Design for Doctor Who: Vision and Revision in Science Fiction Television (Who Watching)

The long-running popular TV series Doctor Who is, Piers Britton argues, a ‘uniquely design intensive text’: its time-and-space-travel premise requires that designers be tirelessly imaginative in devising new worlds and entities and recreating past civilizations. While Doctor Who’s attempts at worldbuilding are notorious for being hit-and-miss – old jokes about wobbly walls and sink plungers die hard – the distinctiveness of the series’ design imagery is beyond question. And over the course of six decades Doctor Who has produced designs which are not only iconic but, in being repeatedly revisited and updated, have proven to be an ever-more important element in the series’ identity and mythos. In the first in-depth study of Doctor Who‘s costumes, sets and graphics, Piers Britton offers an historical overview of both the original and the revived series, explores theoretical frameworks for evaluating Doctor Who design, and provides detailed analysis of key images. Case studies include the visual morphology of Doctor Who’s historical adventures, the evaluative character of cosplay, and the ongoing significance for the Doctor Who brand of such high-profile designs as the Daleks and the TARDIS interior, the ‘time-tunnel’ title sequence, and the costumes of the Fourth and Thirteenth Doctors. Building from a chapter on Doctor Who in a prior book on design for television, Reading Between Designs, Piers Britton examines the role of costumes, sets and props, and graphics in both the classic and new Doctor Who series. The overarching argument of this book is that design imagery defines Doctor Who to a much greater extent than generally acknowledged. Britton's approach is threefold. First, he surveys the whole history of Doctor Who on television, situating changing design idioms for the series in both the institutional context of the BBC and the wider realm of screen sf. Second, he addresses the complex issue of how the work of design, and its effectiveness in doing this work, can be assessed in a genre-hopping, idiomatically unstable narrative such as Doctor Who. Rather than adopt a single, overarching approach to evaluating design for Doctor Who, therefore, Britton turns to some of the ways in which fans – not least the fan professionals now responsible for the Doctor Who brand – confer value and new meaning on design imagery from the series. In the third and final section of the book, Britton moves from wide-angle to focused inquiry, reflecting on thirteen key designs which have helped to define the Doctor Who aesthetic, in some cases playing a central role in the tonal or narrative reorientation of the text. In conclusion, he emphasizes the generative role that ‘iconic’ design imagery has developed in storytelling for Doctor Who as for other, similarly long-lived sf and fantasy texts. Cover page Halftitle page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents Figures Acknowledgements Introduction: Contexts and Conceptual Framework What have you got for me this time? – Doctor Who and the delights of looking Doctor Who on television, and the study of media Design studies, and the structure of this book Coda: Doctor Who at the BBC – from London to Cardiff PART ONE A Critical History of Design for Doctor Who Chapter 1 The London Period – 1963 to 1989 Back and forth – 1963–6 Dark shadows – 1967–70 Down to Earth – 1968–72 Psychedelia – 1970–4 Chiaroscuro – 1975–7 The hazards of space travel – 1977–9 New romanticism – 1979–81 Looking back – 1982–4 Stasis within tumult – 1984–7 A belated regeneration – 1988–9 Chapter 2 The TV movie and the Cardiff period – 1996, and 2005 to 2020 Interlude: Vancouver 1996 – the TV movie Grunge and graphicity – 2005–2009 Retrovisions – 2010–2013 Gothic revival – 2013–17 Recalibrations – 2018–20 Postlude to Part One Introduction to Part One: Why a history of Doctor Who design? PART TWO What’s at Stake in Design for Doctor Who Chapter 3 The work of design in the Doctor Who narrative Measures for the intrinsic value of Doctor Who design Theorizing the genres of Doctor Who, and design as index Chapter 4 Responding to design for Doctor Who – evaluations and transformations Fan discourse and the evaluation of Doctor Who design Cosplay as an evaluative act Intratextual critiques and mutations Image into narrative The ‘design novum’ Introduction to Part Two PART THREE Thirteen Key Designs: A Personal View Chapter 5 Formative and enduring images I: The Brachacki/Newbery TARDIS interior II: The Daleks III: The Mark 2 (‘Telosian’) Cybermen IV: The time-tunnel titles V: The Time Lords’ ceremonial regalia Chapter 6 Design of the times Images of the moment VI: The Fourth Doctor’s costume VII: The Seventh Doctor’s costume VIII: Rose Tyler’s wardrobe IX: The Silents Landmarks and watersheds X: The Hudolin TARDIS interior XI: War Doctors XII: The 2014 title sequence XIII: The Thirteenth Doctor’s costume Conclusion Notes Select bibliography Index of Names Index of Subjects The long-running popular TV series Doctor Who is, Piers Britton argues, a 'uniquely design intensive text': its time-and-space-travel premise requires that designers be tirelessly imaginative in devising new worlds and entities and recreating past civilizations. While Doctor Who 's attempts at worldbuilding are notorious for being hit-and-miss – old jokes about wobbly walls and sink plungers die hard – the distinctiveness of the series' design imagery is beyond question. And over the course of six decades Doctor Who has produced designs which are not only iconic but, in being repeatedly revisited and updated, have proven to be an ever-more important element in the series' identity and mythos. In the first in-depth study of Doctor Who 's costumes, sets and graphics, Piers Britton offers an historical overview of both the original and the revived series, explores theoretical frameworks for evaluating Doctor Who design, and provides detailed analysis of key images. Case studies include the visual morphology of Doctor Who 's historical adventures, the evaluative character of cosplay, and the ongoing significance for the Doctor Who brand of such high-profile designs as the Daleks and the TARDIS interior, the 'time-tunnel' title sequence, and the costumes of the Fourth and Thirteenth Doctors. "The long-running popular TV series Doctor Who is, Piers Britton argues, a 'uniquely design intensive text'. The elements of its production design - its sets and props, costumes and make up, special effects and prosthetics - have always been central to Doctor Who's distinctive visual style and the pleasure it gives to its viewers. This visual style is also essential in creating the many different worlds that the Doctor encounters from episode to episode, in addition to the unique aesthetic of each Doctor and the changing design of iconic sets such as the TARDIS, and enemies such as the Daleks and the Cybermen. Piers Britton provides the first in-depth study of Doctor Who's design and the way the show constructs unique visual worlds. Tracing Doctor Who's design history from its inception in 1963 through to the present day, and following its production journey from London to its current home in Cardiff, Britton explores how the show's designers have created settings from Elizabethan England to the end of the universe, the distinctive costumes of the individual Doctors and his companions, and the extraordinary prosthetics of the Doctor's allies and opponents from across the galaxies"-- Provided by publisher Preface PART 1: A CRITICAL DESIGN HISTORY OF DOCTOR WHO Introduction: Why a history of Doctor Who design? -- 1. The London Period ? Lime Grove 1963 to Television Centre 1989 -- 2. The TVM, and the Cardiff Period ? Upper Boat Studios 2004 to Roath Lock 2020 Postlude PART 2: THIRTEEN KEY DESIGNS - A PERSONAL VIEW Introduction -- 3. Formative and Enduring Images -- 4. Design of the Times PART 3: WHAT'S AT STAKE IN DESIGN FOR DOCTOR WHO Introduction -- 5. The Work of Design in the Doctor Who Narrative -- 6. Responding to Design for Doctor Who ? Evaluation and Transformations LAST THOUGHTS Notes