About Time: 1963-1966 Seasons 1 to 3 (About Time; The Unauthorized Guide to Dr. Who (Mad Norwegian Press))

click here for more details, find new or used items	Tat Wood, Lawrence Miles Our price £9.13 (£10.15) New from £6.01 Used from £9.49 Pages: 304 (Paperback) ISBN: 0975944606 Pub: Mad Norwegian Press Pub date: 2006-06-30 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 69726

Reader Reviews:

Excellent and informative, though with niggles (2/2 people found this helpful)

About Time volume 1 was certainly the most in-depth analysis of the first three seasons of Doctor Who I have ever seen. Considering the wealth of material incorporated, the authors did a fabulous job of keeping it from being dry, continually throwing in some humour, and keeping the writing style quite informal. The information they include about the behind the scenes intrigues is very nicely done, pulling very few punches but avoiding being outright slanderous. The essays are possibly the most interesting parts, however, ranging from an analysis of what children's television was like in the 60s to speculation about which delegate is which in Mission To The Unknown and The Daleks' Master Plan. With these the book is able to simultaneously be a wonderfully nitpicky guide for fans (but always in the 'we love it but we know it can be quite awful at times' vein, rather than 'this is crap and here's why' style) and a very good text that places Doctor Who in its cultural context. This is such a crucial aspect of any critical analysis of such a programme, especially one that ran for as long as Doctor Who, that it seems incredible in hindsight that so few other books on the subject actually do it. Yes, it's one ting to know the titles of the TV shows that went out at the time, but quite another to understand the format of those shows and what they reflected about the era as a whole.

All that praise aside, the book is not without its flaws. The ones I picked out were very minor, however, such as the authors' insistence on referring to a character called Anne Chaplette being in The Massacre despite the fact everyone on screen quite clearly pronounced her surname 'Shap-lay' (hence indicating the French spelling Chaplet as supported by every other text on the subject), and the irritating one about the Doctor supposedly claiming he has only one heart in The Sensorites (He said something hit him 'under the heart', but that no more means he only has one than saying 'he got a shot in the arm' necessarily refers to a person with only one arm.).

All in all, an excellent volume. I look forward to reading the rest.

Essential reading for Dr Who fans (5/5 people found this helpful)

As is the case with the other volumes in the "About Time" series, this is essential reading for Doctor Who fans old and new. Wood and Miles impress with their indepth, intelligent, but always humourous analysis of the sci-fi show's early years, examining each story one-by-one. Following the same format as the other editions the critiques and analyses are accompanied by more indepth essays exploring the questions Who fans may always have wanted answered, but never dared to ask.

"About Time" is one of the most enjoyable examinations of behind-the-scenes Who that I have ever read. Highly recommended!

Similar Products

About Time: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who: 1966-1969: Seasons 4 to 6 (About Time)

About Time 1975-1979 Seasons 12 to 17 (About Time; The Unauthorized Guide to Dr. Who (Mad Norwegian Press))

About Time 1980-1984 Seasons 18 to 21: 5 (About Time; The Unauthorized Guide to Dr. Who (Mad Norwegian Press))

About Time 6: Seasons 22 to 26 and TV Movie (About Time)

Doctor Who - The Time Meddler [1965]

Categories

Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories: