Robert Smith (33)

This is the second volume in Graeme Burk & Robert Smith?'s guide to modern Doctor Who. (Which apparently we're calling "modern Who" rather than"New Who" now on the grounds that it's been around for 17 years and no longer qualifies as new, although I don't think that can possibly be right, because I'm definitely not 17 years older than I was when it came out.)

This one covers everything from the Christmas special "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe" that preceded (or, depending on you you look at it, started) series 7 through the New Year's special "Resolution" that followed series 11. Meaning it includes the end of the Matt Smith's run, all of Peter Capaldi, and the first season of Jodie Whittaker. It also features an appendix at the end which discusses the two shorts, "The Night of the Doctor" and "The Doctor's Meditation."

It follows exactly the same format as volume 1. There are no plot summaries, but there is a description of the episode in just a few words. We then get a list of possible influences on the story and references made in it to other works, connections to other episodes and bits of continuity, what it reveals or develops about the season's ongoing story arc (if any) and about the main characters, notes on the "monster of the week," a list of the times and places where the episode is set, and moments during the episode that make you (or the authors) want to stand up and cheer, make you want to roll your eyes, or make you go "Wait, but that doesn't actually make sense." There's also a section for "interesting trivia" which includes anything about the episode or its production that doesn't really fit anywhere else, but which seemed worth mentioning.

All of this is then followed up by the authors offering their own comments and opinions on the story (occasionally in somewhat creative formats), which is by far the most entertaining part of the whole thing, even when said opinions are Very, Very Wrong. Or perhaps especially then. Sometimes they'll good-naturedly trash-talk each other's takes, which can get fairly amusing. They also sometimes give the sense that they're maybe playing up their more controversial thoughts a bit for the entertainment value. (I mean, look, really, anybody who claims "Kill the Moon" has a more satisfying approach to a moral conundrum than "The Magician's Apprentice"/"The Witch's Familiar" has got to be taking the piss. Right? Right?)

In any case, it's all good, geeky fun for Doctor Who fans who enjoy yelling at books about how wrong they are when they disagree with you and sharing a warm glow of friendly fellow-feeling with them when they agree. Which, let's face it, are two things Doctor Who fans really do tend to enjoy.… (mehr)

I think I would have liked this book so much better if it had been a pure book of information instead of two fanboys thoughts about all the Doctors, episodes, etc. I haven't seen the old classic Doctor Who so I thought it would be interesting to read about the series, but frankly it was too much about how Graeme Burk and Robert Smith? (Yes he really usees a ? after his name) thoughts about everything and anecdotes about their lives growing up with Doctor Who.



Still, there were some parts of the books I liked, the descriptions of each doctor was the best part, well until Robert Smith? decided to diss David Tennant and praise Matt Smith.



The only positive thing about that was that Graeme Burk thought vice versa.



The chapter about Christopher Eccleston was, however, really fantastic.



Also, I should probably have stopped reading after Matt Smith's chapters since they spoiled the season with Peter Capaldi that I have only seen the first episodes of. So, I kind of just skimmed the episodes they brought up (hell I skimmed some of the episodes from the classic show also, to much fanboys moments and I really do not need to know everything about the episodes before I watch them).



The worst thing is that I felt that I wasted time on the book and that is the worst feeling ever after reading a book...

I received this copy from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review! Thank you!

Review also posted on A Bookaholic Swede and It's a Mad Mad World… (mehr)

An informative and opinionated guide to modern Doctor Who, episode by episode, starting with "Rose" in 2005 and covering everything up through "The Wedding of River Song" at the end of season 6, partway through the Eleventh Doctor's stint. It also (briefly) covers some additional material that was aired on TV, including a couple of animated specials and some individual scenes filmed for charity programs, and provides some background on various elements of the show, which may be especially helpful for viewers not fully versed in the classic series.

The analysis of each episode includes things like references made in it to previous stories, how the episode relates to whatever the ongoing story arc might be, a few lines about things like the Doctor's characterization and the development of his relationship with his main companion, plot nitpicks, and the episode's best and worst individual moments (although some of the selections for those are... surprising).

But it's the sections at the end of each segment, in which the two authors take turns offering up their own opinions on the story, that are by far the most interesting. Some times they both agree with me on something and I get to feel the nice, warm fuzzy glow of fannish harmony as we all reminisce happily about, say, how unbelievably good Christopher Eccleston's acting could be. Other times, of course, they are just very, very wrong. Smith?, in particular, often comes across as rather bizarrely contrarian, and Burk eventually spends way too much time pouting about how story after story isn't nearly enough of a "romp" for him. But disagreeing passionately with other Doctor Who fans, if it's done good-naturedly, is a venerable and highly entertaining pastime. The authors do it amongst themselves here, too, often cheerfully accusing each other of "having no soul" for disliking some bit or other of the Doctor Who canon.

It's all good fun, really, and it's also given me a bit of a hankering to go back and watch some stories that I haven't revisited in entirely too long.

There is, by the way, already a followup volume to this: Who Is the Doctor 2, which takes things up through season eleven (the first year of the Thirteenth's Doctor's era). I may have already added it to my TBR pile...… (mehr)