Doctor Who is, hands down, one of the best science fiction shows of all time. It’s also one of the longest with the first ever episode being broadcast in 1963. Throughout its 66 years of appearing on our television screens, Doctor Who has given us some of the most audacious sci-fi adventures ever seen.
Admittedly, some plots were a little bit unbelievable but the majority of storylines were often found to be extraordinarily progressive for their time. The time-traveling show has covered sensitive topics such as racism, LGBTQ+ awareness, and feminism, and has even predicted some future events as well. To celebrate the series’s forward-thinking agenda, here are 10 storylines that were ahead of their time.
Regeneration
It’s common knowledge that a lot of actors in the television industry would prefer not to be typecast and for that reason, they try not to remain in one role for a long period of time. Doctor Who is no exception. However, what cut short William Hartnell’s time as the Doctor was his ailing health.
Instead of canceling the show, the producers decided to bring in a new man. Rather than ignore the change, they invented regeneration, a Time Lord ability to avoid death. This was a creative and imaginative way to replace the lead actor and no TV series since has come close to a better explanation for replacing a lead actor.
Trees Covering Planet Earth
Doctor Who has actually covered deforestation twice in the new series. The show touched upon it briefly in Season 4, where the Vashta Nerada were discovered to be living in the Library because their habitat was cut down and made into books. The second occasion was in the Season 8 episode “In The Forest Of The Night”.
Here, trees had grown overnight to cover the whole planet in order to protect it from a massive solar flare. While the nature of the episode was inspiring and forced the viewers to consider the damage of destroying trees, the narrative was slightly on the nose and having schoolchildren deliver the message made it sound a little precocious.
The Doctor’s Overconfidence
The Doctor is a lonely, ancient traveler who wanders through time and space saving planets. On occasion, though, the Doctor is forced to look upon the consequences of his actions. Davros once showed him the amount of people who had sacrificed themselves in his name, which shamed and devastated the Time Lord.
However, the biggest example of the Doctor being forced to examine his actions occurred in Season 6 where civilizations considered him to be such a huge threat, they kidnapped his best friends’ daughter and turned her into his assassin. In today’s world where every action seems to have consequences, these moments act as a healthy reminder to stop and think about what we’re doing.
Reliance On Technology
Since its revival in 2005, Doctor Who has relied a lot on technology. The Doctor even carries around his sonic screwdriver, a multipurpose tool to assist him in his adventures. However, multiple episodes have involved storylines concerning humanity’s over-reliance on technology and it never turns out well.
In Season 2, the Tenth Doctor and Rose encounter an alien living in TV sets. This is explored further in Season 7, which introduces the concept of aliens living in the wifi. Despite being science fiction, it highlights our dependence on the internet which, if it were to disappear, society would probably collapse.
Highlighting The Divide Between Rich And Poor
To this day, there are people living in abject poverty with barely enough food to last a week, while others get paid millions of dollars to kick a ball across some grass. Early in Season 3, Doctor Who played its part in trying to raise awareness of this social divide.
In “Gridlock”, the Doctor took Martha to visit New Earth, previously shown as a futuristic paradise. However this time the TARDIS landed in the back streets, highlighting an incredible difference between the two classes. This was expanded upon in the next episodes when the Doctor and Martha encountered a Hooverville in New York right beside the Empire State Building.
Starship UK
At the moment, Brexit appears to be all that anyone in the United Kingdom is talking about. It may seem hard to believe but back in 2010 when “The Beast Below” first aired, Brexit wasn’t even a thought. Trust Doctor Who, however, to totally predict the future.
In the episode, after the world ends humanity jumps ship. In a series of events that closely mirror the UK leaving the EU, Great Britain decided to build a whole ship of its own (minus Scotland) and sail away amongst the stars. Just like Brexit though, there was drama beneath the surface as the ship had been torturing a star whale in order to fly.
Captain Jack And The Same Sex Kiss
Although it reads like a rather dirty Harry Potter novel, this moment was actually quite significant. Captain Jack Harkness was the series’s first official LGBTQ character and he was extremely popular with the viewers thanks to John Barrowman’s charming personality.
He also starred in the show’s first ever same sex kiss when Jack was about to go and fight the Daleks. As a last goodbye, he kissed the Ninth Doctor on the lips. While other shows like Buffy and Friends had portrayed same sex relationships fully, nevertheless this was still a big step for Doctor Who in 2005.
Martha Climbs Onboard The TARDIS
Martha Jones was in a tough position because she had to fill the gap left behind by Rose Tyler, Doctor Who’s first modern companion and one of the most beloved. As if that wasn’t enough, Martha was also the first black companion in the whole of the show’s history.
We haven’t forgotten about Mickey but he was more of a supporting character than an actual companion. Martha traveled with the Doctor for a whole season and in doing so proved that she was just as capable of bravery and sacrifice as anyone, which really shouldn’t be a lesson we, in the 21st century, should need reminding of.
The Pairing Of The 12th Doctor And Bill Potts
This might seem a bit unusual but there’s a very valid reason behind it. Bill Potts only stayed on the TARDIS for one season but she still made quite an impact with viewers as she was the first openly gay full-time companion on the show, another progressive step for the program.
The 12th Doctor was a lot older in appearance than his previous incarnations. In our society, the older generation are stereotyped as being more intolerant of the LGBTQ+ community than others (a wild generalization, we know). Putting this Doctor and Bill together defied that stereotype and produced an adorable friendship along the way.
The 13th Doctor
What else could take this spot? It had been a long time coming but finally in 2017, Jodie Whittaker was revealed to be Peter Capaldi’s successor, the first female incarnation of the Doctor ever. This move took everyone by surprise but most of them were absolutely delighted.
There was no reason why a woman couldn’t play the Doctor and Jodie put all the haters in their place with her performance in 2018. Fans may have found Season 11 to be quite different but there was almost unanimous agreement that Jodie’s portrayal of the Doctor was one of the highlights of the season.
