#I know in BC Anne suggest they come back together and i am very Happy

[fenicenera83]

Aesthetic moodboard: Marius/Armand

[benjiwyatt]

do you have any ben/leslie headcanons! i love your posts abt them so much it's great to see someone get as emotional abt them as i am asjdkajhjd

i got this message and i was like "god, i dont really know if i have any headcanons" and then i opened my notes app and started typing and didn't stop for over an hour

i'm literally putting this under a break and organizing it into categories bc it's absurdly long

here it is

A COLLECTION OF BEN AND LESLIE HEADCANONS

PRE-RELATIONSHIP/S3

basically canon but leslie definitely had a crush on a young benji wyatt and followed the story religiously for the first couple months before she started college

ben is only slightly jealous leslie had ann go out with chris to try and get more money for the parks budget rather than leslie asking him out with the same goal. he knows it’s insane, unethical, and illogical but he’s still excited that he gets to spend the night with her on a date plus two other people even if it is to accuse her of bribery.

ann realizes early on that leslie was attracted to ben and teases her mercilessly about it. she thinks it’s absolutely hilarious that leslie wants to make out with "mean ben.” after april and andy’s wedding, she realizes it's more than just attraction and she lays off.

before ben can even think rationally about what he’s doing, he’s in line at bed, bath, and beyond with a crock pot in his arms, calling stephanie to ask her to send him their family’s chicken soup recipe

ann knew ben liked her from the beginning and was totally positive when she ran into him in the hospital asking for leslie’s room number while holding jj’s waffles and a tub of homemade soup.

ben realizes he’s falling in love with leslie when he is at city hall with her until 3am one night trying to budget for the amount of cotton candy machines she wants for the harvest festival. in his exhaustion, he naively believes her when she tells him she’ll go home in a bit so he leaves. he never gets a text from saying she made it home so he stops at jj’s the next morning and brings a takeout container of waffles and a coffee complete with an outlandish amount of whipped cream and sugar to the parks department. he finds her asleep in the conference room. he starts trying to convince sweetums to donate more cotton candy machines that afternoon.

chris had to have known ben liked leslie. he’s not an idiot. in the deleted scene from their wedding, they read out emails from their “tumultuous first week in pawnee” and chris writes to ben saying, “why are you so focused on leslie knope?” ben replies saying, “i’m not. whatever. shut up.” there’s no way chris is this oblivious. ben takes her out for a beer. ben pays out of pocket for a children’s performer to help her out. ben shows up on chris and ann’s date just because he thinks leslie might be there. chris can’t be this dumb. but when they take the city manager jobs in pawnee, he knows it can’t happen so he cuts ben off when he starts to ask about dating someone in city hall. he cracks down on the rule in front of leslie after the tom incident to hammer it in. he starts setting ben up on a bunch of dates to try and head it off. he sends them to indianapolis for the little league pitch because, realistically, he knows they’re the best bet for success but makes sure to interrupt their dinner and invites them to his apartment to continue to run interference the rest of the night. after their fights in 4.06-4.08, he hopes he won’t have to worry anymore. the next work day, they come into his office looking nervous and happy and he knows he’s about to lose the partner and best friend that’s been by his side for the past decade.

april and andy knew they were secretly dating. it went unspoken aside from a few implicit teasing remarks from april and a few suggestive attempted high fives from andy but leslie assured ben they wouldn’t tell anyone despite their ostensible behavior.

