Doctor Who Survey Presentation, PCA 2013

What of Doctor Who?

Presentation at the 2013 PCA/ACA Conference, Science Fiction Fantasy Area

Gillian I Leitch

I decided to do a survey of Doctor Who fans in order to better understand their connection to the series, its characters, other fans, and perhaps to better understand its popularity.

In 1995 John Tulloch and Henry Jenkins published their studies on Doctor Who and Star Trek Fans entitled “Science Fiction Audiences: Watching Doctor Who and Star Trek” [London, Routledge, 1995: http://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Audiences-Watching-Fictions/dp/0415061415%5D Their focus was principally on the reactions of fans to specific episodes of Doctor Who: “Monsters of Peladon,” “City of Death,” and “Kinda.”  The bulk of their interviews took place in Australia and the UK in 1982. Already Doctor Who had a long lived broadcast life, and was still enjoying the thrill of new episodes, although there are references to the later period, after its cancellation in 1989.

A more recent look at fans and their relationship to Doctor Who by Andrew O’Day in “Doctor Who in Time and Space: Essays in Themes, Characters, History and Fandom, 1963-2012” [edited by Gillian I Leitch, McFarland, 2013: http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Time-Space-Explorations/dp/0786465492/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364503586&sr=1-1&keywords=doctor+who+in+time+and+space] deals with British fans of the original series, mostly through interviews, their relationships as fans of the series, with the series, with other fans, and how they consumed Doctor Who.  SHAMELESS PLUG! How Doctor Who was broadcast, replayed, and shared, informed the relationships the fans had with the series.

 

I will begin this presentation by describing my methodology.  I published/ distributed my survey online through my blog www.gilliandr.wordpress.com [http://gilliandr.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/doctor-who-survey-2012/ ], Twitter, and Facebook.  I also emailed it out to as many as possible, hoping to elicit responses from a wide variety of sources. My questions were grouped mostly around the ideas of firsts and favourites, with room left for comments.  I wanted qualitative and quantitative data.  I also did a lot of research online, looking for more comments and fan surveys to round out the information I was presenting.  Not all questions were expected to receive answers, but there was room for comments which often explained the absences.

My first conclusion from the responses I received was that Doctor Who fans don’t like surveys. At first I took this lack of response as a personal critique, but after researching fan sites and other surveys, I realized that actually I did quite well.  One site had posted a survey in 2011, but after a while added a not stating that the deadline posted was being extended as only two responses had been received.  That survey is still open. 

Doctor Who fans are not a homogenous group, but there are some divisions which can be made.  The first comes from the country of origin.  Of the 20 responses I received where residence was stated, 13 were from the United States and 4 from Canada. I am assuming the rest also come from these two countries as well. 

I could go into the cultural differences between the two countries, but rather than explain  this, I will take it as a given, I will instead explain the different broadcast histories of Doctor Who which contributes to the differences between the two fan groups- particularly when they became fans, and the opportunities they had to watch the series to cement this relationship. It helps explain which episodes that they watched, and which characters and actors they were attracted to.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation had purchased and broadcast Doctor Who in the 1960s- Hartnell and Troughton episodes, but it wasn’t a huge success, and at the time the CBC produced its own slate of programming.  While it did purchase material from the BBC, particularly Coronation Street (which it still broadcasts), it did not rely on them for their main content.

In 1975 TV Ontario, an educational channel which broadcasts only in Ontario (currently 38.8% of the Canadian population). Coincidentally, it was aired on Saturday evenings, a similar time to the British broadcast.  They broadcast the episodes in the original half hour format, and followed it with a short “educational” analysis, first by Dr Jim Dator, then author Judith Merrill. [Ed Conroy, “That Time When the Doctor Educated Ontario,” www.blogto.com/city/2012/09/that_time_when_doctor_who_educated_ontario/ (24/03/2013)] TVO aired the series until 1990, when the national cable network YTV (geared to children’s television programming) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YTV_(TV_channel)] purchased the rights to broadcast.  They did so for a few years.

The rest of Canada got their fixt of Doctor Who the same way and time as American viewers, on PBS. In the late 1970s early 1980s individual PBS stations purchased episodes of Doctor Who as part of local programming.  They dictated air times and format. Some showed the half hour episodes complete with cliffhangers, others broadcast them in their entire story arc.  Canadians accessed PBS through cable.

