A Children's Show?

[Joshua]

Moffat has definitely taken the show onto a more grown up level since his takeover, but do people think this season, and this episode especially, it's gone beyond what should be called a children's/family show?

I found this latest episode hard enough to keep track of at the beginning, nevermind for a younger person.

But then I thought the scene at the end with Amy last week might have been quite shocking for children, and then the deaths this week were fairly harrowing for them I imagine.

I personally am all for it, I love the more grown up feel to it. But is it going too far for the young 'uns?

[Peri-Peri]

I love the current feeling of the show and I think it has definately raised the stakes and has a more grown up feel but I do still very much think it is geared towards the family. I think children are often underestimated in what they can understand and take in, but Moff has two young sons who has said many times he runs stories and plots by so I think they are his test subjects in that respect. One of the good things I am finding about his writing is that he isn't patronising the children who are watching by dumbing it down under the assumption that they won't get it. Some aspects of the show are bordering mild horror I think, but in a way that is suitable and scary for children without sending them to therapy. If I was watching this as a kid I would be as enthralled as I am now, I'm sure of it

[Saber]

I think PP has hit this spot on. There are elements i think perhaps might be too scary, but I suppose that comes down to the individual child. The one thing that sticks out to me is Jens mouth from last week. I'd have **** myself if I was a kid watching that.

[Dreyesbo]

When I heard about the "too grown up" debacle online (mostly by the media, though) I remember the same thing happening with Harry Potter. Just because it's targeted to children doesn't mean it can't be scary, or complex.

To be honest, anything related to River is sometimes to complex for me, but I get the important stuff, and I'm sure kids do too. And when they watch these episodes, once they are older, they'll find another layer they'll enjoy.

[Joshua]

Hola Diego

Interesting comments, I mean, I too love the new level of complexity and detail. It was just a niggling thought I had this episode which zoomed around in my head for the first 10 mins or so of the episode.

[Nyki]

This is really exactly the arguments that were going on in the Hinchcliffe/Holmes/Baker era and after, where it was being accused of being too frightening and violent for children.  Of course, the bar has moved a bit since then, but I don't think it's anything kids won't enjoy, even if it's from behind the sofa.

There's a wonderful quote by G.K. Chesterton about fairy stories, which I've always felt applies perfectly to DW - "Fairy stories don't teach children dragons exist - children already know dragons exist.  Fairy stories teach children that dragons can be killed."

[Miss Wright]

People do underestimate kids, and I don't think they appreciate it. I know an eight year old girl who watches, doesn't get too frightened, wishes it was scarier, and comes up with brilliant theories and questions about what is going on. Not many want a show served to them on a silver platter. It's boring.

[Twisted-Sister]

I've always thought that DW manages a brilliant mix of stuff for both the young and old alike. I don't think it has become too scary the same way I don't think it has become too childish. Both arguements I have heard lately

[Dream Lord]

I agree that kids probably understand more than we give them credit for.  That said, starting the season off with the Doctor being gunned down and his body burned was a bit dark.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it and I liked this season.  I just think if you try to say "kids show", it doesn't work.  The one thing that I keep in mind is that it is a family adventure show.  It's a fun ride when you do watch with kids, but I'm not sure how fun it would be for mine if I didn't watch with them.  Good discussions.

[Hyacathusarillistad]

Doctor Who isn't meant to be a children's show, I don't think. It never really was. It's a family show, and there's a distinct difference. A children's show is something that children enjoy, parents generally only tolerate, and that either becomes a fond memory or is forgotten entirely by puberty. Most shows that I would personally label as "children's shows" don't last much longer than four to six years, simply because their audience grows up and moves on, and younger kids can't get interested in, to them, such a long history.

Doctor Who is a show that children can and will watch with their parents, and will probably come to be great fans of as they grow older - but that parents will watch without the kids, and may even have grown up with it themselves.

[Nyki]

That was always the big bone of contention between Mary Whitehouse and Philip Hinchcliffe - she seemed to think she had a killer argument that the show wasn't suitable for a five-year-old, and he kept trying to point out that it wasn't meant to be.

[Vampyros Adric]

The show is the equivalent of a roller coaster. We know its going to be scary but its "safe" scary. I am far more concerned about an 8 year old singing Rihanna lyrics than I am about them seeing the Silence!

[hannahcole93]

The show is the equivalent of a roller coaster. We know its going to be scary but its "safe" scary. I am far more concerned about an 8 year old singing Rihanna lyrics than I am about them seeing the Silence!

  Couldn't agree with you more Chris

Nah, my cousins 9 & 10, like Who, but the youngest is absolutely terrified of  Who at the moment! He can't watch it any more because he has nightmares. I don't know if that's just him, or kids that age in general.

I don't know though, I think if I watched the episodes with the Silence in late at night I think I would be pretty creeped out, but then again I do get creeped out pretty easily although I'm 17, nearly 18! Worrying huh!? 

[salemlost]

Well my kids are 5 and 8 and LOVE Dr Who. We watch it together on sundays, which has been officially dubbed Dr Who Day. They are just as bummed as I am when there is no new Who.

As for the scary stuff, yeah they get scared but for them it's a fun sort of scared because they are kids and they wholeheartedly believe in the all powerful Doctor. As long as he's there they know everything will be ok. Heck even when he did die, my five year old piped up with. "yeah mommy the doctor died but he told them to stay so he's got something. we just don't know yet."

Now granted my kids have been raised more or less on early Buffy and various Sci-Fi shows so there is a certain level of exposure to tv that doesn't assume they are simple minded, or that is fantastical, or sometimes even a little dark.

But for us, it's exactly a family show. Other families maybe not so much.

[Nyki]

I think the family aspect is important.  One of the points Hinchcliffe made in the 70s was that there's a huge difference between watching TV in the living room with your parents in sight and being alone in the dark in a cinema.