BREAK UP

ben had commissioned the li’l sebastian plush for leslie after he had died but the toy shop didn’t finish it until after they broke up. he felt bad not going to pick it up so he did despite not being able to give it to her. he kept it for all those months and sometimes thought about getting rid of it but could never bring himself to do it.

when leslie made personalized copies her books for her friends with individualized annotations and notes in the bylines, she had two copies for ben. there was one that she gave him during their breakup that was very simplified and watered down where the note basically just said “i’m really glad you decided to stay in pawnee.” then there was a second copy that she kept while they were split up that was totally covered in notes and random thoughts she couldn’t say during their time apart. she gives him that copy when they get back together and it may or may not be the best gift he’s ever received.

april was much less abrasive with them during the break up because she’s a sweetheart and wants her friends to be happy.

the first time leslie admitted she was in love with him was during a long night of drinking and crying at ann’s house

ben craved the taste of sugar during their breakup because he got used to tasting the sweetness when he kissed her

ben found himself unable to sleep at night without the sound of leslie talking in her sleep to comfort him

april texted leslie the night of the halloween party to let her know that ben and andy were at the hospital after a fight and everything was fine and she didn’t need to worry. leslie was mad at andy for a few days after and he couldn’t figure out why.

the only photo in ben’s bedroom was of himself, leslie, and li’l sebastian at the harvest festival. if he got caught staring at it and crying, he would just say he missed li’l sebastian so much.

april and andy started having star wars and star trek movie nights to try and cheer ben up

DOMESTIC

ben and leslie got in the habit of having weekly game nights with april and andy during the campaign since they were all basically living together. it became a tradition that kept going as often as they could make it happen, even after the kids were born. they try to have game night at least once a month. april pretends to hate it.

one of my absolute favorite ideas about them is that she sleeps much better when he’s around to keep her grounded. after they get together for good, she starts getting closer to 5 hours of sleep a night.

another favorite involving leslie’s sleeping: ben is typically accustomed to tuning out incoherent nonsense that she babbles in her sleep but she also has some of her best ideas when she’s not busy trying to focus on a million different things. when he hears her coming up with legitimately good ideas or making speeches or having solid debate arguments, he takes out the notebook he keeps in his nightstand to record her thoughts and quotes. he revisits and revises the notes to strengthen her statements and make them more professional and less rambling but makes sure to keep her distinct voice apparent in them.

ben prefers pancakes to waffles but he will go to the grave with that secret

this isn’t a headcanon because nbc posted it but one of ben’s holidays on leslie’s calendar is watch synchronization day which is the day they celebrate syncing their watches to, as leslie puts it, “always be in harmony, like our hearts” which is just one of the sweetest fucking things in the world

leslie makes ben read and watch all the harry potters because he didn’t get into them when he first tried. ben is much more of a success than ann. she buys him a ravenclaw scarf for christmas.

their first fight as a couple was a historical debate gone awry

since ben clearly has some affinity for custom stuffed animals, he has some made for the triplets.

they’re both dog people but they adopt a cat because sonia and stephen beg for one and it does fit their busy lifestyle much better. they love the cat. they get a dog when the kids are older and life is slightly less hectic.

they both love striped shirts and sweaters so much that they have to make a conscious effort to avoid wearing them on the same day and matching

leslie makes sweets and bakes desserts while ben typically handles cooking the actual meals

BASED ON EPISODES, QUOTES, AND THROWAWAY LINES

i always loved the ann/ben dynamic in bus tour because there’s been such an obvious shift in ann’s attitude towards him in this episode. maybe it’s because she and tom just broke up and she just turned chris down again and she’s frustrated with relationships but i think it’s her realizing ben isn’t going anywhere. since the campaign is winding down, she realizes that things aren’t gonna go back to the way they were because ben is now part of this and he’s clearly in it for the long haul. ann’s definitely jealous that ben is just as important to leslie as she is and she now knows she’s never gonna get that full attention back. ann sits ben down to have a real “don’t you dare hurt her” speech after this ep and before win, lose, or draw. this is when he tells ann he wants to marry her.

they discover they both adore the princess bride after ben says “as you wish” to her one night and after that it becomes their movie.

the wildflower mural becomes a thing between them when ben says he considered that to be their first date, prompting leslie to tell him what the mural means to her.

