History Recap / DoctorWhoS1E3TheEdgeofDestruction

--->'''Barbara''': How dare you! Do you realise, you stupid old man, that you'd have died in the Cave of Skulls if Ian hadn't made fire for you? And what about what we went through against the Daleks? Not just for us, but for you and Susan too. And all because you tricked us into going down to the city. Accuse us? You ought to go down on your hands and knees and thank us. But gratitude's the last thing you'll ever have, or any sort of common sense either.

--> We're at the very beginning, the new start of a solar system. Outside, the atoms are rushing towards each other. Fusing, coagulating, until minute little collections of matter are created. And so the process goes on, and on until dust is formed. Dust then becomes solid entity. A new birth, of a sun and its planets.

* RealityEnsues: The story shows how scary and dangerous it can be living in an alien ship that is apparently alive, is broken and which the Doctor doesn't entirely understand how to work, which is usually PlayedForLaughs. A minor fault on the console almost destroys the TARDIS by throwing it back through time towards the creation of a galaxy and the TARDIS's attempts to warn the crew leave them confused and scared something else is inside the ship.

->''As we learn about each other, so we learn about ourselves.''

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:

* BillionsOfButtons: The console's (as iconic to ''Doctor Who'' as the blue police box) caused the actors to start [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fast_return_9567.png labeling them.]]Incidentally, on the [=DVDs=] it turns out that nobody is sure who actually wrote it. Creator/CaroleAnnFord suggests it may have been her and Hartnell during rehearsal, but she isn't sure.

One of ''Doctor Who''[='s=] few {{Bottle Episode}}s, "The Edge of Destruction" (a.k.a. "Inside the Spaceship") is a two-part oddity wedged between two longer stories. Originally, the show was confirmed for four episodes (the opening story) to be reviewed up... then it was increased to 13, two more than "The Daleks" allowed for. Worse, there was no money for sets or extras. Although it's a filler episode, the story triggers some very important CharacterDevelopment for the Doctor and his friendship with Barbara.

** This episode is a major stepping stone in having the Doctor's personality be more like what we know today rather than the {{Jerkass}} seen previously.

** However, considering the Doctor concedes that the TARDIS ''does'' possess a "machine intelligence" due to its many computers, and it's eventually revealed that the TARDIS ''is'' communicating with the group, this episode [[FridgeBrilliance can easily be read as the moment where the Doctor realized just how intelligent the TARDIS really is]]. It's still [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness a pretty far cry]] from the TARDIS having "a heart and soul" that [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E11BoomTown manifests]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays as glowy yellow light]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife is sentient enough to manifest in humanoid form]], though.

* ShearMenace: Susan threatening the others with a pair of large and lethal-looking dress scissors is one of the story's most memorable moments (it's the current page image).

* AHouseDivided: The main characters are stuck in the TARDIS. Outside, the ship is about to tear itself apart and inside they're at each other's throats.

** However, considering the Doctor concedes that the TARDIS ''does'' possess a "machine intelligence" due to its many computers, and it's eventually revealed that the TARDIS ''is'' communicating with the group, this episode [[FridgeBrilliance can easily be read as the moment where the Doctor realized just how intelligent the TARDIS really is]]. It's still [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness a pretty far cry]] from the TARDIS having "a heart and soul" that [[DoctorWhoS27E11BoomTown manifests]] [[DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays as glowy yellow light]] and [[DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife is sentient enough to manifest in humanoid form]], though.

* BillionsOfButtons: The console's (as iconic to ''Doctor Who'' as the blue police box) caused the actors to start [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fast_return_9567.png labeling them.]]Incidentally, on the [=DVDs=] it turns out that nobody is sure who actually wrote it. Carole Ann Ford suggests it may have been her and Hartnell during rehearsal, but she isn't sure.

* NoodleIncident: Susan recognises a photograph on the screen as Quinnis, a planet in the fourth universe where she and the Doctor nearly lost the TARDIS.

* NoAntagonist: Unless a faulty spring counts, there is no bad guy here.

--->'''Barbara''': Accuse us? You ought to go down on your hands and knees and thank us!

** However, considering the Doctor concedes that the TARDIS ''does'' possess a "machine intelligence" due to its many computers, and it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:the TARDIS ''is'' communicating with the group]], this episode [[FridgeBrilliance can easily be read as the moment where the Doctor realized just how intelligent the TARDIS really is]]. It's still [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness a pretty far cry]] from the TARDIS having "a heart and soul" that [[DoctorWhoS27E11BoomTown manifests]] [[DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays as glowy yellow light]] and [[DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife is sentient enough to manifest in humanoid form]], though.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Barbara gives the Doctor a big lecture about how he cares nothing about anyone else, thinks that he is the most important person in the universe, has no sense of right and wrong, just does whatever he wants to all the time even if it endangers other people, and is a horrible man, a terrible grandfather and genuinely deserves to be dead. This leaves him quite shaken, and the final part of the serial shows him apologising to her for his behaviour and admitting that her spirit in calling him out on it is the same thing that caused her to figure out what was wrong with the TARDIS and how to save them all. This is very important in giving him CharacterDevelopment.

* ContinuityNod: As Barbra is chewing out the Doctor, she mentions the events of the previous serials.

One of ''Doctor Who''[='s=] few {{Bottle Episode}}s, "The Edge of Destruction" (aka "Inside the Spaceship") is a two-part oddity wedged between two longer stories. Originally, the show was confirmed for four episodes (the opening story) to be reviewed up... then it was increased to 13, two more than "The Daleks" allowed for. Worse, there was no money for sets or extras. Although it's a filler episode, the story triggers some very important CharacterDevelopment for the Doctor and his friendship with Barbara.

!!Tropes

* WhatTheHellHero: Delivered by Barbara to the Doctor about his awful behaviour.

* WhatTheHellHero: Delivered by Barbara to the Doctor about his awful behavior.

* BottleEpisode: The entire story takes place in the TARDIS and its functions are shutting down, so a minimalist thing. The production crew likely needed bottle episode at this point due to problems with the first two serials, including the first episode of each needing to be redone due to problems.

* BottleEpisode: The entire episode takes place in the T.A.R.D.I.S and its functions are shutting down, so a minimalist thing. The production crew likely needed bottle episode at this point due to problems with the first two serials, including the first episode of each needing to be redone due to problems.

* BottleEpisode: The entire episode takes place in the T.A.R.D.I.S and its functions are shutting down, so a minimalist thing.

** This episode is a major stepping stone in having the Doctor's personality be more like what we know today rather than the {{Jerkass}}ery seen previously.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Ian checks the Doctor's heartbeat and only hears a single beat. It's later established that the Doctor has two hearts.

%%* EldritchLocation: The TARDIS itself becomes one.

** This story begins developing the TARDIS, the first story to even hint at it being autonomous. Before this, it was mostly treated as any other time machine/spaceship; after this, writers and serials would hint more and more at it being alive, before finally being confirmed in "The Doctor's Wife".

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Ian checks the Doctor's heartbeat and only hears a single beat. It's later established that the Doctor has two hearts.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: That Susan would be the most affected by the malunctioning TARDIS makes a lot of sense after the latter revelation of her having above-average (even by Gallifreyan standards), but far from fully trained/controlled psychic abilities.