How far should Doctor Who address real life issues?
daveyboy7472
Posts: 16,416 Forum Member
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Following on from a quick discussion in the Terrance Dicks thread, thought I'd start a separate debate how on far Doctor Who should really go in addressing topical and social issues.
As stated in other threads recently, I'm watching through the Pertwee Era at the moment and there seemed be an attempt in the latter of his Seasons to make audiences aware of topics like the environment and pollution etc through the stories broadcast but in my opinion, though there is nothing wrong with these issues being discussed, I think the production team overstepped the mark in preaching to the audience by having The Doctor making a number of small speeches on the subject, especially in stories like The Green Death and Invasion Of the Dinosaurs.
As a kid growing up, and even now actually, I watch Doctor Who because it's escapism as it's finest. If I'd had a bad day at school back then or a bad day at work now, what better than to sit down and escape to another planet for a 25/45 minutes and go for a trip in the TARDIS to another world and forget about everyday life. I think that's why I dislike the exile scenario so much because you just couldn't do that within the early stories of that period.
Obviously if you have stories set on Earth you can't get away from some current issues completely, but how far should it go before it stops becoming a Sci-Fi series and more like a soap or a documentary?
This is a problem I have with the aforementioned stories. I personally thought they went too far and suddenly it feels like I'm not watching Doctor Who anymore, but some other programme like Panorama, who are more likely to deal with such issues.
I think a couple of stories that got it spot on are The Curse Of Peladon and Nightmare Of Eden. The Peladon story as said in the thread for that story was a allegory of Britain entering the Common market. I feel it showed both sides of that issue with the characters involved but it didn't really preach and I said in that thread, The Doctor doesn't make any cringey speeches on the subject either.
With the Eden story, okay, it wasn't a great story and was overly comical but it did at least show the dangers of drugs but it did it through the stories and through the characters and The Doctor's cold response to Tryst prior to his arrest was as good a condemnation of drug taking as you can get without preaching to the audience, plus his comments of Vraxoin and it's dangers earlier in the story was done without making moralising speeches.
I know in the New Series, a lot of people were unhappy with the soap element but again, did it go so far as to be like EastEnders or Corrie etc? I thought it was borderline but acceptable.
Rightly or wrongly, these are just my opinions and as I say, don't have a problem with the issues raised but just how far they should go in Doctor Who and if some issues should be best left to other programmes who can deal with them better.
As stated in other threads recently, I'm watching through the Pertwee Era at the moment and there seemed be an attempt in the latter of his Seasons to make audiences aware of topics like the environment and pollution etc through the stories broadcast but in my opinion, though there is nothing wrong with these issues being discussed, I think the production team overstepped the mark in preaching to the audience by having The Doctor making a number of small speeches on the subject, especially in stories like The Green Death and Invasion Of the Dinosaurs.
As a kid growing up, and even now actually, I watch Doctor Who because it's escapism as it's finest. If I'd had a bad day at school back then or a bad day at work now, what better than to sit down and escape to another planet for a 25/45 minutes and go for a trip in the TARDIS to another world and forget about everyday life. I think that's why I dislike the exile scenario so much because you just couldn't do that within the early stories of that period.
Obviously if you have stories set on Earth you can't get away from some current issues completely, but how far should it go before it stops becoming a Sci-Fi series and more like a soap or a documentary?
This is a problem I have with the aforementioned stories. I personally thought they went too far and suddenly it feels like I'm not watching Doctor Who anymore, but some other programme like Panorama, who are more likely to deal with such issues.
I think a couple of stories that got it spot on are The Curse Of Peladon and Nightmare Of Eden. The Peladon story as said in the thread for that story was a allegory of Britain entering the Common market. I feel it showed both sides of that issue with the characters involved but it didn't really preach and I said in that thread, The Doctor doesn't make any cringey speeches on the subject either.
With the Eden story, okay, it wasn't a great story and was overly comical but it did at least show the dangers of drugs but it did it through the stories and through the characters and The Doctor's cold response to Tryst prior to his arrest was as good a condemnation of drug taking as you can get without preaching to the audience, plus his comments of Vraxoin and it's dangers earlier in the story was done without making moralising speeches.
I know in the New Series, a lot of people were unhappy with the soap element but again, did it go so far as to be like EastEnders or Corrie etc? I thought it was borderline but acceptable.
Rightly or wrongly, these are just my opinions and as I say, don't have a problem with the issues raised but just how far they should go in Doctor Who and if some issues should be best left to other programmes who can deal with them better.
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Comments
Also, I would argue the Peladon stories especially Curse goes into more detail about the issues than the Green Death or Invasion of the Dinosaurs. As I said before you could easily replicate the story by replacing the aliens with people representing the members of the European Economic Community.
But I like the idea of Doctor Who addressing other issues and putting a spin on them with it's themes and content. Like imagine a person who is dying and has a bucket list so the Doctor helps them achieve this with the TARDIS. Or he could use it to take people back to see someone who is gone. Something like that.
