Sydney Newman, the driving force behind the creation of Doctor Who in 1963, once described sci-fi as “a marvellous way – and a safe way, I might add – of saying nasty things about our own society”. Doctor Who has had plenty of nasty things to say about our society over the years but the politics and ethics of its hero have proved as malleable as its core cast.

For StJohn who I know is an avid Dr. Who fan.

StJohn:

Yessss! It's an interesting question, and the fact that the Doctor's politics are malleable (he commits a few genocides of his own) are because there have been so many writers on the show and they don't always get it right. The murders and genocides he commits tend to be very controversial amongst fans.

The core of the show's morality, excepting a few bad stories, is libertarianism and the defence of the rights of the individual against governments and corporations. We're talking about a male protagonist who is an eccentric, anarchistic rebel who defends the individual. That's incredibly rare in a genre which is dominated by military imperialism. Star Trek and Star Gate are essentially about the American military colonizing outer space. They might make excuses about being impartial, but it's a pretty shallow pretense.

I could talk about this forever, but there's one line that will always sum up Doctor Who's ethics for me. It's in an 80s story called Warrior's Gate, in which a suspicious-looking alien cat-person is being pursued by a lot of humans with guns. Romana, the Doctor's companion, goes to help the cat-person, and Adric asks her why they should take his side. Romana replies, "Because he's the one running away." It's such a simple reply, but it's also very powerful. You help the people who are being victimized — you can ask questions later.


posted 3792 days ago