CFP Symposium on The Politics and Law of Doctor Who (1/17/14)

Thanks to IAFA for the head's up:

Symposium Announcement and First Call for Papers: The Politics and Law of Doctor Who

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Public Information Officer

Friday 5th September 2014

University of Westminster

Doctor Who is the BBC’s longest-running drama television series and the world’s longest-running science fiction series. The massive public attention devoted to the show’s 50th anniversary and to its choice of new lead actor confirms that the programme merits serious academic attention. Politics, law and constitutional questions often feature prominently in Doctor Who stories, whether in the form of the Time Lords’ guardianship of the universe, the Doctor’s encounters with British Prime Ministers, or the array of governance arrangements in Dalek society. The show’s politics is also an adventure through time, from the internationalising moralism of the Barry Letts-Terrance Dicks years, the dark satire of Andrew Cartmel’s period as script editor and the egalitarianism of the Russell T. Davies era. Yet the politics and law of Doctor Who have yet to be the subject of wide-ranging scholarship. Proposals for 20 minute papers are therefore invited for a symposium on 5th September 2014, to be held in the University of Westminster’s historic Regent Street building just metres away from BBC headquarters. Possible subjects for papers might include, but are by no means limited to:

• Doctor Who’s ideology
• The Doctor’s political morality
• Comparison of politics of Doctor Who with politics of other
science fiction
• The merits/demerits of Harriet Jones as Prime Minister
• Doctor Who and devolution
• Portrayals of British sovereigns in Doctor Who
• Doctor Who’s politics of class, gender and sexuality
• Fan responses to “political” Doctor Who stories
• International law, intergalactic law and non-interference
• Globalisation and corporate domination
• Satire in Doctor Who
• Politics and law in audio adventures, comic books and novels
• War crimes and genocide
• The politics of UNIT and Torchwood
• The will of villains to secure power
• Political history and political nostalgia in Doctor Who
• Doctor Who’s construction of British national identity

Abstracts should be 250 words in length, and should be accompanied by a 100-word biography of the author. Abstracts should be sent to nicold@wmin.ac.uk – deadline for receipt of abstracts 17 January 2014.

Doctor Who / Torchwood for SWPACA (11/15/13)

Sorry for the short notice. Deadline for papers closes tonight.


CFP: Doctor Who and/or Torchwood-REVISED

Location:	New Mexico, United States
Conference Date:	2014-02-19
Date Submitted:	2013-11-03
Announcement ID:	208205

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Area of the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association invites paper or panel proposals on Doctor Who and/or Torchwood at the 35th annual meeting of the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association in Albuquerque, New Mexico. February 19-22, 2014 Any and all topics will be considered, although we especially encourage proposals on: o genre (comedy, horror, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, etc.) o reception/transmission of either series internationally (past or present) o Doctor Who as brand o regeneration(s) of the series o gender o Use/misuse of technology o Perspectives on the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who o Queer readings and/or presentations of LGBQT characters o auteur-ship o fandom and fanwork o Intersections of Doctor Who and/or Torchwood with this year’s theme “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” Proposals Due: November 15, 2013 Submit 250-word paper or full panel (title & 250-wd abstract for each panelist) proposals at: http://conference2014.southwestpca.org Database opens July 1 Submit in category Science Fiction & Fantasy—Doctor Who Questions: Erin Giannini (egiannini37@gmail.com) For more details on the conference, please visit the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture/American Culture Association: http://southwestpca.org or follow us on Facebook & Twitter at www.facebook.com/southwestpca or @southwestpca More about the SF&F Area: With an average of 70+ presenters annually, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Area of the Southwest and Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association is one of the most dynamic and well attended areas at the conference. Numerous book and article publications have originated from our panels. The Area was founded in 1995 by Prof. Richard Tuerk of the Texas A&M University-Commerce (formerly East Texas State University) and author of Oz in Perspective (McFarland, 2007). The Area is currently chaired by Ximena Gallardo C. of the City University of New York-LaGuardia and co-author of Alien Woman: The Making of Lt. Ellen Ripley (Continuum: 2004); Rikk Mulligan of Longwood University, author of “Zombie Apocalypse: Plague and the End of the World in Popular Culture” (End of Days, McFarland 2009); Tamy Burnett of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, co-editor of The Literary Angel (McFarland, 2010); Brian Cowlishaw of Northeastern State University, author of "No Future Shock Here: The Jetsons, Happy Tech, and the Patriarchy" (The Galaxy is Rated G, McFarland: 2011); Erin Giannini, independent scholar, who has presented and published work on series such as Dollhouse, Supernatural, and Mystery Science Theater 3000; and Susan Fanetti, Associate Professor at California State University Sacramento.

