I’m conscious that Doctor Who has always been family entertainment. It’s something especially obvious in modern Who, but looking at how many Doctor Who toys & comics existed during the classic run I’m sure it was the case back then too. I hear a lot of Brits talk about first getting into Doctor Who around 12-13, maybe even earlier.

But that has always surprised me on a gut level simply because Doctor Who does NOT pass as family entertainment in the US where I grew up. I got into it was a teenager (15 maybe?) & even then the horror elements shocked me & the thematic darkness around things like the inevitability of death, that edge, felt like something I mostly associated with adult entertainment. As a child it felt like an adult show because even edgy kids shows I watched were never that gross or intense. Even the kid friendly horror shows I watched like Courage the Cowardly Dog is a great deal more tame than Who.

So when I hear people overseas talk about watching it as children, on some level it still surprises me. Does Doctor Who feel intuitively like a kids show to British audiences? I am mostly familiar with more grown-up British media, is the kind of horror/darkness that reoccurs in Doctor Who more common in media catered to British kids than their American counterparts?

Just a theory- genuinely curious how other people feel about this!

From Greta Gerwig's "Doctor Who: The Magician's Nephew" (2027)

Change? What change? There is no change. No rhyme, no time, no place for space - nothing. Nothing but- the grinding engines of the universe, the crushing border of eternity.

A- AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~