Meta: Layers in Doctor Who
"I always loved poetry because you can treat a poem like a puzzle. Everything matters on all the levels: literal meaning, symbolic meaning, allusions, associations, sounds, the rhythm, the relation of each part to whole, the structure of it all, the configuration on the page... the sheer density of information you can encode in a poem is just awesome. There is NO WAY to read poetry passively.
AND THEY MADE A WHOLE TV SHOW LIKE THAT."
promethia_tenk
I’ve had the above quote on my profile page ever since Promethia wrote it, because, well, yes. However I recently began thinking about what these layers were (blame Dante, as The Divine Comedy has never less than three layers at any one time). This post is the tentative result.
Layers in Doctor Who
Story level: Everyone is themselves, and stuff happens to them - the basic, ongoing story of the show. There’s running about and alien worlds to visit and monsters to battle. Basic plot, storylines, characters, all that jazz - this is where the criticism will be levelled at, as it’s what everyone can see. But this is only the first layer. Let’s see how deep we can go?
Metaphors/imagery level: Water (= time), fish (= people), mirrors, characters as mirrors, monsters as dark mirrors/subconscious fears manifesting (for example the shark in A Christmas Carol), forests/trees/leaves, books/stories, boxes, eggs, etc. etc. etc. The list could go on and on. The main point being - most of these things are code. To explain, allow me to quote Dante. From The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto IV, lines 40 - 45 and 55 - 57, as well as some of the notes. (Translation by Dorothy L. Sayers):
This way of speech best suits your apprehension,
Which knows but to receive reports from sense
And fit them for the intellect’s attention.
So Scripture stoops to your intelligence:
It talks about God’s ‘hand’ and ‘feet’, intending
That you should draw a different inference;
[...]
Yet he may not have meant men to be guided
By the words’s surface sense, and thus might claim
Another purport, not to be derided
Notes: ... That which Dante is shown in Paradise is a sign, presented to his senses, so that his intellect may grasp the meaning. According to Aristotelian and scholastic psychology, the intellect works upon images which are retained in the mind after the sense impressions that produced them have vanished. Thus the imaginative faculties (“apprehension”, l. 40) receive from the faculties of sense the impressions which they present for the intellect to work on. [...] Using means similar to those of scripture and of religious art, Dante renders Paradise intelligible in terms of sense, imagination and intellect.
Doctor Who does a lot of the same, using imagery to appeal to a deeper level. But, where does all this imagery come from?
Fairytale level: Wizard (Doctor), orphan (Amy, Melody), crone (River), princess (Rory (sometimes Amy)), prince/questing knight (Amy (sometimes Rory)), evil stepmother (Kovarian), fairy godmother (TARDIS), and of course lots of monsters signifying the different fears below the surface, as well as all the tropes that come with the stock characters. Moffat has of course said that this is deliberate:
"Maybe this isn't new but it is my view: Doctor Who is a fairy tale - not sci-fi, not fantasy but properly a fairy tale. And I don't mean Disney-style where the endings are changed and everyone lives. Doctor Who is how we warn our children that there are people in the world who want to eat them."
The fairytale symbolism is easy to understand and decode, but it builds on deeper things.
Mythology Level: Greek, Roman, Ancient Egyptian, Norse mythology, Christian symbolism - the basic myths and stories that helped shape storytelling tradition. To quote janie_aire:
In many myths around the world, there's a version of what's called The World Tree, an axis mundi that connects Above and Below, and Past and Future, to the Here and Now, in the Center. It's usually a Tree, like Yggdrasil in Norse mythology, but it could also be a Mountain, like Mount Olympus was to the Greeks. So, the top of the axis mundi reaches the Heavens, while the bottom digs down into the Underworld. From a psychological point of view, the Heavens represent our aspirations, our conscience, our ability to fly high and look at the big picture. The Heavens are where our Gods and Goddesses reside. The Underworld, on the other hand, is the place of the Subconscious, a place for monsters and our deepest desires -- but it's not necessarily "Hell" in the Christian sense, just a place where the "baser" aspects of the Self can find a home.
