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Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who
On screen, Doctor Who is a story of monsters, imagination and mind-expanding adventure. But the off-screen story is equally extraordinary – a tale of failed monks, war heroes, 1960s polyamory and self-sabotaging broadcasting executives. From the politics of fandom to the inner struggles of the BBC, thousands of people have given part of themselves – and sometimes, too much of themselves – to bring this unlikeliest of folk heroes to life.
This is a story of change, mystery and the importance of imaginary characters in our lives. Able to evolve and adapt more radically than any other fiction, Doctor Who has acted as a mirror to more than six decades of social, technological and cultural change while always remaining a central fixture of the British imagination. In Exterminate / Regenerate, John Higgs invites us into his TARDIS on a journey to discover how ideas emerge and survive despite the odds, why we are so addicted to fiction, and why this wonderful wandering time traveller means so much to so many.
This is a story of change, mystery and the importance of imaginary characters in our lives. Able to evolve and adapt more radically than any other fiction, Doctor Who has acted as a mirror to more than six decades of social, technological and cultural change while always remaining a central fixture of the British imagination. In Exterminate / Regenerate, John Higgs invites us into his TARDIS on a journey to discover how ideas emerge and survive despite the odds, why we are so addicted to fiction, and why this wonderful wandering time traveller means so much to so many.
15 pages, Audible Audio
First published April 10, 2025
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April 15, 2025
John Higgs is the kind of man who can prove to you that Santa is real, even if he doesn’t exist. Doctor Who has been a background presence in his books for a while now, certainly, for obvious reasons, in his excellent KLF one, so it’s a pleasure to see him fully focus on the show.
The first thing to note is the perspective: Higgs is very clearly a dyed in the wool fan without being part of the fan infrastructure that’s grown around the show. As a result he’s an informed outsider who’s not liable to simply repeat perspectives. Instead, it’s informed more by his work as a cultural historian: he’s able to put the show into historical and cultural context throughout, and pinpoint exactly what key creative personnel brought to the DNA of the show. Particularly pleasing are his framings of Patrick Troughton l, the Time Lords and the recent Capaldi and Whittaker eras: there’s no real consideration of eras being ‘good’ or ‘bad’, more a focus on what drives them: Higgs is as strong on Hartnell as he is on Pertwee, McCoy or Gatwa.
Even better is his engagement with the stories not told on television and fan culture: the videos, novels and novellas of the wilderness years are all examined and Big Finish gets a delightful description as ‘Doctor Who going fractal’.
Best of all though is his central idea: that Doctor Who is a megafiction that acts in ways indistinguishable from a living thing. This isn’t far from what a now disgraced author wrote in a foreword for a Telos novella: of Doctor Who being an infection. It has some sense of self, it’s capable of change and evolution, of absorbing elements from its creators and other fictions: an apex predator of storytelling. Higgs is commendably ambivalent on whether that’s entirely healthy: he doesn’t shy away from its effects on those who stayed with it too long or (like me) have devoted large chunks of their lives to it.
As one of those who’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the show and the on and offscreen lore there wasn’t a great deal revelatory here (Ben Wheatley’s St Elsewhere snowglobe being the big one). But that’s a positive: it makes this an accessible overview to a large and complex subject and allows Higgs the space for his ideas to sing. It’s a skilful tightrope walk between the needs of the potential lay and fan readers.
Charmingly, like the Doctor, Higgs recognises that a definitive verdict or an ending is a futile thing. Instead, like the vast majority of episodes of the 21st century show, he asks what’s ’coming next…’. Doctor Who can only ever be in the state of ellipsis, leaving us anticipating the future. Which is an entirely appropriate state of affairs for a show with time travel at its heart and a central character eager for what’s next. Maybe as a megafiction, he’s writing his own future.
The first thing to note is the perspective: Higgs is very clearly a dyed in the wool fan without being part of the fan infrastructure that’s grown around the show. As a result he’s an informed outsider who’s not liable to simply repeat perspectives. Instead, it’s informed more by his work as a cultural historian: he’s able to put the show into historical and cultural context throughout, and pinpoint exactly what key creative personnel brought to the DNA of the show. Particularly pleasing are his framings of Patrick Troughton l, the Time Lords and the recent Capaldi and Whittaker eras: there’s no real consideration of eras being ‘good’ or ‘bad’, more a focus on what drives them: Higgs is as strong on Hartnell as he is on Pertwee, McCoy or Gatwa.
