Timeless Adventures: How Doctor Who Conquered TV

by Brian J. Robb

Opening with an in-depth account of the creation of the series within the BBC of the early 1960s, this investigation tackles each decade of the show through a unique political, pop cultural, and historical viewpoint, exploring the links between contemporary Britain and the stories Doctor Who told, as well as how such links kept the show popular. Chapters range from discussions on the cultural and political relevance of monsters like the Daleks (based on lingering wartime fears) and the Cybermen (1960s spare part replacement surgery to themes such as energy and the environment in the 1970s. The book also addresses the late 1980s cancellation of the show and the ways in which a narrowly focused, dedicated fandom contributed to the show's demise—yet was also instrumental in its regeneration for the 21st century under Russell T. Davies. Lastly, this critical history analyzes the new series to reveal what has made it so popular and how it reflects real world issues such as consumerism and dieting.

Genres: Doctor Who, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 22, 2009

About the author

Brian J. Robb is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling biographer of Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, and Brad Pitt. He has also written books on silent cinema, the films of Philip K. Dick, Wes Craven, and Laurel and Hardy, the Star Wars movies, Superheroes, Gangsters, and Walt Disney, as well as science fiction television series Doctor Who and Star Trek. His illustrated books include an Illustrated History of Steampunk and a guide to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth (Winner, Best Book, Tolkien Society Awards). He writes and edits the Chaplin: Film by Film centenary blog site and is co-editor of the Sci-Fi Bulletin website. He lives in Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, I know. I’m getting my Who on a little too much lately. But you know what? I can’t get enough! The new Who is so much dang fun – and I do mean the latest and eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, too.(Admit it: If you saw the TARDIS, you too would hop on in in a New York minute. I know I would.)

Robb’s concise history of Doctor Who is a quick and absorbing read that is a great overview of the history of this nearly fifty-year-old British television show. (The folks at Guiness have it clocked in at the longest running sci-fi TV series of all time.) While covering the major political issues regarding the broadcast of the series (the classic series, in particular), it does manage to provide some golden nuggets to mull over.

In the back of my mind not just too long back while deeply engaged in Season 3 with companion Martha Jones, I found myself not only in making the connection between the magic of the Wardrobe in C. S. Lewis fantasy series and the mysteriously beguiling TARDIS.

"The ‘magic-door’ concept for the Doctor’s time-space machine was a stroke of genius, one of the crucial elements that give the show appeal, longevity, and variety. This was CS Lewis’s wardrobe – a doorway to a magical world – combined with HG Well’s time machine."

Later when the Third Doctor, played by John Pertwee, encounters his first and most deadly arch-nemesis, the Master, Robb notes that Lett’s, one of the principal producers of the series at the time, took his cue from the mythos of Sherlock Holmes.

"Feeling the Doctor was akin to Sherlock Holmes, Letts decided he needed a Moriarty, resulting in the creation of the Master (Roger Delgado). A renegade Time Lord, he was the Doctor’s evil mirror image."

When not attacking him with silly string, that is. (Check out the short documentary on the extra disc accompanying the boxed set for Season 3 for a delightfully wonky history of the Master. Fortunately, Russell T. Davies made the Master far more menacing in his 21st century incarnation. The only real threat I can glean from the original, silly string aside, is that the Master may be able to talk you to death. If you don’t die from sheer boredom first.)

Robb also notes Lett’s comments regarding his blueprint for the series during his long tenure at the helm of Who.

‘First and foremost, we wanted good drama, solidly based on character; secondly, a fascinating science fiction idea and/or a theme with relevance to a real issue…thirdly, a cracking action adventure; and lastly, scary bug-eyed monsters for the younger children.’

Fortunately for us 21st-century viewers, this recipe hasn’t changed one whit. And thank the dear Doctor for that, because it’s a brilliant, smashing romp that’s well-worth repeat viewings.

[F.R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

An undemanding breeze through forty-five years of televisual history, but one that – even though the author strives for it – fails to achieve any real level of depth.

