Off-Topic: my Doctor Who book gets a favourable review!
Cards on the table: the reviewer quoted below is This Writer’s brother, Dr David Sivier, who runs Beastrabban\’s Weblog – but don’t let that make you think he’d go easy on me!
The book he’s reviewing is not one of the Vox Political collections. I took time out last year to have a bit of fun and this is the product of that: The Hater’s Guide to New Who.
Here’s a quick blast:
Doctor Who has come in for a lot of real hatred over the past couple of seasons, with right-wing and politically moderate fans complaining that it is too woke, with a shrill, anti-masculine and left-wing bias. This is not for that kind of hater. This is written for those who love the show, but have nevertheless noticed that the writing at times isn’t all it should be, with contradictions, holes in the plots, bad or absent explanations, characters knowing things they couldn’t possibly know in reality, and when all else fails, a resort to deus ex machina and pulling a sudden solution to impending danger to the Doctor and his friends out of thin air.
Mike is a long term fan of the show, but states in the introduction that he was inspired to write the book after a friend remarked to him that ‘the plots don’t actually work, you know.’ … He summarises each individual episode, itemising the various plot points and noting the bits of bad writing as they come along. It’s more like the various SF fans putting up videos with the title ‘Everything Wrong With’ a particular movie or TV episode.
Reading it I’m reminded of an evening I spent in the 90s with friends watching a Science Fiction movie on TV. They were very knowledgable scientifically, and gleefully pointed out every scientific mistake in the film, including wondering how a time traveller from the future could drive a car from the early part of the 20th century as all the controls had been changed. You would have thought they hated the film, but no! After it ended they got up and said that it was ‘quite good’.
The book isn’t a deep look at the new Who’s first season. It’s just a fun look at the series where the writing flaws are pointed out for sympathetic amusement, rather than serious condemnation. Mike and his friends aren’t the only ones to have noticed bad writing in the series. A friend of mine told me that he’d been told by someone who taught creative writing that there were gaping holes and glaring errors in the show’s writing. But it’s all done in good humour. The book’s short at 166 pages, the writing clear and concise, and offers the reader a wry look at this long-running and much-loved series. The itemisation of particular points in the stories also allow it to be used as a resource for those fans writing their own pieces about it in the online and print fan literature.
Cheers, bro!
To read the book for yourself, buy the print version here.
Alternatively, there’s an eBook of it available here.
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Coincidentally, I bought the ebook a few days ago, and fully agree with your brother.
“Cruel Britannia” is next. I’m sure I’ll like it, but I doubt it’ll be as much fun!
It’s a more serious read but I think it has its moments!
Thank you very much for supporting my books.