Discovering new dimensions: Affect and the heroic in Doctor Who
The British television series Doctor Who often depicts the discovery of new dimensions that provoke both affective experiences and heroic moments. Every discovery of a new dimension in Doctor Who is overwhelming, sudden and transformative, a moment of wonder and inspiration. This article considers three episodes, featuring discoveries of a new dimension of space (‘The Rings of Akhaten’ 2013), agency (‘Dark Water’ 2014) and imagination (‘Vincent and the Doctor’ 2010), which all combine affect and the heroic, albeit in different ways. Acknowledging the difficulty of grasping moments of affecting and being affected due to their dynamic and pre-reflexive nature, the article uses close readings of selected scenes to narrow down the descriptive gap as far as possible. The case study of ‘Dark Water’ also includes an analysis of the episode’s reception in reviews and on social media platforms to highlight the actual affective response of the audience. The episodes’ narratives of discovering new dimensions of space, agency and imagination, medialized through specific audio-visual means, closely intertwine affective experiences with heroic moments: affective experiences can trigger heroic action, a heroic claim of agency can have an affective dimension and the ability to affect and be affected can in itself be heroized.