Even better is his engagement with the stories not told on television and fan culture: the videos, novels and novellas of the wilderness years are all examined and Big Finish gets a delightful description as ‘Doctor Who going fractal’.
Best of all though is his central idea: that Doctor Who is a megafiction that acts in ways indistinguishable from a living thing. This isn’t far from what a now disgraced author wrote in a foreword for a Telos novella: of Doctor Who being an infection. It has some sense of self, it’s capable of change and evolution, of absorbing elements from its creators and other fictions: an apex predator of storytelling. Higgs is commendably ambivalent on whether that’s entirely healthy: he doesn’t shy away from its effects on those who stayed with it too long or (like me) have devoted large chunks of their lives to it.
As one of those who’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the show and the on and offscreen lore there wasn’t a great deal revelatory here (Ben Wheatley’s St Elsewhere snowglobe being the big one). But that’s a positive: it makes this an accessible overview to a large and complex subject and allows Higgs the space for his ideas to sing. It’s a skilful tightrope walk between the needs of the potential lay and fan readers.
Charmingly, like the Doctor, Higgs recognises that a definitive verdict or an ending is a futile thing. Instead, like the vast majority of episodes of the 21st century show, he asks what’s ’coming next…’. Doctor Who can only ever be in the state of ellipsis, leaving us anticipating the future. Which is an entirely appropriate state of affairs for a show with time travel at its heart and a central character eager for what’s next. Maybe as a megafiction, he’s writing his own future.
Read
April 26, 2025I'd read John Higgs before, but it was his magnificent KLF book that made me take notice of him as one of our greatest non-fiction writers. The paradox being, after the JAMMs, what other subject won't seem anticlimactic? Some of his subsequent subjects almost merited the same level of consideration (Watling Street; William Blake; the entire 20th century); others were clearly non-starters (the future; the Beatles). Now, finally, he comes to the one other topic of comparable import to King Boy D and Rockman Rock, and one which, having played a crucial part in their story, we already knew he understood on an appropriately deep level: "a quite mad quasi-children's programme made by lunatics on a fraction of a budget"*.
Now, aspiring to write a book about Doctor Who is not an easy gig, because you're covering territory that a lot of obsessives have been going over for more than half a century. And I should offer the caveat that while I am a big fan, I definitely know bigger, people who are way more up on the backstage trivia in particular than I am, so what was unfamiliar to me might not be as wholly new as all that. But I was still impressed at the stories here that went beyond the familiar anecdotes. So I was aware that Jon Pertwee had worked in wartime Naval Intelligence with Ian Fleming, say, which is pretty impressive in terms of two great British myths sharing a backstory – but not that he had, as a child, also met Christopher Robin, played with Winnie the Pooh, and ridden Eeyore. And the shiver that story brings, the sense of something vast and numinous making its presence felt in our world by the most unlikely means, is one of the strongest threads in this account. Unlike a Bond or Holmes or even Superman, Doctor Who had no visionary single creator or duo; it emerged piecemeal from departmental memos, expediency, exactly the sort of creation by committee that's never supposed to produce anything this distinctive or memorable. Nor was that a one-time occurrence; you'd never bet on the sequence of events which led to the Daleks appearing in the second story, despite an opening prohibition on 'bug-eyed monsters', and as Higgs points out, of the words and phrases you'd use now to explain the Doctor to someone unfamiliar with the concept, the people working on the first series would recognise almost none of them. Ever since, the programme has gone on to inspire people to become writers, actors, even to found production companies with names taken from inside the fiction, all of which in turn perpetuate a programme whose expanded world is now so vast no single fan could expect to take it all in – a megafiction bootstrapping itself into a degree of existence that makes the threat of another cancellation harder to take any more seriously than whatever threat is supposedly about to kill the Doctor this week. When Higgs was asked at this week's launch event what the best Who story is, he answered Lux – and on one level it's just a baller move to name the most recent story instead of an acknowledged 1970s classic, but also, the idea of the Doctor being more real than the viewers is a perfect fit. Initially I wondered, what did he say at the previous week's event, before Lux, after the preceding clodhopper? What will he say next week, after today's so-so reprise in the key of Saward? But of course that's the point, isn't it? The Daleks had the only script that was ready. Matt Smith walked in and upended the plan to cast an older actor. Lux was the episode broadcast right before I saw Higgs asked that question. Everything unfolds as it should.
