‘How does post-2005 Doctor Who use nostalgia and references to it’s history?

‘How does post-2005 Doctor Who use nostalgia to keep audience interest?’

‘How does post-2005 Doctor Who use assets from the classic series and nostalgia to
keep audience interest?’

(The Relationship between the classic series and the reboot)

Nostalgia is defined as ‘a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past’
which in a capitalist-led society leaves entertainment media in a strange flux. ‘Retro’ video
games and classic films are hugely popular but almost as soon as new media is released it’s
outdated and onto anticipating the sequel. It’s the same with the value of these products as
given enough time, the value starts to increase after the initial decrease. Nostalgia in a
media sense is commonly seen as the producers of a product, be it creative or corporate,
using previously established elements, which could be characters, location or story, from a
previous title to either remake or add into a newer product. It’s thrown around like a dirty
word when it comes to film and television in the current age of cinema with lots of releases
being recycled in some way. The RadioTimes crunched the numbers and found that in the
top twenty grossing films of 1998, five of these films were either a remake, sequel or spin-off
of a pre-existing intellectual property. Which contrasts humongously to the sixteen films in
the top twenty by jumping ahead two decades in 2018.

Source: ​https://www.radiotimes.com/news/film/2019-09-19/hollywood-sequels-remakes/

It could almost appear that certain corporations like Disney and other studios remake certain
classics more for money than actually having a new story to tell creatively. Did we really
need a photo realistic Lion King? What else did it really bring to the table? There’s almost
this disdain amongst film critics and lovers as they hold this attitude that as the audience
they are being exploited. In 2013 famous film critic Mark Kermode posed the question to his
audience ‘Are remakes always rubbish?’ Obviously the answer to this question is entirely
subjective but it highlights the reputation that they hold, yet they rarely fail at the box office
because nostalgia sells. This craze of remakes isn’t new either, often praised as one of the
first narrative films ​The great train robbery ​(1903 Dir. Porter) was remade the very next year
by director Siegmund Lubin as while the law prohibited duplication of film reels, there was
not yet a copyright law on intellectual property. Remakes aren’t the only use of nostalgia in
film. Adaptations from books and comic books have always been a popular trend. Certain
Television shows are built up on the foundation of nostalgia and homage, with Netflix’s hit
Stranger Things​ Being a clear example of this. Not only with direct shots mimicking classic
80s cinema but even down to the deep-synth music as well as the dynamic between the
main characters being more in line with ‘Stand by me’ & ‘It’ among other Stephen King
works. In particular moments, there could be an argument that Stranger Things relies too
heavily on this intertextuality with pre-existing media.

Doctor Who is a different thing entirely. The show itself started in 1963 and when there’s that
much fictional mythology and just the sheer amount of stories that have been told in the 55+
years, there are of course going to be returning characters and villains. In 1989, the BBC
axed the show and it was off air until Russell T Davies helmed the rebooted series as head
writer in 2005. Story wise, Davies had a clear line in the sand between the original series
and the new, while the show has been off-air the ‘Time Lords’ have been at war with the
‘Daleks’ in the ‘Time War’ which resulted in the Doctor having to be the one to press the
button and kill everyone on both sides. His punishment was survival, he has to live on
knowing he comitted genocide and it’s the arc for the Ninth Doctor in the first of the revived
series with him coming to terms with this and then progressing from there. Davies drew this
line in the sand to say no, this is definitely different to what you already knew and it was to
make sure that it didn’t get too bogged down in pre-existing lore and having it from the outset
as inaccessible to new viewers. Similar to why he made the Pilot episode ‘Rose’, from the
perspective of the companion having this amazing traveller coming into her life. He used a
classic villain, the ‘Autons’ shop window dummies as they do what Doctor Who does best,
make the everyday scary! But in a subtextual way, saying to older fans of the show that it’s
heritage wouldn’t be forgotten about or completely thrown to the wayside. It used this
nostalgia to perfectly fit into the plot and not come across as pandering. A way it could have
done, is if it confidently strided forward and opened on a Dalek story; what everyone would
have presumably expected. It would have made marketing a lot easier but with ‘Rose’ it put
the characters front and centre saying if you follow these characters it’ll be a trip of a lifetime.
And it is through her eyes the audience are gradually introduced to the classic elements and
staples of the show like the ‘TARDIS’ & ‘sonic screwdriver’ for example. It’s this that allows
Davies as the writer to give this exposition to the new audience. Even the Police Box was
redesigned. The way the episode treats the Doctor as a myth and legend itself shows he’s
been travelling around for a while, it was the same Time Lord to keep the interest of old fans
but a new incarnation to not need the previous knowledge. A perfectly balanced
reintroduction.

