Why does your church look like a fortress?: God and the gothic in Doctor Who and Hammer

Gothic themes and settings permeated British sf and horror in the later twentieth century. The vivid horror films made by Hammer Productions drew influence from gothic novels of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and in turn influenced numerous gothic serials in the sf series Doctor Who. While Doctor Who’s own creative personnel noted their debt to Hammer’s distillation of the gothic, this article interprets one major point of departure between them, in terms of how they treat the sacramental efficacy of Christianity within gothic settings. It suggests that Doctor Who’s gothic stories disparage rituals and holy items in contrast to Hammer’s serious treatment of faith. The gothic in Doctor Who reflects the strain of sacramental scepticism in earlier gothic texts that Hammer films do not.