Erin Giannini, PhD Albuquerque, NM 87102 egiannini37@gmail.com Email: egiannini37@gmail.com Visit the website at http://conference2014.southwestpca.org/

Doctor Who Companions CFP

The following was posted on H-PCAACA recently. Unfortunately, the text is a bit corrupted. I will post a revised version when/if it becomes available.

*Call for Papers*

*Companions in Doctor Who: Roles, Characters and Themes*

On introducing the new companion Clara in March 2013, Steven Moffat,

*Doctor on the Doctor, her [sic] adventure that she [sic] goes on with the Doctor

Agree or disagree with this view, it is clear that the companion has become an integral part of the series *Doctor Who*. Rarely has the Doctor travelled without a companion since the show began in 1963.

as individuals and as a whole.

The editors welcome chapter proposals which deal with the companions as individuals, thematic groupings of companions by era/Doctor, gender and sexuality, feminism and its many permutations, or

With over forty characters travelling with the Doctor over the life of the series, there are many options available.

Proposals are due the 31 October 2013. The final article/chapter should be around 20-25 pages (Double spaced, Times New Roman 12)

Important dates:

Proposals due 31 October 2013; papers 30 September 2014; final edit 15 March 2015.

Editors: Dr Sherry Ginn & Dr Gillian Leitch

Please email your proposals to gilliandoctor@gmail.com

Thank you.

Time Travel in the Media CFP (6/16/13)

CFP: Time Travel in the Media edited collection
 Call for Papers Date: 2013-06-16
Date Submitted: 2013-03-18
Announcement ID: 202340

We are currently seeking chapter proposals for the first collection of essay to address time travel across different media formats. The collection, to be be published by McFarland, will be edited by Joan Ormrod (Manchester Metropolitan University) and Matthew Jones (UCL).

Time travel has been a topic that has fascinated the media since the 19th century. Indeed, cinema has used flashbacks and montage since its earliest days to experiment with time. However, film is not the only medium fascinated by the concept. Television series such as Doctor Who (1963-1989, 1996 and 2005-present), Quantum Leap (1989-1993), The Time Tunnel (1966-1967) and Torchwood (2006-2011) explore history and play with notions of time as a social construct. Video games, manga and animé also examine time travel's unique narrative possibilities, for instance in The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (1998) or Final Fantasy XIII-2 (2011). Graphic novels such as Watchmen (1986-1987) and superhero narratives use time travel to explore heroes’ ingenuity and the problems created by paradoxes.

Time travel narratives have invoked socio-historic concerns for subjectivity, narrativity, history, the future and potential apocalypse. The future and the past are frequently depicted as a means of understanding the problems of the present. Lately, time travel narratives have used philosophical issues based on scientific theories such as string theory, multiple universes and the philosophical construction of time. Contemporary time travel stories also acknowledge the potential for experimentation in media narratives. Such diversity surely requires more scrutiny in academic discourse. This collection of essays will be the first dedicated solely to the topic.

The collection is aimed at:

• undergraduate and postgraduate students in film and media, cultural studies, philosophy, social sciences, history and science programmes.
• science fiction and fantasy fandoms across a range of media.

