Doctor Who

The main companions are white, and the overarching plot does not rely on an intersectional framework. One episode in a Western setting does not make the white townsfolk the villain; instead, it presents a moral dilemma where townsfolk are corrupted by fear and desire for revenge, highlighting the dangers of mob mentality over race or privilege. The inclusion of the recurring, alien-human Paternoster Gang, while progressive casting, serves as a set of competent allies rather than a tool for an intersectional lecture.

The season generally avoids painting Western civilization as fundamentally corrupt or evil. A story set in the American West focuses on individual moral choice and the corruption of a community's core values by fear, rather than demonizing the civilization itself. The Victorian era, where the side characters reside, is mostly a setting for gothic adventure and mystery, respecting the period's aesthetic while using an alien to embody enlightened intellect.

The score is elevated by the introduction of Clara Oswald, the 'Impossible Girl,' a character whose perfection is an explicit plot point, aligning with the 'Mary Sue' and 'Girl Boss' tropes. She is instantly capable of filling any role the plot requires (hacker, military strategist), and the narrative centers on her unique destiny to save the male Doctor. The recurring female characters, Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint, are also portrayed as hyper-competent and perfect crime-fighters who frequently overshadow the male supporting character, Strax, who is deliberately emasculated as a comic relief 'butler.'

The season features the recurring Paternoster Gang, in which Madame Vastra (a Silurian alien) and Jenny Flint (a human) are an openly married lesbian couple living in Victorian England. They share the first explicit lesbian kiss in the series, establishing a non-normative sexual identity as a major and recurring element of the storyworld. Jenny's backstory also includes being disowned by her family because of her choice of 'partner species and gender,' directly addressing the deconstruction of the traditional family unit as a negative consequence of 'normative structure.'

One major episode features the primary antagonist as a zealot-like, quasi-religious figure who uses 'fire-and-brimstone' rhetoric to amass followers for a scheme of mass purification. This narrative frames a character who uses traditional-sounding religious language as the root of a great evil and social corruption. This depiction clearly positions traditional religion as a source of destructive fanaticism and is a direct example of hostility toward traditional religion.