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Running Through Corridors #2
Running Through Corridors, Volume 2: The 70s - Rob and Toby's Marathon Watch of Doctor Who
In Running Through Corridors, two Doctor Who lovers of old - Robert Shearman and Toby Hadoke - embark on an epic quest of friendship: spend the gap year of 2009 (when Doctor Who consisted of a handful of specials rather than a full season) re-watching the whole of Who two episodes a day, every day, from the show's start in 1963 and ending with David Tennant's swan song on New Year's, 2010. This series contains Shearman and Hadoke's diary of that experience - a grand opus of their wry observations about the show, their desire to see the good in every story, and their chronicle of the real-life changes to Who in that year. With this book, Who fans will feel that they're watching along with Shearman (World Fantasy Award winner, Hugo Award nominee and writer on the new Doctor Who) and Hadoke (renowned stage performer for his one-man comedy show, Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf) as they make their grand journey through the world's most wonderful and longest-running drama series. Volume 2 of Running Through Corridors encompasses the whole of the Jon Pertwee Era (1970-1974) and the first six seasons starring Tom Baker (1975-1979).
- GenresDoctor WhoNonfiction
391 pages, Paperback
First published December 6, 2016
17 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Toby Hadoke
49 books1 followerToby Hadoke is an English actor, writer and stand-up comedian. He is particularly well known for his work on the Manchester comedy circuit, where he performs regularly. He runs the multi award winning XS Malarkey comedy club, and is involved with many of the more experimental and financially accessible nights in the region. His comedy tends towards the topical and/or political, and his trademark high octane rants are particular favourites with his regular audience.
His first one man show, Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf, was a critical and popular success at The 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Charting his passion for the television series Doctor Who in an autobiographical manner, it received many favourable write ups, including one on the internet forum on Outpost Gallifrey from Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat. During the 2008 London run, David Tennant provided a vocal cameo for the show which has been included in all subsequent performances. A full cast adaptation of Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf was recorded in May 2007 and broadcast on digital channel BBC7 in July, prior to a BBC Audiobooks CD release. It featured Hadoke as himself narrating, with guest appearances from Doctor Who actors Colin Baker and Louise Jameson, plus comedian Alfie Joey and Early Doors actor James Quinn as The Voice Of The BBC. It received a five star review from SFX magazine and was nominated as Best Drama in the 2008 Sony Awards.
In 2009, Hadoke collaborated with writer Rob Shearman to watch and comment on every episode of Doctor Who from the programme's debut in 1963 to David Tennant's final story. The resulting discussions are being published as Running Through Corridors: Rob and Toby's Marathon Watch of Doctor Who, a three-volume series from Mad Norwegian Press. The first volume, covering the 1960s, was published in 2010; the second volume, covering the 1970s, is scheduled for release in November 2011.
Hadoke has written for The Guardian and The Independent and is a frequent broadcaster on BBC Radio.
Hadoke runs the award-winning XS Malarkey Comedy Club in Manchester. Hadoke is the regular compere for the night, which he runs on a non-profit making basis. Acts who have played there include Peter Kay, Mick Miller, Chris Addison, Dave Spikey, Jimmy Carr, Reginald D Hunter, Sarah Kendall, Seymour Mace and John Oliver. The club also gave early breaks to Alan Carr, Justin Moorhouse and Jason Manford. He has performed as part of Robin Ince's Book Club on several occasions, including at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
In 2008 he won the Chortle Award for Best Off-Stage Contribution for his work promoting comedy in the North West and at XS Malarkey.
His first one man show, Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf, was a critical and popular success at The 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Charting his passion for the television series Doctor Who in an autobiographical manner, it received many favourable write ups, including one on the internet forum on Outpost Gallifrey from Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat. During the 2008 London run, David Tennant provided a vocal cameo for the show which has been included in all subsequent performances. A full cast adaptation of Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf was recorded in May 2007 and broadcast on digital channel BBC7 in July, prior to a BBC Audiobooks CD release. It featured Hadoke as himself narrating, with guest appearances from Doctor Who actors Colin Baker and Louise Jameson, plus comedian Alfie Joey and Early Doors actor James Quinn as The Voice Of The BBC. It received a five star review from SFX magazine and was nominated as Best Drama in the 2008 Sony Awards.
In 2009, Hadoke collaborated with writer Rob Shearman to watch and comment on every episode of Doctor Who from the programme's debut in 1963 to David Tennant's final story. The resulting discussions are being published as Running Through Corridors: Rob and Toby's Marathon Watch of Doctor Who, a three-volume series from Mad Norwegian Press. The first volume, covering the 1960s, was published in 2010; the second volume, covering the 1970s, is scheduled for release in November 2011.
Hadoke has written for The Guardian and The Independent and is a frequent broadcaster on BBC Radio.