ben puts banjo boogie bonanza on one of the mix cds he gives leslie at the beginning of their relationship

harrison ford movie nights start after they both reveal they had a crush on him as a kid. ben was obsessed with han solo and leslie was into indiana jones’ whole history teacher vibe.

they basically hate each other’s taste in music and stop exchanging mix cds once that becomes apparent that they aren’t gonna find much common ground. they both love tom petty, al green, and etta james and music in that vein though.

ben makes leslie watch game of thrones just to try to explain why he’s called her khaleesi. she gets into it, not so much because of the show itself, but because of how passionate her boyfriend is about it.

they start learning basic french during the s4 campaign because they think it will be useful to have a basic multilingual vocabulary for their political careers and because leslie confesses she has always dreamed of seeing paris. they study spanish next.

ben makes leslie watch the star wars prequels just so he can complain to her during them. he doesn’t think she’s paying attention and then he reads about midichlorians in the paper.

ann is also in on ben’s plan to sneak vegetables into leslie’s waffles.

they will sometimes jokingly refer to themselves as the “dream team” or “dynamic duo” because, despite chris’s absurdity, it’s true

i’m open to literally any origin of this because no matter what it’s perfect but i like to think that “i love you and i like you” started at some point in season 4 when, at some point, leslie went “i like you” and ben replied “you like me?” “mhm” “hm just like me?” “yes i like you. i love you and i like you. both.” “mmm i love you and i like you too”

i barely even register some of these things as headcanons since they just live so solidly in my brain

this might be my favorite ask ever thank you for loving benslie enough to ask me this and be genuinely interested

if anyone read all of this, i love you

[nerdyfangirl67]

Requests Masterlist

NCIS -

Gibbs:

Studying You

(Female reader) “Could you please write an imagine where reader is Gibbs’s best friend from childhood, knew his mom, was there for him when she killed her self but au where there’s no Shannon and kelly and they get married and reader names their daughter Ann after Gibbs’s mom”

My Mark

(Gender-neutral reader) “If requests are in fact still open, could you pretty please do something about the reader giving Gibbs’ hickeys just to mess with him?”

Please Don’t Leave

(Gibbs x little girl (fatherly relationship), very slight reference to a McGee x fem!reader relationship) Gibbs discovers a little girl at a crime scene who is deaf, and upon learning more of her backstory, he begins to bond with her. The guardians she was staying with were killed in a break and enter, both her actual parents were killed while deployed.

I Won’t Leave

(Gibbs x little girl (fatherly relationship), McGee x fem!reader relationship, Mother!reader) This is a continuation of the storyline from the fic Please Don’t Leave, with a time skip.

Forget About Me

McGee x fem!reader/mom!reader, Gibbs x reader (platonic/fatherly relationship) “I was thinking that McGee and reader find out their expecting a baby, and Anastasia finds out and runs away, because she’s scared that Tim and reader won’t want her anymore, and Anastasia gets lost and is all alone, and Tim is in full panic mode, and Gibbs won’t rest until he finds Anastasia, and Gibbs finds her, but she refuses to go home, and clings to Gibbs”

Rare Jewel

(Female reader) “Can I please request a Gibbs x plus size reader? Maybe they have to go undercover to a gala or smth together and the reader walks out in this figure hugging dress feeling and looking FLY AS F**K and Gibbs is like hot damn. You get where I’m going?”

I’m Here

(Female reader)  Request using the prompt - “Don’t be scared. I’m right here.”

What Family is For

(Female reader) “Could you do a Gibbs x Reader were the female reader gets beaten up by a group of boys (broken ribs, bruises, blood…) and just manages to stumble into Gibbs’ house were he will take care of her? A little kind of father-daughter relationsship but workwise. Just him getting very protective, comforting her and patching and cleaning her.”

The Peace Out Here

(Female reader)

“Hey you! I really liked your Tony x Reader one were he comforts her bc she found out she’s pregnant from rape? I was wondering how Gibbs would react to the same?”