Naturally, in the classic run of the show it picked up certain iconography that it couldn’t
shake off. In the original two Doctor Who films ​Dr Who and the Daleks​ (Dir. Gordon
Flemlyng, 1965) & ​Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.​ (Dir. Gordon Flemlyng, 1966) the
Daleks had only recently been introduced to the public consciousness, yet were already
synonymous with the show. ‘You can’t have Doctor Who without the Daleks’. This made it a
daunting task for the writers when it came to bringing them back in the reboot, to do so they
brought in Robert Sheerman who adapted his own audio story ‘Jubilee’ with the Sixth Doctor
into the now classic episode ‘Dalek’. This use of pre-existing Doctor Who material I wouldn’t
consider an exploitative use of nostalgia as taking a great audio story and making it into an
episode, a way that it could have been exploitative is if it was a remake of ‘Genesis of the
Daleks’ for example or another famous serial from the classic series. Even if there were
good creative intentions behind the ‘remake’ it would lean more into the ‘redundant’ Disney
live-action remakes, instead of it being a great deconstruction of the relationship the Doctor
has with the Daleks which made the leap from audio to on-screen.

It’s not the last time the show has adapted a pre-existing piece of Doctor Who, with series
three’s famous two-part story ‘Human Nature’ & ‘Family of Blood’ being translated across
from a book to the screen by the original writer Paul Cornell. I’d argue that this isn’t a use or
manipulation of people’s nostalgia for the original stories as they started off in a rather niche
position with them being expanded universe content, only to be brought to the main show
and shown to a wider audience. In the first revived series, the number of returning villains
was relatively low (the Autons and Daleks) which amped up in the second series with the
Cybermen, Krillitane and returning Daleks, which from then on each series had at least one
new returning monster from the classic series. It almost became a staple and fans would
theorise about who they’d bring back next, this conversation still occurs between each series
https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2019-10-28/doctor-who-monsters-returning-series-12/​ .
Typically it would be treated as a twist with the Master coming back for example. Certain
stories a returning villain wouldn’t take centre-stage as it would fit in naturally, much like the
Macra in series three’s ‘Gridlock’. Davies was writing an episode about people living their
entire lives in a traffic jam and needed a monster who lurked beneath the flying cars, one
that lived off of the fumes and then he remembered one already existed! He discussed this
in his book ‘The Writer’s Tale’. The returning monsters each series at first wasn’t a question
about nostalgia as it was the first time these villains were being introduced to the new
audience which didn’t make much of a difference to other newer monsters which were
original to the reboot. Although it did bring a pull in on the audience of the old show, even if
just for the intrigue of how they’re going to pull off that creature with modern special effects.
Throughout this era of the show, it shows from a marketing perspective which ones were
there for more of a ratings boost with the more iconic returning foes being featured in the
titles of the episodes. ‘Dalek’, ‘The rise of the Cybermen’ & ‘The Sontaran Stratagem’ and
while I don’t view this cynically as a mismanagement of fans nostalgia, the episodes
themselves treat it as twist reveals or a larger revelation that they’re there so it does feel like
it’s got the intention of people looking at the TV Guide and then seeing that this week the
Cybermen are returning. With the role of showrunner being a married partnership of head
writer and executive producer, it makes sense to capitilise on this as at the end of the day it
is also a business. You don’t want your show to be cancelled or have abysmal viewing
figures, so these small ways helped Doctor Who throughout the Davies era become one of
the biggest shows on television with the culmination point of ‘The Stolen Earth’ & ‘Journey’s
End’ adding FACT CHECK million viewers on a cliffhanger as they are just as ingrained into
the show as the dalek’s themselves.

Something this era of the show did so well was always looking forward. In the June 2020
issue of The Doctor Who Magazine, Davies and Moffat interviewed each other and
something Davies said:
 (I’ll properly write up the quote in later drafts & condense it).