Robb’s thesis is that Doctor Who, at its very best, conforms to the Swiftian ideal of Science Fiction and Fantasy – in that it comments directly on the political and sociological world around it. He’s very good at pointing out instances of that, but never subjects these instances to any great scrutiny. The reader is rarely given enough information about the producers or script editors to know how far these satirical elements came from their beliefs, or indeed what the executives at the BBC thought of Doctor Who’s engagement with the real world. For the most part we just have adventure after adventure referenced, with only a short précis for each. Furthermore, as the people behind the scenes (and the cast themselves) remain sketchy personages, it’s very difficult for us to get a grasp on the creative tensions which produced the best eras of the show.

A Doctor Who fan will undoubtedly find some interest in these pages, but this is a book which relies heavily on old clippings and therefore skims over much of the history it’s attempting to tell. A much better chronicle will one day be written.

[ButterCashier · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having read a number of Doctor Who books covering the production history, this stands among the lesser end. It reads less as the work of a real fan, and more as someone who was forced (or forced themselves) to write such a book, without a true passion on the subject. Speaking of which, the book leaps between subjects as it goes, mostly chronological, but switching back and forth, repeating points, jumping to different subjects, repeating points again, it's just not that carefully constructed. There's quite an abundance of typos, too! "Curse of the Fatal Death", "The Forest of the Dead", "Open Airi"; every time I have a look, I spot another. Really poor quality. Every time a story is mentioned, the viewing figures are listed, as if anyone really cares. Why is this done? Just put a list of the stories and their corresponding figures if you really want, but seeing them simultaneously in a highly opinionated essay, in a random order, has no real utility, suggesting the author cares more about the statistics of how many people watched an episode, over what the episode itself is about. Then, our esteemed writer gains a sudden fascination with the Appreciation Index (a figure nobody except the most diehard fans know about), and starts putting them in, instead of the viewing figures, as if now they're the new hot discovery. There's no actual analysis of the viewing figures, besides "they go up" or "they go down", a point which can be ascertained by anyone capable of basic arithmetic. No reasons or analysis as to why the numbers are changing, in the ever-altering format of television, or the same for the AI figures.

I wonder whether Mr Robb has actually watched all that much Doctor Who, or if he just looked some stuff up on some wikis and flooded the pages with it. All the old favourites are here, the same old stories everyone rags on about, with nothing new added, no personal insights about what he actually thinks, just constantly repeating the same few points. If anything, he seems to harbour a dislike for much of the programme, casually putting lots of it down, as if when only a few million people watch an episode, it must be far inferior to other ones. No celebration of the best of times; a mockery of the worst. Contemptible thought for a wonderful programme, making it less fun or interesting to read. It's less "How Doctor Who Conquered TV" than "Why did Doctor Who Conquer TV Sometimes? {subtitle: Also I Hate It}".

I was only really interested in the sections on the Revived Series, but even here, he skimps and cowers from any actual details on any behind-the-scenes information, instead just recounting plot-line after plot-line. I could write a better book than this in my sleep. If it's synopses you're after, this book might be for you, but for anyone interested in learning about Doctor Who beyond just watching the episodes or reading a few pages off any simple fan wiki, there's some great other books out there, and this one makes me appreciate them all the more.

[WallofText · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed and affectionate look at the history of Doctor Who from 1963-2009, especially focusing on the reflection of political issues in the show. Each decade the show was on the air gets roughly a chapter. The chapters focused on the 60s and 70s are wonderfully detailed and give a great insight into the historical context. The 80s chapter is somewhat lacking, brushing over the historical events of the time assuming the reader is aware of them. As someone who was not alive in the 80s I found that lack of context a bit annoying. Further the author’s personal experience is most reflected in that chapter, as he is very critical of that decade in the show’s history while not sufficiently arguing on a objective basis the merits of said critique. The chapter on the in-between period from the show’s cancellation to its revival with a focus on fandom was interesting, especially how fans expressed themselves before the internet was prevalent. At times it was difficult to discern if the author was admiring the fan culture or othering it, which is odd given his own background in said fandom as well as the general popularity of ‘geeky shows and movies’, even back in 2009. The chapter on the revived show was very short compared especially to the 70s coverage and while the show had only been going for 4 seasons at that point, more could have been said. Overall while I was definitely critical about certain assertions of the author, I enjoyed this book a lot!

