The Ian and Mildred Karten Memorial Lecture 2014 Event

'Reviewing the Extermination: Dr Who, Daleks and the Changing Face of Jewish Identity'

The chair for this lecture will be Malcolm Ace, Chief Operating Officer.

It has recently been suggested that the Doctor, the central character of the BBC's Doctor Who, is in fact the most compelling Jewish character ever seen on  British television. This lecture, part of a series of events organised to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the Parkes library at the University of Southampton, will explore this statement through a consideration of the show's history both off-screen and on. It will explore the (real and imagined) displays of Jewish identity seen across 50 years through a discussion of the Doctor's changing appearance, his rivalry with the Master, and enmity towards the Daleks, the despotic pepperpots with a love of extermination who were modelled on the Nazis. As we will see, the Doctor is not averse to antisemitism and the Daleks own past is more complicated and perhaps more controversial than the simplistic parallel provided by the Nazis.

Dr Jordan is the Karten Lecturer for the Parkes Institute and is also an alumnus of the University of Southampton.  The Ian and Mildred Karten Memorial Lecture is part of the Parkes Institute annual lecture series and has this year been renamed to honour the generosity and interest shown by Ian and Mildred in the Parkes Institute.

If you wish to attend what promises to be a very popular lecture please email parkes@southampton.ac.uk asap to reserve a place and avoid disappointment.