4. Doctor Who (Occasionally) Aspires To Being More Than Entertainment
The very reason for Star Wars' existence is to entertain but Doctor Who's origins include a more altruistic motive: it was supposed to educate as well as entertain. Not much of that original 1963 mandate remains these days but Doctor Who does genuinely try to sneak in a message every now and then. Any watcher of The Green Death couldn't have failed to sense the environmental notes being sounded there, and there are numerous other stories with similarly well-intentioned themes. There are also times Doctor Who tries to be artistic or literary: the recent episode Listen was far from the usual TV fare and proof that Doctor Who doesn't have to follow any "monster of the week" formula. Other examples aren't hard to find. For all its flaws, Ghost Light isn't talking down to the audience. Star Wars is primarily occupied with space battles, light sabre duels and glorified car chases. There's nothing wrong with spectacle and action for the sake of it, of course - It's just that Star Wars and Doctor Who are different things with very different objectives and preoccupations. This s why there's more scope for finding something meaningful to chew on in Doctor Who.
Mike has lived in the UK, Japan and the USA. Currently, he is based in Iowa with his wife and 2 young children. After working for many years as a writer and editor for a large corporation, he is now a freelancer. He has been fortunate enough to contribute to many books on Doctor Who over the last 20 years and is now concentrating on original sci-fi & fantasy short stories, with recent sales including Flame Tree, Uffda, and The Martian Wave. Also, look for his contribution on Blake's 7 to "You and Who Else", a charity anthology to be released later this year.
You can find him on Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/culttvmike
