Adventures with the Wife in Space

Neil loves Sue and Sue loves Neil. But there's a problem; Neil loves Doctor Who too. I'm sure this is a common problem with a lot of marriages (it's certainly been one with mine!), but what happens when Neil attempts to bring his two loves together? First it was a blog, now it's a book.

Adventures with the Wife in Space was a delight to read, especially getting the observations of someone who is definitely not a fan (and along the way you get to find out how Neil offended Colin Baker and Sue John Levine!). I've been trying to get my better half to read it, but so far she's not taken the opportunity.

And now Neil and Sue are on their next quest. To watch in order all of Blakes 7!

Robert Holmes: A Life in Words

Robert Holmes is a writer who looms large in Doctor Who history. He's the writer who created the Autons and the Sontarans, named Gallifrey, created Time Lord culture as we know it and legislated the 12 regenerations rule. He wrote the first stories to feature Sarah Jane Smith, The Master and Jo Grant. He's the writer the likes of Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat and Gareth Roberts aspire to be. He was script editor for series 12 to 15, agreeably the shows Golden Era. In terms of stories written for the series he's the one with the biggest hit parade: Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons, The Time Warrior, The Ark in Space, Pyramids of Mars, The Deadly Assassin, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Sunmakers and The Caves of Androzani. He was the writer who was good enough for highbrow drama like The Wednesday Play, but instead chose to writer for genre TV like Doctor Who, a fact fan should, and are, thankful for.

If you're hoping that this is going to be another JN-T style biography,you're in for a disappointment. It mainly focus' on Holmes' TV career with very little information about his personal life (but for a guy who was an ex-policeman, he didn't write a lot of police shows). It also contains some of Holmes' original story lines for Spearhead from Space and The Time Warrior amongst other projects. It's also clear that a lot of his colleagues held him in high esteem.

I didn't come away from this thinking I knew Robert Holmes better as a person. But I came away with an even greater respect for him as a writer.

Eleven Doctors, Eleven Stories

Maybe it would have been better is I'd read these as they were individually published rather than waiting for them to be published in one volume because reading them all one hit just emphasises what a mixed bag they are. The best of the bunch was Philip Reeve's Fourth Doctor story which felt like it would fit easily into the tail end of Season 15 and Neil Gaiman's Eleventh Doctor story which felt like an episode from Matt's first series. The worst was Eoin Colfer's First Doctor story which felt just totally wrong. Marjorie Blackman's Seventh Doctor story was interesting, posing the question of what would the universe be like if the Daleks were a force for good. And Marcus Sedgwick's Third Doctor story is worth a look too.

The Vault

I was very exited when it was announced that this book was going to be published and it do not disappoint. Lavishly illustrated and full of surprises. Doctor Who is, possibly along with Star Trek, one of the few TV series who's production history is extensively documented. But just when I think I know everything, I find out something that surprises me. Early in the narrative Marcus Hearn casually mentioned that David Whittaker (Doctor Who's first script editor) and Terry Nation (the writer who created the Daleks) once had an argument so heated it ended in a fistfight! I never knew that! Sadly he doesn't document what the fight was over though but maybe one day we'll find out (and it's such an un-BBC way of resolving artistic differences!).

Equal with Richard Marson's biography of John Nathan-Turner of being the best book published in the anniversary year.

The Death Pit

I found the first in the Time Trips book series somewhat disappointing. As a Fourth Doctor story I had high hopes for it, but alas. As the Doctor was travelling without a companion I;m guessing it was set between The Hand of Fear and The Face of Evil, but neither the Doctor or the story didn't feel true to the era. And the plot was underdeveloped to.

The Legacy Collection

Shada:
It's impossible to judge how good Shada as a TV story could have been. You have to give John Nathan-Turner marks for attempting to complete it as best he could with the footage that was completed before production was abandoned due to the yearly BBC strike with narration by Tom Baker. But by the time you get to episode 6, there's less footage and more narration. When I first saw it I thought the whole thing was a bit boring and sadly my opinion hasn't changed. To me the definitive version of Shada will be Gareth Robert's novelisation (and, off topic slightly, can't wait for his novelisation of City of Death!).

The documentaries on the Shada discs are a lot better. The one about Shada's production and eventual cancellation was fascinating. Not only do you get Tom Baker but also a number of the production team, such as production assistant Ralph Witton and director's assistant Olivia Balzgette (the tale of how she met husband - actor Daniel Hill who played Chris Parson - while filming Shada is lovely). And there's a documentary of how industrial action affected the production of Doctor Who with a very interesting tale of how Mrs Thatcher came to the conclusion that the TV industry was overstaffed (because the companies used to roster on extra whenever she made a broadcast in case something went wrong - oh, the irony!).

More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS:Has it really been twenty years since this first aired? Back in the days when Doctor Who had been out of production for about fours with no prospect of it ever returning. I remember when I first saw it and marvelled at all the behind the scenes footage, clips of Doctor Who in other shows... all the stuff that's now common fodder for DVD extras, but was a total revelation at the time.

The other thing that struck me watching this again was how many people who appeared in it that we've lost over the past twenty years: Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen, Nicholas Courtney, Verity Lambert, John Nathan-Turner. And how sad it is that they weren't here to celebrate Doctor Who's 50th anniversary (but at least Liz, Nick and Verity lived long enough to see it return in triumph).

The Time of the Doctor

Following on from the runaway success of The Day of the Doctor, The Time of the Doctor seems to have been with mixed reactions (I know one reviewer hoped it wasn't going to be like The Twin Dilemma following on from The Caves of Androzani). I enjoyed it and thought it was a fitting end to the reign of the Eleventh Doctor. One thing that's annoyed me is the criticism Peter Capaldi's already copped. I mean, for Gods sake, he's only in it for less than a minute! How the hell do you expect him to develop of character in that amount of time! Oh, and did anyone else notice that the aged Doctor's make-up made Matt look a little like William Hartnell. Have to say that final scene in the TARDIS was brilliant and very moving with the cameo by Karen Gillan (appropriately Amy was the one who said the final goodnight to the Eleventh Doctor) and Matt taking off his bow tie before completing the regeneration.

Thanks for everything Matt, you were brilliant. And welcome aboard Peter, you're going to be brilliant.