Doctor Who has come under
attack, not from Daleks or Cybermen this time, but rather from academics who
claim that the show – which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year – is racist. In
a collection of essays titled Doctor Who and Race, the show is criticized for having
archaic attitudes, with a few of the 23 authors who contributed stating that
the lack of a black or Asian actor in the main role highlights recurrent racism
within the programme.
Lindy Orthia, an Australian academic who compiled the anthology,
said, ‘The biggest elephant in the room is the problem privately nursed by many
fans of loving a TV show when it is thunderingly racist.’ One of the
contributors, an American professor named Amit Gupta, writes that the
cricket-loving Fifth Doctor – as played by Peter Davison – harks back to the
‘racial and class nostalgia’ of British Imperialism. Other criticisms include
the casting of white actors in ethnic roles – as in The Talons of Weng-Chiang,
where John Bennett was cast as a Chinese villain – and the ‘slapstick’ manner
in which Hitler was portrayed in an episode last year; detracting from any real
understanding of the Holocaust. A general consensus among the book’s authors
appears to be that primitive cultures are usually depicted as ‘savages’.
Fans in online Doctor Who forums are, on the whole, incredulous
at the comments and view them as having absolutely no validity. Many argue that
imposing twenty-first century
ethics on the older shows is ludicrous and unfair. The editor of Doctor Who
online, Sebastian Brook, told The Mail on Sunday: 'I think the suggestion the
show is racist is ridiculous.’ The BBC stated: 'Doctor Who has a strong track
record of diverse casting among both regular and guest cast. Freema Agyeman
became the first black companion and Noel Clarke starred in a major role for
five years [Mickey Smith]. Reflecting the diversity of the UK is a duty of the
BBC, and casting on Doctor Who is colour-blind. It is always about the best
actors for the roles.”
In another controversy regarding the show, actor John Simm, who
played the Master in five episodes, is upset at - allegedly - being quoted out
of context by the Radio Times in a recent interview in which he said, ‘It's
great to be into something, but for goodness' sake, really? I'm not the Master,
I'm not that evil Time Lord who rules the galaxy, I'm just in Tesco with my
kids. Leave me alone!’ On first reading it appears that the actor is ‘doing a Shatner’
but perhaps it’s not quite as straightforward.
Sources – The Telegraph and The Independent
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