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Mm, delicious!!
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Ha! Now you point that out, I’m pretty convinced seeing this when I was eight years old is a major reason I’m an environmentalist now. It was always my favourite Dr Who story, but I hadn’t thought much about how it helped shaped my political worldview.
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To be fair, if most of one’s experience with early Who was as a child, it’s easy for the political commentary to go over one’s head… but there’s a big difference when watching as an adult.
I recently re-watched “the Sun Makers.” While I’ll admit that my current political stances probably color my perceptions, it’s hard to see that story as anything but a blistering condemnation of mindless capitalism, with a strong pro-union bent. There’s also quotable gems like this throughout the Baker era, which remain (sadly) relevant even today:
So, like Star Trek, Doctor Who is political (always has been), and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Science fiction has always held a funhouse mirror to the world around us, showing us new perspectives on present issues. IMHO, it’s a good thing that the genre as a whole and Who in particular is becoming more and more inclusive. I’ve never seen Nctui Gatwa’s work, but I’m hopeful he’ll be another wonderful Doctor.
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Ultimately I think that was the appeal of watching Tom Baker’s first year when I was a little. I got hooked ever since.
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“new Doctor announced”
Cool!
“Not a straight white guy”
Ok, flight mode for a day or two…
Yes, some of the entertainment department. The current director-general of the BBC has made it clear he wants to stop that. It has been reported that LGBTQ people at the BBC are finding it to be a hostile work environment now.
As for left wing politics, we are a long way from the days when someone like Paul Mason could be an editor on Newsnight. He left the BBC nine years ago.
The BBC’s editorial policy now appears to be that Tony Blair is the radical left, and anything further left than that is unthinkable. The BBC is a symptom of TERF Island’s increasingly reactionary politics. It is turning into Britain’s Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines.
I’m tired of people saying “It’ll never happen here.” It is happening right now, and just because it isn’t happening to you doesn’t mean that you should ignore that the vast majority of trans people in the UK are in agreement with me. The Council of Europe (which Britain is still a part of) are very concerned about what is going on here too.
But yeah, we get token representation in Doctor Who, so it all balances out /s
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Not familiar with the actor, but looking forward to it. I think I am a season behind and need to catch up. Maybe two?
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You need to remedy that, pronto! Sex Education is really, really good.
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It absolutely is that…
Not at all!
I wonder how RTD will find things, then. He’s a very popular show runner, but not just because of Doctor Who.
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Not something directly related to Doctor Who, but I think of people whining about having more than one queer character on a show or even worse, focusing on said character and giving them more than a single dimension. For them, apparently LGBTQ+ people are solitary creatures, (hint: we often travel in packs!) rare, and only appearing when some woke show wishes to score a political point. And of course these political aspects only appeared once non-allocishet / non-white characters showed up. 
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Be careful admiting that Art was capable of making you critically challenge your worldview, and adopt a new one. The Republicans will say you were indoctrinated 
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In-Doctor-inated, and proud! of it!
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With Channel 4, until Nadine Dorries releases it into the wild to compete with Netflix.
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I started watching in…college, I think? Or just after. For me, the politics was the reason I enjoyed the show. Intelligence and caring were allowed to be effective and take no guff, and beat the cynical, despotic, ruthless, nasty, and mean every time.
Realistic? Maybe not. A goal? Damn straight.
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I expect he will be sheltered from the worst of it. Losing him will cost the BBC a lot of money.
Let’s not forget what show RTD became famous with, though.
I’d say that the BBC wouldn’t touch that if it was new now, but they wouldn’t touch it in the 90s either. All the good LGBTQ+ stuff was on Channel 4 back then.
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Yep… I’m under-caffeinated today, and my brain could not remember that show’s name (even though they did an American version).
yeah, despite all the gay content in Doctor Who during his run, it was still relatively cisgendered and male-centric.
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Ha! RTD’s most recent series, It’s A Sin was produced for channel 4 last year. It you haven’t seen it yet, don’t hesitate - it’s truly brilliant. It’s a heart-rending tale of a group of gay men living through the AIDS epidemic in London in the 1980s.
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I haven’t watched it because my house mate lived it in the 80’s. She’s still devastated by all the friends she lost. It doesn’t feel right to make her relive it.
I trust RTD to have handled the story well, though.
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