The Beginning is an excellent box set, and the three stories it contains - the first thirteen episodes of the classic series - are, fortunately, complete, with no episodes missing. It's the fourth Doctor Who adventure, Marco Polo, before we run up against the first of the Missing Episodes. Unfortunately this classic Doctor Who historical adventure is entirely missing from the BBC Archives, although it still exists in audio format.

The three stories in the box set - An Unearthly Child, The Daleks and The Edge of Destruction - lay the foundations of everything that came afterwards, from the first appearance of the mysterious Doctor and his granddaughter, to the first appearance of his most iconic adversaries, the Daleks. There are also quite a few fascinating featurettes on the three DVDs, a few of them oriented around the behind-the-scenes developments during those dim and distant days when the series was first created. Fascinating stuff!

I will be posting my thoughts here in this blog about each individual story as I watch the DVDs. I would also recommend that anyone who considers themselves a serious Doctor Who fan should do the same as I'm doing, and watch these earliest episodes, in sequence, maybe one a day to get more of the feel of their original appearance on television. Sure, these old stories can be a bit slow and are radically different from modern frenetically-paced Doctor Who, but they're also the well from which all modern Doctor Who springs.

I find these early classics absolutely fascinating, both as television and as historical artifacts, and I strongly believe that they are required viewing for all true Doctor Who fans.

Plaything of Sutekh #4 Is Now Available

As a follow-up to my last post, I'm now happy to report that Plaything of Sutekh #4 is now available, after what seems like an eternity since the last issue. :)

As the details on the Plaything of Sutekh blog state, the new issue features articles on:-

• Pacifism in Doctor Who - a look at how The Daleks and The Dominators gave turning the other cheek the thumbs down.
• The Ark vs The Ark in Space - David Rolinson looks at the similarities between these two stories.
• RTD & Religion - Sean Alexander examines a key aspect of the series under Russell T's tenure.
• E-Space - Jez Strickley spies a dystopian slant in this Season 18 trilogy.
• Secret Who - we look at two underrated stories The Claws of Axos and The Time Monster
• Changing Times - a look back at Peter Capaldi's first season.
• Doc Top Ten - one writer looks at his favourite Who comic strips.
• Gateway Drug - Stephen Wood confesses how it all started with him and Who…

For those who aren't familiar with it, Plaything of Sutekh is a professionally produced, traditional A5 print Doctor Who fanzine - yes, a real paper zine, not an electronic download, a website or a blog. It is brought to you by Richard Farrell, John Connors and their Merry crew - Richard also edits the very excellent Gerry Anderson fanzine Andersonic. Both zines are among the best fanzines currently available, especially considering that the traditional print fanzine is an endangered species in the increasingly electronic and online modern era.

Issue 4 is 36 pages, fully illustrated with colour covers and black & white interiors. It only costs a mere £2.20, which also includes free postage within the UK (check the blog for postage outside the UK).

To find out more details or order the zine, either go to the Plaything of Sutekh blog, or simply send a Paypal payment directly to playthingofsutekh@mail.com - with your address in the 'notes' section. You can also pay by cheque, please email for the payee details.

Issue 3 is also still in print. All self-respecting Doctor Who fans should run along sharpish to the Plaything of Sutekh blog and buy these two issues before they're sold out.