There’s plenty more of course - but I have neither the knowledge, nor the time, to delve into it all. Suffice to day that most symbolism we use comes from these sources, and most storywriters since (Dante, Shakespeare, Tolkien) will have used them in their work. And added their own mark, as indeed does Doctor Who...
Modern Myth Level: Doctor Who has, through its sheer longevity and popularity, created a new specific mythology, inherent to the show: TARDIS, Daleks, ‘reverse the polarity’, Time Lords (which come with specific traits & mythos: regeneration, two hearts, Gallifrey, Rassilon & Omega etc.). Recently we have also been given a whole host of titles, creating its own fairy tale characters: The Lonely God/The Oncoming Storm (tragic hero), Mad Man with a Box (Trickster), The Girl Who Waited, The Last Centurion. Here is what I wrote in my big post on The Big Bang, because it’s important:
Doctor Who is a fairy tale, told to a whole country. A fairy tale for the age of television, and more powerful for that maybe? A story that today’s children are having told to them, just like their parents and grandparents had. A wonderful story about the daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away. And it is brand new (new Doctor, new Companion, new show runner, new logo, new theme) and at the same time very old (the TARDIS once more has its St John’s Ambulance sticker, the Doctor carries around a library card with a photo of his first face), small and personal (everyone has their Doctor), and huge, spanning a nation and generations, and the bluest blue ever (back when the show was in black and white Police Boxes were a common sight and everyone knew that it was blue). It changes, and yet stays the same, and everyone knows about the man with the blue box.
But there is another level (well there might be several, but these are the ones I could identify). And the last one is possibly the most intriguing...
Allegory Level:
Clara
To begin at the end, I will merely link to this post by ibishtar:
On the significance of Clara's birthdate - meta and speculation
Essentially: Clara is an allegorical representation of the show. Born on the 23rd of November (like the show) and twice dead (like the show) - and she is always the same, yet different - like the show. It’s quite straightforward, go read the post.
The Ponds
The Ponds are fandom in all its various guises. They’ve grown up with the Raggedy Doctor (and he is theirs, just like everyone had *their* Doctor), making dolls and drawing pictures and writing stories and dressing up. Loving and hating the Doctor - killing him and then bringing him back through sheer determination. AUs spring up around them at the drop of a hat, and they even give him a wife. And - maybe most importantly - they grow up to become the storytellers, telling new children all about the wonderful man in his magical box.
Doctor Who
Doctor Who (the character, the story of the show, as opposed to the show itself) is England/Britain (post-Empire), trying to come to terms with where we're at now. This is not deliberate, I don’t think, but the story of Britain in the past 50 years is clearly reflected in the show. Gallifrey was known as the Shining World of the Seven Systems, and at the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire", because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories. But the glory days of Gallifrey were over by the time the Doctor ran away; the Time Lords a bunch of daft old geezers in silly hats arguing amongst themselves. Until the re-booted show when they (and their once great empire) was gone for good - and the Doctor was left alone, trying to work out who and what he was now.
Because the Doctor is every inch the ‘Scion of Empire’ - the Englishman abroad. (The Doctor: “Just walk about like you own the place. Works for me.”) Everyone else is ‘a foreigner’ to him. (It is technically impossible for an Englishman to be a foreigner. Just so you know.) But now he has lost all the underpinnings of his heritage & privilege.
ETA: Meant to include this, as it perfectly illustrates my point - all the privilege, as well as 'the white man's burden':
But - who is he now? How does he interact with the world? Well he falters, and he makes bad choices, and he (grudgingly) ‘dies’, fading from the world he used to rule. However - if necessary, he can still create magic: just look at the London 2012 Olympics & Paralympics. (The opening & closing ceremonies of which, incidentally, played upon allll the levels above.)