(But, you know, if you just want a general account of how a TV show gets made over an unusually long period, the larger than life personalities and bureaucratic battles, it works as that too, I think)
This is obviously not to say that Doctor Who can never put a foot wrong. Indeed, its wonkiness is part of the charm. I always remember the time a friend of my sister's was with us one Christmas and was amazed at the reverent hush demanded for viewing the special. Afterwards she very tentatively asked "Do you ever...not like one?" and, oh my sweet summer child, you don't understand what fandom is at all, do you (though granted, I think that was the first good Capaldi episode – a year either side and she'd have already had her answer). The times when that can curdle into something worse are inevitably part of the story; so too are the programme's own missteps, whether that be the self-indulgence of late Tom Baker, Colin's coat, or quite how close the Troughton era came to making a sex comedy about the dangers of women having political power. And could one really catch an intrinsically imperfect show in a perfect book? Of course not. Sometimes it's simply that there was never going to be room for everything; I suspect Higgs has at least another hundred pages of material that he had to cut from what I think is nevertheless his heftiest book to date. The Daleks and the Cybermen, for instance, get capsule investigations at appropriate points in the narrative, so it seemed odd there wasn't something similar for the Master, only a few passing references (though Higgs is very good on the Time Lords overall). Not giving the KLF a reciprocal appearance also surprised me, but possibly Higgs simply feels he's exhausted the topic. More of a problem is the absence, in his account of the wilderness years, of the online animation Scream Of The Shalka, which you might think of as an odd little side note, but which as well as being the first new Who for a certain small slice of fandom, was also key to the BBC realising they had the rights after all – exactly the sort of roundabout, improbable route to a continuation that perfectly illustrates Higgs' wider thesis (plus, it seems a shame that Richard E Grant , one of very few actors to play multiple Doctors, doesn't get any mention). Elsewhere, though, I do query Higgs' interpretation and emphasis. Yes, Big Finish getting as many of the old cast as they can back to reprise their roles is significant, but it's hardly the point where Who first realised it could open up its past and tell new stories in old eras of the show; we'd already had the Missing Adventures books, including many of the authors who'd go on to write for BF. Most seriously, Higgs seems far too ready to buy the idea that criticism of the 13th Doctor's era was at best veiled objection to a woman in the role, never mentioning that Chibnall was widely considered one of the revived show's worst writers long before he was associated with a female lead; hell, plenty of us were pleasantly surprised at the casting announcement after rumours of Kris Marshall. And if Higgs can correctly identify Jodie's finest moment as the impromptu video she made at home in a cupboard during lockdown, why can't he go on to ask what that says about her material when she was working with supposed professionals**? There are also a few too many editing glitches, little homophones, and repetitions, including two uses of the clunky hybrid phrase "quick to temper". Hell, there's even one sentence which has come out as "That the Doctor never nipped back in time to rescue Adric from the freighter before it crashed is something that has troubled fandom ever since", when surely the word you want for the effect on fandom is 'amused' or possibly even 'aroused'. Still, like Higgs says, Who has become something very like a religion, and while obviously it's better than most, all religions have their divides, which we should try our best to handle in good humour. If you only read one book about Doctor Who, then good heavens we lead very different lives, but also, it should be this one.
*This is a quote from the launch event I attended; the book has a very similar phrase at one point, but to my mind a slightly less good version. Part of me worries, in fact, that the book itself is a little toned down compared to what he's said while promoting it, in terms of the sheer strangeness of Who as a phenomenon. But then I remember that, rereading the KLF book in its anniversary edition, Higgs had been far less explicit than I remembered about the duo inadvertently selling their souls to Doctor Who considered as a godlike conceptual entity, and maybe it's one of his great gifts that he can get across ideas like that without entirely spelling them out, thereby reducing the risk of being taken for a complete nutter by the unimaginative.
**Of course, it's possible that our mistake here is mischaracterising what profession Chibnall was really in. Higgs has found an excellent quote from him about how Who is "the show that is on in the corner of the room, and it gets its hooks into the children who are watching it. It's like story heroin. And our parents have been dealing it to us for sixty years." Considered in that light, Chris Chibnall may be the most effective anti-addiction activist who's ever lived.