Davies didn’t just want to be writing Doctor Who fan-fiction which only he and a handful of
other people understood, while these were littered throughout the episodes as easter eggs
they were never the focus of episodes. Returning villains and ideas were more so footnotes
or people’s memory of what it was, a rebirth of the Cybermen for the 21st Century instead of
continuing directly with the beings from Mondas. Even if this would be explored later down
the line. They could never do a full-blown sequel to a classic story without first doing the
groundwork. Arguably the closest we’ve seen of a sequel to an episode done series after is
with the series nine ‘Zygon Invasion/Inversion’ two-parter which directly continued the
plot-thread from the series seven 50th anniversary special ‘Day of the Doctor’. The quote
shows not only Davies' passion for the show and it’s history but that they were so careful as
to not be too over-indulgent and be rather strict with themselves on how and when to use
classic elements and bringing in that level of nostalgia for the audience.

As a creator of entertainment, you never want your returning characters, plot points or
villains to become stale. Sometimes it’s better to retire something for a while for a bigger
impact when they return. Dalek fatigue is something that is discussed a lot within fan
communities as there has been a Dalek story in nearly each series of the revived show.
There is a common misconception that the Daleks need to return every series as otherwise
the rights to them will return to the Terry Nation foundation but in an interview in 2014
Steven Moffat refuted ​it saying​ “You certainly don’t wheel the Daleks out because you’ve got
a contractual obligation to provide Daleks...I think Doctor Who is great when there are
Daleks in it [and] I don’t think you should go too long without Daleks.” They’re an icon of the
show and something that’s expected more than forced. With returning monsters, there is
also an argument to be made that each writer wants their own take on the classics. Not just
writing a story with them in it but a sense of their take on the classic iconography of British
Culture. Take the Paradigm Daleks in Series Five episode Three’s ‘Victory of the Daleks’.
They quite literally came in and destroyed the old designs which stated ‘Right, these are the
true Daleks’ which as an approach interestingly differs from the Cybermen in series twelve
which ​in the behind the scenes for they said: 'we're just adding our own into the pantheon of
them all'. As they are respecting the past while adding their own designs which were
well-received. They showed a few different designs in the episode and it made sense for the
narrative, showing they respect what came before it but taking it in their own direction.
Contrasting with the aforementioned paradigm daleks which were then slowly pushed to one
side after the fan backlash of the redesigns. When discussing writer’s wanting their own
takes on certain elements of the show, nowhere is that more prevalent than the Master.
There’ve been four twist reveals of the Master’s identity in the rebooted series with the first
one introducing other Time Lords back into the series with the twist working beyond having
to know the character in the first place as the shock for new fans of the show was within the
‘You are not alone’ reveal whereas the shock for existing fans was the return of the
character. What works about this is that you don’t need any prior understanding of the
Master being The Doctor’s Moriarty. Whereas in the series eight episode ten story ‘Dark
Water’ the twist primarily focused on the Master’s gender swap into Missy which wasn’t as
strong for new audiences who may or may not know who this pre-established character was.
But to some extent most people watching would understand who that character is and it
would just be infuriating to the audience if every single episode there was exposition with
what the TARDIS was for example. The series twelve twist was a little more fatigued as we’d
just gone through Missy’s character arc which presumably would have laid the character to
rest for more than a single series. Even so none of these reveals relied on nostalgia more
than just knowledge of pre-existing assets in the show. The one that could be considered to
be leaning into nostalgia would be for the John Simm Master reveal in the series ten finale
stories. Not only was it great and refreshing to see a multi-Master story but Simm’s inclusion
felt out of place as other than the twist in ‘World Enough and Time’ it didn’t leave him much
to do in ‘The Doctor Falls’ except for a few moments but he didn’t grow or change as a
character, he stayed relatively the same and it felt like Moffat had given himself this previous
Master but didn’t actually have anything to do with him. Similarly to the Master reveals, how
many times has the Master allied with the Cybermen?​ ​They’ve paired up for three finales in
the last five series which isn’t relying on nostalgia as the contexts are very different between
them but in relation to the classic series it does feel like these titans of pop culture are being
used by genuine fans of the show. Not necessarily the idea of playing with action figures but
the love that these creators have for the show is palpable and clear in the episodes they
produce. Much like in the series two two-part finale ‘Army of Ghosts’ and ‘Doomsday’ not
only was it exciting seeing the Cybermen and Daleks going head to head but you could feel
Davies glee coming through the script.

