Who's an atheist?

[adelaidesean]

A while back, I had an interesting online discussion about whether the supernatural and Doctor Who are antithetical (triggered by this article and featuring no less eminences than angriest and mondyboy, among others). I'm now writing up the thoughts prompted by that discussion into an autobiographical essay on my relationship with atheism, and I have a couple of questions for the Whovians among my readers:

What stories can you think of that contain references to God, the Devil, or other supernatural beings? "The Daemons" and "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit" come immediately to mind, for instance. Are there any more?

There have been numerous mentions of the Doctor being a lonely god in recent series (not to mention the very Christ-like ending of season three). I haven't had the time to go back and watch all the episodes to see when they occur. Does anyone out there have an encyclopaedic knowledge of this kind of thing to save me having to, like, research? :-)

Comments

[mondyboy.livejournal.com]

Curse of Fenric has faith as its core theme - not just religious faith, but that's part of it.

Kinda of course plays with the ideas of religion as well, in a colonial context.

But neither of those examples really answer your question. The fact is, there have been very few references to God or angels etc in the show itself. But then, that's why I think Satan Pit is so interesting.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

It certainly is an interesting topic. Thanks for your help talking it through. My opinions are very strong on this subject, and I'm dismayed to see that there's so little justification behind them! :-)

I should probably perform a parallel search, looking for the many instances of the scientific method at work in the show, but that could take forever...

[mondyboy.livejournal.com]

As for the Lonely God stuff, it's first mentioned in New Earth by the Face of Boe.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Thanks again, Mondy. If you remember where it's repeated, let me know.

What I *really* need is somewhere to download every script of every story in one hit, so I can perform a simple search for relevant terms. Know anywhere I can get something like that?

[angriest.livejournal.com]

There's certainly the occasional usage of Christian/Christlike imagery through the series.

-Paul McGann has a very Christlike resurrection when he regenerates from Sylvester McCoy.
-When Light manifests himself at the climax of "Ghost Light", it's in the form of an angel (sans wings, though).
-The weeping angels in "Blink", obviously.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tips, Grant. I haven't seen the telemovie for ages so had forgotten that regeneration scene. Might have to buy it in order to check it out.

Amanda pointed out all the angels in the Titanic episode. I presume that was a tip to the traditions of Christmas rather than Christianity per se (but it probably still counts).

these may be of some help.

[synw.livejournal.com]

William Hartnell
The massacre of St Bartholomem's Eve.

Tom Baker
Genesis of the Daleks
Pyramids of Mars
The Armageddon factor

Peter Davison
Four to Doomsday
Enlightenment

Re: these may be of some help.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Sweet. Thanks!

"Bartholomem" is such a great typo. Try to say it. It just rolls of the lips and dribbles down the chin, doesn't it?

[sithmagician.livejournal.com]

A very minor one, but it occurred to me as I was reading this.

Doomsday, where the unlock code (or something) for the void the Doctor was sending the Daleks and Cybermen back to was "666". Prompting Micky to ask the Doctor where he was sending them, and the Doctor responding he was sending them to hell.

Making the place exist in that universe I guess.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Nice one. "Hell" is the place between dimensions, isn't it? Where the Dalek sphere came from?

[sithmagician.livejournal.com]

That's the one.

In other news, I went to Galaxy today. I now finally have a copy of Astropolis on my desk here at work.

Now I just need a spare few hours...

[(Anonymous)]

Hi there,

About to dash out for dinner but are you just limiting it to the tv series? There are plenty of references in the books (particularly the Virgin New Adventures). As for Big Finish - I'm sure there are references there as well.

In terms of the tv series, apart from the references already here, off the top of my head - how about Nightmare of Eden? The Sea Devils? Paradose Towers?

Got to dash but I'll have a think and come back.

Cheers,
Damon
(who is still reeling over Freddy Highmore being cast as a live action Astroboy)

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

There are so many titles with religious references! I hadn't really thought about it before. Thanks for the new ones, Damon. It's building up to be quite a list.

Given that RTD seems to have been heavily influenced by the New Adventures and the like, it'd be interesting to know what was in there too...

[(Anonymous)]

Hi there,

I'll look at pulling together a list from the New Adventures (the whole Time's Champion run and the stuff with the Other from Lungbarrow in particular) spring to mind.

Oh - and we forgot the Tom Baker's The Face of Evil in which the Doctor becomes a god - well Xoannan who is based on the Doctor becomes a God).

I need another project :)

Cheers,
Damon

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Don't go to too much trouble! The article I'm writing can't be too long, and I reckon I might already have enough material. Save it, perhaps, for the next time we're sitting face-to-face. That should keep us amused for hours. :-)