McGee:

With a Little Help From the Team

(Female reader) “Hello! I saw your post from this morning saying you didn’t have any requests for ncis at the moment and I wanted to make a request. If for some reason you don’t want to write it that’s okay but here’s my prompt,(Idk what to call it) The reader and McGee have been dating for years and McGee has to tell the whole team (Tony, McGee, Bishop, Gibbs. That team please!) including her dad (Gibbs, cause why not?) when he wants to propose. You can decide on if they say yes or no but I hope you’ll write it. Sorry if I’m overwhelming you I just wanted to make a request”

NCIS team:

Helping Hands

(Gender-neutral reader) “Could you do a one shot with NCIS where reader has a panic attack and the team comforts the reader and they validate the reader’s emotions? I just really need something like that”

CRIMINAL MINDS -

Aaron Hotchner:

Dream Come True

(Female reader) “Hi sweetie!! I saw that you’re taking requests for reader inserts? I could I request one of either Hotch or Morgan where they have a dream about having a daughter with the reader. (The reader and him aren’t dating or seeing each other at all) but he really wants this dream to come true. Thank you in advance!”

In Your Corner

(Female reader) “can you make an aaron x fem reader where reader has an e.d?”

Spencer Reid:

The Way She Walks

(Female reader) “Can you write something for Spencer (or whoever) where you are Hotch’s assistant. One day you are bringing Hotch coffee and Reid is staring at you and Derek tells Reid not to stare cause it will freak you out. Thank you so much!!!”

The Way She Loves

(Female reader - sequel to The Way She Walks) “Helloo😌😌 could you do a follow up to “the way she walks”? I loved it😩💗”

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA -

Phantom:

The Raging Fire Within

(Female reader) “Hi! Could you write a modern au fic with Erik Destler where they’re in a relationship but hes still an awkward muffin and decides hes not having it any longer and tries to flirt with her using (sexual) innuendos but hes still a muffin and she loves it? Thank you so much!!!! (I hope it makes sense)”

An Angel to Me

(Gender-neutral reader) “Erik’s s/o being an artist who loves to draw him but does it in secret in fear of upsetting him but Erik finds one specific drawing. The drawing is a charcoal drawing of him with angel wings (shirtless or not, either one works) and the drawing is of how his s/o sees him. In the drawing he’s radiating like an angel and he’s beautiful despite his scars and that’s when he realizes how much his s/o loves him and that he is worthy of her love (or something like that) and he starts crying. When his s/o comes back, she find him curled up in a corner crying clutching the drawing to him. When he sees her, he tells her how much he loves her and needs her (even tho she already knows) and they end up going through all her drawings of him together”

When You Are Hurting

(Female reader) “hi love! ❤️ i was wondering if i could request an erik x reader? just a hurt/comfort with some soft Erik, maybe set in poto?? maybe one where the reader is having a tough day?? please take your time!!! i know you’ve got a busy schedule :)”

A Modern Lady

(Female reader) “Hello! Can I please request a fic or HCs where erik is in a relationship with the reader but shes really modern and vulgar for someone living in the 19th century and keeps making him blush? But he really loves it?“

Together

(Female reader) “Can I make a Phantom x reader where the reader is the phantom’s wife or somethin’ and the Phantom wakes up from a bad nightmare but she is there to comfort him”

Dark Until I Met You

(Female reader) “Hello, I just want to say first of all that I adore your writing! I haven’t been able to find a story with this particular idea, so I thought I’d make a request. It’s completely your choice whether you want to write a fic of headcanons, but what do you think Erik’s relationship with a blind reader would be like?”

Just a Touch

(Female reader) “Hello! This is my first time requesting, so I’m not quite sure how things work. I was wondering if I could get a Phantom of the Opera x female reader, where he’s touch-starved and they’re just cuddling together. Thank you!”

So Much More

(Female Reader)

Prompt - “You didn’t deserve that…you deserved so much better.”

