Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child

Narrative:

Doctor Who is apart of the Science Fiction genre and focusses on time travel & interdimensional experiences. In this episode of Doctor Who follows the story of a young, teenaged school girl that is, later on, discover to be an alien from another time dimension. Certain things such as flashbacks and scenes of inside and outside the tardis help the viewer understand the story throughout. The episode ends with a silhouette that is seen as dark and mysterious, this creates a narrative cliffhanger. 

Character:

 Susan is a teenage schoolgirl presented as very intelligent and inquisitive. Her smart mind and quick mouth make the teachers (Barbra & Ian) speculate about how she possesses such great knowledge.  The flashbacks used builds Susan character along with creating a narrative. The two teachers, Ian and Barbara, are presented as kind and prioritises their student's well-being. It could be argued that Barbara is a side character as she does not have many lines in the episode.  With Ian being a more dominant character, he is presented as the heroic one.  In this episode of Doctor Who, the Doctor is presented as cruel. This contrast with the doctor's behaviours in other seasons, where he is loving and makes it his priority to protect mankind 

Iconography: 

One of the aspects that creates the narrative in Dr Who is the Tardis. The small appearance on the outside compared to the big spacious room on the inside certainly gives the feeling of the sci-fi genre.  The sound effects used when the Tardis takes off also adds to it

Setting:

The number of settings used in this episode is very minimal. This could be due to the time period that Doctor Who was created in.  Setting such as the school, the Tardis and the junkyard is the only day being shown in this episode. However, these three sets was a big impact as they create narrative and allow the watcher to understand more. Including the school could allow certain audiences to relate to Susan, therefore allowing personal identity between the audience and the characters to grow.

The original equilibrium is of when the teachers and Susan are in school. Other than the fact that they are questioning Susan, nothing else seems to happen. The disruption is when there is a conflict between the doctor and the teachers when they are searching for the missing child (Susan) The recognition comes when they here Susan's music coming from the small telephone box. Reparation cons when the two teachers for some self into the Tardis and the doctor and Susan explain everything to them. The new equilibrium is when they have travelled to another destination which is unknown to the viewer. 

Applying Propp's character theory to this episode, I would say that Ian would be perceived as a hero. This is because Ian tried his hardest to save Susan and later tries to protect Barbara when they are in the Tardis.  Susan would be the princess.  Although she was in no harm, Ian tries to rescue Susan and protect her from any danger. The doctor would be perceived as the villain, this is because he takes two innocent people (Barbara and Ian) to an unknown segment in time where they have to fight for their lives. Barbara would be seen as a helper as she is always kept on the sideline and does not have many major ports in the episode compared to you,. She acts as a helper for Ian.  

Representation

Some stereotypes are reinforced through the male characters. These characters are presented as more dominant and more significant compared to the female characters. An example of this is Ian and Barbara. Although they both care for Susan’s well-being Ian tends to dominate and acts as the hero while Susan remains on the sideline. It is also noticeable that the amount of lines that Barbara has in this episode is significantly lower than the number.

Moments such as Susan needing rescuing reinforces the stereotype that women cannot fend for themselves without assistance from a male. However, this idea is later neglected as it becomes apparent that Susan did not need saving after all. Another point that subverts women’s stereotypes is the fact that Susan is wearing trousers In this scene when the cast is in the Tardis.  In the year that he was filmed, it was rare to see women in trousers as it was thought that women should wear skirts as trousers were only for men.  

The stereotype of young people is reinforced in this episode of Doctor Who.  Suzanne playing music and jamming in the classroom reinforces stereotypes of teens as they tend to do the same as her.  However, it could be argued that she subverts stereotypes as she is very keen to do her work and she is focused and dedicated. Now, I am not saying that not all teens are keen to do her work, but her dedication and non-stop commitment could potentially subvert the stereotypes put on teens that they are lazy. 

In this episode of Doctor Who, characters played by actors from different cultural backgrounds and not included. In fact, the entirety of this cast is white English. This could be because of the year that this episode was recorded. in 1963, not many people from different at ethnic backgrounds were in London at this time. It is not surprising to see that the cast was all white, considering the time that this episode took place.  

Characters in this episode probably belong to a middle-class society. 

Industries

In the 1960s TV's were becoming more of a success & was favoured over print media. however, the variety of channels to pick from was limited as there were only 3 channels, BBC, BBCTwo and ITV.

Doctor Who is a note is an important franchise for the BBC as the BBC sells it to other countries to make money. With the Doctor Who be a very popular show, bringing in high amounts of use, it is clear to see why the BBC would most likely prioritise it over most of the shows honest timing
  
Doctor Who is about time travel, within certain episodes the doctor and his companion will travel back in time to different historical moments. This is educational as it teaches certain views about different significant moments in history.

All of the BBC’s funding comes from licence fee payers whereas other channels rely on advertising.

OffCom regulates the BBC to ensure that the shows broadcasted follow the set standard for the content of tv and radio programmes. Breaking these standards could result in removal of the show or fining.

Audience: 

The target audience for Doctor Who would be families or individuals from 12 and onwards. The educational factor would be important for the younger views and the doctor's wittiness, in other seasons, could be appealing for the older audiences.

What Doctor Who offers to the audience in terms of Blumber and Katz:

• personal relationships: the audience will be able to build ceratin bonds with a character which allows the audience to feel different ways when these characters are put in situations. An example of this is that audiences could be worried about Barbra and Ian's safety.
• Diversion (escapism): The audience gets to experience something, unlike their current lives. 
• surveillance (information): The time travel to certain points in history educates & informs audiences

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