Gender Representation in Doctor Who

Over the years on television and around the world in normal day lives women are seen to be inferior to men who are seen as the superior beings of the planet Earth. Women of the plant Earth have a certain stereotype to themselves which sees them being weak individuals who sponge of working men. As well as this woman are seen to be people who because they are weak have to stay at home and do less intense jobs than men for example cooking and cleaning at home. The males are seen to be stronger more dominant over the females with their stereotype meaning they have control over the woman population. In the extract of ‘Doctor Who’ not all characters play these stereotypes and the stereotypes are not presented well.

At first in the extract we meet the Master who is seen to be the all mighty one in this extract and the character who seems to have all the power this does follow the audiences feel of stereotypes overall. The scene begins with a focus upon his character with out of focus characters in the background showing he is the main character of this clip and maybe the whole episode also the fact it is a dark shallow focus portrays him to be a sinister and evil character maybe the bad guy of the extract. The master walks around on a raised platform with low angle shots looking up at him showing dominant power he has this again follows the rule of the gender stereotypes and males being more dominant over female characters.

After this clip we see a second character emerge into the extract and this character is Martha who is a female character dressed in kind of arm gear with hair type back and no makeup to be seen. Straight away we can see that this is not normal for a female on television so this shows her character may not be following the stereotype rule of males being more dominant over females. There are multiple shots between Martha and the Master with low angle shots looking up at the Master and high angle shots looking down at Martha showing the master’s dominance. This fits the stereotype given about males being more superior to females. There is a shot were the camera follows Martha this gives a sense that the audience is with her and following her.

The next part of the extract shows Martha walking towards the master as she looks up at the master a quick shot of the Doctor is used where he is trapped in a cage and looks weak and helpless. This does not follow the rule of the stereotype as the Doctor is a male but is still weak and vulnerable.

As well as this the camera gives close ups of the Doctors face showing his emotions towards what is happening and what is going to happen.

In the next scene or sector of the extract we see the Master looking at the Doctor as well as Martha and because he is poised on a platform raised above everyone else it gives him power so throughout the clip he has a raised voice when speaking to show power and dominance. Next we see Martha talk with a Sharpe voice to show that she is not a vulnerable person and will not go down easy. She tells of the story of how she spreader the word of the Doctor around the world and whilst saying this she has passion in her voice showing a typical female with emotions and feelings that are shown.

The Master is wearing a black and white suite to show his formality to the audience and his dominance over others in this extract. Whereas the Doctor who is trapped in a cage is wearing scruffy clothes that are ripped showing he is a slave and less dominant than the Master. Martha is wearing army gear which is full black showing she has power and determination which breaks the rule of the stereotype.

There are non-diegetic sounds in the scene such as background music which is intense music to build up tension for the audience at home to make them feel as though they are there in the clip with the actors. There are diegetic sounds as well in the background of the scenes such as machines going off which adds realism to the extract its self.

Editing is used throughout the clip to make the shots and the story flow faster and smoothly for the audience at home as well as this there are CGI and special effects used in the clip as well where the Doctor turns back into a human and starts flying which seems realistic from the special effects.