That awkward ‘Moment’: Gallifreyan moratoria on weapons of mass destruction

Drawing on the ideas of Jonathan Schell with reference to the proliferation of nuclear weapons as articulated in The Fate of the Earth (1982) and The Abolition (1984), this article will explore the representations of weapons of mass destruction alluded to in the Doctor Who (1963–89, 1996, 2005–present) episode ‘The Day of the Doctor’ (2013). It is argued that, whereas violations of the long-standing moratorium against changing history first articulated in the 1960s have been couched in apologetic terms, the comparative lack of a similar apologia in the case of the ‘forbidden weapons’ reflects changing attitudes towards the moral absolutism encapsulated by Schell’s thesis, itself largely a product of the current febrile state of discourse over the future of warfare.