The Concept of Horror in The Doctor Who Universe Part 3: Monsters

"There are corners of the universe that have bred terrible things. Things which are against everything we believe in. They must be fought!" -- The Doctor from Moonbase

"Roll up, Roll up to the Monster Show..."--The Showman, Vorg from Carnival of Monsters

It's difficult to imagine Doctor Who without monsters, yet when Sydney Newman conceived of the program, he emphasized his adherence to the idea of monsters. He wanted the show to be historical and educational. When the Daleks appeared in just the second story arc, the program would take Doctor Who in a direction he never intended.

1

It was inevitable that a fantasy program such as Doctor Who would come to rely on monsters to send children behind the sofa and increase ratings.

2

Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarons are the most famous Doctor Who monsters.

3

Writers of Doctor Who have also relied on old traditional monsters(though the name may have changed and a "Doctor Who" spin may have been supplied to the myth) to tell their tales.

The Vampires of Venice had the look and feel of a Hammer horror film

Many of the 180 Doctor Who monsters listed on Wikipedia shouldn't be considered monsters at all. Many alien races like the Draconians are articulate, sophisticated and culturally advanced. The Forest of Cheem from The End of the World are direct descendents from the tropical rain forest and are noble and good. Yet, sadly, these are considered monsters in most listings simply because of their appearance

The magma creature in The Caves of Androzani is an example of monsters being included only to supply a cliff hanger ending or frightening scene without concern for plot, or character development. These monsters often come across as lame and unnecessary.

Monsters continue to be an integral part of the show whether it is reworkings of the traditional Doctor Who monsters or new developments like the weeping angels brought forth from the pen of Steven Moffatt; monsters will always be a part of the Doctor Who formula.

(Possibly the creepiest monsters ever. The weeping angels creep up on you when your not looking)

1. Peter Haining Doctor Who The Key To Time A Year-by-Year Record

(W.H. Allen & Co., 1984) p20

2. Peter Haining Doctor Who A Celebration Two Decades Through Time And Space (W.H. Allen & Co., 1983) p. 10-11

3. Lance Parkin, All Creatures Great and Small Doctor Who Monthly Magazine #263 (Marvel Comics, 4/1998) p8

The Concept of Horror in the Doctor Who Universe Part 2: Dualism

The conflict of the two natures of man has been contemplated by the likes of Paul the Apostle and put into fiction most notably by Robert Louis Stevenson in his tale The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as he wrestled with dualism.

Surprisingly, we find this oft used horror staple- dualism- woven throughout the fundamental's of Doctor Who. The dual nature and/or multiple personality syndrome affects The Doctor, Time Lord Regeneration, The TARDIS and the production in general.

"Doctor Who as science fiction must be understood in terms of both: (1) its drive toward the coherent, signified as a verifiable empirical world (the world of Pertwee's Doctor with its quest of scientism--the universe as balanced, organic, understood); and (2) its recognition of incoherence in the functionality of 'naming' the ego (the world of Baker's Doctor and its mark of Romanticism-- the constantly regenerated selves, the dopplegangers). " 1 Within the whole of the program there is continued tension and often pulls in opposite directions. Yet, these opposing concepts are part of the same continuity.

The dual nature of the program can also be displayed in how it can be considered a children's program by a large percentage of viewers, yet many adults would claim it to be meant for an older audience. The show is also considered a comedy by some and high drama by others.

Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is about a man divided against himself . Within the respectable Jekyll lurks the evil Hyde, both struggling to be free. "Stevenson's allegorical techniques reveal and reinforce this melancholy view of life. For example, the front of Jekyll's house is fair, part of 'ancient, handsome houses,' but Hyde uses the rear entrance whose facade is part of a sinister block of buildings which'...showed no window, nothing but a door on the lower story and a blind forehead discolored wall on the upper; and bore in every feature the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence.'...the house's two facades are symbolically the faces of the two opposed side of the same man.' 2

The TARDIS (The Doctor's "house") falls victim to the concept of dualism. It is bigger on the inside than the outside. Inside it is scientific, spacious, a synbol of Gallifreyan technology. On the outside it is a simple police box (of Earth), an absurd idiosyncrasy.

