An Unearthly Child - Broadcast and Reception

Broadcast and Reception

The first episode was transmitted at 5:15 on Saturday 23 November 1963. The assassination of John F. Kennedy on the previous day overshadowed the launch of a new television series. It has been written that the transmission was delayed by ten minutes due to extended news coverage; in fact, it went out just eighty seconds late. The first episode was repeated a week later, on 30 November, preceding the second episode, "The Cave of Skulls".

The first episode was watched by 4.4 million viewers (9.1% of the viewing audience), and it received a "higher-than-average" score of 63 on the Reaction Index. Across its four episodes, An Unearthly Child was watched by an average of 6 million (12.3% of potential viewers). Mark Bould, however, suggests that a disappointing audience reaction and high production costs prompted the BBC's chief of programmes to cancel the series, until the Daleks, introduced in the second serial in December 1963, were immediately popular with viewers.

The Guardian reviewer Mary Crozier was unimpressed by the serial after the first two episodes, thinking that it "has fallen off badly soon after getting underway". Of the first episodes, she wrote that it "got off the ground predictably, but there was little to trill". She went on to write that the second part was "a depressing sequel" and the "wigs and furry pelts and clubs and laborious dialogue were all ludicrous". It also received a short favourable review in the Daily Mail, who claimed that it "must have delighted the hearts of the Telegoons who followed".

Retrospective reviews are mainly positive towards An Unearthly Child. Referring to the serial while discussing the early years of Doctor Who, the New Scientist's Malcolm Peltu praised the script, acting and direction, although he was less complimentary about the scenary, which, he says, looks like cardboard. Radio Times reviewer Patrick Mulkern praised the casting of Hartnell, the "moody" direction and the "thrilling" race back to the TARDIS. In 2010, Christopher Bahn of The A.V. Club labelled An Unearthly Child an essential serial to watch for background on the programme. In his review, he noted that the first episode is "brilliantly done; the next three together could be about a half-hour shorter but get the job done". He praised the characters of Ian, Barbara, and the mysterious Doctor, but noted that he was far from the character he would become and Susan was "something of a cipher" with the hope she would develop later. DVD Talk's John Sinnott called the first episode "excellent", but felt the "story goes down hill a bit" with the introduction of the prehistoric time period. He cited the slower pace, the discussions in "Tarzan-speak", and the lack of tension or high stakes. The opening episode's cliffhanger was commended by the Daily Worker, and in 2010, Charlie Jane Anders of io9 listed it among the show's greatest cliffhangers.

Scholar Mark Bould discusses how the serial establishes Doctor Who's socio-political stances. He writes, "The story represents the separation/reunion, capture/escape, pursuit/evasion that will dominate the next twenty-six years, as well as the program's consistent advocacy of the BBC's political and social liberalism." He cites Ian and Barbara's attempt to teach a cavewoman kindness, friendship and democracy, writing "a tyrant is not as strong as the whole tribe acting collectively".