New Worlds, Terrifying Monsters, Impossible Things

Appropriately for protagonist—a time traveler—there is perhaps no series of any genre that spans as much actual time as Doctor Who. From its debut the day after the Kennedy assassination, through the rise and subsequent break-up of The Beatles, Thatcher’s long reign as prime minister, the Falklands War, the moon landing, and the Tiananmen Square uprising, the classic version of the series persisted.

This book is divided into four sections. We start out by examining the archiving, transmission, and branding of the series. Part two of this volume delves into the concept of Doctor Who’s intersection with the educational function of public broadcasting. From an American viewpoint, it is often challenging to imagine a popular network or program that has virtually no commercial interruptions; it was only watching the BBC in England itself that helped me understand why certain series I’d watched in the past seemed so poorly edited. Our closest equivalent to the public broadcasting models in England, Canada, and Europe is PBS, which is largely run on donations. The BBC, on the other hand, is primarily funded by the licensing fee viewers must pay to watch, and according to its charter, must serve an educational function for the viewing public. Part three offers different ways in which the series relates to the cultural milieu in which both the Classic and the New series aired, including the Cold War, the war in Afghanistan, and the cultural, sexual, and racial politics of different eras. Finally, part four offers fascinating takes on the nature of and issues regarding identity, gender, and narrative in Doctor Who.