I agree, it should be subtly done and the issue would have to be stripped to its bare components so that ethics, philosophy and justice become the more explicit themes.
It's a tricky balance - one that Doctor Who has gotten very right and very wrong in equal measure, I'm sure.
Doctor Who is no different in this respect to Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Space 1999, Red Dwarf, Star Wars, Planet of the Apes, Utopia, Almost Human, (and a list longer than a loo roll). Books are the same. The only issue is how well or subtly it is done....Do it well and you can get a message ingrained into small children without them even thinking about it in later life.
I would agree with that to a point but I think with the Peladon story, it isn't in your face. It's sort of presented as an analogy of what was happening at the time and The Doctor isn't making these little speeches and moralising like he did in the two stories I mentioned.
Maybe with the Panorama thing I didn't explain properly what I was thinking. I was just saying that it's the sort of subject which would be explored in a program like that.
Off the top of my head I can't think of the preachey speeches youre talking about. I can think of a couple in Planet of the Daleks which are great but obviously this is not a story you are referring to.
Ironically after Pertwee the most moralistic Doctor I can think of is Davison, maybe because Pertwee is a stronger character and Davison a bit more wet he doesn't stand out as much.
So yeah, a good thing I think, but must be handled well...
Also, I'd like DW to be escapist, it's a fantasy series after all.
I will just point out that though I love the escapist nature of the show, i do like to think as well. it is conceivable to do both. I know it seems sometimes that the only reason I watch the show is for some action packed adventure and a certain amount of that is true but I also like to have a good think and work things out for myself at the same time. That's why I love Agatha Christie's Stories so much.
The fantasy nature of the show is why I watch Doctor Who, there isn't enough of this sort of show on telly. A large amount of the BBC's output is dominated by Cop Shows, Cookery Programmes and Antiques. That has it's own audience but I find it excessive.
That's why I think Doctor Who should only go so far in portraying real life issues. It's a fantasy series, it's getting away from those other shows, and it's about getting the balance right as obviously you can't ignore real life completely or you'd never be able to tell a decent story at all.
I broadly agree with where you're coming from on this, when any show gets "preachy" it can drag you out of the fiction and out of the story. Interesting you mention Agatha Christie as "The Unicorn and The Wasp" managed to cover a gay relationship, marital problems, Britain's attitude to India among others all in the guise of a rip-roaring science-fiction whodunnit-come-farce.
I hesitate to accuse the BBC of biasing output towards the genres you list though, yes cookery, antiques and cop shows are popular, but in general the formerly-terrestrial 5 networks tend to balance out (apart from the World Cup Final which was frankly bizarre showing simultaneously on BBC1 and ITV.) That said, you're right that DW is pretty much unique on UK TV at the moment and probably ever has been thus, which is presumably why it's now stronger than it possibly ever has been.
In the end, it all comes down to writing and the best DW stories are those where you can watch for escapism or delve a little deeper and think: "Boom Town" (under-rated in my opinion) is a classic example as the themes over dinner are very heavy for a family show but done in such a way that they're undercut with comedy assassination attempts.
I will rectify that point in that I was referring mainly to BBC1 which seems to me anytime a new drama starts it seems to be cop related somehow. (Not every drama but I seem to see a cop there somewhere) I don't watch the other BBC Channels much but I know cookery programmes still seem rife on BBC 2. BBC 3 and 4 seems more geared towards a certain audience.
Interesting point about the Unicorn and The Wasp. I think the one thing Doctor Who has done quite well with historical stories is show things as they were back then without overly preaching even if they are wrong. I think The Aztecs was a great example of this. Show that the Human Sacrifices, though wrong, were a part of Aztec Culture, but it showed the other side with the beautiful paintings etc. The Doctor's attitude was that this was their life, you have to accept it.
The Unicorn and The Wasp as you say, displayed attitudes to India at the time but as you say, it was melded into a good entertaining adventure.
That is where it went wrong in the Pertwee Era for me. Not only was a point being made through the stories themselves but The Doctor was actually seen to just stand there and give a little speech on the message of the story.
I was asked which scenes I was referring to, well, one that stands out is right at the end of Invasion Of The Dinosaurs:
DOCTOR: Yes, well, of course he was mad. But at least he realised the dangers this planet of yours is in, Brigadier. The danger of it becoming one vast garbage dump inhabited only by rats.
BRIGADIER: It'll never happen, Doctor.
DOCTOR: It's not the the oil and the filth and the poisonous chemicals that are the real cause of pollution, Brigadier. It's simply greed.
This scene always makes me cringe every time I watch it. I think this one in particular was very preachy. I think the story already had sold the message, it didn't need any further input from The Doctor to push it through. It's almost like Jerry Springer's thought for the day(or whatever it's called) at the end of one of his shows!
It was almost as if he was lecturing to the audience, that's how I perceive it anyway. Others may view it differently and I don't have any problem with that.
Yes, I absolutely agree with above comments that other Doctor's have done it as well, but not in this direct sort of way.