When working properly it has the ability to change its appearance by use of a chameleon circuit. Jekyll used Hyde as a means to disguise himself when he desired to partake in an activity that was unbecoming of his place in the community. Hyde used Jekyll as his shelter from discovery.

Obviously, the Doctor is probably where the comparison can be most closely drawn. When Jekyll took the formula, his personality and nature not only changed, but his entire physical appearance changed also. The Doctor has altered his appearance and character 10 times. Though each Doctor brings his own persona to the character with some traits of those who have come earlier, it appears each regeneration is a reaction to the previous incarnation. "Central to the Doctor's definition, and constant throughout all his different forms, has been science fiction's definition of the 'human' as powerful but fragile, rational but irrational, material but spiritual too." 1

A key theme in Doctor Who points toward humanity's choice to choose between good and evil. The Doctor has entertained these same choices and though he most often chooses good, he has also been tempted to do otherwise. The Doctor has the capacity to do evil.

"Near the end of the "Key To Time" season (1978-9) the Doctor for a moment, plays with the 'mad scientist' persona of human pride and ambition:

'We have the power to do anything we like, absolute power over every particle in the

universe, everything that has ever existed or will ever exist-- as from this moment. Are you listening to me Romana... because if you're not listening I can make you listen, because I can do anything. As from this moment there's no such thing as free will in the entire universe.

There's only my will, because I possess the Key to Time.'

In response to Romana's anxious, "Are you all right?", the Doctor drops his rolling eyed spoof of madness for his conventionally idiosynctratic matter of fact, neat nonsense persona:

'Well of course I'm all right... this thing makes me feel in such a way that I'd be very

worried if I felt like that about somebody else feeling like this about

that. Do you understand?'" 1

In the classical tale, events are generated by a motivated villainy, and the hero is affected by the villainy. Often the Doctor arrives where nothing untoward is happening but upon his arrival events are initiated. One could reason this casts the Doctor in the role of villain as well as hero.

Of all the Docor's incarnations, it is the sixth who demonstrates the conflict of the two natures most openly. A near bipolar personality is displayed in The Twin Dilemma when the Doctor nearly strangles Peri, only to be driven off by the reflection of his fuirous-mad expression in the mirror Peri produces, and then the Doctor despondently opts to become a hermit on the desolate world of Titan Three. Later he shows genuine sorrow at the death of Azmael. In The Two Doctors, the Doctor is seen relaxing, fishing on the bank of a river, reflecting on the joys of angling. But later, this very same Doctor is complicit in Shockeye's demise and has the nerve to joke about it. This Doctor was brash, arrogant and violent. His personality hearkened back to the earliest glimpses of the first Doctor but taken to the extreme.

It was during the Trial of a Time Lord when the evil side of the Doctor was truly revealed in the person of the Valeyard. This accuser of the Doctor is in actuality a possible future incarnation of the Doctor who is an amalgram of the darkest parts of the Doctor-- a true Mr. Hyde-- The Doctor's Ultimate Foe.

1. John Tulloch and Mauel Alvaredo, Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text St. Martin's Press, 1983, pp.141, 76, 78

2. Abraham Rothberg, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (the introduction), Bantam Books, 1967, pp.xiv-xv

The Concept of Horror in The Doctor Who Universe Part 1

A few years ago I wrote a multi-part article for the Gallifreyan Gazette, a Doctor Who Fanzine put out by The Whoosier Network a Doctor Who Fan Club I helped start back in the mid 1980s.

Since then I have presented the material in a lecture at Inconjunction, a local Fan produced Science Fiction Convention here in Indianapolis. I will try to reproduce the material here for those who may be interested. The majority of the material concerns the Classic Years of Doctor Who. Eventually I will write additional parts with emphasis on the recent years.

