What this means is that it’s possible to rediscover what made the original shows so interesting. Watching DVDs and VHS tapes out of sequence is fine but it’s only when you have watched the characters develop that you realise just how strong the early line-up was and how, for almost six years, the traditional idea of ‘family’ was used to make the audience feel safe.
I am almost totally convinced that there has never been as strong a TARDIS crew as the original. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan. In order; Grandfather, Dad, Mum and Child – a family unit. This observation is not new, however I firmly believe a lot of people tend to miss it, as well as the fact that as each of those characters left the show, the production team went to great lengths trying to retain that theme.
Susan leaves a Child-shaped hole, which is filled by Vicki. Ian leaves a heroic, younger man/father figure hole, filled by Stephen Taylor. Although Barbara’s “Mum” is never really replaced, her contribution to the success of the show cannot be underestimated. Once Vicki, Ian and Barbara have gone, the Doctor and Steven travel ‘alone’ for a while in a sparky Father/Son relationship, with the characters of Katarina, Sara and Anne Chaplet filling the role of the child/older sister character with varying degrees of success.
The latter half of Series 3 suffers from the desperate need for a female character and Dodo is grafted into the line-up (somewhat shabbily, which mirrors her undignified exit) for a mere five stories, until the new production team begins to assemble their new ‘family unit’.The Doctor, in the form of Troughton, remains Head of the Family, but more as a younger Father or cuddly Uncle figure, Ben and Polly become Older Brother and Sister, with Jamie as Younger Child.
Interestingly, once Ben and Polly leave, we have Jamie and Victoria, both characters ‘out of time’ arguably taking the roles of two young children, with Troughton as a mischievous, twinkly young dad, albeit with Jamie’s experiences with the Doctor making him Victoria’s Older Brother. Zoe’s appearance reintroduces the Older Sister figure until the end of Troughton’s era, which turne Jamie into a brave but ultimately Younger Brother.
With Pertwee’s arrival and the 60s giving way to a less restrained, more sexually aware 70s – and the show itself aiming towards an older audience – the familial concept mutated slowly (the UNIT ‘family’ with the Master as the Black Sheep, the Uncle no-one really likes to talk about) until it had almost totally vanished by the time of Tom Baker’s tenure.
In the 80s JN-T brought a similar theme back into the TARDIS with Tegan as the Older Sister, Nyssa as the bright teenager and Adric as the Child. Unfortunately, as we’re all aware, this formula didn’t quite work…
Interestingly, RTDs vision of the show has also re-introduced the family concept but in a way that not only takes television demographics into account but modern values too.
45 years ago, the TARDIS crew were a family adventuring together out into the unknown. In 1963, it was the adults curiosity that started it all. In 2005, forty years of a changing world has stifled parents with fear of the unknown, leaving their children to experience these wonders for themselves (Jackie Tyler being a perfect representation of this).
In the 21st century, the traditional family unit has splintered, single parents, divorced parents, unmarried parents and same sex parents seem to be the rule rather than the exception – and the notion of family is more geared towards your friends rather than your relations. Whereas once the Doctor was firmly ensconsed as part of The Family Unit, he now appears to be the fulcrum of an extended family. Which is most obvious in The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End.
It seems that, in a odd sort of way, Doctor Who has come full circle.
Welcome to Show 48.
As you know, we’ve been watching Doctor Who in order, from the very beginning. Until all the videos were released by the BBC throughout the 80s and 90s this wasn’t really possible.