Implicit Religion, Vol 18, No 4 (2015)

Screenwriters as Theologians: Doctor Who’s Scope for Theological Exploration

Caroline Symcox
Issued Date: 22 Dec 2015

Abstract


Although Doctor Who in its earliest incarnations did little to include or question religious belief in its stories, over time there has been a growing tendency for the show to engage with religious themes. In this article I look at examples of this shift in narrative stance, and ask what might be behind the change. I suggest that writers and showrunners, given the post-modern acceptability of interrogating religions and spiritual themes, are allowed new opportunities to ask questions of ultimate meaning and purpose. This, in conjunction with Doctor Who’s access to all of time and space as a canvas, gives writers unparalleled scope to explore such questions. I conclude that the resultant work should properly be considered a means of doing theology through narrative, and that in understanding culture as richly engaged with theology, we are given theological insights that might otherwise be missed.

Download Media

PDF (Price: £17.50 )

DOI: 10.1558/imre.v18i4.29092

References


Amy-Chinn, Dee. 2010. “Davies, Dawkins and Deus ex TARDIS: Who finds God in the Doctor?” In Ruminations, Peregrinations, and Regenerations:
A Critical Approach to Doctor Who, edited by Christopher J. Hansen, 22–34. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press.

Arrandale, Richard. 2004. “Drama, Film and Postmodernity.” In The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology, edited by Gareth Jones. 485–498. Oxford: Blackwell. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470996768.ch30

Balstrup, Sarah. 2014. “Doctor Who: Christianity, Atheism, and the Source of Sacredness in the Davies Years.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 26(2): 145–156. http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/jrpc.26.2.145

Brown, Noel. 2013. “‘Something Wooly and Fuzzy’: The Representation of Religion in the Big Finish Doctor Who Audio Adventures.” In Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith: Religion and Doctor Who, edited by Andrew Crome and James McGrath. 235–457. London: Darton, Longman and Todd.

Britton, Piers D. 2011. TARDISbound: Navigating the Universes of Doctor Who. London: I.B. Tauris.

Clark, Jim. 2015. “‘The Resurrection Days are Over’: Resurrection from Doctor Who to Torchwood.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 27(1): 31–44.

Crome, Andrew and James McGrath, eds. 2013. Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith: Religion and Doctor Who. London: Darton, Longman and Todd.

Deller, Ruth. 2010. “What the World Needs is... a Doctor.” In Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside, edited by Courtland Lewis and Paula Smithka, 239–248. Chicago, IL: Open Court Press.

Hills, Matt, ed. 2013. New Dimensions of Doctor Who: Adventures in Time, Space and Television. London: I. B. Tauris.

Hills, Matt. 2010. Triumph of a Time Lord: Regenerating Doctor Who in the Twenty-First Century. London: I. B. Tauris.

Layton, David. 2012. The Humanism of Doctor Who: A Critical Study in Science Fiction and Philosophy. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Marsh, Clive and Ortiz, Gaye, eds. 1997. Explorations in Theology and Film. Oxford: Blackwell.

McCormack, Una. 2011. “He’s Not the Messiah: Undermining Political and Religious Authority in New Doctor Who.” In The Unsilent Library: Essays on the Russell T. Davies Era of Doctor Who, edited by Simon Bradshaw, Antony Keen and Graham Sleight, 45–62. London: The Science Fiction Foundation.

Milbank, John, Catherine Pickstock and Graham Ward, eds. 1999. Radical Orthodoxy: A New Theology. London: Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203259146

Packard, R. T. 2013. “Oh my stars: “Doctor Who” and Atheism.” Sometimes Rhymes Blog. 7 April. http://blog.sometimesrhymes.com/post/47386319563/oh-my-stars-doctor-who-and-atheism. Last accessed 19 June 2015.

Rahner, Karl. 1965. Hominisation: The Evolutionary Origin of Man as a Theological Problem. Herder: Burns & Oates.

Schleiermacher, Friedrich. 1996. On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511814969

Stanley, Tim. 2014. “Doctor Who just came out: As a pro-life Christian conservative.” Telegraph Online, October 9. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100289122/doctor-who-just-came-out-as-a-pro-life-christian-conservative/. Last accessed 15 October 2014).


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.





Equinox Publishing Ltd - 415 The Workstation 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)114 221-0285 - Email: [email protected]

Privacy Policy