Dr Who - family viewing?

Doctor Who has always been regarded as family viewing, but family relationships have not been a theme of the programme since the first Doctor said goodbye to his granddaughter. In the new series, this has all changed. One episode deals with Rose's relationship with her father, who died when she was very young. This episode uses the techniques of science fantasy to explore feelings and emotions in the context of family relationships in a way that would have been unheard of in the classic series.

Relativised

The new series has also explored in passing themes such as illegitimacy and child abuse - themes that would have been taboo in children's TV drama when the series was first broadcast.

The family and the importance of family relationships are not denigrated, but some of the family values that would have been widely accepted when the classic series was first broadcast are questioned and relativised by the new series. A domineering husband and father who has betrayed his family is turned out by his wife. Rose and the Doctor encourage his son to go after him. We are meant to admire the strength of both mother and son. A wartime homeowner who condemns the homeless children who steal his food is revealed to be cheating on his meat ration because he is having a homosexual affair with the butcher.

Relationships

The relationships between the characters have become much deeper and complex than ever before. The drama of the new series is carried by this emotional realism, rather than by the increasingly implausible scientific explanations. One of the places where this is seen most clearly is in the final episode of the second season. This spends a good five minutes after the resolution of the science fiction plot on the tearful farewell between Rose and the Doctor.

Alongside this new emphasis on relationships, not all the plots are entirely coherent. As long as things move quickly, casual viewers will not pause to analyse, and the fans will always be able to rationalise the incoherencies. If there is a difference of approach between the new and the classic series, it is that the new writers are more aware of the holes in the plot and feel no need to try to fill them.

Dave Ferguson, July 2006