The Concept of Horror in The Doctor Who Universe

(Part 1- An Overview)

Horror films have changed considerably over the past 20 years. Tales of the Supernatural gave way to Slasher films which have now developed into the Torture Porn sub genre films we are inundated with today. Thankfully, Doctor Who hasn't followed the same path. (Torchwood however did give us the episode Countryside, a story which would please most readers of "Fangoria" magazine.)

Doctor Who has traditionally leaned more toward the Gothic elements of horror, particularly during Phillip Hincliff's reign as Producer. Russel T Davies has also included horror related material while he headed the series. We have seen werewolves, zombies and Satan himself. From the pen of Steven Moffatt we have been entertained with new classic episodes including The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances a tale which didn't rely on traditional monsters but did exude an incredible since of horror throughout, and Blink a tale which gave viewers chills and introduced the very frightening Weeping Angels.

Doctor Who has always relied on monsters to frighten young children and send them scurrying behind the sofa, but monsters including Daleks and Cybermen are better relegated to Science Fiction than Horror. In fact, most horror icons particularly those dealing with the supernatural are nearly always rebuked with a "scientific " explanation. After all, Doctor Who owes more to Quatermass than it does to Hammer.

In the Quatermass and the Pit, Demonic creatures are explained as visitors from outer space, probably Mars. Quatermass theorizes, the visitors abducted humans in the distant past and returned them with psychic abilities. Poltergeists, ghost sightings and witchcraft were all explained as originating from these visitors and the pentagram found in the space ship is simply a symbol of the alien race.

In the classic The Daemons, the opening shot focuses on a pub sign titled "The Cloven Hoof" during a stormy night. This episode sets the stage for satanic ritual, taking horror to its roots... the devil. In the town of "Devil's End", a giant horned beast, Azal is sleeping beneath a burrow called "Devil's Hump." Azal turns out to be an alien the Master, disguised as a satanic priest, is attempting to awaken and control. In one scene the Doctor explains "No not magic, Jo- science, the science of the Daemons." Anyone who has seen Quatermass and the Pit can't help but see the similarities.



Though Doctor Who has mostly excluded supernatural elements of horror, it has languished in the trappings of horror. Dualism, old dark houses (including castles and lighthouses etc.) tombs, physical incarceration, curses, antiquated codes and rituals, apparent supernatural phenomenon, mad doctors in addition to monsters have all been utilized to create an atmosphere of horror throughout the history of Doctor Who. Words such as Horror, Terror, Evil, Death and Doom permeate the myriad titles of Doctor Who serials.

Obviously, the writers took the seed of many previously screened horror tales and transformed them into stories of the Doctor Who universe. Phillip Hinchcliffe was quoted in Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text with this statement:

"What we went for was a very powerful concept. So we borrowed from science fiction...and we borrowed from horror themes and gothic... Planet of Evil originally grew of an idea to have a Jekyll and Hyde planet... In fact we also pinched a bit from Forbidden Planet because we had sort of a monster of the Id... We did another gothic thing with a mummy story, about mummies that wake up and take over-- robot mummies... And we did a Frankenstein story, The Brain of Morbius... and we did a Jack the Ripper story, The Talons of Weng-Chiang.. We did quite a few gothic ones, because I like the trappings."1

Borrowing from horror films and stories of the past was not exclusive to Hinchccliff and Holmes. This practice can be seen as far back as Tomb of the Cybermen. "It is often said Doctor Who is at its best when its roots are showing and certainly the roots of this four-part Cybermen story can be traced all the way back to Universal's Mummy films." 2

Chris Boucher wrote for Graham Williams The Image of the Fendahl which conjures up recollections of Robert Bloch's story "The Skull of the Marquis Desade" which was made into the film The Skull. Parallels can be drawn between The Phantom of the Opera and the Peter Davison vehicle The Caves of Androzani. There are many more examples of borrowing from the past in order to send the Doctor Who viewer behind the sofa.

1. John Tulloch and manuel Alverado, Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text (St. Marten's Press, 1983) p112

2. Peter Haining DOctor Who A Celebration Two Decades Through Time And Space (W.H. Allen & Co. 1983) p. 186

Part 2 - Duality