Chinese Government Isn’t A Fan of Doctor Who

China has banned time travel and a lot of other reliable and enjoyable science fiction tropes.  This comes from new guidelines issued last spring by the State Administration of Radio Film and Television.

The guidelines ban plot lines that contain elements of “fantasy, time-travel, random compilations of mythical stories, bizarre plots, absurd techniques, even propagating feudal superstitions, fatalism and reincarnation, ambiguous moral lessons, and a lack of positive thinking.”

“The government says … TV dramas shouldn’t have characters that travel back in time and rewrite history. They say this goes against Chinese heritage,” reports CNN’s Eunice Yoon. “They also say that myth, superstitions and reincarnation are all questionable.”

So now that Chinese censors have their marching orders, I guess we won’t see any Chinese knock offs of “Star Trek,” “Quantum Leap” or “Dr. Who.”  They’ll just continue making knock offs of other non fantasy Western brands.