Customer Reviews

About Time 3: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who (Seasons 7 to 11) (About Time; The Unauthorized Guide to Dr. Who (Mad Norwegian Press))

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I initially approached the About Time series with a certain sense of trepidation, given that it was published by Mad Norwegian, and I've always had issues with the fanboyish glee that filled the I, Who books, especially towards sex. (This is a Mad Norwegian tradition, admittedly, as even the guide to the TRANSFORMERS features a section on lines that, by and large, are double entendres by a stretch at best.) However, given that the books were co-written by Lawrence Miles, arguably the finest writer to work in the Doctor Who novel range and my favorite writer of Doctor Who material not named Robert Holmes, I thought I'd give this a shot.

ABOUT TIME 3 covers the Jon Pertwee years of Doctor Who, the era of UNIT and the Master and the series going into color-and it covers it in insane detail. THE DISCONTINUITY GUIDE, the previous benchmark for Doctor Who guidebooks, covers the entire 26 seasons of Doctor Who in its length; ABOUT TIME 3 covers all the time Pertwee was the Doctor. Anyone who reads this book and thinks there isn't enough detail in it is the most obsessive of fans. Miles and Wood cover every episode as it appeared on the screen, and delve into not only the themes of each story but the influence of the times on each story, as well as deliver a mind boggling amount of trivia about each and every episode. Speaking as someone who had not seen much of the Third Doctor before this, I have to say that a newcomer to Doctor Who will easily be drawn to this era based on the care Miles and Wood lavish upon the book. (Personally, after reading this I wished THE AMBASSADORS OF DEATH existed in a form worthy of DVD.)

The essays, which go deeper not only into the lore of Doctor Who (starting with the notorious argument of when the UNIT stories actually took place) but even further into the underlaying concerns and issues that surrounded the show are the best part of the book; there are quite a few guides for Who out there, but this kind of essay is missing in the ones that I've read at least. And while the other reviewer found the tone of the book to be a bit smug, I found it to be simply honest; Lawrence Miles has never held back when he thinks Doctor Who is lacking (the furor he raised this year when he wrote a scathing review of the subtext of Mark Gatiss' THE UNQUIET DEAD from the new series is testament to this.) but first and foremost, Miles and Wood are fans of Doctor Who, or else they wouldn't be writing this series in the first place.

Highly recommended to fans of Doctor Who, especially those brought in by the 2005 series.

In interviews conducted for the I, Who series of books (published, like this volume, by Mad Norwegian Press), Lawrence Miles made clear his disdain for backward-looking fans and his monomaniacal insistence that Doctor Who move ever forward in order to be at all interesting. (Since Miles has written a handful of Doctor Who novels himself, that seems to make him either a fan who wishes to be both of the fandom and simultaneously above it, or, alternately, a professional writer type who is "slumming it".) So it is perhaps not surprising that the overall tone of About Time 3 is one of superiority over the source material. The authors constantly make the point that they know how silly and flawed and poorly-made the Doctor Who TV program was, but that it was just so charming that people liked it. A not altogether invalid point, given that the series WAS flawed and silly much of the time, but a reference work aimed at fans of the show is not really an appropriate place to point such things out so forcefully and repeatedly.
     Nevertheless, the collected data is, as advertised, exhaustive, ranging from continuity notes and information about each story's setting to behind-the-scenes anecdotes. The analysis is informative and thought-provoking, with the sections that explain how each story fits into the time it was made and broadcast being particularly interesting. And the critiques are presented thoughtfully and thoroughly, even if I disagree with their opinions much of the time. Even the sidebar essays (about things like when the UNIT stories actually take place and whether or not Doctor Who was really that chauvinistic) are genuinely fascinating, and to be fair Miles and Wood defend many aspects of the show eloquently. So, despite the slightly sneering bits that turn up on nearly every page, About Time 3 is a must-have reference volume for any more-than-casual Doctor Who fan, and hopefully the rest of the series will follow suit.

I thought I'd add a review on this, as there doesn't currently appear to be a single review for this volume of the series (About Time Volume 3, the Second Edition, covering seasons 7-11 (the Jon Pertwee years)); all the reviews are for either the first edition, or other volumes.

I love this entire series, and recommend getting the other volumes. In fact, I even recommend getting both the first and second editions of this volume.

As other have stated, the series is not intended as an introduction to the character and world of Doctor Who, but rather a near-exhaustive compilation of:

- Information on the Doctor, his companions and opponents, and the various aliens he meets, as presented in the series;
- Background on things those of us here in America (and the younger viewers in the UK) wouldn't necessarily know about the times in which the stories were written - information that often opens our eyes to a greater understanding (as well as nigh-useless trivia - for instance, this volume tells us when Britain moved from their old currency system to a decimal-based one [interesting, but unlikely to ever be something I actually *need* to know]).
- Details about the episode (when it aired, how the ratings were, who was in it).
- and, last but not least, the behind the scenes goings on during each story's writing and filming.

