Forum:Guns and The Doctor

The use of guns in DW
Children are part of the target audience for Doctor Who and over the years different production crews have had different views on The Doctor using guns.

It is interesting to note the use of hand held weapons by The Doctor increased as the show moved into the 80's. The De-mat Gun, a weapon that can remove it's target from time and space, is introduced in DW: The Invasion of Time, the sixth serial of Season 15. 9 years previously, in the last episode of DW: The War Games The Time Lords did such a thing to the War Lord stating that he would be dematerialized, as if he had never existed. The Time Lords exacted this punishment without the use of any gun or any other prop, they simply had the power to do it. It can be argued that the two methods produced two distinct results but in essance they had the same effect, removing somebody from ever having been. The difference is in the show's attitude to The Doctor using such types of weapons.

Two further examples of The Doctor using guns can be seen in Season 20's Arc of Infinty and Season 21's Resurrection of the Daleks. There might be other examples. In contrast the 2005 revival series established that the Tenth Doctor repeatedly states in at least one episode that he hates guns and doesn't even like having them around him (DW: The Sontaran Stratagem). --Stillnotginger 04:39, February 26, 2010 (UTC)

Well, kids like guns. I loved seeing them used in shows as a child, too. The children of today especially aren't too bothered about seeing mild violence on TV shows. I think there was one old Doctor Who episde where a man's face got slowly melted, and another where two Cybermen broke a man's hands or something. In actuality, Doctor Who can be more violent than people think - when you look back and put all the clips together. Adelaide commited suicide using a gun in The Waters of Mars, and the Doctor almost shot the Master in the head in The End of Time. I think we can agree that Doctor Who is beyond the normal level of a family show - family show with death and mild violence. :) Delton Menace 07:33, February 27, 2010 (UTC)