Through a fickle finger of fate—a miracle...

Much of my—and your—appreciation for The Unearthly Child serial won’t be immediately evident. After the admittedly lame resolution of the 4th episode, you might find yourself tapping impatiently to the theme tune as the credits roll, hoping that the following serial will be—by any degree—“better.”

But indulge me—give this story a second consideration.

What do we have on the surface? On one hand, a primitive political conflict for a concept and a setting that might excite a naught but a handful of paleontologists. On the other, an austere and aloof—or downright psychopathic, in some versions—alien being, condescending to humankind. And yet, it is through the juxtaposition of the scenario and the character that believable development is set into motion. Our expectations of this grand and vain entity are subverted in the most brilliant of ways when he is bested by… a rock-bearing savage of the civilization he was slandering not ten minutes earlier. It takes him THREE WHOLE EPISODES to retaliate and retreat, leaving him a mangled mess by the time he gets back to the TARDIS.

If this isn’t poetic justice, I don’t know what is. We witness a Child learning humility and developing compassion for someone other than his blood. Not full-on “love for humankind”—not yet. But it’s an amazing start, and I’d argue it couldn’t have been executed any “better” if we were dealt any other scenario.