Archive | May 9, 2010

There are some interesting similarities between Doctor Who, the benign but playfully eccentric genius who travels around in a flying police call box, and Willy Wonka, the benign but playfully eccentric genius who travels around in a flying glass elevator.

Each was created independently (Doctor Who premiered in late 1963 and the first Wonka book was published in early 1964), so there’s no initial influence either way. But the Doctor’s characterisation in Doctor Who gradually becomes more Wonka-like over time, suggesting the possibility of influence from the book (and later, the 1971 movie) on the series. (Tom Baker, arguably the most Wonka-like Doctor to that date – both in personality and in candy fixation – took over the role in 1974.)

And the second Wonka book, published in 1973, and featuring Wonka and his elevator traveling into outer space and fighting creepy aliens called Vermicious Knids, quite possibly shows influence in the reverse direction. (Certainly no British children’s fantasy author in the 1970s would have been unaware of Doctor Who.)