Now the fascinating thing is that Bond (the other great British icon, who - along with Sherlock - makes up the trifecta of homegrown heroes) has been going through exactly the same thing in Skyfall. Except Bond is less coded than Doctor Who, and could tackle the issue more directly, leading to M quoting this wonderful poem which sums it all up:
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) 1833
Where do we go from here? Only time will tell...
AND THEY MADE A WHOLE TV SHOW LIKE THAT."
promethia_tenk
I’ve had the above quote on my profile page ever since Promethia wrote it, because, well, yes. However I recently began thinking about what these layers were (blame Dante, as The Divine Comedy has never less than three layers at any one time). This post is the tentative result.
Layers in Doctor Who
Story level: Everyone is themselves, and stuff happens to them - the basic, ongoing story of the show. There’s running about and alien worlds to visit and monsters to battle. Basic plot, storylines, characters, all that jazz - this is where the criticism will be levelled at, as it’s what everyone can see. But this is only the first layer. Let’s see how deep we can go?
Metaphors/imagery level: Water (= time), fish (= people), mirrors, characters as mirrors, monsters as dark mirrors/subconscious fears manifesting (for example the shark in A Christmas Carol), forests/trees/leaves, books/stories, boxes, eggs, etc. etc. etc. The list could go on and on. The main point being - most of these things are code. To explain, allow me to quote Dante. From The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto IV, lines 40 - 45 and 55 - 57, as well as some of the notes. (Translation by Dorothy L. Sayers):
This way of speech best suits your apprehension,
Which knows but to receive reports from sense
And fit them for the intellect’s attention.
So Scripture stoops to your intelligence:
It talks about God’s ‘hand’ and ‘feet’, intending
That you should draw a different inference;
[...]
Yet he may not have meant men to be guided
By the words’s surface sense, and thus might claim
Another purport, not to be derided
Notes: ... That which Dante is shown in Paradise is a sign, presented to his senses, so that his intellect may grasp the meaning. According to Aristotelian and scholastic psychology, the intellect works upon images which are retained in the mind after the sense impressions that produced them have vanished. Thus the imaginative faculties (“apprehension”, l. 40) receive from the faculties of sense the impressions which they present for the intellect to work on. [...] Using means similar to those of scripture and of religious art, Dante renders Paradise intelligible in terms of sense, imagination and intellect.
Doctor Who does a lot of the same, using imagery to appeal to a deeper level. But, where does all this imagery come from?
Fairytale level: Wizard (Doctor), orphan (Amy, Melody), crone (River), princess (Rory (sometimes Amy)), prince/questing knight (Amy (sometimes Rory)), evil stepmother (Kovarian), fairy godmother (TARDIS), and of course lots of monsters signifying the different fears below the surface, as well as all the tropes that come with the stock characters. Moffat has of course said that this is deliberate:
"Maybe this isn't new but it is my view: Doctor Who is a fairy tale - not sci-fi, not fantasy but properly a fairy tale. And I don't mean Disney-style where the endings are changed and everyone lives. Doctor Who is how we warn our children that there are people in the world who want to eat them."
The fairytale symbolism is easy to understand and decode, but it builds on deeper things.
Mythology Level: Greek, Roman, Ancient Egyptian, Norse mythology, Christian symbolism - the basic myths and stories that helped shape storytelling tradition. To quote janie_aire:
In many myths around the world, there's a version of what's called The World Tree, an axis mundi that connects Above and Below, and Past and Future, to the Here and Now, in the Center. It's usually a Tree, like Yggdrasil in Norse mythology, but it could also be a Mountain, like Mount Olympus was to the Greeks. So, the top of the axis mundi reaches the Heavens, while the bottom digs down into the Underworld. From a psychological point of view, the Heavens represent our aspirations, our conscience, our ability to fly high and look at the big picture. The Heavens are where our Gods and Goddesses reside. The Underworld, on the other hand, is the place of the Subconscious, a place for monsters and our deepest desires -- but it's not necessarily "Hell" in the Christian sense, just a place where the "baser" aspects of the Self can find a home.
