Doctor Who and the ‘Betrayal” of Its Futurist Ethos! (25.5.2025)

I was listening to an Audible composite article containing around 18-hrs of interviews, programmes, specials, radio broadcasts, and humour sketches, covering 40-years of Doctor Who – entitled “The Doctor Who At the BBC: The Collection – The First Nine Volumes (1960s-2010s)” – and it struck me how different the ethos is today, compared to the vast history of its presence. Times changed dramatically between the 1960s-2010s and yet Doctor Who remained true to its founding ethos of “futurism”. Doctor Who was NEVER about current affairs, trends, or contemporary developments. Whatever was happening outside in the real world (good or bad) Doctor Who ignored it all – and projected a theoretical (progressive) version of the future into our living-rooms every Saturday night (just after Grandstand – 5-hrs of boring sport coverage – usually for Dads). Futurism is usually linked to the Communist-left – and no one officially involved in Doctor Who has ever used this term – despite describing its parameters precisely.

I think Doctor who was “apolitical” (with a slight centre-left bias) that used to allow anyone on the political spectrum to watch the show with little resistance or opposition. The Daleks were SS Officers – and the left rhetorically despised these creatures – whilst the right loved them (quite literally, in fact)! Everyone was happy. The audience approached the show with whatever political bias it possessed – although some characters spoke with an Eastern European accent (during the time of the USSR and Communist Bloc) – and virtually everyone in the early show was “White” (this changed dramatically later-on) – by and large Doctor Who avoided the worst excesses of the US-directed Cold War. Interestingly, Sylvester McCoy starred in a story-line involving a squad of the Soviet Red Army landing in Scotland during WWII. The naïve “Ace” – said she thought the Soviets were “our enemy” – with Doctor Who correcting her by explaining that the Soviets were allies of the UK during WWII.

Decades later, Peter Capaldi starred in an episode that featured a large wall containing an impressive picture of VI Lenin! This is the Doctor Who that flirts with the far-left – when at no time did this series similarly flirt with the far-right (partly because such a dalliance would have been “illegal” at the time). Today, British society has visibly shifted to the right – where what was not tolerated in the past – is common-place today. At no time during the 1960s episodes was the hippy movement mentioned. Punk was not mentioned in the 1970s. Thatcherism was not mentioned in the 1980s. Doctor Who was cancelled during the 1990s and so had no chance to mention the collapse of the USSR. The Vietnam War was not mentioned, and neither was the Falklands War. The Golden Rule was that contemporary human society should not impinge upon the imaginary processes that fuelled Doctor Who’s scientific speculation.

Futurism is the “imagining” of how a world yet to come might technologically exist – and what all the benefits such a development might bring to existential existence. Imagine the future – and create it in the present time. What we create will be unfamiliar and thoroughly different to what we know – but the benefits will be immeasurable. The current Doctor Who has broken with the past – and instead brings to our screens exactly what is happening in the outside world. Instead of Doctor Who escapism on a Saturday night – we are now being continuously reminded of the most contentious issues currently being played-out in it. The arguments of the present time have become the story-lines of the current incarnation of the show. We have stress in the outside world – and conflicted story-lines reflecting this outside reality in the current offering. I think futurism is exactly why Doctor Who has worked. Removing the concept of futurism is exactly why Doctor Who is now failing. If Ncuti Gatwa had futuristic story-lines – we might well be seeing a resounding success.

NOTE: Patrick Troughton looked and acted just like my principle academic and spiritual teacher – Richard Hunn (1949-2006). If you watch Patrick Troughton in action during his portrayal of Dr Who – you will know the calibre of the man who taught me how to discipline my mind and sharpen my intellect. He also taught me how to act and behave like a gentleman (I was a working-class thug). Perhaps Dr Who prepared me for my eventual encountering of Richard Hunn.