Doctor Who: Battlefield<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The first episode from the last season of Sylvester McCoy's time as the Doctor is "Battlefield" and it is ripe to be revisited in the era of Matt Smith.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Doctor Who: Battlefield\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The first episode from the last season of Sylvester McCoy's time as the Doctor is "Battlefield" and it is ripe to be revisited in the era of Matt Smith.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-13T14:41:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jamefmcgrshom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001P7YD96\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html\",\"name\":\"Doctor Who: Battlefield\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-13T14:41:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-13T14:41:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"The first episode from the last season of Sylvester McCoy's time as the Doctor is \\\"Battlefield\\\" and it is ripe to be revisited in the era of Matt Smith.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Doctor Who: Battlefield\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Doctor Who: Battlefield","description":"The first episode from the last season of Sylvester McCoy's time as the Doctor is \"Battlefield\" and it is ripe to be revisited in the era of Matt Smith.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Doctor Who: Battlefield","og_description":"The first episode from the last season of Sylvester McCoy's time as the Doctor is \"Battlefield\" and it is ripe to be revisited in the era of Matt Smith.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2012-09-13T14:41:52+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jamefmcgrshom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001P7YD96"}],"author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html","name":"Doctor Who: Battlefield","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-09-13T14:41:52+00:00","dateModified":"2012-09-13T14:41:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"The first episode from the last season of Sylvester McCoy's time as the Doctor is \"Battlefield\" and it is ripe to be revisited in the era of Matt Smith.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Doctor Who: Battlefield"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8904\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":8904,"date":"2012-09-13T10:41:52","date_gmt":"2012-09-13T14:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=8904"},"modified":"2012-09-13T10:41:52","modified_gmt":"2012-09-13T14:41:52","slug":"doctor-who-battlefield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/doctor-who-battlefield.html","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who: Battlefield"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The first episode from the last season of Sylvester McCoy\u2019s time as the Doctor is \u201cBattlefield<\/a> $\"\"$ \u201d and it is ripe to be revisited in the era of Matt Smith. Spoilers follow.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ In this episode, the Doctor comes to Earth at a time when former<\/em> Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stuart has retired and is married (although he eagerly comes out of retirement when he hears that the Doctor has turned up). There is a new Brigadier in charge of UNIT, a woman named Winifred Bambera. When the Doctor and Ace arrive in response to a distress call, the Doctor hands Ace an old UNIT ID which had previously belonged to Liz Shaw, for a nice bit of continuity.<\/p>\n

Soon they are all encountering knights in armor in the vicinity of Vortigern\u2019s Lake,\u00a0the name of which we are told translates as \u201cthe Lake of the High King.\u201d One knight identifies the Doctor as Merlin, and knows of his manner, his changing appearance, and his box that travels through time and space that is bigger within than without. But that is still in the Doctor\u2019s future \u2013 and that\u2019s why I suggested earlier that it would be great for the Doctor as portrayed by Matt Smith to meet King Arthur (one in a parallel universe, who, as we are told in \u201cBattlefield,\u201d more closely resembled the myth than the one in our own universe).<\/p>\n

Oh, and Bessie makes a reappearance too:<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/p>\n

The most direct connection with religion is when Morgaine de Fay<\/a> conjures up a demon, \u201cthe Destroyer.\u201d The Doctor had taught Ace to protect herself and their new-found friend\u00a0Shou Yuing from Morgaine by drawing a chalk circle around themselves. Ace asks whether they should also sprinkle holy water, and\u00a0Shou Yuing replies \u201cI don\u2019t know \u2013 it\u2019s not my mythology.\u201d Morgaine threatens the girls that the Destroyer will take them and make them his handmaidens in hell. All of that sounds pretty dubious, but reflects popular notions of hell \u2013 and in the Doctor Who universe, there are entities who are not viewed as supernatural but who otherwise correspond to what humans refer to as \u201cdemons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet the stance that everything ultimately has a scientific explanation is less clear than in earlier Doctor Who seasons. The Doctor says at a particular moment that they need to worry about \u201csorcery.\u201d What Morgaine can do seems at times to depend on technology, at times to be magic. If the Doctor is here genuinely worried about something that has only a supernatural, and not a scientific, explanation, then this would mark a significant departure from the show\u2019s earlier history, in which, the presence of daemons and gods notwithstanding, it was always assumed or asserted that everything has a scientific explanation.<\/p>\n

On the whole, the episode works well, in spite of its low-budget special effects. It has much of the comedic content that makes Doctor Who special.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"