In 2005, faced with a hockey strike and no programming, the CBC entered into a partnership with the BBC to finance and broadcast Doctor Who to great ratings.  The US SciFi (now Syfy) Channel purchased it a few months later. The strike ended and the next season was aired, but not in the same way, with the same support.  The Christmas Specials did not air at Christmas, and “Voyage of the Damned” never aired. The CBC ended this relationship four years later, and the series moved to Space Channel.  The series is now aired on the same day in both countries, with an hour difference in the US’ favour.

So now it comes to the fans, and the survey.  There is a marked difference of what was the first episode  they remember watching- the Canadians all list the original series as their first, and also are more likely to list the older doctors as their favourite (although this is mixed- see further).

In general though, those who list older episodes as either their first or favourite episodes prefer Jon Pertwee as their favourite Doctor.  There exists a bit of a divide between those who started watching Doctor Who in its newest incarnation and those who started watching during its original run.  Fans of the original series have watched most, if not all of the original series.  Fans who began to watch during the new series have not necessarily watched the old series. This is despite the availability of these episodes on DVD and Netflix.  In fact, fans of the old series don’t dwell on their memories of the old series, but are more likely to purchase those DVDs or to watch them again on Netflix or other streaming services.

Another question I asked in the survey was whether or not they watched other science fiction series.  In this I received multiple answers.  Star Trek was the most popular answer- and in this I include all versions of Star Trek, although the original was the most mentioned. Battlestar Galactica was second.  I assumed the respondents meant the new series and not the one from the 1970s, but they did not specify. Firefly was third, followed by Stargate SG-1 and Babylon 5.  Only two respondents stated that they weren’t heavily into Science Fiction television, and each qualified this with a science fiction series that they did watch.

Oddly enough, only a few mentioned that they watched other British science fiction: Torchwood, Being Human, Primeval and Red Dwarf.  Clearly there is a lack of Anglophilia among Doctor Who fans.  They are not necessarily watching it because it is British.

As to what attracted fans to the series in the first place- most express a connection with the characters, mostly the Doctor, and the humour. And while some were not immediately captivated, they did come around to watching.

As to the choice of favourite episodes, the new series wins hands down.  The divide is not present here.  “Blink,” “the Girl in the Fireplace” and “Journey’s End” were the most favoured of episodes. And likewise, David Tennant was the most popular Doctor. The fans of the older series often stated more than one choice, and this is how Pertwee was the most popular of the older Doctors. This is also reflected in other surveys found online. Tom Baker was neither universally loved or hated, despite being the longest running doctor, and the doctor that most of the older Doctor Who fans saw first.

Christopher Eccleston was the least liked, followed by Colin Baker and Peter Davison.

As to the choice of companion, things get more complicated.  Yes there were more options available- over 40 different companions over the run of the series but there was little variation in the two lists of favourite/ least favourite.

Donna was the most favoured of companions in the survey.  She was chosen mostly because of the humour and chemistry she had with the Doctor. She is followed by Amy, then Rose. 

Rose was the least favourite companion, followed by Martha and then Amy.  Rose was not liked because of her personality- whiney, and the romantic relationship she had with the Doctor. Martha was considered hard to understand, especially as she had an unrequited love with the Doctor.  Adric got only one vote.  This is hard to understand, remembering the utter joy expressed by fans when his character was killed off in the early 1980s. 

I then asked about favourite episodes- here not all respondents answered, as many were unfamiliar with the older Doctors.

Top Hartnell: Space Museum

Top Troughton: War Games; Tomb of the Cybermen

Top Pertwee: Terror of the Autons; Green Death

Top Tom Baker: City of Death; Deadly Assassin

Top Davison: Caves of Androzani

Top Colin Baker: Two Doctors

Top McCoy: Silver Nemesis; Survival

Top Eccleston: Empty Child; Doctor Dances

Top Tennant: Girl in the Fireplace, Unicorn and the Wasp

Top Smith: Vincent and the Doctor; The Girl Who Waited; Eleventh Hour

 This is clearly a work in progress, and asks many more questions than I have answers for right now.

After such amazing questions and discussions I have decided to keep the survey open, and hopefully there will be more input about Doctor Who and its fans through the survey, and correspondence with me, to enable more solid conclusions to be reached about fans and their likes and dislikes, and where they began to be fans, watching, consuming Doctor Who. 