Hadoke runs the award-winning XS Malarkey Comedy Club in Manchester. Hadoke is the regular compere for the night, which he runs on a non-profit making basis. Acts who have played there include Peter Kay, Mick Miller, Chris Addison, Dave Spikey, Jimmy Carr, Reginald D Hunter, Sarah Kendall, Seymour Mace and John Oliver. The club also gave early breaks to Alan Carr, Justin Moorhouse and Jason Manford. He has performed as part of Robin Ince's Book Club on several occasions, including at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
In 2008 he won the Chortle Award for Best Off-Stage Contribution for his work promoting comedy in the North West and at XS Malarkey.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 1, 2018
The best part of this somewhat slog of a book is when, two episodes from the end of this 272 episode discussion, Robert Shearman remarks on how difficult it has been to talk about the entire 1970s of Doctor Who. This is something Shearman was very clear about in interviews after this book's release, where he and Toby worked their asses off to try to make this book stand out and special.
The problem, of course, is the nature of Doctor Who. The 60s is largely undiscussed and underappreciated. It's easy to mind gold in them hills. The 80s was peak fandom, a roller coaster of ups and downs without any sort of consensus that resembles what today looks like. The New Series is still new enough that it's only now able to have a "revisionist" view, where we can separate ourselves from the excitement of weekly Who to be more objective and appreciatory of what we have. The 70s, of course, are the most picked over, leaving naught but carrion scraps for Shearman and Hadoke to try and pull something, anything, fresh and new.
I applaud the efforts of making this book. It can't have been easy. But it did hit a point where the density of the reviews, the inevitability of where Shearman and Hadoke came down on episodes really got to me. This book took me almost an entire year to finish, with the last half of it languishing because I didn't have a desire to really push through basically the entire Graham Williams era (which really was the last four days of my life), and by the end I found myself anxious to get to the end of this volume so that I could be done with it and on to things that I think they would be better at discussing.
And that's where I land on this. This book, as the previous volume, made me want to re-watch all of Doctor Who in order whenever there's a skip year hiatus (or maybe even after it inevitably goes back into hibernation). It reminded me how much I love some stories ("The Ribos Operation", "City of Death", all of Hinchcliffe/Holmes) and how much I think of some as absolute clunkers ("The Mutants", "The Armageddon Factor").
But the biggest thing is that for a series whose mission statement is "find something positive in every episode of Doctor Who regardless of quality", it's so easy to find myself not feeling the verve and excitement from Shearman and Hadoke. They're in the middle of the year, they're barely halfway, they seem to have waned and the wear on the marathon is showing. That bleeds out into their writings, it informs how I view the book. The passion is there, but it's dampened and anesthetized.
Ideally, their final sentiments in this book, that the 80s will be a turning point and give them deep ocean of things to talk about for good and ill, is how I walk away from this book.
But mostly I'm just glad this volume is over.
3.5 Stars (rounded down)
The problem, of course, is the nature of Doctor Who. The 60s is largely undiscussed and underappreciated. It's easy to mind gold in them hills. The 80s was peak fandom, a roller coaster of ups and downs without any sort of consensus that resembles what today looks like. The New Series is still new enough that it's only now able to have a "revisionist" view, where we can separate ourselves from the excitement of weekly Who to be more objective and appreciatory of what we have. The 70s, of course, are the most picked over, leaving naught but carrion scraps for Shearman and Hadoke to try and pull something, anything, fresh and new.
I applaud the efforts of making this book. It can't have been easy. But it did hit a point where the density of the reviews, the inevitability of where Shearman and Hadoke came down on episodes really got to me. This book took me almost an entire year to finish, with the last half of it languishing because I didn't have a desire to really push through basically the entire Graham Williams era (which really was the last four days of my life), and by the end I found myself anxious to get to the end of this volume so that I could be done with it and on to things that I think they would be better at discussing.
And that's where I land on this. This book, as the previous volume, made me want to re-watch all of Doctor Who in order whenever there's a skip year hiatus (or maybe even after it inevitably goes back into hibernation). It reminded me how much I love some stories ("The Ribos Operation", "City of Death", all of Hinchcliffe/Holmes) and how much I think of some as absolute clunkers ("The Mutants", "The Armageddon Factor").
But the biggest thing is that for a series whose mission statement is "find something positive in every episode of Doctor Who regardless of quality", it's so easy to find myself not feeling the verve and excitement from Shearman and Hadoke. They're in the middle of the year, they're barely halfway, they seem to have waned and the wear on the marathon is showing. That bleeds out into their writings, it informs how I view the book. The passion is there, but it's dampened and anesthetized.
Ideally, their final sentiments in this book, that the 80s will be a turning point and give them deep ocean of things to talk about for good and ill, is how I walk away from this book.
But mostly I'm just glad this volume is over.
3.5 Stars (rounded down)
December 11, 2017
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This is the much-delayed second volume of commentary between Shearman and Hadoke; I read and enjoyed the first back in 2011, and look forward now to the third when it comes out. It's now several years since I completed my own rewatch of Old Who, so this was a nice return to that exercise for me, especially since (like the authors) this is the period of the show that I remember most vividly from my own childhood. And there was one surprise - I had forgotten Tom Baker's appearance in character on Animal Magic, which I think I must have missed when it was shown in 1979.
