So why have we been tethered to Earth? (*Doctor Who*)

[capri0mni]

(x-posted from a reply in nostalgia_lj's LJ):
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THOSE ALIEN PLANETS THEY STOLE FROM US. Ahem. A bit bitter about that. Where a "a bit" is " a metric (bleeped for sensitive eyes) fuckload".

Yeah. Me, too. But a thought occurred to me just the other day: that all this not-going-very-far-from-home-and-calling-home-to-mummy is to appease the parents of the primary audience.

The cultural attitude toward adventure has changed in the last 20 years or so. These days, any older man who whisks a teenage girl off to adventure in unknown parts is automatically assumed to be an evil! pervert! murderous villian!

So, for this first season, when nobody was sure how the audience would react, RTD went bending over backwards to show the parents that the Doctor really is the good guy... so the parents will feel safe letting their kids watch the show.

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Thoughts?

Comments

[warinbabylon.livejournal.com]

Probably, yes. I would also say that it's to slowly introduce the new audience to the Doctor and the travels slowly, moving away from Earth when the audience is comfortable with the idea.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

moving away from Earth when the audience is comfortable with the idea.

Hmmm... Interesting. Not sure I agree with that last bit. I mean, in Doctor Who --Mark I, we were on an alien planet by the second story.

And for the new generation of ten year-olds, the idea of alien planets should be more familiar, not less. For as long as they've been alive, there has been a space station growing in orbit above the Earth. Kids know what the surface of Mars looks like -- and they can download live images from the Hubble Telescope on their home computer, to see stars emerging in the Eagle Nebula. And let's not forget the cultural saturation of Star Trek and Star Wars.

RTD has not talked down to them in the quality of the stories themselves, so I don't think he really believes that the the kids need to be taken by the hand into adventure...

But the parents, on the other hand... they have the power to forbid. And our whole culture is on a hair trigger about "exposing our children to objectionable material"...

[warinbabylon.livejournal.com]

More so American culture than European, I've heard. Very true, but there's also the possibility that they are using a story arc to drive home something about his regeneration, explaining why he's been on Earth or around it this whole time...

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

there's also the possibility that they are using a story arc to drive home something about his regeneration, explaining why he's been on Earth or around it this whole time...

That idea has occured to me. Though I hope it does not turn out to be about him. In Classic Who, the Doctor was always at the center of the action, but not the center of the story -- like the Goddess Eris, when she threw her golden apple on the table at the feast... She may have started the events that led to the Trojan War, but neither The Illiad nor The Odyssey were about Her.

Even in those rare stories which appeared to be all about the Doctor, like Invasion of Time and Trial of a Timelord, the whole thing turned out to be about something much bigger... And yeah, that could happen. Maybe there's a bigger threat that's been menacing the Earth, this whole time... or something.

We'll find out soon...

:::fingers crossed:::

[timjr.livejournal.com]

Even Jon Pertwee said the show was more effective when it occured on earth rather than some alien world... something along the lines of an alien on an alien planet isn't as scary as seeing a yeti on your loo in tutingbeck or something...

And honestly... Doc as the good guy? He's been the darkest he's ever been (in televised episodes, at least).

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Jon Pertwee said the show was more effective when it occured on earth rather than some alien world...

Well, considering the fact that being Earth-bound was what set his era apart from the others, some people might think that comment comes out of a slight personal bias ;-)

... Doc as the good guy? He's been the darkest he's ever been

All the more important, then, to reassure the parents -- make sure Rose calls her mum to say she may be late to dinner, and return her to the bosom of her family and friends at every oportunity.

Anyway, it's my theory, and I'm sticking with it. I certainly prefer that idea to the one that says RTD doesn't trust us to be empathic enough to see alien worlds clearly, without fear and loathing.