Doctor Who: Language and Representation

Language and contexts

1) Write a summary of the notes from our in-class analysis of the episode.

Camerawork and sound: Creaking door to junkyard, futuristic humming in tardis.

Mise-en-scene: Dark and ominous, susans outfit is normal but doctors isnt.

Narrative and genre: Binary opposition between doctor and ian, Sci-Fi sound and setting


2) How can we apply narrative theories to this episode of  Doctor Who? 

Todorov's Equilibrium: school is norm, end of school breaks the norm, new norm is being in the tardis

Propp's character theory: doctor is the villain, susan is main character, barbara is sidekick

Barthes's enigma and action codes: cliffhanger after build up by music at the end

Levi-Strauss's binary opposition:  the doctor and ian arguing 

3) In your opinion, what is the most important scene in the episode and why?

When the teacher discovers the inside of the tardis as it introduces the scifi element

4) What genre is An Unearthly Child and how can you tell?

Sci-fi due to the time and space travelling abilities of the tardis

5) How does An Unearthly Child reflect the social and historical contexts of the 1960s?

Girls wearing short skirts and popular stereotypes types being presented


Representations


1) What stereotypes of men are reinforced and subverted in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child? How?

The stereotype of men being smarter than women is constantly reinforced and subverted

2) What stereotypes of women/girls are reinforced and subverted in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child? How?

That women are less intelligent than men, this shown by susan not knowing the current currency system and barbara being the sidekick not main leader like ian

3) How do the representations of young people and old people in An Unearthly Child reflect the social and historical context of the 1960s? 

Young people are presented as calm but the docter as grumpy and angry

4) What representations of race/ethnicity can be found in Doctor Who: An Earthly Child? Is this surprising or not? Give reasons for your answer and consider historical / cultural context (the 1960s). Has this changed in more recent series of Doctor Who?

The only representation of race in unearthly child is white people, this isn’t surprising due to the lack of diversity in 1960s

5) How is social class represented in An Unearthly Child? Think about how education and knowledge is presented in the episode.

The class represented is middle class due to the somewhat posh people and environment

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