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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

...to not let a 5yo watch Doctor Who?

96 replies

Tinkjon · 02/07/2008 14:51

DD is obsessed with Doctor Who, despite never having seen it. DH and I are huuuuuge fans so there are DVD boxsets, mugs, calendars and whatnot around the house which she's seen and asked about. Anyway, I don't let her watch it and whenever I have mentioned this to people they all think it's really strange and they say I'm being mean! But aside from it being too complex for a 5yo to understand anyway, I think it's completely inappropriate! I'm sure there are some 5yo's who could handle it but I know my DD would be bothered by it. Surely someone else must agree?!

OP posts:

Buda · 02/07/2008 14:52

YANBU - however I feel a little bit sorry for her if you have so much stuff around to remind her of what she can't have.

zephyrcat · 02/07/2008 14:53

I'm with you on this one. My DD1 is 6 and DS is 4. They both 'like' Dr Who but have never seen it. Me and DP love it and grew up watching it, but I won't let them watch it much to DP's annoyance on a Saturday evening!!

Seeline · 02/07/2008 14:55

I don't my ds (6.6) watch it - I'm sure he could cope with the actual stories, but I don't think I could cope with his interpretation and re-enactment of it for the following 7 days!

southeastastra · 02/07/2008 14:55

my ds(6) understands it totally, though i sometimes think he's filled up too much of his brain power on it to the detriment of school work

Twelvelegs · 02/07/2008 14:56

I think some things are not for children and Dr Who is one of them.

zephyrcat · 02/07/2008 14:56

I worry more about the make up of some of the characters scaring them - Davros, for example. It seems to be more scary to me now than it did in the 70's!!!

UnquietDad · 02/07/2008 14:57

Its good to be scared by things that are totally fantastical, and you can talk about them afterwards. I watched it from the age of 5 and "it never did me any harm!" And the stories are complex on one level but also quite simple on another.

HuwEdwards · 02/07/2008 14:57

There are a few 7yo in my DDs class not allowed to watch it. My 5yo does watch it, but if I thought it would prey on her mind or give her nightmares I wouldn't.

northernsoul · 02/07/2008 14:59

My boys watch it aged 4 and 6 and they do not understand the complexity of the plot, and i dont attempt to explain it. They like to recognise the toys they have, it is more of an association thing.
Do you think it is possible your dd may not be scared if she is already familiar of the characters from them being around her?

serenity · 02/07/2008 15:00

I think it's up to you what you think is appropriate for your DD to watch, you know her best, so no you're not unreasonable in that sense. I don't think it's mean to have all the stuff around and not let her see it either, there's plenty of things my DCs would like to do that I do but they can't until they're older, that's life!

I don't necessarily agree with you that it's inappropriate for that age group in general My DD is 4 and loves it, she might not understand all the complexities and back story but she enjoys what she sees.

Original poster

Tinkjon · 02/07/2008 15:00

Buda, she doesn't even know it's a TV show, I just present it as a story.

Unquiet Dad, it's not just about the scary bits - the monsters mainly wouldn't bother her. It's more things like "why do the Daleks kill people - have the people done bad things? Would anyone kill me if I was naughty?" type of questions that would inevitably follow. The social/psychological issues it brings up are too much for a 5yo, imo.

Aside from anything else, she's such a talked and I'm not having my one enjoyable hour of the week ruined by chat

OP posts:

Ledodgy · 02/07/2008 15:01

I watch Dr Who but my 5 year old dd doesn't she's always in bed by the time it's on anyway.

UnquietDad · 02/07/2008 15:02

Interesting angle, Tinkjon. Your 5yo obviously thinks a lot about the moral ramifications. Mine just enjoys the big explosions! (And just accepts that the Daleks do these things because they are "nasty".)

serenity · 02/07/2008 15:10

Asked DD why daleks shoot people (just in case she's secretly freaking out and not telling me) , apparently it's because they like 'extreminating' and killing people, and because they're bad. She doesn't like them ('cos they're Bad) and they are scary, but she isn't scared (but she wants to carry on watching Charlie and Lola so doesn't want to talk anymore)

She really likes the bad man with the big beard - but I have no idea who that is......

littleolwinedrinkerme · 02/07/2008 15:10

YANBU - my DD 6.10 would like to watch it but basically forgets most of the time as it is her bedtime. DH and I have agreed that if she really wants to start then only if one of us sits with her and the other would be putting her sister to bed (defo too young @ 3!). Not really keen as I think the graphics/scenes/make-up etc. (albeit excellent!) would be too scary and the after effects of potential nightmares I would not be happy about.

