One of the things I love about Dr Who...
Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 12:37 am
...is the way it deliberately sets out to make everyday things frightening to children.
Take the new series. View the last four seasons through the eyes of a small child, and then look at the world around you.
Plastic bins - they can reach out and grab you, and pull you in to eat you.
Shop Mannequins - similarly, can come alive and shoot at you
Shadows - any given shadow can contain a swarm of microscopic creatures that can strip the flesh off your bones in seconds.
Christmas - Your Christmas tree can attack and kill you. Street Santas are killer robots armed to the teeth.
Statues - Statues move when you aren't looking at them, attacking you when your back is turned.
Cracks - the cracks in your bedroom wall lead to another universe, a universe full of monsters.
And I'm sure there must be others.
You have to realise, there's a streak of sadism in Doctor Who. It's sold as a family show... but the tradition of Who is that young children watch it and are *terrified* by it. As a little 'un I used to watch Doctor who sitting next to my mum on the couch, cuddled up against her, with a large pillow in front of me to hide behind when it got too scary. Who writers are *gleeful* over the idea that they frighten small children half to death. And I especially love that Moffat seems very on board with this kind of thing, so I'm looking forward to many more everyday things made scary in future!
Take the new series. View the last four seasons through the eyes of a small child, and then look at the world around you.
Plastic bins - they can reach out and grab you, and pull you in to eat you.
Shop Mannequins - similarly, can come alive and shoot at you
Shadows - any given shadow can contain a swarm of microscopic creatures that can strip the flesh off your bones in seconds.
Christmas - Your Christmas tree can attack and kill you. Street Santas are killer robots armed to the teeth.
Statues - Statues move when you aren't looking at them, attacking you when your back is turned.
Cracks - the cracks in your bedroom wall lead to another universe, a universe full of monsters.
And I'm sure there must be others.
You have to realise, there's a streak of sadism in Doctor Who. It's sold as a family show... but the tradition of Who is that young children watch it and are *terrified* by it. As a little 'un I used to watch Doctor who sitting next to my mum on the couch, cuddled up against her, with a large pillow in front of me to hide behind when it got too scary. Who writers are *gleeful* over the idea that they frighten small children half to death. And I especially love that Moffat seems very on board with this kind of thing, so I'm looking forward to many more everyday things made scary in future!