Originally Posted by Zeppelyn56:
“Question, when I was growing up all these episodes had individual titles. Does anyone know when each story was given a title? I'm guessing it was maybe when they were originally released on video but just curious.”
The video releases have tended to standardise them, but they often had different titles in use before that. For example, here's what Wiki says about the first serial:
Quote:
“As was usual at the beginning of the series' history, no overall title appeared on-screen, and each episode has its own title. 100,000 BC is the title that was used by the production team at the time of transmission. However, due to the absence of an overall onscreen title for the four-episode storyline, reference works have used various titles, some originating from the BBC Production Office and others seemingly invented by fans.
Titles used for the story include, in rough chronological order:
The Tribe of Gum: An early working title which was used up until the beginning of recording. It survived in a few documents derived from earlier paperwork, such as the payments for overseas sales, and started appearing again in reference works in the late 1970s and 1980s, including being used when the transcript of the serial was published by Titan Books.
100,000 BC: The first-known use is a publicity release dating from when the story was being recorded, and this title is used on subsequent lists and publicity releases.
The Palaeolithic Age: Used by producer Verity Lambert in a letter to a viewer in late 1964.
The Stone Age: Used on the biography listing on a publicity release for a later story in late 1965.
An Unearthly Child (or variants thereof): The title of the first episode, used by the 1973 Radio Times Tenth Anniversary Special and subsequently by the 1976 edition of The Making of Doctor Who, with much subsequent commercial use, including the novelisation, VHS and DVD releases of the story.
Many documents lack any title at all (whereas for later stories they are clearer), including the 1974 BBC Enterprises listing A Quick Guide to Doctor Who, which was the main source of titles for most early fan reference works.
Which title should be used is a subject that has generated controversy amongst fans of the series. Fan researchers such as David J. Howe argue that since 100,000 BC was used by the production team at the time of transmission, it is the most accurate title. However, the BBC markets the story as An Unearthly Child. Consequently, this became the most common title used for the story.”
