02 Early History Episodes from The Real History Behind the Historic Episodes of Doctor Who with Dr. Rosanne Welch – SD Who Con 2023

In this presentation given at the 2023 San Diego WhoCon I talked about what really happened at Pompeii on volcano day; the agricultural knowledge of the Aztecs; when Robin Hood began appearing in literature, and the bravery of Noor Inayat Khan and Rosa Parks.

02  Early Histrory Episodes from The Real History Behind the Historic Episodes of Doctor Who with Dr. Rosanne Welch - SD Who Con 2023

Transcript:

What we’re talking about today is the real history behind the history behind Doctor Who. We know from the beginning the show was meant to teach history. It was a children’s program and I think that’s a really lovely idea and so they began with two teachers as companions. That was so intentional and it worked. It was a great way to warm people up and you had to have people who knew something about where they were going. Who had something to say and of course we had a student. You have to have someone you can talk to right? So it was a really lovely blend of characters.The very — one of the earliest ones they did went into the world of the Romans. Everyone’s always fascinated by the Romans and I think what’s really interesting is, sadly, just a little bit later, Highlanders was the last historical one they produced in that early period. They decided it wasn’t what the audience wanted. What did the audience want? Audience:Gimmicks and Robots? Duh, Daleks, right? The Daleks showed up and that was it they were like oh no no this is what the audience is coming for. Forget that history. Forget that study. Don’t learn anything.It’s okay. Also we know that once we get to John Pertwee and he’s trapped on Earth he can’t travel. So there’s no way he’s going to go into the past. So we lose a chunk of time where there was this moment to do something about history and then new Who showed up and we gained it back.
What we’re talking about today is the real history behind the history behind Doctor Who. We know from the beginning the show was meant to teach history. It was a children’s program and I think that’s a really lovely idea and so they began with two teachers as companions. That was so intentional and it worked. It was a great way to warm people up and you had to have people who knew something about where they were going. Who had something to say and of course we had a student. You have to have someone you can talk to right? So it was a really lovely blend of characters.The very — one of the earliest ones they did went into the world of the Romans. Everyone’s always fascinated by the Romans and I think what’s really interesting is, sadly, just a little bit later, Highlanders was the last historical one they produced in that early period. They decided it wasn’t what the audience wanted. What did the audience want? Audience:Gimmicks and Robots? Duh, Daleks, right? The Daleks showed up and that was it they were like oh no no this is what the audience is coming for. Forget that history. Forget that study. Don’t learn anything.It’s okay. Also we know that once we get to John Pertwee and he’s trapped on Earth he can’t travel. So there’s no way he’s going to go into the past. So we lose a chunk of time where there was this moment to do something about history and then new Who showed up and we gained it back.

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01 Introduction from The Real History Behind the Historic Episodes of Doctor Who with Dr. Rosanne Welch – SD Who Con 2023

In this presentation given at the 2023 San Diego WhoCon I talked about what really happened at Pompeii on volcano day; the agricultural knowledge of the Aztecs; when Robin Hood began appearing in literature, and the bravery of Noor Inayat Khan and Rosa Parks.

01 Introduction from The Real History Behind the Historic Episodes of Doctor Who with Dr. Rosanne Welch - SD Who Con 2023

Transcript:

