Is Doctor Who “Thunderingly Racist?”

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The primary argument is the limited number of black, Asian or other ethnic actors appearing in the cast of the show and the attitudes directed at those that do. A leading observation is made towards the casting of the Doctor and why he has always been white. Why not an Asian or black actor? Prior to Matt Smith’s casting, rumour was that Patterson Joseph was linked to the role of the Eleventh Doctor, however this never came into fruition.

The same argument has been made about why the Doctor has never been a woman. I’m not dismissing these arguments but the bottom line with any casting has to be, are they right for the role, be it the Doctor or any character. There have been 6 James Bonds and each time they have been cast as a white, British, male and only recently diversified by casting an actor with so much as a different hair colour. Admittedly the character of the Doctor has had twice as many openings but on each occasion the lead actor has been cast based on how they meet the vision of the role for the producer at the time.

That may sound like I’m blaming each producer, but they have made their casting decisions based on who was available, who was interested and again, who was right for it. In recent times especially it is hard accept that the absence of a black actor as the Doctor is down to discrimination. But conversely, caving in to pressure to cast an ethnic actor as the Doctor just to make a statement, would be a move that would please the minorities but would it be for the overall benefit of the programme? I’m not saying an ethnic actor or actress should not be cast as the Doctor, but it should not be soley for the case of making a political statement, but considered equally for the role just as any other artist. We mustn’t forget that we have had two scottish actors play the Doctor and Christopher Eccleston boldly chose to play the Doctor with his native accent.

Indications of changes in the times is evident in the constantly changing supporting cast. ’Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS’ gave us an all black supporting cast with the Van Baalen brothers, series 7 has shown Clara Oswald child minding Angie and Artie Maitland at some point in most episodes and they too were given leading roles in ‘Nightmare in Silver’. We have also had two major companions who are black, Mickey Smith and Martha Jones plus her family who appeared heavily in series 3, however the argument levelled at these characters is the Doctor’s dismissiveness to both of these. Mickey, initially dubbed ‘Mickey the Idiot’, soon proved himself to be a hero on multiple occasions. Martha Jones’ storyline was based around her unrequited love for the Doctor. In these cases, the dismissiveness of the Doctor is not based on the colour of their skin, but rather in the former case because Mickey was a massive goofball, and latterly because the Doctor does not understand love in human terms and was pining for Rose. If these characters were white, the storylines would be no different but of course without the presence of black actors the show would be wide open to heavier criticism because of this.

It is picked up on in Martha Jones’ case in ‘The Shakespeare Code’ how the Doctor dismisses her concern about her skin colour in Elizabethan England, a hint at the slave trade, which admittedly by bringing up, the show acknowledges and is enough to challenge and contrast attitudes between then and now, but this is seemingly not enough as the episode didn’t go off on a wild tangent about the Doctor on slavery and not stepping in and tackling the big issue there and then. That is a standalone episode in itself, which the show could certainly tackle sometime, perhaps with an appearance from Abraham Lincoln?

We have also had companions in the past from Australia, America, Scotland, other worlds even. Also aren’t we forgetting, the show is produced in Wales and has done enormous things for the exposure of Wales as a country and its people, who are themselves often unfairly overlooked. If that isn’t diversity, I don’t know what is.

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