The Forest of Fear
- Episode aired Dec 7, 1963
- TV-PG
- 24m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
Old Mother frees the Doctor and the others on condition they will leave the tribe and not make fire.The group attempt to return to the TARDIS but Za and Hur follow them.Old Mother frees the Doctor and the others on condition they will leave the tribe and not make fire.The group attempt to return to the TARDIS but Za and Hur follow them.Old Mother frees the Doctor and the others on condition they will leave the tribe and not make fire.The group attempt to return to the TARDIS but Za and Hur follow them.
Photos
- Directors
- Waris Hussein
- Douglas Camfield(film inserts) (uncredited)
- Writers
- Anthony Coburn
- David Whitaker
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Expanded Universe suggests that Ian stopping The Doctor from killing Za is what secured his love of humans, as it made him realise how they kept him from slipping into villainy.
- GoofsThe great stone is evidently made of sculpted polystyrene. The stone can be seen to wobble after being touched and at one point squeaks as Za attempts to move it.
- Quotes
The Doctor: Fear makes companions of us all.
Featured review
100,000 BC Episode 3: Good but I wish it was aliens instead of cavemen.
This review is for episodes 2, 3 and 4 of the very first Doctor Who story (I posted my review of the debut episode yesterday).
Following on from the unique and brilliant opening episode the remainder of the '100,000 BC' story is a slight dip in quality but it is not remotely bad as it has some scariness, some interesting elements, develops the main characters well and is of decent quality in all respects
The discovery of fire story with tribal in fighting is not really typical of the series that was to follow so in a way it is an odd choice as an introduction. (Indeed it was not originally intended as the first story). It would seem a more logical choice to either travel to another planet and meet aliens or travel to a period of history where they can interact with people more thoughtfully. This caveman era setting does not afford good guest characters or sufficiently intelligent plot to get really into it. There is some very annoying screeching and grunting at times and the cavemen are somewhat lacking in interest.
However, the great appeal of this setting is that it is scary, eerie and other worldly which would be captivating to many viewers, especially children and is representative of the feel of Doctor Who to come. An alien monster story could have been equally or even more captivating but there is something to be said for immediately demonstrating the TARDIS is a time machine not just a spaceship.
There were plenty of other space travel and alien attack stories/movies around and to show the time travel aspect which sets Doctor Who apart from standard science fiction /alien menace stories that viewers usually saw was a good move. The unique selling point was displayed immediately.
You could argue it is a pretty unhistoric scenario which is sort of breaking the "educational" aims the makers at the time claimed to want to achieve. Also, there could be modern viewers who question or raise criticisms of why Ian and Barbara did not question the fact the cavemen speak English. But this was 1960s fantasy entertainment, we can forgive such things surely? We now know the TARDIS would have been telepathically translating language for them.
Anyway, there is a lot of intelligent scripting and interest provided with the Doctor and his companions. Their characters begin to be fleshed out and their relationships begin to develop. That aspect of the story is very good. As an opening story it is wise that rather than focusing on guest characters the main cast are very much the focus and we start to get to know them all. So really the setting works for achieving a set up for the show. It also sets up a mixture of dispute and increasing co-operation between the Doctor and his new companions
Overall 100,000 BC is a good effort. It is not as engaging or thrilling in episodes 2 to 4 as its intriguingly magical, eerie debut episode but it keeps a spooky, other worldly feel and introduces the main cast well. Susan is far less interesting in episodes 2 to 4 than the fascinating girl we meet in the first episode but she is a sympathetic character and the Doctor, Ian and Barbara already are becoming thoroughly engaging and showing some depth. The final part is probably the least interesting.
My Ratings: Episode 1 - 10/10, Episode 2 - 7, Episode 3 - 7, Episode 4 - 6.5
Overall 7.63/10.
Following on from the unique and brilliant opening episode the remainder of the '100,000 BC' story is a slight dip in quality but it is not remotely bad as it has some scariness, some interesting elements, develops the main characters well and is of decent quality in all respects
The discovery of fire story with tribal in fighting is not really typical of the series that was to follow so in a way it is an odd choice as an introduction. (Indeed it was not originally intended as the first story). It would seem a more logical choice to either travel to another planet and meet aliens or travel to a period of history where they can interact with people more thoughtfully. This caveman era setting does not afford good guest characters or sufficiently intelligent plot to get really into it. There is some very annoying screeching and grunting at times and the cavemen are somewhat lacking in interest.
However, the great appeal of this setting is that it is scary, eerie and other worldly which would be captivating to many viewers, especially children and is representative of the feel of Doctor Who to come. An alien monster story could have been equally or even more captivating but there is something to be said for immediately demonstrating the TARDIS is a time machine not just a spaceship.
There were plenty of other space travel and alien attack stories/movies around and to show the time travel aspect which sets Doctor Who apart from standard science fiction /alien menace stories that viewers usually saw was a good move. The unique selling point was displayed immediately.
You could argue it is a pretty unhistoric scenario which is sort of breaking the "educational" aims the makers at the time claimed to want to achieve. Also, there could be modern viewers who question or raise criticisms of why Ian and Barbara did not question the fact the cavemen speak English. But this was 1960s fantasy entertainment, we can forgive such things surely? We now know the TARDIS would have been telepathically translating language for them.
Anyway, there is a lot of intelligent scripting and interest provided with the Doctor and his companions. Their characters begin to be fleshed out and their relationships begin to develop. That aspect of the story is very good. As an opening story it is wise that rather than focusing on guest characters the main cast are very much the focus and we start to get to know them all. So really the setting works for achieving a set up for the show. It also sets up a mixture of dispute and increasing co-operation between the Doctor and his new companions
Overall 100,000 BC is a good effort. It is not as engaging or thrilling in episodes 2 to 4 as its intriguingly magical, eerie debut episode but it keeps a spooky, other worldly feel and introduces the main cast well. Susan is far less interesting in episodes 2 to 4 than the fascinating girl we meet in the first episode but she is a sympathetic character and the Doctor, Ian and Barbara already are becoming thoroughly engaging and showing some depth. The final part is probably the least interesting.
My Ratings: Episode 1 - 10/10, Episode 2 - 7, Episode 3 - 7, Episode 4 - 6.5
Overall 7.63/10.
helpful•21
- A_Kind_Of_CineMagic
- Jun 26, 2014
Details
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime24 minutes
- Color
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- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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