well welcome everybody very nice to see everybody um I’m glad that the title sounded interesting I hope that the entire presentation will prove interesting um I am Rosanne Welch I teach at a couple places actually because that’s how you do it these days uh Steven’s college is actually in Missouri but we run an uh MFA in screenwriting here in Los Angeles well here north of here in Los Angeles um and so that’s my specialty I was a television writer for about 20 years and then I got into Academia so I studied history because I wasn’t sure I wanted to study writing so I ended up doing a lot of history stuff which was fascinating um and so today we’re going to look at this show that we all love which started out to teach history and how much of it you know is real and how much is fake um and these are kind of the breath of the place that I want to cover um I come from as I said TV writing so I was on all these shows in the past and even on a show like Touch by an Angel we would deal with history because angels of course last forever it was a traveling Angels show where the Angels happen to be Angels but right stylistically The Fugitive is a traveling Angel show MacGyver is a traveling Angel show Doctor Who is a traveling Angel show someone who just goes from place to place and helps other people out and I think that’s really really cool um and then like I said I got a PhD at Claremont University also in slightly above us a couple hours and that’s where I focused on history for a while before I went back into working and writing so that’s where I’m sort of interested in both of these areas and I think we see that show up in Doctor Who um I’m also on the editorial board for these various journals so very interested in how writing is presented to people and how stories are told um I was extremely lucky uh the the magazine of The Writers Guild written by magazine uh I was on the board for that like I said and the editor knew that I was a huge Doctor Who fan so in that period when Russell came to town and did that fourth season of Torchwood here in town um he called me the editor called me and said we’re going to interview him would you like to be the one to talk to him to which I said uh yeah can I do that right away and it was great because as most of these things go the pr person set me up in a room with Russell and it was this Glass Room in the middle of this fancy place in in in Santa Monica and uh the guy said well you have 20 minutes and I was like I can do this in 20 minutes right I’m happy to be here and 20 minutes passed and you saw the pr guy open the door and poke in and Russell was like I’m not done yet and you kicked the pr guy because I knew what I was talking about and I was asking him these really interesting questions and he was having such a great time we ended up talking for an hour and you just saw the man walk around looking but he didn’t want to poke his head in again and get yelled at so it was a marvelous and fun time and this um interview is online uh on this particular website um which is on the writer Guild website and I’ve I’ve also written a bunch of books not all about Doctor Who these three happen to be about Doctor Who and just got me very interested in analyzing the show and why has it been so popular for so long we know it’s provided us a really interesting character who obviously there are many versions of and we’re all very happy to see all those different versions but why else right why else does it stick with us the latest book is the one that’s right up here and it’s about Jodi’s era hello um because that was of course a very iconic moment in all Television right

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The Real History Behind the Historic Episodes of Doctor Who with Dr. Rosanne Welch – SD Who Con 2023 (Complete)

In this presentation given at the 2023 San Diego WhoCon I talked about what really happened at Pompeii on volcano day; the agricultural knowledge of the Aztecs; when Robin Hood began appearing in literature, and the bravery of Noor Inayat Khan and Rosa Parks.

The Real History Behind the Historic Episodes of Doctor Who with Dr. Rosanne Welch - SD Who Con 2023

 

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On The Writers of Doctor Who: Maxine Alderton and The Haunting of the Villa Diodati

On The Writers of Doctor Who: Maxine Alderton and The Haunting of the Villa Diodati

While preparation for some lectures I was giving at the San Diego Who Con (a small and friendly, all vaxxed and masked politely convention celebrating the English sci-fi drama Doctor Who) I researched how the new showrunner, Chris Chibnall, turned the 50 year old character into a female (long story unless you know the show).

That lead me to researching the writers he chose for the last two seasons to bring more diverse stories to the show.

On The Writers of Doctor Who: Maxine Alderton and The Haunting of the Villa Diodati

One such story, The Haunting of the Villa Diodati, written by Maxine Alderton, involved meeting Mary Woolstencroft on the weekend of inventing Frankenstein. For that I found this post about the importance of writing soaps and how, because so many women do it, it has often been dismissed as lesser writing – but in fact, of course, it is not. I think it is yet another area of bias against female writers that needs to be quashed.

PROFILE: Writer Maxine Alderton – Doctor Who: The Haunting of Villa Diodati

Maxie Alderton joins the world of Doctor Who this Sunday, far from her usual stomping ground of Emmerdale. But as the architect of some of the soap opera’s most innovative and exciting episodes of the past decade, she’s a name to watch
 
At first glance Maxine Alderton, writer of The Haunting of Villa Diodati, seems like a strange fit for Doctor Who. After all, of the new writers to join the Doctor Who team this season, she easily has the least background in science fiction and fantasy. And her main track record so far has been across the Yorkshire Dales for popular soap opera Emmerdale. But as soon as you scratch the surface she quickly emerges as an exciting and dynamic writer. One showing every sign of bringing something very special to Doctor Who indeed.

Read the entire article

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Dr. Rosanne Welch’s Chapter in Doctor Who – New Dawn: Essays on the Jodie Whittaker Era from Manchester University Press Now Available

Dr. Rosanne Welch's Chapter in Doctor Who - New Dawn: Essays on the Jodie Whittaker Era  from Manchester University Press Now Available

I’m happy to announce the publication of Doctor Who New Dawn: Essays on the Jodie Whittaker Era for which I was invited to write a chapter. 

My focus was on the delicate work showrunner/writer Chris Chibnall had to do in realizing this new Doctor so it’s called “She is Wise and Unafraid” Writing the First Female Doctor and a Diverse Universe for her to Protect

I touch on the myriad decisions a showrunner makes in creating a character from costuming to sidekicks (called companions in the Whoniverse) to dialogue.   I was excited to have been invited to contribute to this collection and proud to showcase the way screenwriters work.

