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Doctor Who: Language and Representation Blog Tasks

 

Language and Contexts

1) Camerawork and sound: Theme of Doctor Who sounds very sci-fi. Camera movement is slow, but the shots used are effective (e.g. when the Doctor is holding the vase, the camera shot makes him look sinister). Along with that, the TARDIS makes it's iconic sounds lots of people know today.

Mise-en-scene: Susan is a 1960's teenager who is heavily implied to be an alien. The setting for the first episode is at the school and the junkyard/TARDIS. The scenery and the characters are very dated.

Narrative and genre: The genre of this TV series is sci-fi. The narrative of the episode follows the mystery of where in fact Susan lives, as the teachers find it quite suspicious that Susan lives in a junkyard. Eventually, it is revealed that inside the junkyard was a lab, that contains a time travel device known as the TARDIS, which ties into the sci-fi genre.

2) Torodrov's Equilibrium: Everything is in equilibrium when the episode starts; Susan is just a regular British school girl who can act quite strange at times. The equilibrium breaks once the teachers start investigating where Susan lives, and it ramps up once they discover the TARDIS.

Propp's Character Theory: Ian is portrayed as the "Hero", Barbara is portrayed as the "Helper", the Doctor is portrayed as the "Villain" (or Father), and Susan is portrayed as the "Heroine" in need of saving.

Barthes' enigma and action codes: Multiple enigma/action codes are shown throughout the episode, like the mystery of where Susan lives, the references to time travel, etc.

3) The most important scene in the episode is where they discover the TARDIS and are trapped inside. This is because it really starts to set the scene as it's a sci-fi show.

4) An Unearthly Child's genre is sci-fi. This is because of the numerous references to time-travel and other sci-fi elements, like aliens. For example, a moment which suggests time-travel is when Susan reads a book about the French Revolution and says "That's not right", and a moment which suggests creatures from other worlds is when the Doctor says that "they need to get back to their world", suggesting they are from a different planet.

5) 

Representations

1) A stereotype of men that is reinforced in An Unearthly Child is the stereotype that the man is the strong, masculine hero. Ian is portrayed to be brave in the episode and is the main hero of the story.

2) A stereotype of women that is reinforced in An Unearthly Child is the stereotype that they're much weaker. Barbara makes such comments like "I feel frightened" in the episode, reinforcing the stereotype.

3) The young people in this episode are portrayed as rebellious and typical, whereas the adults in this episode are portrayed as more mature. In the 1960's, teenagers were becoming more rebellious than elegant.

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