Jowett, Lorna

English

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Trust me, I’m a Time Lord:Doctor Who needs to diversify

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Trust me, I’m a Time Lord : Doctor Who needs to diversify

This work has been submitted to NECTAR, the NorthamptonElectronic Collection of Theses and Research.ArticleTitle: Trust me, I’m a Time Lord: Doctor Who needs to diversifyCreators: Jowett, L.Example citation: Jowett, L. (2013) Trust me, I’m a Time Lord: DoctorWho needs to diversify. The Conversation.Version: Published versionOfficial URL: http://theconversation.com/trust-me-im-a-time-lord-doctor-who-needs-to-diversify-15066http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/5499/NECTARIs Doctor Who in need of a 50-year service? StefanRousseau/PA WireUK betaUK beta AU13 June 2013, 2.33pm BSTTrust me, I’m a Time Lord: Doctor Whoneeds to diversifyLorna JowettReader in Television Studies at University of NorthamptonDISCLOSURE STATEM ENTLorna Jowett does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from anycompany or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.As television series DoctorWho reaches its 50-yearanniversary it has attractedcriticism for being outdated.Is Doctor Who “thunderouslyracist”? Should the newDoctor be a woman? Do wehave unreasonableexpectations of what is, afterall, just a television show?Much of the recent publicdebate has focused oncasting. Since it wasannounced that Matt Smith, who currently plays the Doctor, will be stepping down therehave, predictably, been articles speculating about who will take over. Yet articles have alsocalled for change, or debated whether the new Doctor should be someone other than awhite male, in keeping with a more diverse 21st-century British population. Casting is avisible sign of the perceived inequalities of a long-running programme. Fewer articles havefocused on female writers and directors on Doctor Who. There are hardly any, as a blog inThe Guardian by Mathilda Gregory pointed out earlier this year.The dominance of white men in both casting and crew of a major television series may notcome as any surprise to those familiar with the British television industry, and especiallywith a science fiction and fantasy production. But why is the nation suddenly concernedabout this? None of the news articles about Doctor Who have really addressed why theseries should carry responsibility for inclusive representation. It’s been taken as a given thatthe stories we tell are indicators of our society.Why is the Doctor different?Other Saturday evening family dramas don’t attract this kind of heated debate. Similarseries on BBC One, such as Robin Hood (2006-2009) and Merlin (2008-2012), also seemDoctor and Girl Friday: Have race and gender roles becometoo entrenched in Doctor Who? Ian West/PA WireClick to enlargeto be stuck with premises they cannot change, with central male protagonists and fewfemale characters. Both Merlin and Robin Hood tried to update their stories, givingprominent roles to the few women featured, or operating with colour blind casting. But theseseries never attracted the flak Doctor Who has taken recently.Doctor Who is differentsimply because it’s beenaround so long. It’s one ofthe longest running sciencefiction television series. It’sbecome a British institution,recognisable around theworld. And it’s a BBCflagship programme. Thepublic service remit of theBBC, combined with theclassic status of the seriessuggest that perhaps DoctorWho does have a duty toinform and educate as wellas to entertain, and to offer amore up to date reflection of today’s Britain.It seems ironic to say that Doctor Who, a series about a time traveller, is stuck in the past.Yet like that other famous British franchise, the James Bond film series, Doctor Whointroduced a particularly British protagonist to the world in the 1960s. Bond has also, ofnecessity, been reinvented over the decades and a series of actors have played 007. Butlike the Doctor, Bond remains white and male. The Bond movies have generally taken theroute of gentle, but affectionate, parody. For several instalments now, Bond has beenreferred to within the films as a dinosaur, an outmoded part of British society. He’s awomanising action hero secret agent in a world that no longer, seemingly, requires thiskind of heroism.Time Lords should push the boundariesAnd this is where Doctor Who differs. Science fiction, like other fantasy genres, often tells usabout ourselves and our world by giving us stories apparently about something orsomewhere else. Science fiction speculates, it asks, “what if…?” Doctor Who should pushthe boundaries of representation in the casting of its title character because it can. It’s amajor science fiction series with a protagonist who is an alien. The Doctor need not bebound by social conventions.Britain is famous for its creative industries and British television has a reputation for quality.Doctor Who is part of that success. In an era when even costume drama is becoming morecontemporary in its focus and concerns, franchises like Doctor Who should look to thefuture, as well as back to their roots.Imagine Idris Elba or Helen Mirren – who yesterday said it was time for a female Timelord tobe considered – as the Doctor. Some of the popular opinion offered recently implies thataudiences would feel such casting a betrayal of this familiar and much-loved character. Yet,the stories we tell have much to say about who we are and what we believe in.In “The Rings of Akhaten” earlier this year the Doctor made a speech about being a timetraveller: “I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe.” In 50 years of Doctor Who we’ve seenYeah – but have you got a sonic screw driver? Idris Elba asnext Time Lord? Ian West/PA WireClick to enlarge… Or Helen Mirren? Dominic Lipinski/PA WireClick to enlargedaleks invade earth, we’veseen dinosaurs on aspaceship, we’ve seenUFOs above Big Ben. Surelywe’re ready to believe in aDoctor who isn’t white andisn’t male.Sign in to FavouriteCopyright © 2010–2013, TheConversation Trust (UK)

Trust me, I’m a Time Lord : Doctor Who needs to diversify

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