I know academic books can be expensive but you can always ask your local or college library to order a copy for you to read!  

 

Doctor Who – new dawn explores the latest cultural moment in this long-running BBC TV series: the casting of a female lead. Analysing showrunner Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker’s era means considering contemporary Doctor Who as an inclusive, regendered brand. Featuring original interview material with cast members, this edited collection also includes an in-depth discussion with Segun Akinola, composer of the iconic theme tune’s current version. The book critically address the series’ representations of diversity, as well as fan responses to the thirteenth Doctor via the likes of memes, cosplay and even translation into Spanish as a grammatically gendered language. In addition, concluding essays look at how this moment of Who has been merchandised, especially via the ‘experience economy’, and how official/unofficial reactions to UK lockdown helped the show to further re-emphasise its public-service potential.

P.S. You can check out the trailer for Jodie’s upcoming 3rd season here:

Coming Soon: A chapter in a new book, Doctor Who: New Dawn: Essays on the Jodie Whitaker Era

There are many exciting steps along the way to having a chapter you’ve written about a beloved television show accepted into a book collection.

  • First you see the Call for Submissions, have an idea and send in an abstract.
  • Then they tell you they like your idea and want to include it in their collection.
  • Then you write the chapter and they send back minimal notes.
  • Then (that’s today) they send you the artwork for the cover and you smile all over again knowing other fans of the show will be reading your ideas as they consider the importance of the show to our culture. 

Coming Soon: A chapter in a new book, Doctor Who: New Dawn: Essays on the Jodie Whitaker Era

All those steps (except the cover page) happened recently on a couple of upcoming collections I’m contributing to but the other day this cover came along for Doctor Who: New Dawn: Essays on the Jodie Whitaker Era and I couldn’t be more excited that a show I originally watched on PBS back in Ohio and followed all these years then made their lead character a female and then I had the chance to write about how a writer could go about making such a culturally important change.

My essay is entitled ‘She is wise and unafraid’: writing the first female Doctor and a diverse universe for her to protect

The book itself will be out later this year!

Dalek Invasion at WhoCon, San Diego via Instagram

Dalek Invasion at WhoCon, San Diego via Instagram

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A New Companion For Doctor Who!

This will be all over the internet in a minute – but I wanted so share it here for the folks who have enjoyed so many of my Doctor Who lecture videos.

doctor-who-bill

Video: Qualities Women Want in Men #2 from How Doctor Who Redefined Masculinity

Dr. Rosanne Welch presents “How Doctor Who Redefined Masculinity: A Study of the Doctors and their Male Companions” at the Cal Poly Pomona University Library. Dr. Welch teaches in the IGE (Interdisciplinary General Education) program.

Dw masculinity 04 what women want 2 anim

 

Transcript:

But now, our generation is starting to look also at how do they parent? Will this person make a good father to the children I might have and we’re going to see that reflected in Doctor Who. Then, of course, all of them mentioned good hygiene, which we all know is a code word for hot looking and I think that’s true of most of our Doctors. Then ambition and honesty is a pretty basic one. Of course, if you flip that, it’s really all the stuff that men are looking for in women, as well. So, it’s just really what makes a quality human being and I think that’s really of interest to us. The other thing I would say is that that, as I said, is reflected in all of our guys.

A clip from this 5th talk on various aspects of Doctor Who presented by Dr. Welch. You can find Dr. Welch’s other Doctor Who talks using the links below.

Dr. Rosanne Welch

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Video: Doctor Who and Culture with Dr. Rosanne Welch at Cal Poly Pomona University Library

Dr. Rosanne Welch, Cal Poly Pomona Faculty from the Department of Interdisciplinary General Education discusses Doctor Who and how the show has changed television writing. Doctor Welch will further discuss how society looks at culture and gender roles with the use of the Doctor and his companions’ adventures.

Natalie Lopez at the CalPoly University Library invited me to do a presentation for National Libraries Week on Doctor Who and Culture so that’s why a group of Whovians from both CalPoly and CSUF gathered in the Special Events room on April 16th.  It was wonderful to look out over a sea of t-shirts and other Doctor paraphernalia present among the crowd as I pontificated about what makes Who great – mostly giving me a chance to present a case for the fact that writers make Doctor Who and therefore writers make culture.”

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A few scenes from the video in animated GIF form