Doctor Who – New Dawn: Essays on the Jodie Whittaker era

Doctor Who – new dawn explores the latest cultural moment in this long-running BBC TV series: the casting of a female lead. Analysing showrunner Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker’s era means considering contemporary Doctor Who as an inclusive, regendered brand. Featuring original interview material with cast members, this edited collection also includes an in-depth discussion with Segun Akinola, composer of the iconic theme tune’s current version. The book critically address the series’ representations of diversity, as well as fan responses to the thirteenth Doctor via the likes of memes, cosplay and even translation into Spanish as a grammatically gendered language. In addition, concluding essays look at how this moment of Who has been merchandised, especially via the ‘experience economy’, and how official/unofficial reactions to UK lockdown helped the show to further re-emphasise its public-service potential.

From the Back Cover

An exciting new beginning for Doctor Who calls for new analysis. Responding to the call, this volume presents thirteen chapters that investigate the thirteenth Doctor across multiple dimensions.Doctor Who – new dawn explores the latest cultural moment in this long-running BBC series: the casting of a female lead. Following the reveal that Jodie Whittaker would be the thirteenth Doctor, the series was caught up in controversy, as people speculated whether she would be presented differently to her predecessors. Analysing Whittaker’s era so far, the collection addresses how the show has been positioned as an inclusive brand. It features an in-depth discussion with Segun Akinola, composer of the present theme and incidental music, as well as original interview material with Mandip Gill, guest star Julie Hesmondhalgh and casting director Andy Pryor. It also includes an analysis of screenwriting that considers how the thirteenth Doctor’s era of spectacular TV has been created and how it has diversified representations of gender, queerness, race and family. Looking beyond the television show, three chapters address fan responses to the thirteenth Doctor via memes, the activities of Dutch cosplayers and translation into Spanish. Finally, several chapters look at how the current moment of Doctor Who has been merchandised, proliferating in the ‘experience economy’ and via public service reactions to 2020’s first lockdown in the UK.

About the Author

Andrew O'Day has recently completed a Ph.D. thesis on television science fiction at Royal Holloway, University of London

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