When Steven Moffat was the showrunner (2010-2017) he made the following statement:

"It has to be self-explanatory, it has to be free-standing, it has to be clear for everybody. If I

did the Meddling Monk teaming up with Mavic Chen's daughter and the Krotons then yeah,
that's too much, because no one gives a toss...People always ask me "Do you want to bring
back the Rani?" No one knows who the Rani is. They all know who the Master is, they know
Daleks, they probably know who Davros is, but they don't know who the Rani is, so there's
no point in bringing her back. If there's a line it's probably somewhere there." - Source:
https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/steven_moffat_explains_wh

This statement is something that personally I disagree with, because with the right writing
and story you could make the Rani returning just as impactful as The Master, even for
someone who doesn’t know who that character is. It’s a part of the role of that writer to guide
the audience along and explain who each character is, it’s not about how memorable they
were in the first place. Although as previously mentioned, the first Master reveal of the
revived series worked so well because it wasn’t just about pre-existing knowledge of the
character and instead the implications it meant with another Time Lord around. Certain
characters returning raises the whole Jurassic Park argument “So busy thinking you could,
you didn’t think about if you should”. Which is why I’m glad that Moffat does have restraint
and doesn’t just go for complete classic Who reworkings. Some characters only have a finite
amount of stories to tell about them or maybe they lose their impact with each return
appearance (i.e. The Weeping Angels). But while we can argue how they could bring a
character back and fit them into a story, it comes to a point to say who are we to try and put
a writer into a corner and write exactly what the fans want. Even if it is alarming that he only
thinks of the elements to bring back on how memorable they are as opposed to what stories
he can tell with them, which does allude to the idea of more running on nostalgia than just
telling stories. But I agree it needs to be more than just past elements, it needs new and
fresh ideas to keep it going. With a show such as this, it needs to be appealing to new
audiences, especially children because they’ll become your future fans as they grow up. Like
comments made about the Star Wars Sequels by actor Ahmed Best who portrayed the
infamous Jar Jar Binks in the Prequel Trilogy. ​“It’s very much for the millennials and
gen-Xers like myself ... Kids are kind of left out of these, and the kids have to go to the
animated series in order to get their dose of ​Star Wars​, or they do like ​Phantom Menace​.
Phantom Menace​ is very much a kids movie.”
Source:​https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/star-wars-jar-jar-binks-
ahmed-best-george-lucas-fans-a9456676.html
That comment was talking about not just the films being ‘darker’ but because the films are so
obsessed with the original trilogy that it is intimidating to newer fans of the series and could
be off-putting by subtextually saying you need the passionate nostalgia of the other Star
Wars stories. Having said this, there is always a fine line between it all as you don’t solely
want every single aspect of a sequel or reboot to be completely different as then why bother
with the previous material? You want to be rewarded for experiencing the previous stories
and having nostalgic and slightly indulgent moments can be rewarding as an audience
member “Chewie, we’re home” without revelling in them too much, you still want something
new brought to the table.