Lip Reading for the Deaf, Montreal, 1911

Montreal Daily Star, 24 April 1911, page 8

 

LIP READING FOR THE DEAF

 

Miss Wadleigh, of the Muller Walle School, Boston, has begun her classes at the YMCA with the most promising results, two classes already being formed.  As Miss Wadleigh does not care to have many in a class she has decided to give daily lessons, at ten-forty-five in the morning and half-past four in the afternoon.  Anyone who has struggled unsuccessfully with deafness, or feels deafness growing upon them, is welcome at these classes where full particulars as to terms will be given and a trial lesson if desired.  This method of lip-reading has done wonders for deaf persons and these classes should be well attended.  If the hours mentioned are not suitable for men or others, in offices, doubtless evening classes could be formed.

Unlocking the Devereux Connection/ Fascination in the Family Tree

There is this amazing mansion in Salt Lake City called “Devereaux House.” According to various websites which discuss this historic building, it was built ( or heavily modified)  in 1867 by William Jennings.  (My great-great grandfather’s brother)

“William Jennings purchased the property in 1867 and developed the present Devereux House, incorporating Staines’ original cottage in the expanded structure. Jennings was also an English convert to the Mormon Church. Arriving in Salt Lake City in 1852, he entered the mercantile business. Taking advantage of the business opportunities of a rapidly-growing regional center, Jennings branched out into freighting and banking, becoming Utah’s first millionaire. In 1864 he founded the Eagle Emporium, which was later sold to the Mormon Church and became the forerunner of the present-day ZCMI department store. In 1882 Jennings was elected Mayor of Salt Lake City, serving one term. A hospitable and gracious host, Jennings entertained the famous and influential of the day. Devereaux House was the scene of lavish dinners and accommodated such prominent guests as Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes, and General William T. Sherman.” [http://history.utah.gov/apps/markers/detailed_results.php?markerid=2671]

“He named the half-block after his birthplace, Devereaux estate at Yardley, near Birmingham, England.” [http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705337698/Devereaux-House-Salt-Lake-Citys-stately-estate.html?pg=all]

Well, there is no Devereaux estate near Yardley, so what to make of this?  And what to make of the generations of Thorntons (William’s mother’s family) who named their sons Samuel Devereux?

I have gone over the family trees as far back as I could go, and consulted some work some of my distant Mormon cousins have posted on the Family Search Website to try and confirm any relations to a Devereux, and nada.

Here are my ruminations, and it sounds a bit far fetched, but with no evidence to actually link them to a Devereux family it is the best I can come up with.

First of all there are Devereux in Yardley in the period that my family actually lived there.  There is also the Devereux family, which owned Castle Bromwich Hall [http://billdargue.jimdo.com/placenames-gazetteer-a-to-y/places-c/castle-bromwich/] until 1657.  A Devereux family also became the Earls of Essex.  Pretty posh name – and with local connections.  Now are the Devereux in Yardley in the late 17^th and 18^th century connected to the Devereux of more exalted birth?  No idea.

Castle Bromwich Hall

It is entirely possible that one of the Thorntons married a Yardley Devereux, or were good friends and named one of their children after them, or because they were godparents.  Records cannot be found to confirm this however.  The first Samuel Devereux was born in 1755.

Immigration is often used as an opportunity to reinvent oneself, and I think that William Jennings, who had enjoyed much success in his adopted Salt Lake City used the Devereux to shine his image.  He even changed the spelling to Devereaux make it more exotic sounding.

Publicly Humilated at a Chicago Church, 1901

Montreal Gazette, 4 November 1901, page 4

Publicly Humiliated

Dramatic Scene in aChicagoCatholic Church

 

Chicago, November 3- There was an intensely dramatic scene in Holy Name Cathedral today, when in the presence of a fully 1000 parishioners, Jeremiah J Crowley, the excommunicated Roman Catholic priest was publicly humiliated by order of the authorities of the Church.

Father Crowley had entered the church unobserved, passing up the centre aisle and had taken a seat almost under the pulpit.  Solemn High mass was being celebrated at the time.  When the presence of Father Crowley became known, Rev Francis J Berry, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Chicago was horridly sent for.  Upon entering the cathedral he went straight to the seat where the excommunicated clergyman was kneeling and ordered him to leave the church.  Father Crowley refused to go, saying: – “put me out if you dare.” The strain was intense, and one woman in the congregation fainted.  There was no resort to violence, however.  Chancellor Harry signalled to a man in the choir loft and the sound of the organ ceased and the singing of the choir was hushed. The priest on the altar stopped the solemn service at the end of “Gloria” and walked to the benches and laid aside their golden vestments. The altar boys marched out of the sanctuary through a side door, and the priests clad in their cassocks, followed.  The next moment the hundreds of incandescent lights in the vaulted arches were extinguished and the candle lights on the altar were put out.

