Gender and the Quest in British Science Fiction Television: An Analysis of Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Red Dwarf and Torchwood

Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Red Dwarf, and Torchwood represent a significant cross section of BBC science-fiction television. With such respective characters as the Doctor, an enigmatic time-traveling alien; Roj Blake, a problematic rebel leader; Dave Lister, a slovenly last surviving human; and Captain Jack Harkness, a complicated immortal omnisexual, these shows have equally reinforced and challenged viewer expectations for a masculine leading hero. Accordingly, this work explores the construction of gendered heroic identity from both production and fan perspectives by applying a variety of critical lens (media, fan culture, and queer theory). In addition, fan fiction, criticism, and videos that celebrate and resist BBC SF television heroes and villains are considered. As a result, the synergistic and antagonistic tension occurring between these four series' producers/writers/actors and their fans is articulated for a finer understanding of their paradoxical relationship.