The forthcoming Scottish
independence referendum raises the question of Doctor Who’s stance on the union between the four nations making up
the United Kingdom . One should bear in mind that the “new show”
has been broadcast entirely during the era of devolution whereby Scotland , Wales
and Northern Ireland
take more of their own decisions themselves through their own assemblies and
administrations. This system, now well
established, contrasts with the unitary constitution which prevailed in the
days of the “old show” when the entire United
Kingdom was governed by Whitehall
and Westminster . Devolution arguably prompted the BBC to
project a more varied conception of Britishness. It also means that Scotland ’s choice will be between
devolution and separation.
Against this backdrop it has been
a remarkable coincidence that new Doctor
Who’s two showrunners, Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat, have been Welsh
and Scottish respectively. The new show
is made by BBC Wales and the 2005 revival saw Wales relatively frequently used as a locus for stories (e.g. “The Unquiet Dead” (2005),
“Boom Town ”
(2005), "The Hungry Earth"/"Cold Blood" (2010)) in contrast to the old show’s almost exclusive assumption that stories
set in Britain
were set in South East England.
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| Amy and Rory being, to coin a phrase, Better Together |
The new show’s Scottish and Welsh
characters have occasionally expressed somewhat nationalistic attitudes. Most notably companion Amy Pond as a child expresses
the view that England is “rubbish” compared to Scotland (“The Eleventh Hour
(2010)), and voices approval in “The Beast Below” (2010) at learning that, in
the distant future when humans are obliged to leave Earth, the Scots insisted
on a starship of their own rather than embarking on Starship UK. The Doctor himself comments on the Otherness
caused by Amy’s Scottish identity: she’s a Scottish girl in an English village
and he knows how that feels. Gwen and
Rhys in the spin-off Torchwood joke
about needing injections as they cross the Severn
Bridge from Wales
into England .
In fact these mild comments are outweighed
by a stronger current of unionism in the show.
Take Amy Pond. Amy is indeed a
Scottish girl in an English village: she chooses to remain there and she chooses to marry an Englishman, ultimately
favouring him over the Doctor (“The Angels Take Manhatten” (2012)). The
Scots’ decision to go off in a starship of their own in “The Beast Below” can likewise
be turned on its head; it presupposes that the UK remains united for thousands
of years until humans are forced to desert the planet. As for
Gwen Cooper, she opts to work for that most British of organisations,
Torchwood, created in Scotland by a British Queen in order to protect the whole
of Great Britain (“Tooth and Claw” (2006)).
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| Gwen poised to enhance Anglo-Welsh relations with colleague Owen |
Images of the Union Jack also abound under both showrunners far more than in the old show. More significantly, since the issue of the
union relates to governance, the programme’s unionism can also be seen in the
new show’s portrayal of civil servants. These were a breed portrayed in early 1970s Doctor Who as exclusively English, upper
class, greedy, nationalistic buffoons (see for instance, Mr Chinn in “The Claws
of Axos” (1971) and Mr Walker in “The Sea Devils” (1972)). In their place in
the new show we have the Welsh Mr Llewellyn in “The Christmas Invasion” (2007)
and the Scottish Professor Bracewell in “Victory of the Daleks” (2010) both of
whom are cast in a heroic light as British civil servants.
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| Courageous Mr Llewellyn (second from the left) with Prime Minister Harriet Jones |
Of course Doctor Who always has to deploy a certain subtlety: as Professor Matt
Hills has observed, the show cannot be
too obviously about real-world, contemporary politics: it isn’t a political
thriller (Triumph of a Time Lord, London : IB Tauris, 2010. p.138). The bottom line, however, is that Doctor Who is the product of the British Broadcasting Corporation and cannot seriously have a separatist
agenda. Thus, despite relishing national
differences and deploying them for tension and humour, BBC Wales’ Doctor Who
remains quietly but firmly unionist.
