The Origin of Dr. Who
- 10 years ago
'The Origin of Dr. Who' is an oddity. Broadcast October 1964, the mini-episode served as a bridge between the first and second seasons of the programme, intended to promote the ninth story, 'Planet of Giants'. Because of its nature - six minutes in length, and given no Radio Times listing, it consequently found no international exports and was lost to time. The limited promotion of the episode itself meant it has been largely forgotten by fans. Written by unknown writer Steven Moffat, no surviving script has been found meaning details of the story have been based on rumour and fan recollection.
Until now. Thought lost from the archives, an unmarked can of film was found within the BBC in July 2013, found to contain this episode alongside an edition of the series 'Armchair Theatre'.
In the story, we see an immortal young woman visit the character of the Doctor throughout his life, visiting him as a young boy and again as he is stealing the time machine, what would become known as the TARDIS. Interestingly, we find the concept of the 'Time Lord' - thought to have been introduced in the story 'The War Games' - is actually first used here, but the name of his home planet is not, presented in a state unlike what we would later come to know - a stable (filmed at Lime Grove Studios), rather than the vast mountains and corridors of the Capitol that we would later come to know.
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In this video, I wanted to recreate the feel of a 1964 piece of television and try to keep to what would have been achievable then. Editing goes beyond just taking the clip from 'Listen', adding a black and white filter and cropping the frame. Although modern camera techniques weren't non-existent in 1964, those sorts of techniques were restricted to film, and not television, with its clunky cameras and limited time scale. To create that feel, clips have been removed, extended, slowed down, in order to avoid the quick cutting and multi-angle shots of today. Also, to make this separate from 'Listen', any shots with the TARDIS have either been excised or cropped, and references to "Rupert" etc. removed.
Cropping to a 4:3 frame from 16:9 is individual to each shot, as the focal point of the camera is different in each. So, for different shots it may have been cropped left justified, right justified, centralised etc.
Of course there is some extent of suspension of disbelief. The cutting to stock film from previous episodes may have been a bit much, but hopefully believable. And of course, the 1960s did not have as sophisticated a soundtrack as we have today - but as I don't know the first thing about removing layers of audio - and 1960s scores to Doctor Who don't have releases as grand as the series-by-series present day soundtracks - so just pretend it's a piece of Brian Hodgson music.
Edited on Sony Vegas Pro 12
Clips from: An Unearthly Child, The Daleks, The Keys of Marinus, The Aztecs, The Sensorites, The Day of the Doctor, Listen
Footage © BBC; no infringement intended
Until now. Thought lost from the archives, an unmarked can of film was found within the BBC in July 2013, found to contain this episode alongside an edition of the series 'Armchair Theatre'.
In the story, we see an immortal young woman visit the character of the Doctor throughout his life, visiting him as a young boy and again as he is stealing the time machine, what would become known as the TARDIS. Interestingly, we find the concept of the 'Time Lord' - thought to have been introduced in the story 'The War Games' - is actually first used here, but the name of his home planet is not, presented in a state unlike what we would later come to know - a stable (filmed at Lime Grove Studios), rather than the vast mountains and corridors of the Capitol that we would later come to know.
---
In this video, I wanted to recreate the feel of a 1964 piece of television and try to keep to what would have been achievable then. Editing goes beyond just taking the clip from 'Listen', adding a black and white filter and cropping the frame. Although modern camera techniques weren't non-existent in 1964, those sorts of techniques were restricted to film, and not television, with its clunky cameras and limited time scale. To create that feel, clips have been removed, extended, slowed down, in order to avoid the quick cutting and multi-angle shots of today. Also, to make this separate from 'Listen', any shots with the TARDIS have either been excised or cropped, and references to "Rupert" etc. removed.
Cropping to a 4:3 frame from 16:9 is individual to each shot, as the focal point of the camera is different in each. So, for different shots it may have been cropped left justified, right justified, centralised etc.
Of course there is some extent of suspension of disbelief. The cutting to stock film from previous episodes may have been a bit much, but hopefully believable. And of course, the 1960s did not have as sophisticated a soundtrack as we have today - but as I don't know the first thing about removing layers of audio - and 1960s scores to Doctor Who don't have releases as grand as the series-by-series present day soundtracks - so just pretend it's a piece of Brian Hodgson music.
Edited on Sony Vegas Pro 12
Clips from: An Unearthly Child, The Daleks, The Keys of Marinus, The Aztecs, The Sensorites, The Day of the Doctor, Listen
Footage © BBC; no infringement intended