10 Secrets We Learned From Doctor Who Season 17 Boxed Set

3. Bob Baker And Dave Martin's Anti-War Stage Show

Doctor Who
BBC Studios

Long before the War Doctor declared 'No More', two Doctor Who writers said No More to the war in Vietnam. The conflict inflected Baker and Martin's early work, and the pair had written and directed a film about a speculative US invasion of Bristol to highlight the injustice US foreign policy. A lot of Baker and Martin's Doctor Who scripts draw heavily on political and societal themes - there is a staunchly anti-nuclear message to The Armageddon Factor, an anti-colonial message in The Mutants and a satirical swipe at false advertising in The Claws of Axos.

So it's no surprise at all that the pair staged an anti-war theatrical production in the West End. It was a curated selection of readings which featured the likes of Jane Fonda, Doctor Spock and other cultural figures opposed to the war. Baker also talks of his membership to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which lasted "all of 3 minutes", which will be no surprise to anyone who's seen The Hand of Fear of The Armageddon Factor.

And they say that Doctor Who is too right-on nowadays.

Contributor
Contributor

Citizen of the Universe, Film Programmer, Writer, Podcaster, Doctor Who fan and a gentleman to boot. As passionate about Chinese social-realist epics as I am about dumb popcorn movies.