Monthly media and arts column

Eleanor Margesson gives the new series of Dr. Who a quick healthcheck.

A memo written in 1962 is posted on the BBC website. It is written by three scriptwriters putting forward a proposal for a new Saturday afternoon programme.

They describe their idea as ‘an exciting new adventure; a Science Fiction Drama series for children’s Saturday viewing’. The approach is described as ‘neither fantasy nor space travel nor science fiction… designed to bridge the gap between a massive audience who watch sport on Saturday afternoon and those teenagers who watch Juke Box Jury’. It was an approach that was to gain increasing popularity throughout the following two decades.

The show was cut from the schedules in 1989 but the story was kept alive in novel form, released bi-monthly and published by Virgin Books. Now, 16 years later, the Doctor has rematerialised on our TV screens, together with all of the accoutrements that have always made him essential viewing. The new series, broadcast at 7.00 pm on Saturday evenings on BBC1 runs in direct competition with the hugely popular Ant and Dec’s Saturday Takeaway on ITV. The ratings battle has, so far, been easily won by the Doctor who reached 9.94 million on his first outing and grabbed 43% of all those watching TV at the time.

What have the BBC done right? There seem to be three reasons why Doctor Who has succeeded this time around: nostalgia, high production values and the sheer drive of the concept itself.

Nostalgia trip

The Tardis itself couldn’t boast more effective time travel for the over-25s as we are whisked in our memories back to our childhoods. We love revisiting early memories of being thrilled or scared when we have the adult perspective to deal with the experience more competently. A discussion about the show can quickly reveal your age as you discuss the actor that you remember playing the great man. I remember Blue Peter analysing the length of Tom Baker’s scarf and welcoming Peter Davison onto the programme as the brave man who dared to wear something different. Some I have spoken to mutter darkly that this is an age-ist approach as they remember all the Doctors and shouldn’t we concentrate on Christopher Eccleston instead.

The Doctor Who Appreciation Society (DWAS) has been around since 1976 and claims proudly that it would not exist but for volunteers from all backgrounds who have given up their time to support it. The huge Doctor Who presence on the internet, existing well before the recent return, is also testimony to the impact that the long-lasting show has had on the public imagination. The BBC website posts clips from past series, original and recent scripts, interviews with cast members and trailers for coming episodes. For the really dedicated fan, the next Doctor Who convention is in February 2006 in LA and more details can be found on www.gallifreyone.com . If you can’t wait till then, the DWAS runs weekly meets in locations around the UK. Nostalgia is big business and the Doctor has not missed out.

Bigger, better, faster

Aware that the target audience of 8-16-year-olds is infinitely more sophisticated in its taste than the children of the 70s and 80s, the BBC has not staked everything on immense pepperpot-shaped baddies shouting at their victims in monotone. After all, it has been said of the aliens that the best way to escape is to walk away at a brisk pace and you’re okay. The Saturday Times ‘Eye’ TV listings magazine added value to their feature article by screening the first episode ahead of time to a group of today’s 8-11-year-olds to check out their reactions. The results were all positive: ‘even the very blase Theo volunteered that the special effects were “wicked, nearly as good as in a movie”.’ These effects have been produced by The Mill, an effects house who won an Academy Award for their work on Gladiator. To put the achievement in perspective, the Ridley Scott film contained 100 special effects which took seven months for the company to create, whereas each episode of Doctor Who contains the same number, each produced in just four weeks. The BBC is adamant that it doesn’t want the series to be remembered for wobbly walls and Dalek models falling over.

Man of mystery

At the end of the day, it is the concept that has won the hearts of dedicated fans and brought new converts to the programme. There are hundreds of films and TV shows that contain Time Machines, superheros and alien lifeforms, but the Doctor is different. As Sue says to Cliff in the first ever episode in 1963: ‘If we knew his name, we might have an answer to all of this’. He is a mystery and when you’re with him, things happen that can never quite be explained. William Hartnell’s wiry old character surmised that ‘it doesn’t matter what you understand, what matters is what will happen to you’. As Billie Piper’s Rose experienced in episode one, the Doctor is not someone who wants to hang around to tell you all of his inmost secrets. ‘Nice to meet you, Rose’, he says dryly, as she is stalked by animated shop dummies ‘…now run for your life’. Whether it is experiencing the end of the world or Dickensian London, there is always a new ‘what if’ to explore.

When Paul visited Athens in Acts 17, he was distressed at the many idols that demonstrated ignorance about the true and living God. The poets expressing thoughts about an unknown deity were the creatives of the day trying to guess at the real source of life. What they could only guess at, Paul was able to explain clearly to them. The poets who have created Doctor Who bring us face to face with a man who is not a man. He transcends time and space, knowing the stark realities of good and evil behind the superficiality of our lives. He reveals the serious nature of the situation to those who are otherwise oblivious to it, offering escape and defeating powerful enemies. Those who don’t listen to him are foolish and meet terrible fates as a result. It is an interesting coincidence that the Doctor came back on Easter weekend, when Christians were celebrating the resurrection of the One and Only Time Lord.

You can see the doctor now...

Nostalgia trip

Bigger, better, faster

Man of mystery

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