Doctor Who: Language and Representations

Our first television Close-Study Product is Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child from 1963.

This is an in-depth study which means we need to analyse the product in terms of media language, industries, audience and representation. In addition, this CSP will be examined in Paper 2 with a short clip to analyse. This means we need to put in extra work on this media topic to ensure we are confident analysing clips in detail. 

Notes from the lessons

Narrative theories

Todorov: equilibrium

Todorov suggested that all narratives follow a three part structure.

They begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when a new equilibrium is restored.

Equilibrium > Disequilibrium > New equilibrium

This can be applied to most media narratives.

Propp: character types

Vladimir Propp stated that there were seven basic character roles when he analysed classic fairy tales and that these were present in most narratives. Media products still use these recognisable character types today:

Hero, Villain, Heroine/Princess, Father, Donor, Helper/Sidekick, False Hero

Roland Barthes: Enigma and Action Codes

Action Codes: anything that suggests something dramatic is about to happen. E.g. when the TARDIS begins to take off or when the shadow appears in the final shot of the episode. 

Enigma Codes: a narrative code that creates mystery and gives the audience questions to keep them watching e.g. who is the Doctor and where is he taking them? Will the teachers get home? What is the mysterious shadow in the final scene?

Levi-Strauss: Binary opposition

Binary opposition is a theory that all narratives are driven by conflict of a series of opposing forces. There are many examples that can be found in this Doctor Who episode e.g. good v evil; young v old; human v alien; dark v light etc.

Doctor Who: An introduction

• Listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world with over 800 episodes.
• The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS [Time And Relative Dimension In Space]. The TARDIS has a vast interior but appears smaller on the outside.
• The Doctor travels through space and time preventing evil aliens or people from harming innocent people or changing history.
• The Doctor has gained numerous reoccurring enemies during his travels, including the Daleks and the Cybermen.
• Twelve male actors have headlined the series as the Doctor. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the show with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation. In 2018 the BBC had their first female incarnation for the thirteenth Doctor.

Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child

Social and historical context

First episode: Saturday, November 23rd,  1963 on the BBC. The plot was a narrative arc (a story over several episodes) involving the Doctor and his companions voyaging 100,000 years into Earth’s past to help some cavemen discover fire. 

William Hartnell was the first Doctor, as an anti-hero who frequently put his companions in jeopardy for his own curiosity. Daleks made an appearance in the first series, as the arch enemies of the Doctor.

Jodie Whittaker took over the role as the Thirteenth Doctor in 2018 and is the first woman to be cast as the character. 

1960s Britain

1961: First man in space – Russian Yuri Gagarin.

1962: The Beatles spark a British music revolution.

1964: BBC2 TV channel launched (third UK TV channel).

1965: The introduction of the mini skirt in a fashion show.

1967: BBC Radio 1 pop music station launched.

1969: First Man on the Moon – American Neil Armstrong.

1969: Concorde is flown for the first time.

1970: Mass media – 90% of households in UK have a TV, many now in colour.

The 1960s saw a shift in British culture. There was more freedom for young people and a breakaway from traditions.

Episode analysis: An Unearthly Child

An Unearthly Child (sometimes referred to as 100,000 BC) is the first narrative arc in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC TV in four weekly parts from 23 November to 14 December 1963. Scripted by the Australian writer Anthony Coburn, it introduces William Hartnell as the First Doctor and original companions; Carole Ann Ford as the Doctor's granddaughter Susan Foreman, with Jacqueline Hill and William Russell as school teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton. The first episode deals with Ian and Barbara's discovery of the Doctor and his time-space ship TARDIS in a junkyard in contemporary London. 

Plot of episode 1

Schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright are concerned about one of their pupils, Susan Foreman, who seems to have a very ‘alien’ outlook on England. They have come to her listed address to investigate. They arrive in a junkyard and find a police box, which proves to be no ordinary police box. When Ian and Barbara enter, they discover it to be much bigger on the inside than the outside. In the TARDIS is Susan and her grandfather, the Doctor. Fearing that Barbara and Ian will give away the secret of the TARDIS, he kidnaps them and takes the machine to the Stone Age, where they will have to fight for their lives.

The First Doctor was played as less mischievous and more cruel than later incarnations. He also seems less concerned about saving the human race. 

His companion was made his ‘granddaughter’ because it was thought inappropriate for an old man to be accompanied by a young girl if she were unrelated to him. 

Representations

Daniel Chandler's representation theory: CAGE

This is a theory about how the media constructs or represents individuals or groups of people through the media. Key markers of identity can be remembered through the acronym CAGE:

C- Class
A- Age
G- Gender
E- Ethnicity

Characters and representation in An Unearthly Child

Susan Foreman
Susan Foreman is the first of a long-standing tradition of Doctor Who companions.  It was felt improper in 1963 for an older man, such as the Doctor, to be travelling through space with a young 15 year old girl; so she was written as his Granddaughter.  She is a strong link to the young target audience and will often react in ways that the audience might in future episodes [e.g. screaming at aliens].  Classically relatable.

She also provides a link between the chaotic alien madness of the Doctor and the human confusion embodied by Barbara and Ian (and the audience).  She is therefore a translator of the more Sci-Fi elements of the story to a naïve 1960s audience.   She can often be seen explaining some of the Doctor’s stranger outbursts to the humans Barbara and Ian.  Another example of exposition.