The strain was broken when Chancellor Barry appeared in the pulpit said: – “Owing to the presence in this sacred edifice of an excommunicated priest the solemn high mass has been suspended.  We will proceed with a low mass.”

No sermon was delivered, however, and the mass was at an end before the congregation was calm again.  The parishioners lingered around the cathedral and watched the deposed priest as he hurried away.  None spoke to him.

In a statement issued tonight Father Crowley insisted that it had been his desire to avoid involving any of his brother priests in contesting the order depriving him of the privileges of worshipping in the Catholic Churches, and that accordingly he had attended thechurchofArchbishop Feehan’s own parish, which is the cathedral.  He announced that he should continue to attend the services of the Roman Catholic Church.

Canalisation du Saint-Laurent, cartoon, 1951

Le Devoir

3 August 1951, page 5

 

CANALISATION DU SAINT-LAURENT

 

Le Rat-musque USA- “Quand tu auras fini, je te ferai l’honneur de m’en server”.

 

Translation :  Canalization of theSt-LawrenceRiver, The American Muscrat- « When you are finished I will give you the honour of my using it. »

 

 

Descendants of Mary Ann Leitch Neil, Iowa

This is the family chart of Mary Ann Leitch, daughter of James Leitch and Jean Frue Neal (aka Jean Frew) of Saltcoats Scotland.  She emigrated with the family to Canada, where she met and married Robert Neil.  They emigrated to the United States to Iowa, the Davenport area.  I was able to trace them not badly from the territorial censuses on ancestry.  I was also able to determine that her younger sister Jean also emigrated with them to the US.  Mary’s mother died there on a visit to the family in 1868.

 

Of course if any one can furnish me with more information about their lives, I would be very grateful.  I would love to know why they moved to the US, and other information.  So I am putting out there what I know and leaving it in the hands of fate.

What is a white man? Racial identity in 19C USA

Please note that this is a historical document and opinions expressed in it are from 1866, and do not reflect the opinions of the blogger.  Words like Nigger are objectionable now, but at the time this article appeared were the norm, and did not have the same negative connotations for those expressing them.  This article was chosen because it was interesting to see how people defined racial characteristics at the time.

Montreal Herald

14 August 1866,

Page 2

What is a white man?

The Supreme Court of Michigan has worried itself to discover what is a white man?  A simple mind would find no difficulty in deciding that a white man is a man who is white.  But such stupidity must arouse the disgust of every philosopher.  It has been clearly established by the laws of every southern state, and several northern states, including Michigan, that a man may be a white man and at the same time a black man.  Everything depends upon the cartilage of the nose.  “A certain peculiarity of the cartilage of the nose,” says the scientific testimony taken before the Circuit Court of Wayne County, “is an infallible indication of African blood.”  This may lead to the amputation of a large number of noses—for if a man is only a nigger by reason of that organ, let him cut it off, and instantly he rises in the scale.  With his nose, no matter how handsome it is, he is a born inferior, destined to follow his nose upon a downward career.  Without his nose he can dine with the President.  Let every man, then, look to his cartilage; for we greatly fear that black men with pretended white noses are common.  The hair proves nothing, for a black man may even without a wig, have a white man’s hair.  Besides, he may be bald, and then what becomes of the test?  Under these circumstances, all persons with hoked proboscises may be suspected of a sinister design to conceal their cartilage; but the candid subnose, which is always turned up for the inspection of the world, must at once remove suspicion.  Whenever the reader has any doubt that an apparently white man may really be a negro in disguise, he has only to approach the person and , with a polite apology, examine the cartilage of his nose.  According to the appearance of it he may say, “I am satisfied, my dear sir, you are not a negro;” or, “Leave me, vile imposter!  With that cartilage do you dare to pretend to be white?”