The volume will address a broad range of media, including television, cinema, video games, anime and manga, comics and graphic novels and radio plays. It will be divided into five sections addressing narrative and media form, time travel as genre, philosophical and theoretical concepts, time and culture and a number of case studies

We are currently inviting 500-word proposals for 5000-7000 word chapters. These might address, but need not be limited to, the following topics:

• Adaptation and the differences between time in media forms
• Parallel worlds/alternative realities in virtual media, gaming and avatars
• Narrative devices such as the causal time loop
• Cinematic and media apparatus as time machine
• Experimental and avant garde depictions of time and time travel
• Narrative tropes
• Key characters - H. G. Wells, The Doctor, Sam Becket, Marty McFly
• Iconography - the time travel machine, distinguishing the past/future from the present
• The adaptability of the time travel narrative to many genres - science fiction, fantasy, romance, teenpics
• The depiction of history and historical characters
• The rules and regulations of time travel and parallel worlds
• The experience and means of time travel (machine, magic, supernatural)
• Use of specific theoretical models of narrative interrogation, such as psychoanalytic, carnivalesque, discursive, Deleuzian, Ricoeur, Bergson, postmodern and semiotic perspectives or new theoretical contexts
• Philosophical considerations, such as free will and determinism, religious and ritualistic perspectives
• String theory and parallel universes
• Socio-historic notions of time (linear time, cyclical time, the Enlightenment and the mythic)
• Tourism - cosmopolitanism, the flâneur
• Time-travel narratives within the context of their socio-historic production
• Case studies which examine a specific aspect of time travel in one text.

Proposals along with a 50 word biography should be sent to timetravelcollection@gmail.com
Deadline: 16 June 2013

Joan Ormrod
Manchester Metropolitan University
Chatham 307
Manchester 44 161 247 1938
Email: timetravelcollection@gmail.com

Torchwood Reborn?

I had sworn off Torchwood after what seemed to be the needless deaths of its most interesting characters in season 2 and Children of Earth, but the recent mini-series Torchwood: Miracle Day on Starz shows some promise (though I still dislike Gwen). The first episode is/was available for viewing to non-subscribers to the pay-cable network. No word yet on a DVD release.

Impossible Worlds, Impossible Things

Impossible Worlds, Impossible Things: Cultural Perspectives on Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures 
Editor: Ross P. Garner, Melissa Beattie and Una McCormack

Date Of Publication: May 2010
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-1960-2
Isbn: 1-4438-1960-3

The successful regeneration of Doctor Who in the twenty-first century has sparked unprecedented popular success and renewed interest within the academy.

The ten essays assembled in this volume draw on a variety of critical approaches—from cultural theory to audience studies, to classical reception and musicology—to form a wide-ranging interdisciplinary discussion of Doctor Who, classic and new, and its spin-off series, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

With additional contributions from Andrew Pixley, Robert Shearman, Barnaby Edwards, and Matt Hills, the volume is intended to be accessible to everyone, from interested academics in relevant fields to the general public.



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editors’ Acknowledgements....................................................................... ix

Foreword .................................................................................................... xi
Andrew Pixley

Introduction
Fifty Not Out: The Doctor’s Enduring Appeal........................................ xvii
Ross P. Garner, Melissa Beattie, and Una McCormack

Part I: The Ongoing Storm: The Doctor in British Society and Culture
The Regeneration Game: Doctor Who and the Changing Faces
of Heroism................................................................................................... 3
John Paul Green

The Doctor’s Burden: Racial Superiority and Panoptic Privilege
in New Doctor Who................................................................................... 25
Christine Gilroy

Army of Ghosts: Sight, Knowledge, and the Invisible Terrorist in
Doctor Who ............................................................................................... 45
Matthew Jones

Constructing a Space for the Subversive: Science Fiction, Comedy,
and Cultural Commentary in New Doctor Who ........................................ 62
Erica Moore

Part II: The Myth (Re-)Makers: Classical Tropes and Methodologies
Beware of Geeks Appropriating Greeks: Viewer Reception
of the Myth of Philoctetes in Torchwood .................................................. 79
Amanda Potter

Sideways Pompeii!: The Use of a Historical Period to Question
the Doctor’s Role in History...................................................................... 94
Antony G. Keen

A Kiss is Just a Kiss (Except When it’s Not): Life and Breath
in the Whoniverse.................................................................................... 118
Melissa Beattie

Part III: Travelling with Auntie: Institutional Debates and Framings
“Not sure if it’s Marxism in action or a West-End musical”:
Class, Citizenship, and Culture in New Doctor Who............................... 145
Lisa Kerrigan

