Pushing the protest button: Doctor Who's anti-authoritarian ethic

Abstract

Since its inception, <i>Doctor Who</i> has displayed a strong opposition to violence and tyranny. The Doctor’s greatest villains—the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Sontarans—represent militarism, oppression, and the suppression of the individual to the collective; he has consistently, and successfully, opposed these highly symbolic villains through non-violence. The Doctor is an anti-authoritarian, and occasionally even an anarchist, and his adventures put the ethical application of his anti-authoritarian ideals at the forefront. His very character represents the disruption of dehumanizing, violent, and tyrannical systems. This essay explores the Doctor’s longstanding role as an anti-authoritarian messiah figure, focusing on the ethical dilemmas and solutions put forth by throughout Doctor Who’s history. Examples are drawn from both the "classic" and modern eras of the television program, as well as tie-in novels and audio dramas. Connections are made to radical and progressive Christian writers including Leo Tolstoy; William Lloyd Garrison; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Jacques Ellul; and radical reformers from the period of the English Civil War.