Doctor Who and the UK

[Joy]

So, I'm doing a paper in my British Literature class, and I've chosen Doctor Who as my topic. However, with me being American, I need a little help...

Which Doctor Who episodes (either Classic or nuWho) are good examples of British life in any time of history? Which ones are good representations of British nationalism and/or political allegory? Any good quotes (and which eps do these come from?) from the Doctor or other characters in relation to Britain (like, any quips about the Doctor tending to always land in the UK)?

Additionally, do you know if any good sources--newspaper articles, etc. (need to be online)--concerning how Doctor Who has influenced/permeated into real life in Britain (for example, Dalek and TARDIS being added to the OED)..? One thing that comes to mind is the "behind the couch" phrase... Does anyone know a good source that covers the origination of that phrase? Is it true that it owes its existence to Doctor Who?

I just need a good list of eps to use as a starting point for me to watch as well as some legitimate online sources for articles on the history and influence of Doctor Who.

 

[captcalhoun]

read the wiki article on the show and follow their links for it's cultural impact.

Idiot's Lantern is probably a good one for showing life in '52 and the coronation.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

War Machines give you a really good look at London in the mid 60.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

(Note: I'm not from the UK...) The new series itself might be a representation of British nationalism. There seems to be a lot of self-referential and patriotic bits in there.

I think the phrase is usually hiding behind the sofa, you might find more references than with couch.

 

[diankra]

Get hold of the About Time books, by Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood, which give chapter and verse on British politics and popular culture (including the Top 10) at the time these stories were made, and transmitted.

 

[WillsBabe]

I think the phrase is usually hiding behind the sofa, you might find more references than with couch.

There are loads of examples of British life in Who. The whole thing in fact is an example. Here are a few things off the top of my head:

In the 11th Hour, the Doctor tells young Amelia she's Scottish and should fry something. That is a reference to the (right or wrong) perception that the Scots have a poor diet, the epitome of which is fried food, particularly fried Mars Bars.

In The Beast Below, the Scots have gone off on a ship of their own - a reference of the bristly relationship between the Scots and England.

The Brigadier is the very model of the British idea of a military man, upper class, honourable, edging towards the eccentric. In recent "modern" Who, UNIT are represented not as the trusted, unthreatening (towards the populace) tool of democracy (as they were in the 70s), but an instrument of an untrusted Government. They may have their own agenda and power and are now a threatening force in ways they weren't in Classic Who. An indication, maybe, of how the British have come to view its Government and their instruments.

The 9th Doctor and the conversation in Rose: "but you're from the North". There is a whole dissertation waiting to happen in that line about the British class system, accents and the casting of hero types.

Captain Jack's sexuality and Barrowman's casting are an example of British culture. Jack's omnisexuality and crush on the Doctor and Barrowman's sexuality are good indicator's of the general level of British comfort with the notion of homosexuality in national life.

When the Third Doctor dresses as a cleaning woman it reminds me of the tradition of men dressing as women in British entertainment.

In Inferno, in the alterntive universe, the UNIT characters dress in uniforms and styles reminiscent of Brownshirts/WW2 Nazis. This tv grammar for "bad guys" in this country would not have been misunderstood at that time, nor afterwards.

In a continuing theme from above, In Journey's End there is a Dalek speaking German. We know that Journey's End is modern day, that the Dalek is not Nazi, but for several generations of viewers the notion of occupation; enemy, threat and the German language are all linked, and the moment of a German speaking Dalek is a scary one for several reasons.

It's interesting that this thread should happen right now. My husband and I were only talking yesterday about the Britishness of Who and how easy or not it would be to identify its Britishness and explain it to someone from another culture, in terms even of not being able to recognise what is British about it. Sometimes you can be so embedded in your own culture that you don't recognise it yourself.

Family of Blood is a fabulous example of British culture - the enduring regret for a generation of young men sent to slaughter and the nation's recognition of it on Rememberance Sunday; the idea of the lonely, isolated, possibly sexually repressed school master; the idea that "every man will do his duty" and how those men are children. However far British life has travelled from that there is still something in our national psyche, particulalry in the establishment that leads back to the time when this episode is set and the sacrifice of those young men. For me the thing that makes the character of Doctor Who British is 10's arrival on the village green wearning a poppy.

The phrase "it's like the Tardis in here" isn't an unusual one over here in the UK. It's used sometimes if there's a lot of stuff unexpectedly crammed into a small space: a handbag that's full of stuff; when you can't find things in a drawer that's untidy, a small room that's got lots of furniture. It's used in a complimentary or derogatory fashion.

I have a question for Joy. Just out of interest, really. Your British Literature class - what examples of non-English literature are you studying? Since you are studying literature, how come you are doing a paper on a tv programme?

 

[Tomalak]

I have a question for Joy. Just out of interest, really. Your British Literature class - what examples of non-English literature are you studying? Since you are studying literature, how come you are doing a paper on a tv programme?

I was going to ask that. Sounds like a good class!

 

[Joy]

So, my paper is now not due until Thursday. So, I've uploaded it to Google Docs and if anyone wants to check it out and let me know if I have misunderstood or mangled anything, that'd be great. I really can't do much more by way of putting any additional recommendations of episodes within the paper because I'm already way over the suggested word count, but I'd love to see people continue to discuss this topic. As an American who has fallen in love with British entertainment (movies, TV, music, etc), I'm always interested in learning about British culture and how it is represented in UK media.

"Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Whimey!": Doctor Who and Its Place in British Culture

It's interesting that this thread should happen right now. My husband and I were only talking yesterday about the Britishness of Who and how easy or not it would be to identify its Britishness and explain it to someone from another culture, in terms even of not being able to recognise what is British about it. Sometimes you can be so embedded in your own culture that you don't recognise it yourself.

Interesting that you should mention that, as my folklore professor was just today talking about how people who are in a folk group tend not to recognize their own aspects of folk life as being anything more than "just what we do."

I have a question for Joy. Just out of interest, really. Your British Literature class - what examples of non-English literature are you studying? Since you are studying literature, how come you are doing a paper on a tv programme?

Ah, yes, got the same question on Livejournal. The assignment is to argue for the addition of a "text" to our current syllabus, for possible use in future semesters of this course.

My professor is HUGE on pop culture, so she is very lenient when it comes to using the term "literature," and she considers television and movies to be "visual literature." They feature words, characters, plots, so "video texts" are open territory for this assignment.

Since I didn't end up using Doctor Who for my critical analysis in her class last semester (Intro to Critical Approaches of Literature or something like that) (I ended up doing a Post-Colonial/Imperial look at "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and the various versions of the Oompa-Loompas), I was thrilled when she gave us this assignment. I've been ITCHING to do something with DW in her class.

I hope my paper intrigues my professor enough to get her to watch some episodes. I think she'd especially love "The Unquiet Dead", since Victorian literature is her specialty and she really likes Dickens.

 

[Lindley]

Any good quotes (and which eps do these come from?) from the Doctor or other characters in relation to Britain (like, any quips about the Doctor tending to always land in the UK)?

From Voyage of the Damned:
Mr. Copper: "So this is Great Britain. And over the channel there are....Great France and Great Germany?"
Doctor: "No, just France and Germany. Only Britain is Great."

 

[Joy]

HaHA! I'd totally forgotten about that quote. I may just open my essay on that one! Thanks!

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

From Voyage of the Damned:
Mr. Copper: "So this is Great Britain. And over the channel there are....Great France and Great Germany?"
Doctor: "No, just France and Germany. Only Britain is Great."

AND my great-grandmother.

 

[lennier1]

Any good quotes (and which eps do these come from?) from the Doctor or other characters in relation to Britain (like, any quips about the Doctor tending to always land in the UK)?

From Voyage of the Damned:
Mr. Copper: "So this is Great Britain. And over the channel there are....Great France and Great Germany?"
Doctor: "No, just France and Germany. Only Britain is Great."

That always makes me wonder what the Brits are trying to compensate for.

 

[The]

They've been around long enough, and are generally considered to be one of the cornerstones of civilization. I think they've earned the right to call themselves 'Great'...

• "So, I'm from England. It's where the history comes from...."
  
  -Eddie Izzard

 

[WillsBabe]

Any good quotes (and which eps do these come from?) from the Doctor or other characters in relation to Britain (like, any quips about the Doctor tending to always land in the UK)?

From Voyage of the Damned:
Mr. Copper: "So this is Great Britain. And over the channel there are....Great France and Great Germany?"
Doctor: "No, just France and Germany. Only Britain is Great."

That always makes me wonder what the Brits are trying to compensate for.

What you need to understand is that the Doctor's comment it's partly boastful, partly self-deprecating. We know our limitations.

 

[Deckerd]

They've been around long enough, and are generally considered to be one of the cornerstones of civilization. I think they've earned the right to call themselves 'Great'...

• "So, I'm from England. It's where the history comes from...."
  
  -Eddie Izzard

It's also a terrific source of snobbery. When I was at University one of my friends said she was going to the USA on holiday. "Why go there?" said another friend with a sneer "it has no history".

 

[Starkers]

They've been around long enough, and are generally considered to be one of the cornerstones of civilization. I think they've earned the right to call themselves 'Great'...

• "So, I'm from England. It's where the history comes from...."
  
  -Eddie Izzard

Or as Ricky Gervais once put it to an American audience..."I'm from Britain, we used to rule the world before you did."

My favourite Who/Britain line probably comes from The Empty Child.

"Right now, not very far from here the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like Dominoes. Nothing can stop it, nothing until one tiny, damp little island says "no". No, not here. A mouse in front of a lion. You're amazing. The lot of you. Don't know what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me."

I think willsBabe is right. We tend to think we're brilliant, but we're also slightly embarassed at thinking we're brilliant In a film Great Britain would probably end up being played by Hugh Grant...

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

It's also a terrific source of snobbery. When I was at University one of my friends said she was going to the USA on holiday. "Why go there?" said another friend with a sneer "it has no history".

Nah, that's Australia, isn't it?

 

[danellis]

It's also a terrific source of snobbery. When I was at University one of my friends said she was going to the USA on holiday. "Why go there?" said another friend with a sneer "it has no history".

Nah, that's Australia, isn't it?

No. Australia's where we sent all our crooks.

dJE

 

[danellis]

Nah, that's Australia, isn't it?

No, Australia's where we sent our crooks

dJE

 

[Fenric]

If you are looking for a politcal allegory of doctor who then the 1980's story the hapiness patrol was meant to have been based upon former prime minister thatcher and in this episode they tried to paint the character based on thatcher as the villain. this was mainly done as the left in Britain had no real opposition to hear in the mid / late 80's
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/7235547/Doctor-Who-had-anti-Thatcher-agenda.html

if you want a newer doctor who episode then try looking at the episode the idiots lantern in season 2 of new who set in 1953 during the coronation of queen elizibeth II, also maybe the series 2 episode tooth and claw that features queen victoria has a breif bit if memory serves me right at the end how britain needed to remain the top power or something along those lines