Now, aspiring to write a book about Doctor Who is not an easy gig, because you're covering territory that a lot of obsessives have been going over for more than half a century. And I should offer the caveat that while I am a big fan, I definitely know bigger, people who are way more up on the backstage trivia in particular than I am, so what was unfamiliar to me might not be as wholly new as all that. But I was still impressed at the stories here that went beyond the familiar anecdotes. So I was aware that Jon Pertwee had worked in wartime Naval Intelligence with Ian Fleming, say, which is pretty impressive in terms of two great British myths sharing a backstory – but not that he had, as a child, also met Christopher Robin, played with Winnie the Pooh, and ridden Eeyore. And the shiver that story brings, the sense of something vast and numinous making its presence felt in our world by the most unlikely means, is one of the strongest threads in this account. Unlike a Bond or Holmes or even Superman, Doctor Who had no visionary single creator or duo; it emerged piecemeal from departmental memos, expediency, exactly the sort of creation by committee that's never supposed to produce anything this distinctive or memorable. Nor was that a one-time occurrence; you'd never bet on the sequence of events which led to the Daleks appearing in the second story, despite an opening prohibition on 'bug-eyed monsters', and as Higgs points out, of the words and phrases you'd use now to explain the Doctor to someone unfamiliar with the concept, the people working on the first series would recognise almost none of them. Ever since, the programme has gone on to inspire people to become writers, actors, even to found production companies with names taken from inside the fiction, all of which in turn perpetuate a programme whose expanded world is now so vast no single fan could expect to take it all in – a megafiction bootstrapping itself into a degree of existence that makes the threat of another cancellation harder to take any more seriously than whatever threat is supposedly about to kill the Doctor this week. When Higgs was asked at this week's launch event what the best Who story is, he answered Lux – and on one level it's just a baller move to name the most recent story instead of an acknowledged 1970s classic, but also, the idea of the Doctor being more real than the viewers is a perfect fit. Initially I wondered, what did he say at the previous week's event, before Lux, after the preceding clodhopper? What will he say next week, after today's so-so reprise in the key of Saward? But of course that's the point, isn't it? The Daleks had the only script that was ready. Matt Smith walked in and upended the plan to cast an older actor. Lux was the episode broadcast right before I saw Higgs asked that question. Everything unfolds as it should.
(But, you know, if you just want a general account of how a TV show gets made over an unusually long period, the larger than life personalities and bureaucratic battles, it works as that too, I think)
This is obviously not to say that Doctor Who can never put a foot wrong. Indeed, its wonkiness is part of the charm. I always remember the time a friend of my sister's was with us one Christmas and was amazed at the reverent hush demanded for viewing the special. Afterwards she very tentatively asked "Do you ever...not like one?" and, oh my sweet summer child, you don't understand what fandom is at all, do you (though granted, I think that was the first good Capaldi episode – a year either side and she'd have already had her answer). The times when that can curdle into something worse are inevitably part of the story; so too are the programme's own missteps, whether that be the self-indulgence of late Tom Baker, Colin's coat, or quite how close the Troughton era came to making a sex comedy about the dangers of women having political power. And could one really catch an intrinsically imperfect show in a perfect book? Of course not. Sometimes it's simply that there was never going to be room for everything; I suspect Higgs has at least another hundred pages of material that he had to cut from what I think is nevertheless his heftiest book to date. The Daleks and the Cybermen, for instance, get capsule investigations at appropriate points in the narrative, so it seemed odd there wasn't something similar for the Master, only a few passing references (though Higgs is very good on the Time Lords overall). Not giving the KLF a reciprocal appearance also surprised me, but possibly Higgs simply feels he's exhausted the topic. More of a problem is the absence, in his account of the wilderness years, of the online animation Scream Of The Shalka, which you might think of as an odd little side note, but which as well as being the first new Who for a certain small slice of fandom, was also key to the BBC realising they had the rights after all – exactly the sort of roundabout, improbable route to a continuation that perfectly illustrates Higgs' wider thesis (plus, it seems a shame that Richard E Grant , one of very few actors to play multiple Doctors, doesn't get any mention). Elsewhere, though, I do query Higgs' interpretation and emphasis. Yes, Big Finish getting as many of the old cast as they can back to reprise their roles is significant, but it's hardly the point where Who first realised it could open up its past and tell new stories in old eras of the show; we'd already had the Missing Adventures books, including many of the authors who'd go on to write for BF. Most seriously, Higgs seems far too ready to buy the idea that criticism of the 13th Doctor's era was at best veiled objection to a woman in the role, never mentioning that Chibnall was widely considered one of the revived show's worst writers long before he was associated with a female lead; hell, plenty of us were pleasantly surprised at the casting announcement after rumours of Kris Marshall. And if Higgs can correctly identify Jodie's finest moment as the impromptu video she made at home in a cupboard during lockdown, why can't he go on to ask what that says about her material when she was working with supposed professionals**? There are also a few too many editing glitches, little homophones, and repetitions, including two uses of the clunky hybrid phrase "quick to temper". Hell, there's even one sentence which has come out as "That the Doctor never nipped back in time to rescue Adric from the freighter before it crashed is something that has troubled fandom ever since", when surely the word you want for the effect on fandom is 'amused' or possibly even 'aroused'. Still, like Higgs says, Who has become something very like a religion, and while obviously it's better than most, all religions have their divides, which we should try our best to handle in good humour. If you only read one book about Doctor Who, then good heavens we lead very different lives, but also, it should be this one.