There’s plenty more of course - but I have neither the knowledge, nor the time, to delve into it all. Suffice to day that most symbolism we use comes from these sources, and most storywriters since (Dante, Shakespeare, Tolkien) will have used them in their work. And added their own mark, as indeed does Doctor Who...
Modern Myth Level: Doctor Who has, through its sheer longevity and popularity, created a new specific mythology, inherent to the show: TARDIS, Daleks, ‘reverse the polarity’, Time Lords (which come with specific traits & mythos: regeneration, two hearts, Gallifrey, Rassilon & Omega etc.). Recently we have also been given a whole host of titles, creating its own fairy tale characters: The Lonely God/The Oncoming Storm (tragic hero), Mad Man with a Box (Trickster), The Girl Who Waited, The Last Centurion. Here is what I wrote in my big post on The Big Bang, because it’s important:
Doctor Who is a fairy tale, told to a whole country. A fairy tale for the age of television, and more powerful for that maybe? A story that today’s children are having told to them, just like their parents and grandparents had. A wonderful story about the daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away. And it is brand new (new Doctor, new Companion, new show runner, new logo, new theme) and at the same time very old (the TARDIS once more has its St John’s Ambulance sticker, the Doctor carries around a library card with a photo of his first face), small and personal (everyone has their Doctor), and huge, spanning a nation and generations, and the bluest blue ever (back when the show was in black and white Police Boxes were a common sight and everyone knew that it was blue). It changes, and yet stays the same, and everyone knows about the man with the blue box.
But there is another level (well there might be several, but these are the ones I could identify). And the last one is possibly the most intriguing...
Allegory Level:
Clara
To begin at the end, I will merely link to this post by ibishtar:
On the significance of Clara's birthdate - meta and speculation
Essentially: Clara is an allegorical representation of the show. Born on the 23rd of November (like the show) and twice dead (like the show) - and she is always the same, yet different - like the show. It’s quite straightforward, go read the post.
The Ponds
The Ponds are fandom in all its various guises. They’ve grown up with the Raggedy Doctor (and he is theirs, just like everyone had *their* Doctor), making dolls and drawing pictures and writing stories and dressing up. Loving and hating the Doctor - killing him and then bringing him back through sheer determination. AUs spring up around them at the drop of a hat, and they even give him a wife. And - maybe most importantly - they grow up to become the storytellers, telling new children all about the wonderful man in his magical box.
Doctor Who
Doctor Who (the character, the story of the show, as opposed to the show itself) is England/Britain (post-Empire), trying to come to terms with where we're at now. This is not deliberate, I don’t think, but the story of Britain in the past 50 years is clearly reflected in the show. Gallifrey was known as the Shining World of the Seven Systems, and at the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire", because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories. But the glory days of Gallifrey were over by the time the Doctor ran away; the Time Lords a bunch of daft old geezers in silly hats arguing amongst themselves. Until the re-booted show when they (and their once great empire) was gone for good - and the Doctor was left alone, trying to work out who and what he was now.
Because the Doctor is every inch the ‘Scion of Empire’ - the Englishman abroad. (The Doctor: “Just walk about like you own the place. Works for me.”) Everyone else is ‘a foreigner’ to him. (It is technically impossible for an Englishman to be a foreigner. Just so you know.) But now he has lost all the underpinnings of his heritage & privilege.
ETA: Meant to include this, as it perfectly illustrates my point - all the privilege, as well as 'the white man's burden':
But - who is he now? How does he interact with the world? Well he falters, and he makes bad choices, and he (grudgingly) ‘dies’, fading from the world he used to rule. However - if necessary, he can still create magic: just look at the London 2012 Olympics & Paralympics. (The opening & closing ceremonies of which, incidentally, played upon allll the levels above.)
Now the fascinating thing is that Bond (the other great British icon, who - along with Sherlock - makes up the trifecta of homegrown heroes) has been going through exactly the same thing in Skyfall. Except Bond is less coded than Doctor Who, and could tackle the issue more directly, leading to M quoting this wonderful poem which sums it all up:
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) 1833
Where do we go from here? Only time will tell...