Fennel · 02/07/2008 15:15

I wasn't very keen on my dds watching it but I caved because "everyone" at school was playing Dr Who. So now the 8 and 6yo watch it but vetted episodes, not the more scary ones. They don't really mind, as long as they see it occasionally, so they can join in the playground games with some feeling of knowledge.

we avoid those more psychologically scary ones with moving statues (Blink) and Shadows in the Library. I think the crash bang wallop Dalek episodes aren't quite as much the stuff of nightmares.

I was sending the 4yo dd to bed alone before letting the others watch it but she got upset about that so now she watches it too... I do think it's not ideal.

TinkerbellesMum · 02/07/2008 15:19

Tink's brothers are 10 and 8 and have watched it from the start (of the new ones, obviously). Her youngest brother gets upset mainly by Moffat's stories because he (SM) does put a lot of thought into them and makes a simple idea rather scary. He still doesn't turn his back on statues! They do understand the stories and really enjoy them.

Maybe the answer to why do Daleks kill people is that they are nasty aliens, but they don't really exist so no one is going to come and shoot her if she is naughty and Mummy and Daddy wouldn't let them anyway!

NotOodingTheHathWork · 02/07/2008 15:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

JackieNo · 02/07/2008 15:25

We've let DD (8) and DS(4) watch this series, and they've mostly enjoyed it, I think. Some use of pillows/cushions, in the traditional manner. But what really works for us is to let them watch Doctor Who Confidential afterwards, because they can see that it's just a story, and not real.

florenceuk · 02/07/2008 15:25

my DS(6) won't watch Dr Who - too scary for him - and I won't let him since the time he did watch it he had nightmares. But he has watched quite complex things in the past (including Sense and Sensibility!), it's not the complexity that matters, it's the scary subject matter. Most 5yr olds would be familiar with concept of death, even violent death from Daleks (my 3-yr old watched Charlotte's Web and realised that "everyone dies" and was a bit perturbed).

CaptainKayHarkness · 02/07/2008 15:28

Yanbu.

Apart from episodes where I'm generally aware that it's not going to be too scary, we preview them before we let the kids watch. Which is a right pain in the backside when the BBC are dicking about with the scheduling, but that aside.

Only my eldest has seen Blink, and she's 7 and saw it in the daylight.

I'm as lunatic about Who as any sad fan of slightly camp sci-fi, but it can be scary, and as much as I'd like to pretend I'm still a carefree teen, I've got little nightmare-prone minds to consider now.

sagacious · 02/07/2008 15:40

DS is allowed to stay up late to watch it.
He sits next to me huddled in a blanket and holds my hand at the scary bits (hes 6.3)

Five is a bit young IMO (my 4 year old is asleep!)

sagacious · 02/07/2008 15:40

DS loved Blink (though did say it was V scary but "way cool")

Elkat · 02/07/2008 19:52

My eldest DD (4.6) watches it. I've just asked her if its scary, to which she just replied 'no' to me and when asked why, she said(in a very patronising voice) "because its not real mummy!"

She watches it but has never been scared at all. If she was, I wouldn't let her watch it. As a pp said, she gets something completely different out of it to us, sometimes its almost like she is watching a totally different programme. The more psychological ones (like the aeroplane one)she tends to get bored of anyway.

HTH

HonoriaGlossop · 02/07/2008 20:50

from the replies on here it seems clear it depends on the kid!

My ds loves all things Dr Who with a passion but has only ever seen one episode that we'd decided was ok for him to see. He is like UQD's child who just loves the fighting and explosions but he is also prone to nightmares and has had some nasty ones after films that were ill-judged of us to show him - spiderman being one of them...I would just feel mean allowing him to watch something that will churn him up, despite him loving the idea of it

He needs to be older for this sort of thing; obviously other children don't - so in answer to the OP, no, YANBU because you know your child best. Personally, I think 5 is young for this sort of thing; there's no hurry....

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