“Don’t You Forget About Me”: Intertextuality and Generic Anchoring
in The Sarah Jane Adventures ................................................................. 161
Ross P. Garner

The Popular Electronic: Doctor Who and the BBC’s Radiophonic
Workshop ................................................................................................ 182
E. Charlotte Stevens

“Working with Daleks”: A Discussion with Robert Shearman
and Barnaby Edwards.............................................................................. 201

Afterword: Scholar-Fandom’s Different Incarnations............................. 210
Matt Hills

Contributors............................................................................................. 218


Ross P. Garner is a PhD candidate at Cardiff University researching the construction of discourses of nostalgia within twenty-first century British time-travel television dramas.

Melissa Beattie is a postgraduate research student at Cardiff University. Her areas of study cover a range of disciplines including ancient history and popular culture.

Una McCormack is a writer. Her novel Doctor Who: The King’s Dragon, featuring the eleventh Doctor, is published by BBC Books (2010).

Contents Update British Science Fiction Film and Television

British Science Fiction Film and Television: Critical Essays

Edited by Tobias Hochscherf and James Leggott
Series Editors Donald E. Palumbo and C.W. Sullivan III

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4621-6
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8483-6
notes, bibliography, index
237pp. softcover 2011
Price: $35.00

About the Book
Written by international experts from a range of disciplines, these essays examine the uniquely British contribution to science fiction film and television. Viewing British SF as a cultural phenomenon that challenges straightforward definitions of genre, nationhood, authorship and media, the editors provide a conceptual introduction placing the essays within their critical context. Essay topics include Hammer science fiction films, the various incarnations of Doctor Who, Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, and such 21st-century productions as 28 Days Later and Torchwood.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: British Science Fiction Beyond the TARDIS
TOBIAS HOCHSCHERF and JAMES LEGGOTT 1

1. H.G. Wells and Science Fiction Cinema
JAMES CHAPMAN 11
2. Aftermaths: Post-Apocalyptic Imagery
CHRISTIAN HOFFSTADT and DOMINIK SCHREY 28
3. The BBC Versus “Science Fiction”: The Collision of Transnational Genre and National Identity in Television of the Early 1950s
DEREK JOHNSTON 40
4. Hammer Horror and Science Fiction
DAVID SIMMONS 50
5. Robert Fuest and The Final Programme: Science Fiction and the Question of Style
MICHAEL DU PLESSIS 60
6. “Anything Can Happen in the Next Half-Hour”: Gerry Anderson’s Transnational Science Fiction
JONATHAN BIGNELL 73
7. Tracking UFO: Format, Text and Context
PETER HUTCHINGS 85
8. A Clockwork Orange, Exploitation and the Art Film
I.Q. HUNTER 96
9. Visions of an English Dystopia: History, Technology and the Rural Landscape in The Tripods
LINCOLN GERAGHTY 104
10. The Future of History in Dennis Potter’s Cold Lazarus
CHRISTINE SPRENGLER 117
11. Expatriate! Expatriate! Doctor Who: The Movie and Commercial Negotiation of a Multiple Text
PETER WRIGHT 128
12. Invasion of the Brit-Snatchers: National Identity in Contemporary Science Fiction Cinema
AIDAN POWER 143
13. A Cosy Catastrophe: Genre, National Cinema, and Fan Responses to 28 Days Later
BRIGID CHERRY 156
14. Desiring the Doctor: Identity, Gender and Genre in Online Fandom
REBECCA WILLIAMS 167
15. Invaders from Space, Time Travel and Omnisexuality: The Multi-Layered Narrative of Torchwood
LEE BARRON 178

Chapter Notes 193
Select Bibliography 213
About the Contributors 217
Index 221

About the Author
Tobias Hochscherf is a professor of audio-visual media at University of Applied Sciences in Kiel, Germany. His research on European film and television culture has been widely published.
James Leggott is a senior lecturer in film and television studies at Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. He has published on various aspects of British film and television culture.
Donald E. Palumbo is a professor of English at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He lives in Greenville.
C.W. Sullivan III is a professor of arts and sciences at East Carolina University and a full member of the Welsh Academy. He is the author of numerous books and the on-line journal Celtic Cultural Studies.