3 Review(s)

With the successful twenty-first century revival of an old favourite for a new generation of viewers, this is the time to look afresh at one of the great classics of British television. "Doctor Who" enjoys the distinction of being the longest-running science fiction series in the world. The adventures of everyone's favourite "Time Lord" and his many companions, as they battle it out with Daleks, Cybermen and many more intergalactic menaces, have become an indelible part of popular culture. In this new study of a television institution - the first to draw extensively on the full riches of the "BBC Written Archives" - James Chapman explores the history of "Doctor Who" from its origins to the present day. He shows how the series has evolved to meet changing contexts inside the BBC and in the wider culture, while all the time retaining its quirky, eccentric and distinctively British characteristics. And he demonstrates how the production history of the series has allowed it to renew and refresh its format in response to developments in the wider world of science fiction.Chapman writes from the perspective of a fan as well as a historian: this will be the essential text for all serious "Doctor Who" aficionados.