The Theology of Doctor Who. CONCLUSIONS

Conclusions

Doctor Who’s cultural significance makes it appropriate material for theological study, particularly for those concerned with cultural exegesis or popular apologetics.

It has been shown that Doctor Who adopts the orthodox science fiction attitude towards religion. In this world a Conflict Thesis dominates where religion is characterised as backward and primitive, where belief in gods[1] is ill-founded, and where science represents the only truth. “The scientist doctor as saviour”[2] completes this picture. To take the positives of Doctor Who’s scientism, it is an appeal for intellectual honesty and it always challenges the amoral. Other elements of genuine religious faith are encouraged, such as open-mindedness, moral conviction and sacrifice.

Writer Russell T. Davies brings an atheist-humanist commentary to the programme, and adds to the debate about the attributes of godhood. The Daemons and The Impossible Planet show that, for all its scientism, Doctor Who asks significant questions about belief. Kinda and Planet of the Spiders show Doctor Who’s use of religious allegory and language. Finally, we have seen that, within a mythological framework, Doctor Who tells the enduring story of an other who saves this world, who is a moral absolute, who calls others to come with him and who challenges individuals to better themselves.

With its a-theistic moral framework and its challenges about the nature of evil, courage[3] and what it means to be human, Doctor Who raises questions that theology needs to take seriously.

[1] And God. –Though only ever inferred.
[2] May, Stephen. Stardust and Ashes: Science Fiction in Christian Perspective. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London. 1999. Pg.58
[3] “SF, particularly the Doctor Who kind, is good at presenting the moral challenge to have courage. In The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Campbell asks if the Daleks ‘dare to tamper with the forces of creation’. ‘Yes, they dare!’ the Doctor replies. ‘And we must dare to stop them!’”[3] Thacker, Anthony. A Closer Look at Science Fiction. Kingsway Publications, Eastbourne. 2001. Pg. 275