This book argues that Doctor Who, the world’s longest-running science fiction series often considered to be about distant planets and monsters, is in reality just as much about Britain and Britishness. Danny Nicol explores how the show, through science fiction allegory and metaphor, constructs national identity in an era in which identities are precarious, ambivalent, transient and elusive. It argues that Doctor Who’s projection of Britishness is not merely descriptive but normative—putting forward a vision of what the British ought to be.
This book engages with important debates about multicultural British identities at a time when schools are expected to promote Fundamental British Values. It provides valuable insight into the need to investigate fluid and evolving identities in the classroom. What are the implications of Britishness exploration on young people’s relationships with and within multicultural Britain? What are the complexities of teaching and learning Britishness? Emphasis on student voice, respectful and caring dialogue, and collaborative communication can lead to meaningful reflections. Teachers often require guidance though when teaching about multicultural Britain.
Is Britain really perceived as a nation of poorly dressed, roast-beef-eating, snaggle-toothed xenophobes? Or do the British perhaps all live in stately homes, and lead supercilious, emotionally repressed, tea-drinking lives? In "Brit-Myth", the author probes these and other myths, conceptions and misconceptions of Britishness, looking not only at how Britons see themselves, but also at how the British are seen overseas. Moving between high and popular culture, from the myths of King Arthur and Albion to national opinion polls on Great and Evil Britons'; and from "Big Brother" to international surveys of British national characteristics, he delineates the current state of Britishness.
