Doctor Who Language and Representation: blog tasks

 Language and Representation: blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called Doctor Who: Language and Representation blog tasks and complete the following questions on your blog:

Language and contexts

1) Write a summary of the notes from our in-class analysis of the episode. You can use your own notes from the screening in class or this Google document of class notes (you'll need your GHS Google login). 

Schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright are concerned about one of their pupils, Susan Foreman, who seems to have a very ‘alien’ outlook on England. They have come to her listed address to investigate. They arrive in a junkyard and find a police box, which proves to be no ordinary police box. When Ian and Barbara enter, they discover it to be much bigger on the inside than the outside. In the TARDIS is Susan and her grandfather, the Doctor. Fearing that Barbara and Ian will give away the secret of the TARDIS, he kidnaps them and takes the machine to the Stone Age, where they will have to fight for their lives.

The First Doctor was played as less mischievous and more cruel than later incarnations. He also seems less concerned about saving the human race. 

His companion was made his ‘granddaughter’ because it was thought inappropriate for an old man to be accompanied by a young girl if she were unrelated to him. 

Camerawork and sound:

Mise-en-scene:

Narrative and genre:

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

Todorov's Equilibrium:

Propp's character theory:

doctor is presented as the villain , Susan as the princess and the teachers as the hero and heroine .

Barthes's enigma and action codes:

 

mystery of Susan’s home. French Revolution book - “I’ll have finished it” “That’s not right”suggests time travel.

-Enigma code - Police Box / Tardis. “It’s alive!” 

-Action code - some kind of conflict/threat linked to TARDIS.

 

Levi-Strauss's binary opposition: 

 

The lighting in the Tardis is bright white. Also contrasts with shadows outside (binary opposition). 

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

The most important scene is when the teachers follow Susan home.This shows propps character theory where the teachers are show as the heroes

4) What genre is An Unearthly Child and how can you tell? Make specific reference to aspects of the episode.

Adventure and sci-fi 

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

When Susan is listening to music nowadays we use phones when Susan was using a recorder

Representations

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

Stereotypes of reinforced as they make the men the heroes in the show

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

I think the stereotypes of women and girls are reinforced as it shows susans emotions as outbursts to show is a very emotional person 

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

It shows the representation of all people and grumpy mean and miserable.

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?

 white is the only dominant race in the show.

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

The social class is represented in An Unearthly Child as rich and privileged, until the teachers believed Susan was poor, and didn’t have a home