With such strong ground-work by Davies put into the show on moving it forward yet using
elements from the past here and there, the show continued marching on, telling new stories
in a similar way, until it’s now started to become nostalgic for the earlier parts of the rebooted
series. When Chris Chibnall took over as showrunner, his first series - series eleven - was
more stripped back and a ‘fresher’ start from a pre-existing lore perspective. There were no
returning villains, characters or assets other than the Doctor, TARDIS and companion
formula. This was designed as a soft-reboot of sorts and in my personal opinion led to one of
the weakest series of the revived show. Not that a series without the pre-established
elements of the show couldn’t work, it did in the classic show! The Third Doctor went around
with no TARDIS. But the first Whittaker series feels too overcrowded with too many
companions and the whole story feels impersonal. There was a severe lack of emotional
attachment to anything, like seeing The Doctor's reaction to seeing a Dalek for example.
Things also tended to happen to the characters and they weren't very pro-active protagonists
throughout the series. But now in his second series as the head boss, he seems to be
revelling in all the pre-established Doctor Who lore. It's a much more emotional story for the
Doctor. But it feels a little too much like it’s nostalgic for the Davies era. To some extent this
does make sense as it was the most popular in terms of viewing figures and Chris Chibnall
himself contributed to both Doctor Who and it’s spin-off Torchwood at that time. Going from
no returning villains at all to suddenly everything and the kitchen sink, was a visible 180.
Series 12 in some ways feels like a retread of series 3, just in reverse. *Here I’ll visually
show the separate elements from the two series coincide from their reversed timelines*. It
starts on a Master reveal then fan-favourite Captain Jack returns followed by the Chameleon
Arch which makes Timelords Human all in a Judoon episode. Looking in particular with the
Captain Jack reveal, it wasn’t something that was publicised so wasn’t a marketing ploy to
get more viewers in. But his inclusion is more a cameo than anything and even though he’s
rumoured to be in the upcoming ‘Revolution of the Daleks’, in this episode it felt like the
nostalgia for the character was the only reason for his inclusion. He served no narrative
purpose, he came in, said a joke and referenced ‘nanogenes’ which were a part of his first
on-screen story in series one. While the cynical view on this is that it was just using the
audience’s love and nostalgia for this character to earn back ‘trust’ after the critically panned
previous series, as an audience member who grew up with this character on my television
from the age of five… It was brilliant to see him on screen again. I had a pure joy-filled
reaction but it was then his vacancy from the rest of the series which left it feeling empty,
although it would be great to see him if he does come back in the upcoming festive episode.
But as a show about change, it is interesting seeing what pieces are brought back and which
ones are left behind. Take​ The Day of the Doctor​ (Dir. Nick Hurran, 2013) as a prime
example. One of the reasons I feel that it succeeded as an anniversary special is because it
stood on it’s own as a standalone story as well as bringing in all these different pre-existing
elements. While I could watch different incarnations of the Doctor talk to each other all day,
Moffat knew that this would be seen by more than just the Doctor Who die-hards. While it is
a shame that the surviving actors of the classic Doctor’s weren’t utilised, the episode itself
still included moments for all of them in the large-scale climax. It made my whole cinema
screening cheer and it was so infectiously brilliant being a part of something on that scale
and in some ways could only be conjured with the pre-established assets at hand. New
ideas are always needed to keep things fresh, but on an anniversary, looking back can be
fun and exciting. Nostalgia is powerful for an audience. It used the popularity and nostalgia
for the Tenth Doctor to promote the event as a multi-doctor story is rare to come by.
Although the ending of the special looked towards the future, solely eyebrows were enough
to send the crowd off, but it’s the ending the solidified it as a celebration, just as much as a
unique episode.
From all of this, we can see that it’s used in a number of different ways with similarities and
differences between the different showrunners and other writers. Nostalgia has a current
almost disdain from certain film critics at the minute with lots of Disney remakes and
‘cash-ins’ and while yes the odd easter egg can be interesting for fans to find. I find Doctor
Who’s most effective use of nostalgia is when it adds onto pre-existing elements to tell it’s
own story. An example of it being thrown in for iconography is in Series 6’s ‘Closing Time’
The Cybermen are there as the villain of the week to add into a separate story about Craig
being worried about being a Dad. Whereas in Series 10 it shows the ‘Genesis of the
Cybermen’ and has a twist revealing them to be Cybermen and showing the birth of how
beings like that came to be, especially by converting a companion into a Cyberman, it shows
it’s more integral to the story rather than just a tack on.​ It's a self congratulatory show and
has been since the start, look no further than moments like Matt Smith’s first episode with
him stepping out of the previous faces of the Doctor or in the most recent finale ‘The
Timeless Children’. The Doctor uses her previous memories to overload the matrix and it
flashes back through the rebooted series as well as the classic series, a big nostalgia bump.
But because it references a past element doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily nostalgia​.
Exploring this topic, this took me down another train of thought, just because nostalgia is
utilised by a creative team, doesn’t inherently mean that it’s a negative thing. As previously
mentioned it’s gained this disdain from the constant abuse it seems to have gotten in the
recent trends of cinema. But in actual fact, when used correctly, nostalgia is another tool in
the creatives toolbox. Few other characters could have garnered the same reaction out of
me as Captain Jack did when he returned, it’s a powerful thing and that’s why it’s painful
seeing it so mis-used in so much of entertainment media. Doctor Who tends to put new
spins on old foes but rarely lets it become stale. It uses nostalgia to get a response from the
audience, it’s fun seeing the Judoon stomp around again. It’s taught me that while it does
use it for marketing purposes, it has always had a strong focus on the now as well as
respecting the then.

------------------------------------------------
Unused ideas:

50th anniversary criticised for only having the most recent doctor’s in it. ‘Classic doctors
exist’. Which is coming from the same fans as the ones who complain about the
over-reliance on returning monsters. I feel like I should have talked a lot more about the 50th
anniversary as it was a massive look back

Hints of it are late into the Moffat era of the show but primarily it’s apparent in series twelve
of Doctor Who, there’s almost a nostalgia or longing for the Davies era again.

