Diversity in Doctor Who

Since Doctor Who rebooted in 2005 it has made strides in representing diversity on television.  Strides that can’t be said for many other television shows.  We open with episode one, “Rose” set in England, 2005, on a rare scene for television.  Rose is a working class woman who really is working class, not a dramatized version of this.  She lives in a small apartment with her single mother and wakes early every day to clock-in at her job in a department store.  She’s casual, dressing in clothes that certainly aren’t the height of fashion for the time, she isn’t dolled up in makeup only a professional could do, and what’s more; she isn’t the tiny waisted, long-legged pretty girl we’re used to seeing on TV.  Rose sets the pace for the growing diversity we’re about to be treated to in “Doctor Who”.

Not long after we get Captain Jack Harkness, the first openly pansexual in the history of “Doctor Who” who equally and openly shows attraction to men, women, aliens, and the non-gender conforming.  This was a huge leap for sexual and romantic diversity in “Doctor Who”, and one of the very first times queer people could see themselves in a character on television that wasn’t harmful.  

Next comes Martha, the first black companion on “Doctor Who”.  She’s intelligent and able to keep up with the Doctor’s rambling better, perhaps, than most other companions.  For people of colour, Martha is a big deal.  She’s a strong, woman of colour, in a leading role on one of the most popular television shows of all time.  With Martha, the television series continues to push forward for more diversity in their cast.

The next three companions, Donna, Amy, and Clara continue to portray strong female leads with diverse histories and personalities.  Along the way we meet a couple more sexually diverse characters, and characters from all different walks of life.  

Now we come to the most recent companion, Bill, who is both a woman of colour and openly gay.  She is one of the very first leading characters like this on television, a huge influence for women, people of colour, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.  We finally have a leading character that many minorities can view themselves in in a positive way.

Soon we’ll be treated with something that came unexpected: a female Doctor.  Jodie Whittaker will soon take on the role of the Doctor and make history as the first female Doctor.  Many people are very excited about this.  We get a leading female, and also confirmation that Gallifreyans, or at least the Doctor, experience gender fluidity, which could be a nod toward the transgender community.

But when it comes to diversity, is it enough?  Though Doctor Who has done a great job positively representing different groups of people, we still are left itching for more.  Several groups who wish to see any kind of representation on television have been left out.  Doctor Who has come a long way, but I believe it can, and should, go much farther.  I hope that as the episodes continue to air we will continue to see a rise in representation in the cast.      

Gallifrey

Ever since I became fascinated with Doctor Who, I’ve always wondered where The Doctor came from. I know he is a Time Lord, and he belong(ed/s) to a planet of Time Lords, but I wanted to know the name of the Universe, and all about it. But then, in the episode of “The Runaway Bride”, DW mentioned that he was from Gallifrey, and I thought he was just being cheeky, because he has never said where he was from (this I later found, that DW has actually mentioned in the past, likely in the seasons of Classic Who). So, I began my research, and I found out that he really comes from a planet called Gallifrey, which is a planet in the Whoniverse. Also, going further into my research (to satisfy my curiosity), I found some really interesting things about planet Gallifrey. Therefore, I decided to narrow it down to a list of top five interesting things to know about planet Gallifrey, and they are:

1. Gallifrey has an alternative name, “The Shining Worlds of the Seven Systems”. it is called that because if seen from Space, Gallifrey is a yellow-orange looking planet (so, it may look shiny/bright).
2. Gallifrey trees have silver leaves, and when the Autumn wind blows through them, they create music-like sounds. They have two Suns, and when then second sun rises in the South, it would make the mountains shine. Also, by Daytime, the sky resembles a normal Earth-like blue sky, but my night it is a burnt-orange color.
3. It has more than 24 seasons, but they all resemble the conditions and dryness of Earth’s Serengeti.
4. The Gallifreyan language when written may seem compliated, but it is not really complicated. the language is written as circular/almost-circular shapes, which from my research, looks to be from the Gallifreyan Math.
5. it could take hundreds of years for a Gallifreyan child to mature into and Adult. this is because their growth is slower than that of any species. the Gallifreyans have a normal lifespan of 300 years, but some actually leave to be 700 years or older. Furthermore, without their modern regeneration habit, a Gallifreyan would be confined to a wheelchair, most likely before their 200th year of age (or during the period after their 200th year).

Bonus Fact– Gallifreyans can not “cross-breed” with Humans because for some reason it is biologically impossible (this could also be a reason why DW has not been in a relationship any of the women he seems “taken” with).

Like many fanatics of Scientific Fiction, who are fascinated by languages of their favorite show(s), there are a lot of people who would like to learn the Gallifreyan language. so, if you are interested in learning/knowing more about the language, there’s a site which could help you learn the Gallifreyan language.

and here are the sites which I found my information about Gallifrey:

http://meshyfish.com/~roo/docwho1.html

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Gallifrey