*This is a quote from the launch event I attended; the book has a very similar phrase at one point, but to my mind a slightly less good version. Part of me worries, in fact, that the book itself is a little toned down compared to what he's said while promoting it, in terms of the sheer strangeness of Who as a phenomenon. But then I remember that, rereading the KLF book in its anniversary edition, Higgs had been far less explicit than I remembered about the duo inadvertently selling their souls to Doctor Who considered as a godlike conceptual entity, and maybe it's one of his great gifts that he can get across ideas like that without entirely spelling them out, thereby reducing the risk of being taken for a complete nutter by the unimaginative.
**Of course, it's possible that our mistake here is mischaracterising what profession Chibnall was really in. Higgs has found an excellent quote from him about how Who is "the show that is on in the corner of the room, and it gets its hooks into the children who are watching it. It's like story heroin. And our parents have been dealing it to us for sixty years." Considered in that light, Chris Chibnall may be the most effective anti-addiction activist who's ever lived.
May 11, 2025
I have little interest in Dr Who beyond loving the Pertwee era as a child and yet, as usual, John Higgs makes the history a fascinating journey.
The longevity of this extraordinary cultural phenemonon makes a wonderful story complete with ups, downs, heroes, villains, and cliff hangers. John Higgs delves into the social, technological, and cultural context that has shaped Doctor Who over its six decades. The book examines why this improbable show has not only survived but thrived. Needless to say this involves lively digressions into storytelling, the power of fiction, fandom, longevity, and the evolution of popular culture.
This is a wonderful and compelling exploration into the world of the shapeshifting Doctor
5/5
Doctor Who behaves in a way quite unlike any other fictional character. For sixty years the Doctor has sat at the heart of British culture and rewired the imaginations of generations. Yet no one person invented this strange character, and no one person controls them. They emerged from the space between many minds, able to evolve and adapt to our fast-changing world more skilfully than any other fiction.
The story of Doctor Who is a story of change, mystery and the role of imaginary characters in our lives. It is also the story of the thousands of people who have given part of themselves - and sometimes, too much of themselves - in order to bring this folk hero to life. Ncuti Gatwa, Russell T Davies and Disney+ are currently placing this glorious, imaginative and perfectly ludicrous British character at the heart of global culture, so it is time to acknowledge that the life of Doctor Who is far stranger, profound and uncanny than we usually assume.
The longevity of this extraordinary cultural phenemonon makes a wonderful story complete with ups, downs, heroes, villains, and cliff hangers. John Higgs delves into the social, technological, and cultural context that has shaped Doctor Who over its six decades. The book examines why this improbable show has not only survived but thrived. Needless to say this involves lively digressions into storytelling, the power of fiction, fandom, longevity, and the evolution of popular culture.
This is a wonderful and compelling exploration into the world of the shapeshifting Doctor
5/5
Doctor Who behaves in a way quite unlike any other fictional character. For sixty years the Doctor has sat at the heart of British culture and rewired the imaginations of generations. Yet no one person invented this strange character, and no one person controls them. They emerged from the space between many minds, able to evolve and adapt to our fast-changing world more skilfully than any other fiction.
The story of Doctor Who is a story of change, mystery and the role of imaginary characters in our lives. It is also the story of the thousands of people who have given part of themselves - and sometimes, too much of themselves - in order to bring this folk hero to life. Ncuti Gatwa, Russell T Davies and Disney+ are currently placing this glorious, imaginative and perfectly ludicrous British character at the heart of global culture, so it is time to acknowledge that the life of Doctor Who is far stranger, profound and uncanny than we usually assume.
