- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd. (1 Dec 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0826417345
- ISBN-13: 978-0826417343
- Product Dimensions: 23.9 x 16 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 159,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"The appeal of Through Time lies not in thoughtful analysis or insight, but in sheer joy: it's funny, witty, and idiosyncratic, focused on story arcs and behind-the-scene personalities, all filtered through the mind of an insider."--Science Fiction Research Association Review
Product Description
The cult classic, now revitalised to rave reviews, gets the history it deserves by an insider. The quirky British television series "Doctor Who" is a classic both of science fiction and television drama. First broadcast in 1963, it has remained an influential TV presence ever since, with an eagerly anticipated new series airing in 2005. As a vehicle for satire, social commentary, or sheer fantasy adventure, "Doctor Who" is unparalleled. It was a show created for children, but it was immediately usurped by adults. Arriving at a time of upheaval in the popular arts in Britain, "Doctor Who" was born into a television tradition influenced by the TV plays of Dennis Potter, the cult television drama "The Prisoner", the James Bond films and Stanley Kubrick's science fiction triptych - "Dr Strangelove", "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "A Clockwork Orange".A British fantasy adventure that has unfolded across television screens over decades in the tradition of Lewis Carroll, Conan Doyle and HG Wells, the strength of "Doctor Who" has always been its writers and the ideas they nurtured. In this new history of the show, Andrew Cartmel (who was the script editor on "Doctor Who" from 1987 to 1990) looks into its social and cultural impact - providing a fascinating read for committed and casual fans alike.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This starts out as a fascinating analysis of what was good and what was bad in the scripts and production of the series, seen from the point of view of a script editor in the final years of classic Who (the McCoy years). Rather than being a fan appreciation, Cartmel gives a technical insight into what makes a good story, and why good stories can be wrecked by bad props or casting the wrong actor (e.g. Davidson as Who). He also suggests where even fan favourites are weak because of factors which fans might choose to ignore. I mostly agreed with his conclusions from the Hartnell years right up to the point where he became the script editor himself, and then it was time to be self-critical.
Sadly, Cartmel lacked the ability to recognise flaws his own era, and praises stories which all my friends regard as complete turkeys (complete with stuffing and roast potatoes...). He isn't completely blind to faults in Curse of Fenric, but praises Rememberance of the Daleks for all the things which he criticises in earlier stories.
This is a very good book for the parts of Whostory which Cartmel isn't personally responsible - it's always easier to criticise somebody else's failings - but he is not a reliable judge of his own. So read the first chapters, and don't bother with the last ones, and you'll find this a fascinating read. I finished it in a day, and it is arranged in bite-sized chunks to make this easy, but leave it to others to do unto his work as he did unto others.
Sadly, Cartmel lacked the ability to recognise flaws his own era, and praises stories which all my friends regard as complete turkeys (complete with stuffing and roast potatoes...). He isn't completely blind to faults in Curse of Fenric, but praises Rememberance of the Daleks for all the things which he criticises in earlier stories.
This is a very good book for the parts of Whostory which Cartmel isn't personally responsible - it's always easier to criticise somebody else's failings - but he is not a reliable judge of his own. So read the first chapters, and don't bother with the last ones, and you'll find this a fascinating read. I finished it in a day, and it is arranged in bite-sized chunks to make this easy, but leave it to others to do unto his work as he did unto others.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I found this book rather annoying in its tone. Cartmel clearly sees a wide gap between most classic Who and his own conceptions. He slights Who traditions/classic SF cliches such as separation of the Doctor and companion early in the story, separation from the TARDIS, or plot McGuffins, yet thinks the cliched supercomputer in The Green Death to be one of the best villains. He is obsessed with the notion that the character of the Doctor must be utterly central and uneclipsed in any way by any superior character or race. This is understandable after the marginalisation of the Doctor in some Colin Baker stories, but he carries it too far and this clearly resulted in the overblown Cartmel "masterplan" designed to restore some mystery and almost God-like significance to the central character.
His section on missing episodes is full of hindsight judgements. He rather immaturely implies that those responsible for their destruction are Nazis. He gets some basic facts wrong, such as saying that the first Quatermass serial was a victim of this policy (it was in fact broadcast live and most episodes never recorded in the first place, so never existed to be destroyed).
How can you trust the view of someone who thinks City of Death is dull and overlong?;)
His section on missing episodes is full of hindsight judgements. He rather immaturely implies that those responsible for their destruction are Nazis. He gets some basic facts wrong, such as saying that the first Quatermass serial was a victim of this policy (it was in fact broadcast live and most episodes never recorded in the first place, so never existed to be destroyed).
How can you trust the view of someone who thinks City of Death is dull and overlong?;)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
rough read for a fan
7 Dec 2011
Format:Paperback
I usually read at least 3 - 5 books a week but this book took me a month to get through because I kept putting it down (rather than flinging it against a wall or out a window). So why did I give it four stars? It contains a lot of interesting behind the scenes information on the early years of Doctor Who up to as recently as the Christopher Eccleston year.
I would recommend it with the caveat that a true fan will appreciate the information while finding Mr. Cartmel's style very irritating. He repeatedly tears the show we love to pieces. Time and again, he will say most fans consider XYZ episode to be a great Doctor Who story but here let me tell you all the things that were terrible about it. As someone who has loved the Doctor for over a quarter of a century, I was not happy about all the pot shots the author took at the various doctors and at the show in general.
For someone who is mainly interested in TV show creation (and the history of such), this would be an excellent book as it gives a lot of behind the scenes data on things such as how budget issues required cutting corners that hurt the show and how creative differences weakened the show, etc. For a true fan, you will have to grit your teeth at all the disparaging remarks about the show (as I often found myself doing) to get through the book. I don't regret having done so though because I did learn enough new data to make having to wade through all of the put downs worth it.
The author does know his stuff. I just wish he had been less pompous in his attitude towards a beloved show.
I would recommend it with the caveat that a true fan will appreciate the information while finding Mr. Cartmel's style very irritating. He repeatedly tears the show we love to pieces. Time and again, he will say most fans consider XYZ episode to be a great Doctor Who story but here let me tell you all the things that were terrible about it. As someone who has loved the Doctor for over a quarter of a century, I was not happy about all the pot shots the author took at the various doctors and at the show in general.
For someone who is mainly interested in TV show creation (and the history of such), this would be an excellent book as it gives a lot of behind the scenes data on things such as how budget issues required cutting corners that hurt the show and how creative differences weakened the show, etc. For a true fan, you will have to grit your teeth at all the disparaging remarks about the show (as I often found myself doing) to get through the book. I don't regret having done so though because I did learn enough new data to make having to wade through all of the put downs worth it.
The author does know his stuff. I just wish he had been less pompous in his attitude towards a beloved show.
Great overview and history
13 Dec 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I really liked this book. I've been a Who fan for years but only recently really got "into it". Love the new series but I will always have a spot in my heart for the original. Mr. Cartmel's book does justice to the beginngs of the show through to the time he worked with Sylvester McCoy's incarnation up to the publish date (Eccleston). I can only imagine what he'd have to say about the Tennant and Smith versions of the old Time Lord. Perhaps he can be persuaded? In any case, for the budding fanatic or those having followed the show for years "Through Time" does a good job of detailing behind the scenes and confirmed quite a few of my hunches I had about how the show was put together back in the day. Too bad indeed that most of Hartnell and Troughton's Doctors were erased. Something similar happened to the early recordings of my favorite band of the 60's at EMI studios on Abbey Road in London.
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