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Doctor Who: The Hartnell era’s post-story cliffhangers (and why I love them)

By James Aggas

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The First Doctor’s era had a special kind of cliffhanger. The post-story cliffhanger.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

Cliffhangers are a major part of Doctor Who. But the Hartnell era had a particular kind of cliffhanger that wasn’t quite as common for later Doctors…

One thing I love about Doctor Who (and that I’m admittedly missing a lot these days) is a really good cliffhanger. Most of the Classic Series’s stories were serials, and so cliffhangers were common for most of the series.

However, for most eras of the show, we wouldn’t necessarily get a cliffhanger at the end of the story. Once the story was done, it was done, and there was nothing to lead into the next story.

But there was one era that was a major exception to this: the First Doctor’s era. These early episodes of Doctor Who always had a neat little trick to keep the audiences hooked, even when the story had already finished.

From one adventure to the next

Specifically, once the story was done, there was always one extra scene that lead into the next story. It could be a direct result of the finishing story, or it could be completely unconnected. Usually, more often than not, it was usually the latter.

The first serial, An Unearthly Child, has a perfect example of this. When the Doctor and his…well, not friends at this point, but very reluctant companions get away from an angry mob of cavemen and fly off in the TARDIS, they arrive on a distant world. Before they go outside, the Doctor asks Susan to check the radiation reading. Susan says that it’s reading normal. Of course, once they all leave the control room, that’s when there’s a click, and the reading suddenly starts flashing “Danger”.

These kind of cliffhangers have shown up in other Doctors’ eras. Certainly, they were used a few times in Troughton’s stories. But they were especially common during the time of Hartnell’s Doctor, so they’re easiest to associate with his stories.

Naturally, the cliffhangers of this era had their own strengths and weaknesses. But did the former outweigh the latter?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

Why I love these cliffhangers

I always loved these cliffhangers. I just love the idea of the TARDIS crew fleeing from one adventure to the next, especially during the days when the Doctor couldn’t even control the TARDIS. It also made for a great hook to check out the next story.

Of course, these kind of cliffhangers did have their drawbacks. For example, when Doctor Who stories were released randomly on video, a cliffhanger for the next story could leave you eager to see it, but you might have had to wait years before finally watching it!

For example, The Aztecs ended on a neat little cliffhanger for The Sensorites. But the former was released on home video in 1992, while the latter was released in 2002! Considering this was an age where Doctor Who fans were entirely dependent on these home video releases to watch these stories, that’s an incredibly long time to wait! (Seriously, BritBox viewers watching Classic Who for the first time: you don’t know how easy you’ve got it!)

Why they still work

This is less of a problem now, but there is another key point. Namely, that there are fewer gaps between stories that the expanded universe could fill in. However, this is only a small issue, particularly as the end of the seasons took a break from the cliffhanger, at least. (Season Three was an exception, as that had Ben and Polly accidentally became the new companions at the very end.)

If I’m honest, these cliffhangers are ones that I really miss. The best thing about them is, if you wanted to make an entire series stand-alone, you could still do that.

But you could also have your cake and eat it too by having just a tiny little cliffhanger at the end that sets up the next story. One that could act perfectly as the opening of the following episode, so that new viewers won’t feel like they’ve missed anything, while the next cliffhanger would help to ensure that they came back for next week’s.

Big Finish have made the very smart decision of bringing these kind of cliffhangers back for The First Doctor Adventures. Should the New Series use them, too?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

New takes

I was admittedly excited when I saw that The Woman Who Fell to Earth almost employed a similar trick. The story with “Tim Shaw” was resolved, (or was it?) but it ended in a way that lead directly into the next episode. The Ghost Monument was a very different story compared to the previous episode, but it was nice to have a cliffhanger that so easily lead to it.

More from Winter is Coming

Sadly, that was virtually the only cliffhanger we got for that series. It’s a shame, too, because it worked really well. It was a good cliffhanger in its own right, but it could have also set a new precedent for the New Series.

Still, the post-story cliffhanger hasn’t completely gone. Particularly for the First Doctor. One thing I’m really happy about with The First Doctor Adventures from Big Finish is that they always find a way of ending it in a way that leads into the next story. The Early Adventures have started doing this, too.

To be honest, I hadn’t realized how much I had missed these endings until Big Finish started using them. It’s one of those little things that not only help to capture the flavor of an era, but still remains a lovable aspect of a classic time in Doctor Who.

Next. Multi-Master stories – why did they take so long to finally happen?. dark

Do you love the post-story cliffhangers? What’s your favorite? Do you think they should be brought back on a regular basis for the New Series? Let us know in the comments below.

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