Ethical Matters in Time and Space: 60 Years of Doctor Who

On 23 November 1963 the first episode of Doctor Who aired on the BBC. Where was the story set? Everywhere. When was is set? Anytime. What were the possibilities within the show? All possibilities. Join broadcaster and cultural historian Matthew Sweet alongside Christel Dee, author and presenter of Doctor Who: The Fan Show, as we celebrate The Doctor, their companions, and what may be the greatest show on, and off, Earth.

Doctor Who has always asked philosophical questions from the start; from sacrificing a wounded caveman to whether the Daleks make the rest of the universe better. Should we ever give up on a friend as toxic as The Master? Who would we be without emotions, what is the true cost of war and what the nature of ‘cool’ when it comes to bowties? Doctor Who developed as a show too; women always often had a part to play in the adventures, and when the 2005 reboot arrived, the Tardis became home to a far more diverse group of companions including Martha Jones, Captain Jack Harkness, Bill Potts and Yasmin Khan. The Doctor and the Master have both changed gender and ethnicity. How has the show contributed to representing everyone on planet Earth? And what could we look forward to in the Doctor’s futures?