Currently nerding out on the About Time book series, which is an unofficial Doctor Who guide. “[i]But Cultmeister[/i],” I hear you cry; “[i]what on earth do you need a guide book for if you already love the show so much? Surely you can just watch the episodes?[/i]” Well, dear reader, what an astute question! I’m glad you asked. You see, this isn’t just an episode synopsis guide, nor is it an ‘interesting anecdotes and tidbits’ pamphlet. This series attempts to explain everything you could reasonably want to know about not just every single episode, but how that episode was made and more importantly [i]why[/i] it was made. So not only do we get critical analyses of each story (what doesn’t make sense, what could reasonably fit with established lore and possible workarounds if anything couldn’t), but we also get an in-depth look at what was happening in the production team at the time. Why certain scripts were written up the way they were, how the show developed over time and the way it was seen in the BBC, why some stories changed directors halfway through, what was around at the time influencing pop culture and the mindset of the UK and therefore the production team that decided that x kind of story was suitable to show children on a Saturday evening, even the kind of cameras they used and the way important shots were set up. There are accompanying essays on all sorts of nail-biting subjects, from “What are the best and worst cliffhangers?” to “Was there any hanky-panky going on in the TARDIS?”, to “No, the BBC weren’t trying to copy Star Trek”.
In fact it doesn’t contain episode synopses at all unless that particular serial was (wholly or partly) missing from the archives at the date of publication, but even that is a curtesy on the grounds that they are available in other formats, which any fan worth their salt would know about.
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That sounds amazingly interesting. The kind of thing I would love if I was into Doctor Who. Seriously, those kinds of things are great to read, because I tend to get lost in the world of the plot and ignore the smaller details that give the world such life.