In the above (well, except for the lore) the book generally works on the assumption that as much as possible of what we were shown "happened", and tries to reconcile the oddities that arise. Sometimes, they'll just relate the most commonly-held opinions; other times, they'll come to a conclusion of their own. Their format makes clear what's based directly and explicitly on what was on screen, and what's conjecture.

In some cases, the cultural background, the continuity oddities (for instance - three seemingly completely distinct places, each of which is the "Atlantis" of legend?) or the urge to parlay the tidbits of data we collect into theories as to how the science of the Who universe works lead to a sidebar essay.

If you already have the first edition - this one is three times as big. As I did have that one already, I did some comparisons. Much of the original text is still there, albeit rearranged noticeably. Obviously, some things were added or expanded. As Tat Wood has gotten used to writing the series on his own, the number of footnote has expanded (something like 8 in the first edition, and around 150 in the second edition).

One of the most notable areas of change was in the sidebar essays. Many have been added, some are very similar to how they were originally - but some have changed dramatically. Where the last happened, it was usually due to taking information from the new series into account. Here's where having the first edition can pay out - seeing how the first four seasons of the returned show impact the show's continuity and history.

Admittedly, that wouldn't appeal to everyone. If it does to you, then stop reading this review, and buy the book if you haven't already.

I am thoroughly enjoying this book. It's the product of almost too-exhaustive research. There is one glaring ommision, however.
While they provide a snippet of text to remind the reader what a given episode was about, and even go so far as to describe the "cliff-hanging" endings, there's no synopsis - not even in briefest of form. Hence, they provide a thorough research of stories for which they provide practically no context. One must either (a) have a good memory for the shows in question, (b) have seen them recently - or have access to them in some form, or (c) have access to an episode guide of some sort - requiring one to skip back and forth between different documents to gain a throrough understanding of the show(s). How easy would it have been to provide a summary of the show - preferably broken down by episode? The authors might argue that (a) episode guides are readily available and (b) it's a "spoiler" to give the plot away. I'd counter that this kind of omission makes their reference work rather (and sadly) incomplete. I hope they rememdy this with future volumes. (so far I've only looked at volume 3)

"About Time" is the best work written so far about Doctor Who. It is incredibly thorough and somewhat witty, and shows connections that would have made James Burke blush.

Besides giving accurate continuity (which tries to be as objective as possible, unlike "Ahistory" or "The Discontinuity Guide"), "About Time" also offers where the ideas for the stories came from, arguments (both pro- and con-) about the merits of the show, and many, many anecdotes which are a lot of fun to read, as well as a plethora of gaffes and plot points that don't make sense (of which there are many in Doctor Who).

The big thing which is missing is of course a proper synopsis or summary of each story. However, it is more likely that if you have bought these books, you have already seen the stories several times over and just want to read more about them, so a summarization would be a waste of paper. (And if you have not seen Doctor Who, the book has no intention on convincing you to see it.)

This third volume, the first to be released, shows the entire run of Jon Pertwee's Doctor, and does a very good job despite one major difficulty: As the first book released, it is much smaller than the others on a pages-per-season basis despite the amount of data available.

Indeed, one gets the feeling that some anecdotes were left out of the book. Perhaps they were. Maybe it is possible that the volume is due for a second edition already?

Of course, those who miss remarks about the Brigadier's moustache changing from story to story are not missing much as many shows had flaws like that.

I very heartily recommend this book if you want a very intensive and enjoyable romp through the good old days of the early 1970s and how Doctor Who managed to survive the changeover to color television and the hiring of a comedian to play a straight role.

Those who do not wish to buy all six volumes will probably buy "The Discontinuity Guide" or perhaps something else, and will definitely miss out on a lot of gold here. (Always keep gold in mind in case of Cybermen.)

EDIT 2010-04-24: It was surprising that they actually took the advice of a reviewer and released a second edition. It is a good edition and fills the gaps easily. For those who enjoyed the first edition, there is still much more to learn, and one should not be disappointed upon upgrade.

Bet you already knew that. Yes, it is bigger. But is it better? Well, really, it is the work of Tat Wood, with additional material from Lawrence Miles. And, yes, there seem to be more of a focus as I think Tat is really in the driving seat, there are more essays, and the chapters have been expanded. Well, that's it.
I can't say that I came away from the book with anything more than the first edition. If you don't have the first edition, yes, jolly good, get this book. If you are a collector of anything Doctor Who, then, yes, get it.
But in the end I can't say I felt it brought anything new or original to the About Time series of guides.
Get it used if you must. But many fans will find it hit or miss. Save the money to get one of the DVDs with the old adventures or even the new Fifth Season.

Anyone who wants to know "everything" about the third Doctor should definitely read this. Lots of detail, anecdotes, and relevant events and music of the day.