An Unearthly Child

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Story Code: A / Season 1 UK Airdate: 23 Nov to 14 Dec 1963 Doctor: William Hartnell
First airings by location UK Repeats / Foreign Cable and Satellite / Next Story

(aka "100,000 BC") (We have identified this serial by the name we have, in preference to 100,000 BC, the title by which the BBC actively marketed the serial in 1964, because words work better in tables than numerals, and also to reflect that some countries screened the first episode only.)


This story aired in the following countries. They are listed in chronological order according to known airdate. If no month is noted, the actual airdate is not confirmed, and is a close approximate. (Refer also to Selling Doctor Who for expanded airdates.)

First-ever newspaper billing for Doctor Who outside the UK - 18 September 1964, Christchurch Press, New Zealand. Not exactly awe-inspiring, is it...
An Unearthly Child, Auckland debut, 30 October 1964 (NZ Listener)
New Zealand Sep 64 b/w
Australia Jan 65 b/w
Canada Jan 65 b/w
Singapore Apr 65 b/w
Gibraltar Apr 65 b/w
Malta May 65 b/w
Aden Jul 65 b/w
Nigeria Aug 65 b/w
Rhodesia / Zimbabwe Sep 65 b/w
Zambia Oct 65 b/w
Trinidad & Tobago Oct 65 b/w
Bermuda Dec 65 b/w
Uganda Jan 66 b/w
Jamaica Mar 66 b/w
Cyprus Mar 66 b/w
Ghana Apr? 66 b/w
Barbados Apr 66 b/w
Hong Kong Apr 66 b/w
Kenya Jun 66 b/w
Thailand Aug 66 b/w
Mauritius Oct 66 b/w
Venezuela Feb 67 b/w
Sierra Leone Apr 67 b/w
Tunisia Apr 67 b/w (ep1 only?)
Mexico May 68? b/w
Morocco 68? b/w (ep1 only)
Saudi Arabia 68? b/w (ep1 only)
Iran Dec 68? b/w
Chile Jan 69 b/w
Jordan 69? b/w (ep1 only?)
Libya Dec 69? b/w (ep1 only?)
Ethiopia Oct 70 b/w
Costa Rica Jun 71 b/w
Algeria Dec 73 b/w (ep1 only)
  • Although the serial was fully dubbed into Arabic, only episode one of this serial screened in Arabic countries. (One possible reason for this is, a story set at the time of the cavemen, might have conflicted with religious beliefs in countries where Islam is practised.)
  • New Zealand sent its prints to Denmark in 1968 as Audition Prints, but the serial did not play there.
  • It has been reported that Cyprus sent its prints to Uganda - and yet, Uganda screened the serial two months before Cyprus! (Did Uganda send the unwanted prints to Ghana?)
  • The series was to have debuted in Rhodesia on 5 September 1965, but the premiere was delayed until 26 September; Rhodesia then sent its films to Zambia, whose intended 19 September 1965 debut, was as a result, postponed until 17 October. (Rhodesia's prints may have been supplied by Nigeria...)
  • For the 5 November 1973 edition of Blue Peter, a section of the Arabic version of episode 4 was used in a clips montage. This clip may have come from a print that had been returned from one of the north African or Middle Eastern countries. (The BBC held an Arabic print of all four episodes by late 1976.)
  • See Hartnell Junkings


Reissue

An Unearthly Child.JPG
  • The serial was reissued by the BBC in late 1985, and sold to:
United States from Sep 85 b/w

US TV Guide descriptions (1960s Hartnells on CBC)

More Information
Title: An Unearthly Child

  • Episode 1: In this science fiction series, William Hartnell plays Dr. Who, an exile from another world who travels through space and time in his ship, the Tardis. He is currently based in England where his granddaughter Susan is attending school. Today "An Unearthly Child." Two of Susan's teachers annoy the doctor with their skepticism so he plunges them back 100,000 years in time.
  • Episode 2: Dr. Who transports Ian, Barbara, Susan and himself back to 1000 B.C.
  • Episode 3: Captured by a tribe that has lost the secret of fire, Dr. Who and his friends become involved in a struggle for tribal leadership.
  • Episode 4: Dr. Who and his friends are blamed for the loss of the "life-giving fire."



US TV Guide descriptions

More Information
Title: An Unearthly Child

  • Episode 1:
  • Episode 2:
  • Episode 3:  
  • Episode 4:  
  • Compilation: When two teachers board the Tardis, they are accidentally transported back to the year 100,000 B.C. and captured by members of a prehistoric tribe.


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