10 Things Doctor Who Should Never Have Got Away With
2. The Doctor On Big Brother
One can certainly imagine an episode of Doctor Who where he encounters an outer space competition or broadcast thats a bit like Big Brother in a satirical way. The show had mined this sort of vein before in the likes of Vengeance on Varos (1985) and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (1989). This kind of allusion wasnt good enough for Russell T Davies, however. He chose to use Big Brother itself. The opening minutes of 2005s Bad Wolf, only the twelfth episode of the new series, sees the Ninth Doctor wake up inside the Big Brother house. To make matters worse, its the year 200,100 and the show is broadcast on Channel 44,000. Other than new, and apparently fatal consequences to losing, however, very little has changed. The music, the logo and the presence of Davina McCall saying Please do not swear all indicate that permissions have been obtained. Christopher Ecclestons reaction - Youve got to be kidding - which leads into the opening titles echoes the viewers thoughts. And it doesnt stop there, either. Captain Jack faces robot versions of Trinny and Susannah (voiced by the real people) in a futuristic version of What Not To Wear while Rose becomes a contestant in The Weakest Link to be menaced by the Anne Robinson-voiced Anne Droid. In all honesty, these spoofs have not aged very well, but they were designed to work there and then. Once, Patrick Troughton had to deal with characters from Gullivers Travels and Greek mythology. In 2005, the references were taken from contemporary trash TV. And wouldnt you know, it turns out the Daleks are behind everything!
I teach literature of all types but when I write, it tends to involve "Doctor Who". My fiction can be found in unofficial anthology "Seasons of War"; my non-fiction in the "You and Who" books as well as the forthcoming "Hating to Love" and "Blake's Heaven".