The two don't deviate much from the received wisdom (or my own views) of the high and low points of the show - in particular, the later parts of both Season Nine and Season Fifteen, where they struggle in their mission to say only nice things about each episode. In fact, they are much harsher on The Claws of Axos than I would be. But it's interesting to consider that one of my recurrent complaints about New Who - that the punch of the season finale has often been pulled - was often just as true of Old Who during the Pertwee and Baker years.
The write-ups of each episode, presented as correspondence between Rob Shearman and Toby Hadoke, are very specifically tied to May-August 2009, a period when both writers went on various travels and Hadoke embarked on what turned out to be a short-lived marriage; but the seven-year gap has meant some occasionally poignant endnotes noting the subsequent passing of key figures in the making of the programme (notably Barry Letts).
This is the much-delayed second volume of commentary between Shearman and Hadoke; I read and enjoyed the first back in 2011, and look forward now to the third when it comes out. It's now several years since I completed my own rewatch of Old Who, so this was a nice return to that exercise for me, especially since (like the authors) this is the period of the show that I remember most vividly from my own childhood. And there was one surprise - I had forgotten Tom Baker's appearance in character on Animal Magic, which I think I must have missed when it was shown in 1979.
The two don't deviate much from the received wisdom (or my own views) of the high and low points of the show - in particular, the later parts of both Season Nine and Season Fifteen, where they struggle in their mission to say only nice things about each episode. In fact, they are much harsher on The Claws of Axos than I would be. But it's interesting to consider that one of my recurrent complaints about New Who - that the punch of the season finale has often been pulled - was often just as true of Old Who during the Pertwee and Baker years.
The write-ups of each episode, presented as correspondence between Rob Shearman and Toby Hadoke, are very specifically tied to May-August 2009, a period when both writers went on various travels and Hadoke embarked on what turned out to be a short-lived marriage; but the seven-year gap has meant some occasionally poignant endnotes noting the subsequent passing of key figures in the making of the programme (notably Barry Letts).
July 10, 2017
As wonderful, witty & thoughtful as volume one. Reading this will make every "Doctor Who" fan smile and float back to their own golden memories of the 3rd and 4th Doctors...as well as forcing more than one re-evaluation along the way.
December 10, 2018
Not only a grand review of what some consider the greatest years of Doctor Who from two people who can give entertaining and erudite commentary on what they see, but also a lovely journey as they occasionally diverge off into their real world events surrounding the grand adventure of Running Through Corridors. It’s been two years... Where’s volume three Toby and Rob?
June 26, 2019
42 WORD REVIEW:
The perfect viewing companion for 70s Who. Hadoke and Shearman are not uncritical but their focus is very much on the good bits; that is, making the most of whatever is on screen and recognising value in each episode’s (sometimes unrealised) ambitions.
The perfect viewing companion for 70s Who. Hadoke and Shearman are not uncritical but their focus is very much on the good bits; that is, making the most of whatever is on screen and recognising value in each episode’s (sometimes unrealised) ambitions.
June 12, 2024
Continuing the great work from the 60s episodes, this is more of the same and very enjoyable it is too. A shame that the 80s centric volume still hasn't appeared.
April 13, 2025
Overall, Robert and Toby did a good job with this series. However, the second volume is a little bit of a step down from the first.
November 5, 2020
In Running Through Corridors vol.2, sometime-Doctor Who writer Rob Shearman and humorist Toby Hadoke continue their Doctor Who-watching diary through the 1970s stories - the UNIT era, the Hinchcliffe-Holmes era, the budget pinch that would come later, and the two most long-lasting Doctors - a book that was a long time coming even if it was written now many years ago, right on the heels of the 1960s volume (here's hoping the '80s will be out sooner than later). And it really is a "diary", with the two writers' lives intruding into Shearman's fine critical theories and Hadoke's behind-the-scenes trivia (not to say that's all each of them do, but they ARE their respective bags), and I love the more personal approach. And to their credit, they always try to find the positive even in the ropiest of stories (gonna be useful going into the next decade), but aren't afraid to talk about their disappointments either. Rob likes to troll Toby by including some obscure apocrypha as well, always fun. The pages flew by, I'm ready for more.
February 8, 2017
Brilliant.
Solid commentary that doesn't talk down you. At times laugh out loud funny.
I had to pace myself and make sure I took the time to read it slowly enough to really appreciate it.
A+. Well worth the wait.
Solid commentary that doesn't talk down you. At times laugh out loud funny.
I had to pace myself and make sure I took the time to read it slowly enough to really appreciate it.
A+. Well worth the wait.
August 26, 2019
Just finished reading this as a companion to my re-watch of Dr Who it’s an excellent and detailed discussion of the episodes throughout.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews