Vintage Dr. Who on a Snowy Day

It's snowy and dreary outside, so I'm lounging about watching William Hartnell. Not exactly a hottie, but--Dr. Who!! The first one! Without him we wouldn't have Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant and... and... and... Captain Jack!! And who could bear a world without Captain Jack?

So, because of the snow and dreariness, I've tossed Dr. Who: The Beginning, Volume 1, into my DVD player. This set includes An Unearthly Child, The Daleks, and The Edge of Destruction. I bought it at Border's a couple of weeks ago on a crazed binge full of Dr. Who and Neil Gaiman. (Shut up. I had a coupon.)

It's interesting to see how much has stayed the same over the 43 years of this show's existence. Seems like it's only been in the most recent incarnation that the Doctor's female companions finally figured out how not to trip on their own shoes while running away from Big Ugly Dangerous Aliens. The Doctor is still crotchety and arrogant with questionable taste in wardrobe. And can we talk about Barbara's hair? Good grief. How many cans of hair spray died for that do? Of course, I always felt Rose Tyler's hair was a bit questionable, too...

Then we have Ian Chesterton, who is fairly easy on the eyes, and Susan, whose status as the Doctor's "granddaughter" has, as far as I know, never really been explained. Nor has her ability to literally trip on anything when she's being pursued.

I was surprised to see the Daleks introduced in the second serial. I didn't realize they'd been around that long. (I'm sure I knew this at some point, in the zenith of the Whovian Fangirl Days, but I'm old now and the memory's not what it used to be.) Their very first appearance is at the end of the first episode of The Daleks, The Dead Planet, when a mysterious and obviously very dangerous toilet plunger appears on-screen to menace a screaming Barbara Wright.

Anyway, off to watch the rest of The Daleks. Susan's wearing flats--but I bet she falls down, anyway.