Promise I Make to You

(Gender neutral reader)

“As I've myself struggled with sh (I am 1 month clean, lemme just flex a lil bit) I've just had this scenario in my head where Erik in a way or another sees the readers sh scars/cuts for the first time and it's just pure fluff with a hint of angst. Also this is my first request ever, I've just fallen in love with the way you portray our not so local (unless u live in france) sewer man. Um ye <3 I shall go to sleep now”

Dancing in the Rain

(Gender neutral reader)

“Can u do poto Erik x reader with a reader who loves walking in the rain, even tho they get absolutely soaked Bc they don’t use an umbrella… so their hair is just absolutely drenched but reader doesn’t give a damn”

One Love, One Lifetime

(Gender neutral reader)

“Could I get a phantom of the opera x reader where the reader is the soulmate of his. The reader has a line of one of his songs. Maybe music of the night? The 2004 version of phantom of the opera. Do you do smut? If not that's fine. It can be fluff too.”

Meg Giry x Phantom:

Leading Woman

(Meg Giry x Phantom) Meg being willing to do whatever the Phantom suggests, even though his attention is on Christine. Finally, Meg has had enough and decided to meet the Phantom on his turf. Although he is upset at the disrespect and blatant neglect of his privacy, he is impressed by her lack of fear towards him and her gumption. Meg makes a case for herself, and the Phantom finally sees Meg for who she is, a leading woman.

Christine Daae:

You Can

(Female reader implied but could be read as gender neutral) Prompt - “I know you can.”

SUPERNATURAL -

Winchester Brothers:

It’s in the Eyes

(Winchester brothers x gn!reader) “… At the moment I’m sort of dating a guy who was broken up with fairly recently and he’s not sure of his feelings (I think he’s really just scared to open up again). Anyway I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind could you write a happy ending/fluff for us with one of the criminal minds/spn guys?”

Dean Winchester:

Something Good

(Gender neutral reader) “Something Good” from the musical The Sound of Music as inspiration for the fic

Care for You 

(Female reader) “Hello !!! Can I have Dean Winchester x reader? Reader has been so caught up in her work that they forget to eat. They get extremely lightheaded and stumble a little. Dean steadies them and he is worried when he finds out they forgot to eat. While he is making food they faint and land (luckily) on the couch. When he’s done, he comes back,at first he thinks that they’re just laying down but he kinda freaks out when he realizes that reader is unconscious. ( I forget to eat sometimes) THANK YOU🥺💚”

[cal-puddies]

you and ash used to date before he was famous, and he breaks up with you bc touring while dating would be too hard and a few weeks later you found out you were pregnant but you couldnt face him so you raise the baby alone, a few years later ashton is home visiting his parents, who know about the baby but swore to secrecy, and he sees you with the small child and put two and two together?

meet fletch || pt 1 || pt 2 || pt 3 || pt 4 || pt 5 || pt 6

You turn off your tv and sigh, you look at your 6 year old, the absolute spitting image of his father, right down to the green eyes and curls. “You look just like him.” You mumble.

“Who mama?” Fletcher asks.

“No one bubba. Mama is just talking to herself.”

“We goin to gamma?” He asks, because he loved ash’s mom, she knew all about Fletcher and you were happy to have her in his life. Lauren knew Fletcher was ashtons as well, but they’d both sworn they wouldn’t say a word.

You scoop up the boy, “yes, we’re gonna have dinner with Gamma and lauren.” You nod, kissing his cheek. “Get your shoes.”

You and Ash had decided to break up when he’d left for London with the boys, you hadn’t seen or spoken to him since, it was too much, first love and all. You’d found out weeks after he left that you were pregnant, and you didn’t want to stand in the way of his dreams. So you let him go… as much as you could. Fletcher James came out looking like Ash did as a baby, and you’d looped Anne Marie in, of course she wanted to be apart of his life, and she understood why you couldn’t tell Ashton.