Such an examination was actually made in Michigan.  An unfortunate man named Dead, being ignorant that he was a negro, attempted to vote at a local election, and was arrested.  He brought numerous witnesses who testified that there was not a drop of negro blood in his body.  But this availed him not.  An uncertain Dr Pitcher examined his nose before the court and from the conformation of his cartilage he was pronounced to be but fifteen sixteenths of a white man, the remaining sixteenth being pure ‘African.”  The defendant appealed to the Supreme Court, and that intelligent body sustained the nose, and the man was punished for voting contrary to law.  Chief Justice Martin, who dissented from this decision, has furnished an opinion which will shock the community.  He contends that the preponderance of white blood constitutes the man white, and actually scorns the idea that one-sixteenth or one thirty-second of African blood can exclude a white man from citizenship.

A peep into the future, 1930- visions of the Canada US Border

Montreal Daily Star

11 January 1930, page 4

 

A PEEP INTO THE FUTURE

Picture of a Canadian Tourist Crossing the Border on a Pleasure Trip to the United States

“It is proposed in Washington to man the border line that has not seen a gun for a hundred years, with ten thousand men armed with rifles and machine guns.”

First woman to hold US Army commission, 1898

Montreal Daily Star, 10 September 1898, page 8

First woman to hold army officer’s commission.

Assistant-Surgeon Anita Newcomb McGee, USA, transacted her first official business in New York this week, when she signed the enlistment papers of eleven young women nurses, and arranged to transfer ten Sisters of various religious orders from Montauk to Porto Rico.  Other nurses were accepted in Washington.  All the nurses who appeared before Dr. McGee and satisfied her that they were above reproach professionally, morally and physically, were more than ordinarily pretty.

Dr. McGee is a bright-faced young woman of unruffable good temper, a quick and tactful business woman.  She is only thirty, yet has won distinction in the fields of science and medicine.  With her new title, Dr McGee has the right to wear a second-lieutenant’s uniform.

“And I’m going to,” she said laughingly.  “I’m only sorry it isn’t ready to wear to Montauk.  The uniform is of blue cloth, trimmed with black braid, with the letters US and a cross in gold on the collar.

Dr McGee is the wife of Prof. WJ McGee, head of the Bureau of Ethnology in Washington, and daughter of Prof. Simon Newcomb.  She is the mother of several children.  Born in Washington, she was early sent abroad to be educated at Geneva and one of the universities for women in England.  She served two years on the staff of John Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, and is well known in her profession in Washington.

Bathing costumes, 1866

Montreal Gazette, 31 July 1866, page 4

A Bathing Costume

From Harper’s Weekly

Happily the days have gone by when lady bathers made frights of themselves when enjoying that most healthful and invigorating of recreations—a dip in salt water–  .  Ugly blue flannel gowns, cut so scantily that it was difficult to squeeze into them, and which never fulfilled the object for which they were intended, as they generally rose to the surface of the water directly after their wearers plunged into it—these ungraceful garments, with the hideous oilskin cap which crowned them, may now be looked upon as things of the past.  They have been succeeded by a far superior style of dress, which, in fact, is a picturesque costume, consisting of tunic and knickerbockers.  We give an illustration of one of the most approved and convenient forms of bathing dress which has yet been introduced.  It answers its mission, for it conceals the figure without impeding in the slightest degree the sections of its wearer when either bathing or swimming, and, added to these advantages, it looks well.  The tunic fastens at the left side, and the knickerbockers in front.  There are various opinions as to the best material for bathing costumes.  For summer wear we recommend the stout brown Holland.  This does not cling to the figure when wetted, neither does it hold the water, as flannel, and so becomes cumbersome and heavy. It should be trimmed, as in our illustration, with scarlet worsted braid of two sizes.  The binding of the knickerbockers and tunic, and the trimming on the shoulder seam, consist of strips of brown Holland cut on the cross, and to rows of narrow scarlet braid run upon them; the box pleatings round the arm holes and ankles are of scarlet worsted braid, from an inch to one inch and a half in width.  The waistband and seem are likewise of brown Holland bound with broad braid, two waved lines of narrow braid being aided as an ornamentation.  The buttons are black horn.  The cap is black oilskin, bound with scarlet.  French ladies wear small black glazed hats, to their complexions when swimming, as they do not deem it imperative to dip their heads under water when they bathe.  Dark blue serge, similar to that worn by sailors in the British navy, we also recommend as a suitable material for this costume.  It likewise can be trimmed with either white or scarlet worsted braid, according to our engraving.