An Unearthly Child, Part IV: The Firemaker

The title seems like a bit of a giveaway as to what happens, but how did Ian actually start the fire when he didn’t appear to be rubbing the sticks together?

There were some strange directorial choices in this episode. The fight choreography was already somewhat hard to follow, but then there were the strange cutaways to the TARDIS crew sitting there watching and not doing much. Then when they were running back to the TARDIS, the stationary running effect with the occasional plant brushing against there face was unfortunate, although maybe necessitated by the lack of location filming. When the prehistoric people were freaking out at the skulls on fire, I was reminded of the Royal Hospital for Overacting. (Kudos to the TARDIS crew for knowing they’d react that way, though.)

I was surprised the Doctor admitted he doesn’t know how to fly the TARDIS; I don’t recall him saying that so explicitly subsequently. Seems like it should be pretty easy with dials helpfully labeled in English – like “RADIATION.”

Let's meet the Daleks!

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