You unbuckle him from his car seat and he runs into Anne’s waiting arms, she quickly passes him over to Lauren so you can hug. You watch as he smushes her cheeks between his hands and kisses her quick. Lauren laughs and puts him down, grabbing his hand.

“He’s getting so big.” Anne mentions.

“He looks more like his dad every day.” You nod, looking at him, he was coloring.

“Yeah he does.” Lauren agrees. “He’ll be home next week.” She offers.

“Are you ever gonna tell him?” Anne asks.

“I don’t know. It’d do now what it would have done then, stunt his career. And I don’t want to do that to him.” You shake your head.

“But think about what Ashton would want. He’d want to know his son, of that I am very sure.” Lauren points out.

“I know you’re right.” You nod. “I just don’t know how to do it now.” You shrug.

You forget about the boys coming home. And you take fletcher out for a little shopping day. He’s growing like a week and he needs some new clothes. You run into Luke, you’d met him once briefly at the movies with Ashton. He kind of eyes the boy, but doesn’t say anything.

Even running into Luke, you don’t think anything about Ashton being in town.

But he thinks about you. He always does when he’s in town, and especially seeing you across the street right now, with a little boy.

It stays in his mind, but of course you moved on. He was gone and you stopped talking, there’s no way you were still holding on to him.

“Hey mom.” He asks, at home with his family. She looks at him. “Do you ever talk to my ex anymore? The one from here? We broke up when I left.” He reminds her.

“Uh, when I see her out occassionally we’ll chat, why?”

“I saw her. When Luke and I were out today, did you know she has a kid? Or I assumed it’s her kid anyway.”

“Yeah… a little boy, he’s six.” Anne confirms.

“Did she get married?” he asks.

“No, she’s raising him alone.” She shrugs, clearly not wanting to talk about it anymore.

But it keeps Ashton up, because if he’s six and you didn’t get married… could this kid be his? Then he thinks better of it. You knew how important that’d be to him. And he doesn’t think that you’d do something like that to him.

He hears you, “C’mon Fletch.” He’d know your voice anywhere.

You see Anne first, Ashton following her through the grocery store, just trying to spend time with his mom.

“Fletcher James.” Anne Marie says, completely forgetting that Ash is there.

The boy runs to her. “Hi gramma!” He greets, kissing her cheek.

You stop dead in your tracks when you see Ashton. He eyes you, and looks at the kid.

You approach slowly, “hey ash.” You say, fletcher wiggles away from Anne and comes back to you.

“Hey.” He looks slightly upset.

But Anne Marie cuts in. “Why don’t you finish your grocery shopping and come see Ash at ours.” She suggests, and you nod and agree.

“You knew.” He mentions to her.

“Now is not the time Ashton.” She chides, as they walk away.

Fletcher runs to the door when you get to Anne’s, he lets himself in and runs right into Ashton, as you walk through the door.

“Who’s this little guy?” He asks, crouching to Fletch’s level.

“This is Fletcher James, fletch. Fletch, this is Ashton.” You introduce.

“How do you know momma?” He asks.

“I’ve known your mom, probably since we were your age.” Ash explains.

“How do you know gramma?” Fletch asks.

“She’s my mom.” He explains.

“Oh, cool.” Fletch grins, he looks back at you, “can I go see aunt Lauren?”

“Yeah bub, go ahead.” You nod.

Ash waits till he’s out of ear shot, “he looks just like me.” He points out.

“Which is why I couldn’t keep it from your mom.” You nod.

“But you could keep it from me?” He hisses.

“You haven’t even asked if he’s actually yours!” You exclaim.

“Baby, how could he not be. This timeline… you got pregnant the last time we were together, which makes sense on why you wouldn’t have told me before I left, and we didn’t speak after… but why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t tell you, for you.” You say.

“Why don’t you two go out back? we’ll keep an eye on fletch.” Anne ushers you away.

