N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

OK, so I said a few weeks back that Doctor Who was rarely if ever as dark as An Unearthly Child. Well, this two-parter, also known as Inside the Spaceship, just about proves that wrong. Susan’s threatening Barbara with scissors is rightly remembered as shocking and controversial, but there’s a pervading sense of confused and murderous paranoia throughout the first episode and a half.

There’s also the first sense, made apparent in The Brink of Disaster, that the TARDIS is somehow sentient, something even the Doctor seems unaware of. (Not calling her ‘sexy’ at this point then, I guess!) That the ship itself can be a character in the story is yet another sign that Doctor Who was, from the off, unafraid to take creative risks.

It’s clear though that, leaving aside the budgetary and scheduling constraints that led to their creation, these two episodes serve best to bring the protagonists closer together after almost tearing them apart.

“As we learn about each other so we learn about ourselves.”

The Doctor, The Brink of Disaster

After a lovely scene where the Doctor, in his own fashion, apologises to Barbara, the relationship between all of the travellers thaws (somewhat ironic given they’re at the Roof of the World!) and it looks as though the TARDIS is going to be a much happier ship to travel in. In a way, it’s strange to think that these initial three serials/thirteen episodes might have been all we ever had of Doctor Who but, as such, it’s somehow re-assuring to think that their continuing adventures would have been under more pleasant travelling circumstances.