Doctor Who: A History

by Alan Kistler

Overview

Premiering the day after the JFK assassination, Doctor Who humbly launched one of the entertainment world’s first super-brands. We begin with a look at TV programming of the day and the original pitch documents before delving into the Daleks, which almost didn’t make the cut but inspired many monsters to follow. After three years, First Doctor William Hartnell left, prompting the BBC to recast their hit rather than end it, giving us the first “regeneration” and making TV history. We follow the succession of Doctors—including Third Doctor Jon Pertwee, exiled to Earth and targeted by the Master—and see how the program reflected the feminism of the 1970s while gaining mainstream popularity with Fourth Doctor Tom Baker. .. until declining support from the BBC eventually led to cancelation. Fan outcry saved the series only for it to suffer a repeat cancelation. Yet many continued to enjoy the Whoniverse in syndication, novels, audio dramas, and Doctor Who Magazine. Paul McGann impressed many as the Eighth Doctor in a 1996 TV movie, but it failed to reignite the series.

 A new age dawned in 2005 with Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston and a serious special effects budget before Tenth Doctor David Tennant helped rocket the series to international popularity and a new era of spinoffs. With Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith, the show became a bona fide success here in America. Following the program’s fiftieth anniversary, Whovians will meet the Twelfth Doctor, ushering in yet another era for the unstoppable Time Lord.

Featuring discussions of concepts and characters, with insights from producers, writers, and actors from across the years, here is a rich, behind-the-camera investigation into the dazzling multiverse of Doctor Who.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762791880
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/01/2013
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Alan Kistler cohosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast. Recognized as a comic book historian by CNN, he has written for MTV.com, Wired.com, and ComicBookResources.com and has spoken at the Paley Center for Media on Star Trek and vampire fiction and at Geek Girl Con on women in science fiction. He divides his time between Los Angeles and New York City. Visit him on Twitter @SizzlerKistler or at AlanKistler.com.

Table of Contents

The Doctors ix

Introduction xiii

1 Building the Show 1

Sidebar: The Music of Who 11

2 Who Is the Doctor 13

Sidebar: The Hero with No Name 22

3 Rise of the Monsters 26

4 An Educational Crew 35

Sidebar: The Comic Doctor 47

5 The TARDIS and Time Travel 49

6 Violence and Endings 61

Sidebar: The Cybermen 68

7 Life Is Renewal 70

8 Time-Locked! 83

9 The First Master 89

10 Doctor Meets Doctor 97

Sidebar: Season 6B 101

11 "I Walk in Eternity" 104

12 The Journalist, the Warrior, the Lady of Time 117

Sidebar: The Time Lords 130

13 A New Style 135

14 The New Beginning 145

15 A Volcanic Experience 157

16 High Camp and Time's Champion 173

Sidebar: Benny and Canon 185

17 The Wilderness Years 188

18 The Many Lives of the Eighth Doctor 198

Sidebar: Half Human? 208

19 The Last of the Time Lords 210

Sidebar: New TARDIS, New Screwdriver 228

20 The Renaissance 232

Sidebar: The New Age of Spin-offs 248

Sidebar: The Woman Doctor 252

21 Something Borrowed, Something New 255

Acknowledgments 270

Index 271

Editorial Reviews

The world would be a poorer place without Doctor Who.” —Steven Spielberg

From the Publisher