To some extent this is true but I would still recommend at the very least hearing The Beginning (their first ‘adventure’ after leaving Gallifrey) and Quinnis which is a lovely story based off one tiny reference in The Edge of Destruction.
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Yeah addendum to what I said, I may do Quinnis some time because I’ve heard good things, and I love Relative Dimensions.
Maybe I’ll look into The Beginning too then ty!
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It’s free on BBC Sounds now!
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I think there is some charm to this Era, but not one I think necessarily has to be explored that MUCH in the Future, and IF it should certainly be via Short Stories in the Future.
I can’t speak much on the Novels presented here.
However, I am more familiar with the Audios, none of which is a favorite, although I do like The Beginning and recalling liking Alchemists well enough. I thought the Quinnis was somewhere between okay and fine. Same with Hunters of Earth, which I rate only a little more than Quinnis.
My Thoughts on it are mixed, as somebody who enjoys writing in that Era and like the Aspect of seeing Solo 1 and Susan Stories just exploring the Universe there is a lot I like. The Pre-Season 1 Era is fascinating, even if it feels like it’s an Era we shouldn’t explore too much, almost feeling a little “forbidden”.
Really I think how small this Era is what benefits it, if we ever had like a Spin-Off showing the Academy Time from the Doctor, then i think I would be much more critical about it. And as long as this Era isn’t too heavily explored, I am all in favor of doing some every once in a while.
As for my Money, I think there is enough Mystery left, beyond “Oh doctor who and Susan on their own adventures!” you don’t get a Moment where everything is explained. But I get why people rather prefer going with An Unearthly Child as the Starting Point.
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It’s just normal, standard Doctor Who but with only Susan in the companion role, if we’re talking about “does this relay on unimportant stuff in the Doctor past more than it should?”.
Not only is the answer no, I would argue that none of the stories that mainly take place here do any of that at all. We have a quick scene in Gallifrey at the start of The Beginning that winks at some continuity (the books Susan took with her; the Hand of Omega casket; Clara). That’s it.
Structure-wise this era feels distinct when you actually listen to it. Four of the audio stories are Companion Chronicles and one of the books is her diary, so a lot of it is Susan’s PoV, and may I say we rarely get this much insight into her in the future.
It’s also an era that is obsessed with reaching An Unearthly Child. There is a lot of stories featuring Earth or humanity; more than I think there should be. If we ever go back to this era, I need it to go completely alien. The audios + books are diverse enough if you only work through them, but what I mean become quite obvious if you read the short trips. The Brigadier one, even though I understand why it exists in a real-life sense, is so freaking self-indulgent.
Indian Summer is great tho. Fabulous short trip.
There is some contradictions but that’s only natural. I’m a little less forgiving of characterization contradictions, but there is nothing egregious in that sense here. How antagonistic the Doctor is or how much he and Susan know about Earth’s history can fluctuate quite a bit, but eh.
It’s not my favorite era of the First Doctor and I’m not craving for more, necessarily, but it’s also a period of the show that I think fits incredibly well to the Companion Chronicles format. Now that the CCs are back I would be onboard with getting some more solo Susan stories.
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Where would one go to locate a Pre-Season One Guide?
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This is always my go-to:
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I also use Theory:Timeline - First Doctor - Tardis Wiki
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Thank you both very much! :)
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