BBC Blocked From Releasing First Doctor Who Episodes After Vicious – And Public – Rights Dispute

The BBC has been blocked from releasing the first Doctor Who story by the son of writer Anthony Coburn following a vicious dispute over the broadcast rights. Directed by Waris Hussein, An Unearthly Child was the show’s debut story, introducing William Hartnell’s First Doctor as he, granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford), and schoolteachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) travel from 1960s London to humanities’ earliest days. Broadcast on November 23, 1963, the episode was overshadowed by the coverage of US President John F. Kennedy’s assassination but has since been recognized for its pivotal place in pop culture.