Honest to Doctor Who

[nwhyte]

The last few pages of The Making of Doctor Who deserve their own separate post: for some reason, it was felt necessary or appropriate to include a short essay by "the Rev John D Beckwith, AKC, Chaplain to the Bishop of Edmonton" about the relationship of Doctor Who in particular and sf in general with Christianity in particular and religion in

Comments

[uitlander]

Could Mr Von Däniken be asked to write a response?

[sammywol]

Well there's gaps in logic there I could drive a truck through (and possibly do a 3 point turn in) but logic and religion do not necessarily have to mix; kind of the point actually. Is this some attempt to sell faith to Dr Who fans on the grounds that there's SF in the Bible too only ours is really true or does the guy just owe Von Daniken some royalties? It does go to show that the kind of arguments touted by modern day Intelligent Design gurus have been around longer than one might think.

[nwhyte]

Is this some attempt to sell faith to Dr Who fans on the grounds that there's SF in the Bible too only ours is really true

That may be the wrong way round to read it; I think that this is an attempt to reassure anxious parents that their kiddies have the blessing of the worldwide Anglican church when they watch Doctor Who. (What boggles my mind is the idea that three pages of this stuff from the Reverend Beckwith would have any impact on anyone at all!)

[sammywol]

With more thought I find myself deeply comforted by the fact that he grasped that Dr Who was fiction (or FICTION!). I think your theory is very plausible. It is like one of those kite marks or British Safety Council endorsements. Although, did you say it was at the end? Any anxious parent getting that far before ruling for or against SF/horror for their little darlings would be very dedicated indeed.

Also that whole good triumphing over Evil bit should carry some caveats: in that Evil proves every bit as durable as Good and keeps coming back and there was that whole Planet of the Spiders debacle that came as a big shock to my child self at least.

planet of the spiders

[manjushra]

are you talking about "Full circle" where honeydew melons turn out to be eggs for enormous spiders which bite the doctors companions and turn their blood blue?

p.s. to anyone: which series had the tardis as the scene of the action and who was the enemy they were chasing through the endless rooms/caves/wardrobes which opened up? (obviously a tom baker one because of the presence of wardrobes with coats and scarves)
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