The Propp Theory
The Propp Theory was invented by a person called Vladimir Propp. He was a folklorist researcher who was interested in the relationship between characters and narrative. Propp said that stories are character driven and that plots develop from the decisions and actions of characters and how they function in a story. He claimed that characters could be categorised into certain roles that progress a story.
An unearthly child was the first Doctor Who episode that ever came out. It was broadcast on the 23rd of November in 1963. Also in this story, the Propp Theory can be used. In this episode I would say Barbara Wright is the hero. She is a school teacher and teaches Susan Foreman. She is the hero because when Susan starts acting weird she is worried about her and she wants to find out what the problem is. I think Susan Foreman is the princess. She is the Granddaughter of Doctor Who and she a student at the school. I think she is the princess because she is the prize at the end, she is the one that Barbara and Ian are worried about. In this particular episode I would say Doctor Who is the Villain. Doctor Who is the grandfather of Susan. I think he is the Villain because he doesn't want to tell Barbara and Ian where Susan is and although he is the focus of the whole program in this episode he gets portrayed as the villain. Lastly it seems to me that Ian Chesterton is the helper. Ian is also a teacher at the school and also teaches Susan. He is the one that helps Barbara with finding out whats wrong with Susan.
An unearthly child was the first Doctor Who episode that ever came out. It was broadcast on the 23rd of November in 1963. Also in this story, the Propp Theory can be used. In this episode I would say Barbara Wright is the hero. She is a school teacher and teaches Susan Foreman. She is the hero because when Susan starts acting weird she is worried about her and she wants to find out what the problem is. I think Susan Foreman is the princess. She is the Granddaughter of Doctor Who and she a student at the school. I think she is the princess because she is the prize at the end, she is the one that Barbara and Ian are worried about. In this particular episode I would say Doctor Who is the Villain. Doctor Who is the grandfather of Susan. I think he is the Villain because he doesn't want to tell Barbara and Ian where Susan is and although he is the focus of the whole program in this episode he gets portrayed as the villain. Lastly it seems to me that Ian Chesterton is the helper. Ian is also a teacher at the school and also teaches Susan. He is the one that helps Barbara with finding out whats wrong with Susan.
Representation of stereotypes
The place of where the episode takes place is in London. The audience knows this because of the uniform the police officer had right in the beginning of the episode and because of the amount of fog there was throughout the episode. The characters in this episode are well educated. This would link with the type of audience that would watch this as having a TV at that time was expensive, and it was expected that you were well educated if you were rich. The masculine characters in this episode always want to have control over everything, an example of this is when Ian wants to know what happend to Susan, he even wants to get the police involved to be in control over Doctor Who. The feminine characters on the other hand are caring and sensitive, an example of this is when Barbara tells Ian to not be so harsh on Doctor Who. The age of all the characters shows that this episode is targeted to most of the age groups; Teens (Susan), Adults (Ian and Barbara) and elderly (Doctor Who).
mise-en-scène
The setting is really important as it shows the audience immediately the mood the scene without needing any dialogue. The settings is one of the big roles that tells us what the targeted audience of the show is. For example, the foggy London scene makes the episode look mysterious, the school scene creates a familiarity for the targeted audience, the interior of the TARDIS creates a sci-fi mise en scène and it looks futuristic.