Oh, My Pop Culture Religion: Souls in Doctor Who

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Doctor Who is one of those shows that has a complicated relationship with religion. New Who seems to be written by people who are either mostly ignorant of religion or hostile to it (or both). After all, the Doctor is the great modern champion of science and reason. He’s the enemy of ignorant assimilation, and what better manifestation of ignorant assimilation is there than organized (read: Christian) religion? It’s offensive to religious people, sure, but the science vs faith trope is too juicy for most sci-fi to pass up. So it’s no wonder that when Doctor Who does decide to play with religious ideas, things go haywire. For example, take the idea of a soul. Lots of religions and philosophies have different ideas about what a soul is, and yet instead of sticking to just one, Doctor Who just uses the vaguest idea of what it might mean, whenever it’s convenient.

The Timey Wimey of Doctor Who

This third special in this series by the BBC focuses on the wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff that is the backbone of Doctor Who.  A number af celebrity Whovians did the commentary as they discussed the most timey-wimey episodes and situations of this wibbly-wobbly show.