The Doctor
The Doctor represents the new age of technology and science that was emerging in the 1960s.  The ‘space race’ was underway and the world was fascinated with all things space travel and linked to other planets.  He represents this new world of discovery.

He is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey and he explores the universe with usually human companions who serve as audience surrogate characters to ask questions which allow the Doctor to provide relevant exposition.  He is often eccentric, distracted and dark in mood.  Some commentators have said he symbolises the struggle between good and evil, some have said he is a symbol of a God-like presence who wanders through time and space trying to change history for the better. 

Teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton

Barbara and Ian represent traditional human values and are classically middle class. They are the people the Doctor explains everything to, so that the audience understands as well.  This is known as exposition.

They are also Science and History teachers so often offer advice and opinions to the Doctor on matters of space and time.  They also have very clearly defined gender roles in the series.

Barbara and Ian also play the narrative role of mother and father to Susan who is very naive and who has not had that paternal guidance from the Doctor.  They are very traditional in their gender roles.  Ian is very physical when there is fighting or physical work to be done. Barbara is represented in a more homely, caring role in the series. These were stereotypical gender roles in the early 60s – but times were changing.  Ian and Barbara are bonded by their human characteristics in their Space adventures.  They represent the caring, empathetic part of the human condition in how they look after Susan and, in later episodes, the Doctor himself. 

Language and Representation: blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called Doctor Who: Language and Representation blog tasks and complete the following questions on your blog:

Language and contexts

1) Write a summary of the notes from our in-class analysis of the episode. You can use your own notes from the screening in class or this Google document of class notes (you'll need your GHS Google login). 

Camerawork and sound: Flashback scenes, close-ups of the junkyard, tracking shot, medium shot, close-ups of the main characters, humming sound affects from the TARDIS, cross-dissolved close-ups of each character as TARDIS takes off.

Mise-en-scene: Teachers arrive at junk yard, heightened action with sound affects from the sci-fi genre, dark shadows create mysterious atmosphere, inside the TARDIS much bigger than the outside, new setting: different time or planet.

Narrative and genre: reinforcing gender stereotypes, representation of age, age/ teenagers, racist representation from the doctor, gender stereotypes, subvert gender stereotypes.

2) How can we apply narrative theories to this episode of  Doctor Who? 

Todorov's Equilibrium:

The teachers are introduced alongside the student, then the teachers wait to see her at night entering the junkyard only to theorise that she's been kidnapped= disequilibrium, they find out the TARDIS is a spaceship and that the student is the doctor's granddaughter= Equilibrium.

Propp's character theory: Woman teacher= damsel in distress, male teacher= hero, doctor= anti-hero.

Barthes's enigma and action codes: enigma codes= the student's intelligence, why she enters a junkyard at night, why she's so bad at certain subjects. Action codes= the doctor fighting with his granddaughter about taking the teacher's back in time with them.

 

Levi-Strauss's binary opposition: Binary oppositions= young and old, man and woman, earth and space, present and past. 

 

3) In your opinion, what is the most important scene in the episode and why?

 In my opinion the most important scene in the episode is the one with the inside of the TARDIS as that scene properly establishes the sci-fi genre and is an enigma code that keeps the viewer hooked and watching the show.

4) What genre is An Unearthly Child and how can you tell? Make specific reference to aspects of the episode.

The genre is sci-fi, action and mystery as there is a lot of enigma codes and many space related themes + time travel with speculative science which is common with the science-fiction genre.

5) How does An Unearthly Child reflect the social and historical contexts of the 1960s?

 The space race and the cold war relating to the TARDIS and the focus on space alongside the gender stereotypes imposed on the women being more dainty and needing protection whereas the men are strong and unbothered as they face danger head on.


Representations

1) What stereotypes of men are reinforced and subverted in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child? How?

The stereotype that men are strong and fearless is reinforced as the man, Ian, walks first head on in and surveys the danger without fear, being also the one who gets hurt as he faces the danger and is electrocuted by a live wire.

2) What stereotypes of women/girls are reinforced and subverted in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child? How?

That women are smart, dainty and proper as the woman is the one afraid the its the girl who is incredibly smart which is a common stereotype amongst teenagers, the woman also falls on a chair when she faints to protect her image on tv.

3) How do the representations of young people and old people in An Unearthly Child reflect the social and historical context of the 1960s? 

Young people are presented as rowdy, curious, and entitled whereas old people are presented as wise, cold, cruel and cunning.

4) What representations of race/ethnicity can be found in Doctor Who: An Earthly Child? Is this surprising or not? Give reasons for your answer and consider historical / cultural context (the 1960s). Has this changed in more recent series of Doctor Who?

There is a lack of ethnic diversity as the entire cast audience is based on middle white class people, excluding any black or Asian actors. This isn't surprising as the 1920's had more normalised racism and black audiences were often not represented.

5) How is social class represented in An Unearthly Child? Think about how education and knowledge is presented in the episode.

Middle class people are dressed in clean clothes and are expected to have general knowledge about history, science etc given how the school setting portrays teenagers.