Fans of the show are now writing for it. S2 RTD writing Doomsday - Daleks vs the
Cybermen. Can almost feel him playing with his action figure but it still works for the story.
S12 Chibnall writing The Timeless Children, making the Morbius Doctor’s canon and making
them essentially a god. It almost feels like a fan-fiction but rewrites the context of the show.

Although while the show tends to stray away from intertextuality it has flirted with it.
“You have a film called Alien? Quite frankly that’s offensive, no wonder you keep getting
invaded’ - 12th Doctor, Last Christmas (2014).

It doesn’t use music based on other things like the deep synth of Stranger Things, it has
character themes but only uses them when it’s earned for an emotional pay-off, like Clara’s
Impossible Girl theme or even in episodes like ‘Dark Water’ where it has a set-up and
mystery box but it’s answered before the reveal to fans who recognise the different themes
and stings in the music with it playing the Cyberman theme as the doors close. It does use
intertextual music for comedic effect though, Britney Spears in series 1 in the future as a
‘classic ballad’.

Research/References

TARDIS
Sonic Screwdriver
The Doctor
Companions
Adventures

Series with classic foes returning:

1 - the Autons! The Daleks (adaptation of book)
2 - The Cybermen, Daleks, Krillitane,
3 - The Macra, The Master, Daleks, The Family (Book Adaptation)
4 - The Sontarans, The Daleks, Davros
Specials - The Master, Daleks (cameo)
5 - The Daleks, Silurians, then ALL OF THEM, the finale raids the costume cupboard with
them all forming an alliance to imprison the doctor.
6 - (good sontaran - Strax), Cybermen, Cybermats. Daleks (cameo)
7 - Daleks, The Great Intelligence, Ice Warriors, Cybermen
50th Special - Daleks & Zygons. - The Doctors save Gallifrey and rewrite the Time War.
Time of the Doctor - ALL OF THEM
8 - Daleks, Cybermen, Master
9 - Master, Daleks, Davros (first episode), Zygons, Cybermen (cameo), Sontaran (cameo),
The Time Lords are properly back!
10 - Daleks (cameo), Master, Mondasian Cybermen (exact classic design) & different
variations of Cybermen. Brings back the First Doctor at the end of the series.
11 - ‘Fresh’ start.
Resolution (New Years Day special 2019) - Daleks
12 - The Master, Cybermen (Whole series is series 3 in reverse).
Revolution of the Daleks (2020/21?) - Daleks
The Daleks contractually have to be there each series or the rights go back to the Terry
Nation Foundation (The creator).

While the new show has all these elements from the classic, it still gets criticised in the 50th
special for example for not bringing enough from the classic series.

S2 - ‘School reunion’ deals with the past nicely by reintroducing Sarah Jane Smith and has
her interact with the new companion and at first they’re at odds but find their common
ground

Sarah Jane Adventures, spinoff show bringing classic companions back (Jo Grant &
Brigadier)

Nostalgia is almost the essence of the show. Oh so and so was my doctor. It’s all about
looking back on the history that is relevant for whoever yet not for some. All this backstory
and lore with the expanded universe etc doesn’t mean anything when you could jump in at
the start of the next series. It is what you make of it.

A reason why the spinoffs in comics or audio form are so popular as it lets people
experience new stories with doctor’s that aren’t currently the ones with the keys to the
TARDIS on television at that moment. Look at the announcement of the new David Tennant
and Tom Baker audio adventure. Arguably the two most popular doctors.

Call with Lucy

Uses nostalgia through repetitive devices

So an older audience like it and the new kids love it

Still got a sonic screwdriver has connected the generations

Companions always reacting ‘Bigger on the Inside’.

Nostalgia of the reveal of the new daleks.

Key terms:
Nostalgia, storytelling, audience

How does Doctor Who use nostalgia to keep audience interest?

Direct adaptations from Doctor Who novels - human nature/dalek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZSs7YwLXqY​ - are remakes always rubbish? Mark

kermode

https://allthatsinteresting.com/first-movie-sequel​ - first remake.

http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/moffat-daleks-are-not-a-contractual-obligation-68881.htm​ -
dalek contract

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ylQiuHQJEQ​ - new cyberman design

Call with Lucy

Use academic sources, sphetna dom?
Keep it below 20 minutes
Define nostalgia
Keep bringing it back to nostalgia
Recycled culture in contemporary art and film: the uses of nostalgia - vera dika
Amp up the academia.