[Ellie Cripps · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't recommend this book to either the casual fan or the super fan, so I'm basically the ideal reader as someone who sits right in the middle. I've been keen on the show since the 2005 reboot and haven't missed an episode since, but I've only seen a handful of the original serials so that aspect of the book was the most interesting to me. There was decent exploration of the show from conception to the present (at publication which was the announcement of Peter Capaldi) and I felt I found some interesting insights.
But as someone who absolutely loves trivia and the history of TV, there was actually less information than I had hoped and I would have enjoyed a more targeted focus on specific aspects of the show. I respect the fact that the book can only be so long, but I would have enjoyed more information about the production process itself and fewer plot synopses, as fun as they were.
However, I won't deny I enjoyed the book and will be keeping it on my shelf for the foreseeable as a good entry level reference text (even if it is notably lacking in proper references), so take that as you will!

[Runalong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very basic recap not much to add you can’t find elsewhere

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 1 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1404190.html

I'm not sure why I bought this particular guidebook to Doctor Who between 1963 and 2009, and I don't think I would recommend it to other readers. It tries to do several things - outlining the history of the show and plot synopses of the best remembered episodes, tying in to social and political events of the time, looking at literary and genre sources - but doesn't do any of them very thoroughly. Fans who have already dipped into reference books about the series will find little new here; I hope that those readers for whom this is their first book about the history of Who are stirred by it to go and buy better ones.

One area where it is peculiarly lacking is actual references. There is no chronological index, an omission explained by lack of space and the availability of the information online, but this leaves a sort of vague impression about the details of the show's history. Few calendar dates are given other than the year. Citations given in an appendix are incomplete - where, for instance, can we find the 2008 online debate with Ian Levine cited on pages 192-193? The back cover blurb promises "unique" interviews with Barry Letts and Philip Hinchcliffe, but this actually means extracts from pieces previously published in Dreamwatch, so not all that unique then.

I'm interested at least to see someone else pick up on the possible importance of the 1943 Tommy Handley vehicle Time Flies as inspiration for Who - I wrote about this two years ago, and Robb cites an article making the same point by Phil Norman and Chris Diamond in TV Cream's Anatomy of Cinema (which turns out on further research to be a book on forgotten films published in 2007).

However, I think even completists can skip this one fairly safely.

[Kevinjwoods · Rating 2 out of 5]

While good the expanded edition suffers badly from a lack of proofreading leading one to assume that it was expanded simply by adding on another chapter.
Two examples at one point it states that now in 2008 there are only 106 missing episodes, not noticing that another 12 have been found, and in the review of Terror of the zygons it is astonished they have never reappeared despite the last chapter mentioning their reappearance.
These tend to make you more suspicious of other statements of fact within the text and while not ruin it as a toilet book just about prevent it from becoming a reference guide

[Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

To quote the Doctor: Fantastic!

As an American I had very little idea that the show was so politically driven, even though I've seen basically every one of the classic episodes. It was delightful to see the history of the show cozied up against the political backdrop of the UK at the time so nicely.

Sadly, at only 2 or 3 years old this book is already starting to sound out of date. Matt Smith and Stephen Moffat have already changed the show drastically. It'd be interesting to see what Robb has to say about seasons 5 and 6

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought and read this book for my Broadcast Media essay that examined the relationship of Doctor Who, the BBC, and British culture in the late 19th century. As a fan of Doctor Who and sci-fi, it was enjoyable to read about the origins and history of the show, as well as how fandom was back then. Definitely an interesting and satisfying read~

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but very dry. I learned some fascinating things about this popular program. However towards the end I had a hard time getting through it. The last few chapters are nothing but a quick synopsis of the show. I was kind of curious of why Christopher Eccleston left the show. Nothing on it. The book isn't worth buying. It's worth a quick look but get it from the library.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Who as an academic subject. If you're reading this for funsies you might find it dry and/or heavy. However, if like me you're reading it for use in an essay and/or dissertation then bravo! you've found a good source.
Outlines the history of the programme, comparing Who happenings to context at the time - both worldwide and inside the studios.

[Tara Brabazon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was torn between two and three stars for this book. It is a chronological narrative of Doctor Who's televisual history. The well-worked terrain of the original series is well handled here. But the book is pretty disastrous when hitting 'Nu-Who.' A very basic narrative ensues, composed of basic press releases and narrative outlines of the episodes.

[Craig Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonably interesting history of the show, concentrating mainly on the first few Doctors, but leading right up to the 2010 season.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on the history of Dr. Who and how it has related to social issues, popular culture, etc.

[Kris Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

yay for nerds.