4: The Firemaker finally brings to an end the not-so thrilling saga of An Unearthly Child

Previous episode: The Forest of Fear

The Firemaker is the final part of An Unearthly Child and opens with the first instance of a cliffhanger reprise differing from the previous week.

While we have spent a week pondering how the Tardis team would escape from the clutches of Hur and the Tribe, here we cut from Ian’s shocked face to Horg saying ‘They are coming” in his posh old voice. Even three weeks of slumming with the tribe haven’t edged out the received pronunciation.

And then we are back in the Tribe and more arguments.

At this moment, viewers didn’t know this was going to be a show that leaned heavily into science fiction, but goodness this is tedious. Foreshadowing what we know today, Doctor Who would not have lasted without the Daleks just a few weeks later based on this adventure, even if The Firemaker is the final part.

Thankfully, the Doctor interjects into all this moaning, and finally gets to show viewers some of the charm we will get to see in the future. William Hartnell must have been delighted when he saw this script and his dialogue that let Kal convict himself. It’s not exactly Columbo, but it is a moment where we see the clever behind the exterior.

Ian picks up on the Doctor’s cues and helps the Tribe drive Kal out of the tribe.

Finally, after three episodes of earthlings versus aliens we see a moment that suggests there may be a friendship to be had among them.

Sadly, Za’s gratitude to the time travellers’ support is not enough to let them go. Instead, they are sent back into the cave, something described as evil by the team Tardis. Its clear the cavemen have different moral standards … Za describes them as a new tribe not like them, but they do have the secret of fire. That is enough to keep them alive for now.

The threat of death hangs over our heroes as a result.

Ian is The Firemaker

When we cut back to the team in the Cave of Skulls, Ian is attempting to make fire from kindling and some sticks. The friction starts to have results that delight Susan. Za wants to know who their leader is, suggesting it is Ian … who with a knowing look to Susan defers to the Doctor.

Horg is an old ham of an actor and how he was deemed to be the best to get the role is frankly one of those mysteries we should lose to space and time. His received pronunciation and worried state are just weird compared to the rest of the tribe.

The infighting continues as Kal returns to fight Za, in a sequence that is clearly on film and has future echoes of Alan Bates and Oliver Reed wrestling in Women In Love. It ends in a violent death and with that we’re back to the studio. It’s a shame that Doctor Who was not filmed in film as the quality is amazing compared to the videotape that was common at the time. There would also be the advantage that we would not have so many missing episodes.

Sadly, the return of fire isn’t enough to let the travellers head back to the ship: for some reason the tribe still need the foursome despite having the flames they crave. You’ve got to love the acting of the extras as they warm their hands over the fire, it’s almost as if they had a day of training at acting school on warming hands.

With no prospect of leaving, it is Susan who discovers the solution by sticking some flames in a skull. The flaming shock is enough to frighten the tribe giving the team time to run back to the Tardis. This is very much in keeping with the show being educational in remit as it is Ian who spells out how to make the skulls look alive.

The chase is another example of Doctor Who operating on a budget without showing it that way: running on the spot with desperate faces while potted plants run past. Simple, effective and ingenious. We’ll see more such solutions as the show continues.

Thankfully, they manage to reach the Tardis and the Doctor pilots an emergency dematerialisation. But does he use the same controls that he did in the first episode? Here, he has his back to the camera, but in the first episode of An Unearthly Child, he is facing us on the other side of the console. Admittedly he does go round and round the hexagonal-shaped control but it’s hard to know if this is the first continuity error or William Hartnell knowing exactly what he’s doing with all those alien buttons and switches.

Another central conceit of the show comes up as Ian and Barbara discover the Doctor, for all his bluffing, can’t return them back to 1963 because he doesn’t know how to pilot the ship. It’s another problem for the two schoolteachers and a far cry from the came decision they make in the book In An Exciting Adventure With The Daleks: but that is a parallel universe.

Back here, in our timeline, the ship has landed again and there is a strange alien world on the scanner screen outside. Suggesting the team clean themselves up after their narrow escape, the radiation gauge starts flashing, unnoticed by our heroes.

It’s not the world’s greatest cliffhanger, but the curiosity of the strange skies and promise of danger means many came back … and set in motion the longevity of the show for good. But that’s another story, quite literally.

An Unearthly Child has a reputation as a bit of a clunker of a story once you get past the exquisite first episode. And it’s hard to argue with that. The Tribe of Gum are tiresome, arguing and unreasonable, not allowed to be sympathetic nor allowed to have intelligence.

The escape and capture and escape routine is also dull. But our four leads are incredible to watch, each perfectly cast and able to play against each other to create television magic.

While it is a shame current rights issues means An Unearthly Child can’t be widely watched, The Dead Planet is a good starter for those unable to get the DVD and wanting to go on a pilgrimage to the future.

Search for An Unearthly Child on Amazon.co.uk

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