“You know what this would have meant to me.” Ash accuses, as soon as youre out the door.

“And I know it would have stopped you, you would have come home, you wouldn’t have pursued your career and fuck Ashton, you are phenomenal. People love you. They love your music and they love your vision. I couldn’t let you give that up.” You sigh, “we both know, if I’d said something, if I’d reached out, you wouldn’t have stayed in the band… And we’re ok. Fletch and I… were good. He’s so smart Ash and musically inclined just like his dad.”

“Does he know about me at all?” Ash asks.

“I tell him you love him, but I’ve never told him your name or what you do, or where you are.” You shrug.

“He deserves to know those things.” Ash whispers. “And I deserve to know about him; his favorite color, his first word… I would have wanted to be around for those things.”

“I know Ashton… I know.” You nod.

Ashton is annoyed, and the guys know. By now he’s spilled everything to them; half in an effort to get them against you, and half to see what they’d say.

“I get why you’re mad mate.” Cal clamps him on the shoulder and sits next to him. “But you’re looking at it all wrong. You’re looking at it very one sided.”

“What do you mean? She took away the chance to know my son.”

“Yes, I understand you feel that way. But I’ve been thinking about this. She didn’t completely take away the chance because he still exists. But she gave you a gift, mate. She allowed you to follow your dreams. She truly took the completely selfless way about this. And I know it’s hard for you to see that right now.”

“I just want to be able to know him.” Ash says.

“So ask for that.” Luke shrugs.

“I did… she refused to move to LA so he’d be closer.” He scoffs.

“That kinda makes sense too though, right? She doesn’t have anything in LA Ash. No family, no friends, no job.”

“She’d have me.”

“But the only reason you want her there is for your kid. You have Kay Kay now. You don’t want her, so the only reason she has to move there is for you to know Fletch.” Cal shrugs.

“Huh.” Ash sighs, “I didn’t think of it that way.” He admits.

[world-en0ugh-and-time]

Watching Classic Doctor Who!

#1: An Unearthly Child, 1963.

A new blog series in which I (a 20 year old who grew up with NuWho) watch every surviving episode of Classic Who ever and share my thoughts!

[all images/screen caps mine. feel free to use, credit if you’re feeling extra nice!]

(previous posts: [1], [2])

At 5:16 pm on Saturday 23rd November 1963, when the first ever du-du-du-du sounded from television screens across Britain, whilst a strange light cut a black background and morphed into strange abstract pattern while the now iconic wee-wooo-woooo played, I don’t think anybody could have predicted that almost 56 years later, that theme would be one of the most recognisable tunes in television history.

Over 40 years later, a little girl watched a blue box fly through strange circles of light and heard the same theme play for the first time, the words “Doctor Who” appearing in an orange oblong shape, and my own love for this remarkable programme was born. Just as my father, aged eleven in 1963 had been drawn in by this exciting new adventure in time and space, I was smitten, and thirteen years later my love is still going strong. So read on for my thoughts/review/commentary on the first ever story that Doctor Who gifted to us, An Unearthly Child! I’ll try and keep it spoiler free for those who haven’t seen it before.

The first thing I noticed was how similar the original theme music arrangement was to the current version today. I miss Murray Gold’s music massively but I love this nod to the show’s roots that Segun Akinola has given us! It really fits with Chibnall’s back-to-basics take on the show. The original title sequence is so trippy and cool, amazing given the limited technology in the early sixties!

The first main characters we meet are schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, who muse over strange but brilliant fifteen year old student, Susan Foreman, whose grandfather “doesn’t like strangers”. Barbara lends Susan a huge book on the French Revolution, which she promises to have read by the next morning. Gallifreyans seem to have the skills to read incredibly fast, and I like the nod to this concept in the first ever episode of the rebooted series, where Nine reads a whole book in seconds.

