shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Mar 4, 2021 10:20:45 GMT
With the 60th anniversary just a couple of years away, I thought it might be fun to look at Doctor Who’s track record of creating a vision of the future. I’m just thinking of stories that were set in a future that has passed us by without incident.
Here’s a few to get the ball rolling:
Pyramids of Mars (1980)
The Tenth Planet (1986)
Battlefield (199?)
The Movie (1999)
Dalek (2012)
The Enemy Of The World (2018)
The Hungry Earth (2020)
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Post by constonks on Mar 4, 2021 14:54:31 GMT
Here's my list of stories set in the then-future, almost certainly incomplete:
c. 1970s: The Underwater Menace
1975: The Web of Fear
1979: The Invasion
1986: The Tenth Planet
1996: The Chase (Festival of Ghana)
2001: Head Games
2002: Unnatural History
2002: The Fearmonger
2003: Eternity Weeps
2003: The Shadow of the Scourge
2003: Minuet in Hell
2004: Project: Lazarus (Disc 1)
2006: Iceberg
2007: Unregenerate!
2008: Project: Lazarus (Disc 2)
c 2009: Cat’s Cradle: Warhead
2010: Happy Endings
2011: Death and Diplomacy
2012: The Shadows of Avalon
2012: Dalek
2012: Frozen Time
In 2013, Salamander sequesters his colony, as per The Enemy of the World.
2013: Autonomy
2014: Warlock
2014: The Sentinels of the New Dawn (The Future)
2015: Project: Nirvana
2015: The Lunar Strangers
2018: The Enemy of the World
2020: Cold Blood & The Hungry Earth
2020: House of Blue Fire
Some of the stories could be set in any time, but some of them show some truly wild stuff - The Lunar Strangers has cows on the moon!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2021 1:58:41 GMT
Looking at the earliest with The Tenth Planet and one of the nearest future dates... It's held up remarkably well as a story set in our 1986. The Zeus mission has an added layer of tragedy to it if you remember that the transit of Mondas is December -- the Challenger explosion was only just January that year. That could've been the impetus for the establishment of the International Space Agency, actually. An international effort dedicating manpower, knowledge bases and innovations in rocketry from across the globe to avoid another such disaster. Precautions and experiments like the atmospheric testing flight conducted by the Zeus IV.
Battlefield, I think ended up being dated to 1997 after the fact and it's a funny watch that way. It fits the late 90s like a glove. Warriors looking among the ashes of their own past for more wars to fight after the end of history (end of the Cold War vs. the final Battle of Camlann). The playful tone where the show's allowed to have a gag or two without overwhelming the serious moments ("If we have to pay for that..." / "We'll be poor for the rest of our lives."). The focus on ancient worlds hidden only inches away in a new archaelogical discovery (Stargate, I think was one the longest running there).
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,669
|
Post by shutupbanks on Mar 6, 2021 3:33:32 GMT
Looking at the earliest with The Tenth Planet and one of the nearest future dates... It's held up remarkably well as a story set in our 1986. The Zeus mission has an added layer of tragedy to it if you remember that the transit of Mondas is December -- the Challenger explosion was only just January that year. That could've been the impetus for the establishment of the International Space Agency, actually. An international effort dedicating manpower, knowledge bases and innovations in rocketry from across the globe to avoid another such disaster. Precautions and experiments like the atmospheric testing flight conducted by the Zeus IV. Battlefield, I think ended up being dated to 1997 after the fact and it's a funny watch that way. It fits the late 90s like a glove. Warriors looking among the ashes of their own past for more wars to fight after the end of history (end of the Cold War vs. the final Battle of Camlann). The playful tone where the show's allowed to have a gag or two without overwhelming the serious moments ("If we have to pay for that..." / "We'll be poor for the rest of our lives."). The focus on ancient worlds hidden only inches away in a new archaelogical discovery ( Stargate, I think was one the longest running there). Marc Platt’s novelisation of Battlefield mentions a storm that happened in 1995 and the Doctor pays for his drink with a coin dated 1998. So ‘97 fits. However, it also mentions “the King” which is a case of Her Maj being the real winner here. |
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Mar 6, 2021 8:54:12 GMT
I would argue that everything up to the 80s (at least) was “future building” towsrds the “World Zones Authority” seen in Enemy of the World, only something happened to shift things off track.
I would blame the premature sacking of Harriet Jones.
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Post by slithe on Mar 6, 2021 9:58:44 GMT
The Harvest - 2021
Interesting to see how this does compare to the real version... The idea of a European Government did fit with the moves at the time towards the EU becoming a state (i.e. the Constitution/Lisbon Treaty) but didn't foresee Brexit. Obviously, no mention of a pandemic either - but you could argue I suppose that System and the ICT/Scanning requirements to get into hospitals could be a reaction to this. The idea of trying to extend human mortality via Cybernetics could also fit here as well.
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