Dr Who and the Gospel

I've been watching a lot of Dr Who since Christmas- I was the very happy recipient of DVDs of Series 1 and 2.

Ever since I was little, I've loved this show- and the new series have taken it a quantum leap forward in production, special effects etc.

Although it was only in last year's series that the gospel message became very explicit, the Dr Who series really have a huge message for christians.

1. The ability to imagine a different world way beyond what we can see in front of us. I'm not just talking about the scary and not so scary monsters- obviously reflections of heaven and hell. But one theme that keeps coming up over and again is that malevolent forces are hidden amongst us totally unseen. Another related theme is that there are different ways to imagine our society than one in which greed and selfishness reign- the kingdom of God?

2. The huge story-telling skills of the writers, actors, directors, special-effects people. Why can't christians be less prescriptive and more narrative? Jesus told an awful lot of stories. A good story speaks to the heart in a powerful way. C.S. Lewis and Tolkien knew this well.

3. The recurring theme that mankind is in danger and often doesn't know it until it's too late. We need a saviour who is like us but yet not of this world.

4. I also like the way the surreal and the ordinary are melded together. In one of the early episodes in Series 1 the Doctor takes Rose to the far distant future and modifies her mobile phone so she can call her mum. We see Rose watching the impending explosion of the sun talking to her mother getting the washing out of the clothes dryer. This is a reminder to me that even our most exciting spiritual experiences have to be lived in a world where clothes have to be washed, lawns mowed and dogs fed.

So now I have to get stuck into Series 2.