Doctor Who Series 11: 10 Huge Questions After Kerblam!
2. Was The System Good?
Following last week’s twist in the identity of the antagonist, once again the villain turned out to be one of the ‘supposed’ good guys. The System, whose name alone sounds like a controlling, evil power had not turned against the human 10%. According to the Doctor it was motivated by goodness and compassion when it called for help.
All of Charlie’s complaints against the way the ‘system’ treats the workers should be levelled against the humans who were using it. This would include the indignity of having to wear a tag, of having all activity monitored and being denied basic human rights to socialise while carrying out menial tasks – all in the name of productivity.
That said, the System’s methods for stopping Charlie’s revolt were especially disturbing and go completely against the Doctor’s pacifist philosophy. Killing an innocent woman in an effort to reform a terrorist? Jack Bauer would have been proud of that one, but it sits very uneasy with the politics of Doctor Who. The Doctor’s tacit support of the System comes across as incredibly naïve and idealistic. She also fails to call the whole enterprise to account. Thinking back to the third Doctor’s attitude towards corporations and profiteers it’s hard to imagine him choosing to shop in a place such as Kerblam.
Was the System really trying to protect its customers, or was it following its directives to make profit at all costs? As a human creation it ought to be seen as essentially flawed, rather than neutral. What needed to change at the end of the story, was surely not simply the percentage of human workers, but the System itself.