Robert Holmes – Simon’s Incoherent Blog

How sexist is Doctor Who?–50 years of sexism in statistics

Over the last couple of months, I’ve been going through every Doctor Who story from 1963 to now, and assessing their gender balance by applying the Bechdel Test to each of them.

For a reminder of the rules, check the Intro here. Then, going by Doctor:

A quick reminder of the Test:

It has to have two named female characters
Who talk to each other
About something besides a man.

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How sexist is Doctor Who?–Part Four

The Tom Baker years

Welcome to Part Four of my attempt to analyse the sexism in every Doctor Who story ever, using the Bechdel Test – and my wits. For a reminder of the rules, check the Intro here. Then, going by Doctor:

A quick reminder of the Test:

It has to have two named female characters
Who talk to each other
About something besides a man.

After Jon Pertwee’s shameful 54.2% Test failure, surely his successor can only improve? But then, he has far more stories to be sexist in, and quite a few of them are script-edited by Robert Holmes, who we’ve already established to have a less than sterling track record of female representation. Let’s see the results…

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How sexist is Doctor Who?–Part Two

The Patrick Troughton Years

OK, here we go with Part Two of my attempt to analyse the sexism in every Doctor Who story ever, using the Bechdel Test – and my wits. For a reminder of the rules, check the Intro here. And here’s part one, William Hartnell. A quick reminder of the Test:

1. It has to have two named female characters
2. Who talk to each other
3. About something besides a man.

Here goes…

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