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E-book Heroism in Doctor Who 1963 – 2020

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Penilaian

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Doctor Who (1963–1989, 2005–) is a curiosity in the vast landscape of British tele- vision history. What started out as an educational children’s programme has transformed into a “pop-cultural artefact”1 and a “cultural phenomenon”.2 The Doctor, the eponymous hero of the BBC’s time travel programme, is a figure invested both with personal memories, emotions and values, and with those of a whole nation. Since the programme first aired in 1963, thirteen actors (twelve male, one female) have portrayed the Doctor;3 made possible by the science-fic-tion element of ‘regeneration’ that allows the Doctor to receive a new body and personality. After a dozen men acting the part, the most recent incarnation of the Doctor crossed the gender boundary when Jodie Whittaker appeared in the title role (2018), and her second series (2020) introduced the idea that the Doc-tor ’s original incarnation, predating the television series, was female.4 This narra-tive twist is yet another sign of the Doctor and Doctor Who overall evolving and changing through the decades. The programme has survived the replacement of its early stars, a magnitude of producers and writers, and even sixteen years off-air (1989–2005), perhaps due to its ability to offer an incomparable “window into the British imagination”.5Doctor Who has evolved into not only one of the “most popular and lucrative international exports” of British television6 but has also granted its protagonist a “place [...] in the national imagination [that] can hardly be exaggerated”.7 Often compared to or named in line with James Bond, Sherlock Holmes and Robin Hood,8 the Doctor is one of thecentral heroes of British popular culture. At the same time, the British national imaginary features prominently in Doctor Who.This study of the heroic in Doctor Who offers a look at the underlying socio- cultural make-up of Great Britain through the course of more than half a century, combining experiences of the day-to-day and grand national narratives due to the ways in which the medium of television is embedded in cultural sense-making. The heroes of Doctor Who are woven into the everyday – discussed over dinner, argued about in coffee breaks and on social media, and peering out from post-ers in childhood bedrooms. Yet the heroes are exceptional in ways that exceed the realm and reach of the viewers’ every-day. They are always in motion. They travel to the edge of time. They negotiate the values, identities and feeling-states of whole generations of the British nation.Heroes, and the ways in which they are represented, are cornerstones of (col-lective) identities. What is considered heroic, as well as the textual and medial specificities of representations of the heroic, always stems from a specific cultural and temporal context. Heroic figures “crystallise the ideals and norms of a soci-ety [...] and they can contribute to the building, maintenance or destruction of communities”.9 The “apparent surge in the need for heroes” after 9/1110 highlights the capacity of heroic figures to respond to challenges within society. Similarly, the omnipresence of heroic figures in young adult fiction11 suggests that in these formative years of our individual lives, we are especially prone to turn to heroic narratives. Heroes help us to “shape our sense of self, and color the ways that we interpret our identities”.12 Especially in moments of insecurity about one’s iden-tity, strength and belonging, heroic figures offer orientation and reassurance to both individuals and collectives.

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

384.55 HAR h

Penerbit

Netherlands : Ergon Verlag., 2022

Deskripsi Fisik

322 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9783956509841

Klasifikasi

384.55

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

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Subjek

Television Broadcasting

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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