Dr Who lands on the banned list
- Publication: The Scotsman
- Date: 1973-03-21
- Author:
- Page: 3
- Language: English
DESPITE Dr Who's popularity ten million viewers this is the programme which is frequently cited by children as" scaring." My eight-year-old put it on her banned list when she was four, and steadfastly refused to watch it until she tried it out again successfully a few months ago. But then she has always censored her own. programmes, turning off firmly whenever she felt at all worried.
At the age of six, a very well-made film version of "Heidi" was threatened after a few minutes viewing because she was upset when the grandfather spurned his little grandchild. Fortunately, I was able to reassure her that it turned out happily in the end!
Her less practical brother, on the other hand, always regarded it as a point of honour to continue viewing doggedly, however frightened or disturbed he felt. We weren't at all sure how to handle this at first.
By forbidding certain programmes we might foster problems of frustration and domination, and label. him in his own mind "a nervous child"; by allowing him to watch, we were certainly leaving him open to sleeplessness and nightmares. So we improvised and compromised. When he was small, we would try to contrive a plausible distraction when we knew was a specific programme scheduled.
When he was older. we would try to arrange that an adult was present, not to belittle, but for reassurance and perspective. We always insisted on a reasonable switching-off hour. and we never let him view in the dark. It obviously worked. Today, at 14, he watches rarely and with complete detachment.
Children vary tremendously in their susceptibilities. of course. One exceptionally lively, extrovert family I know have never had a nightmare among them, parents and children alike. In another instance, the mother admits that her children are upset by certain programmes but refuses to do anything about it.
Where should censorship stop she asks. After all radio and books can be spine-chilling too. I appreciate her point, for I remember how affected I was as a child by some of the pulsating death scenes in Victorian novels, and those cruelly treated orphans. Mad Mrs Rochester in Jane Eyre haunted my childhood sleep for years.
Yet, on reflection, wasn't it the garish illustration that I remember, not the words that describe her? Nothing. I'm sure, has as much emotional the impact on children as visual.
This is surely why so many children are worried by the television news. Both the BBC and ITV insist that they keep the more horrific items for later on in the evening, yet the fact remains that during the earlier bulletins children can actually see victims of war, famine, earthquakes or floods who are dying or dead.
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- APA 6th ed.: (1973-03-21). Dr Who lands on the banned list. The Scotsman p. 3.
- MLA 7th ed.: "Dr Who lands on the banned list." The Scotsman [add city] 1973-03-21, 3. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: "Dr Who lands on the banned list." The Scotsman, edition, sec., 1973-03-21
- Turabian: "Dr Who lands on the banned list." The Scotsman, 1973-03-21, section, 3 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Dr Who lands on the banned list | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who_lands_on_the_banned_list | work=The Scotsman | pages=3 | date=1973-03-21 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=25 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Dr Who lands on the banned list | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who_lands_on_the_banned_list | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=25 April 2025}}</ref>