When Barbara and Ian follow Susan “home”, she enters an empty junkyard and disappears. The only thing in the yard is a blue police telephone box... This show instantly feels wonderfully familiar and I know I’m in for a great time.

And then we meet the Doctor, the original Doctor! William Hartnell is old and crotchety and clever and wonderful and although a far cry from Matt Smith or Jodie Whittaker, I instantly feel that this is the Doctor, and he is brilliant.

Ian: I think we’d better go and fetch a policeman. And you’re coming with us!

The Doctor, very sarcastically: oooh, am I?

I love the sass!

Without giving too much else away, episode 1/4 culminates in the Doctor kidnapping Barbara and Ian (another great nod from Chibnall by having Thirteen do the same thing to her first companions, albeit accidentally) and I did laugh out loud when the T.A.R.D.I.S. taking off made Barbara and Ian faint, VERY dramatically. The big reveal of the bigger on the inside doesn’t disappoint, and once again this grainy old black and white programme from 35 years before I was even born feels completely like home.

The next three episodes are set in 100,000 BC, where the Doctor and his companions find themselves trying to escape a tribe of savage cavemen. My archaeological knowledge did ruin this a bit as by the Middle Palaeolithic, man definitely had command of fire (evidence suggests that homo erectus were already using fire!) and it is rather an insult to our poor hunter-gatherer ancestors dressing them up like Neanderthals and suggesting they have no concept of friendship. But the story is great fun and we get to see some early character development, although I was not at all happy when the Doctor was willing to smash the skull of an injured caveman just because he was slowing down their escape! I like the theory that Ian stopping him is what cemented his love for humanity and stopped him from going ‘too far’, though, and makes me think of the wonderful friendship that was Donna and Ten.

And a favourite quote,

The Doctor: Fear makes companions of us all.

He says this to Barbara when she remarks on him being kind to her, and is such a central idea to Doctor Who. Of course Moffat would make it that CLARA implanted this sentiment in a young Doctor’s mind in Listen, which is really quite infuriating as while I liked Clara, Moffat’s lowkey obsession with her as a character was rather tiresome after a while. Still, I like the connections that can be made between Classic and NuWho.

Needless to say they make it out alive and fly off to a new planet, where a Geiger counter needle creeping to “critical” leaves us on a cliffhanger for the next story: The Daleks. On the screen we see a (incredibly unrealistic) jungle world. We have arrived for the first time on the planet Skaro.

Some overall thoughts then.

Characters:

Susan’s premise is great, but her constant screaming gets annoying after a while. Apparently this is why Carole Ann Ford left the role, and tbh I can see why. I love her’s and her grandfather, the Doctor’s relationship though!

Barbara and Ian are cuties together! I ship it. Ian is certainly a “tiresome young man” at times but I like the two overall. Look how cute!!

The Doctor! Yes, I love Hartnell! I’m looking forward to him softening up a bit but I can really see where Capaldi took inspiration from him and I do love grumpy space grandpa!Doctor.

The story:

Prehistoric inaccuracies aside, it was a fun story. The set and props are laughable at times but it’s the low-budget-ness of this show that is one of the things I love. Shoutout to this hilarious dead wild boar:

I’d like to take a minute to cry about the fact that ‘John Smith’ isn’t any old alias, but a member of one of the Doctor’s grandaughter’s favourite Earth bands. (S)he’s such a softie at heart. I wonder what alias Thirteen would take.

The T.A.R.D.I.S. interior is great. It has the original round things! I love the round things!

Fun facts:

The bones in the ‘Cave of Skulls’ came from an abattoir. Apparently they smelt awful under the hot studio lights.

The assassination of JFK took place the day before the first episode aired. They re-aired the episode the next week before the second ep as viewing figures had been low due the the news.

And that’s me about done! Sorry this post has been SUPER long, but I hope it’s an interesting read for modern and classic Who fans alike! Next post, my thoughts on the first ever meeting of the Doctor and the Daleks.