June 19, 2025
Brilliant book! An excellent exploration of the history of the Dr Who Franchise from William Hartnell to Ncuti Gatwa. Higgs tells a great story of the development of Dr. Who with some excellent explorations into story telling and world building. I loved his comparison of the BBC Team looking to kill the show in the 80’s with the doddering Time Lords. Great discussion of the world building of Dr. Who including novelizations, films, audiobooks etc. @AmySturgis this book is for you and great text for a Dr Who course. Highly recommend. Vorp! Vorp! Exterminate!
September 6, 2025
I've read -- and, okay, written -- quite a lot about Doctor Who, so please believe me when I say that this new history from author John Higgs is truly remarkable within that space. It's an engaging account of how the series first came into being and then changed over the years, with the writer displaying a masterful ability to drill down to the important details and summarize the core animating themes of each passing era. He has a great eye for the perfect anecdotes to share throughout, and while the result isn't exhaustive, it's both thorough and eminently readable.
Every actor to play the Doctor and every production team behind them is explored, with Higgs covering how they all contributed to the steadily evolving mythos of the program. (The similarities he draws between various iterations of the protagonist and their respective showrunners are particularly striking.) He highlights the praiseworthy aspects, like the unusual diversity -- for 1963 at the BBC -- of the show's original creators, but doesn't shy away from the darker moments offscreen, either. Thus we hear about William Hartnell's racism, Tom Baker's suicide attempts, John-Nathan Turner's abusive behavior towards Nicola Bryant and reputation of sexually preying on young men in the fandom, and so on through John Barrowmen exposing himself on the set of the modern series and the regressive 'Not My Doctor' backlash among a vocal minority of viewers who hated that the main character became a woman with the casting of Jodie Whittaker.
British politics and culture come into play as well, as the popular franchise inevitably reflects the shifting circumstances around its ongoing development. Against that backdrop, the title traces the highs and lows of Doctor Who and how it defies easy categorization. It's a media property without a singular vision at its helm, as is especially clear during the discussion of the so-called Wilderness Years after the classic series was cancelled in 1989. Off TV the phenomenon carried on in the hands of dedicated fans, sometimes with the right official license permissions and sometimes not, and it was from that community that the subsequent producers were drawn when the show was rebooted in 2005. In the time since, it has continued to permeate and grow into a globally recognized brand, in the process acquiring an ever-more-complicated fictional backstory and relationship with its audience at home. Higgs aims to distill all that for us, perennially returning to the question of why this particular saga has amassed the fanatical, quasi-religious following that it has for so many adherents.
If this volume has a fault, it's an unavoidable one. Like any history, it can't hope to be as objective in its coverage of events nearing its own publication date, and so the chapter on Ncuti Gatwa and the Disney+ era feels somewhat incomplete. This book came out in April 2025 right as his second (and now apparently final) season was starting, and there's plenty of discourse about potential futures that the author unfortunately misses the mark on. Still, this is about as comprehensive and enjoyable of an overview as I could imagine on the subject.
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Every actor to play the Doctor and every production team behind them is explored, with Higgs covering how they all contributed to the steadily evolving mythos of the program. (The similarities he draws between various iterations of the protagonist and their respective showrunners are particularly striking.) He highlights the praiseworthy aspects, like the unusual diversity -- for 1963 at the BBC -- of the show's original creators, but doesn't shy away from the darker moments offscreen, either. Thus we hear about William Hartnell's racism, Tom Baker's suicide attempts, John-Nathan Turner's abusive behavior towards Nicola Bryant and reputation of sexually preying on young men in the fandom, and so on through John Barrowmen exposing himself on the set of the modern series and the regressive 'Not My Doctor' backlash among a vocal minority of viewers who hated that the main character became a woman with the casting of Jodie Whittaker.
British politics and culture come into play as well, as the popular franchise inevitably reflects the shifting circumstances around its ongoing development. Against that backdrop, the title traces the highs and lows of Doctor Who and how it defies easy categorization. It's a media property without a singular vision at its helm, as is especially clear during the discussion of the so-called Wilderness Years after the classic series was cancelled in 1989. Off TV the phenomenon carried on in the hands of dedicated fans, sometimes with the right official license permissions and sometimes not, and it was from that community that the subsequent producers were drawn when the show was rebooted in 2005. In the time since, it has continued to permeate and grow into a globally recognized brand, in the process acquiring an ever-more-complicated fictional backstory and relationship with its audience at home. Higgs aims to distill all that for us, perennially returning to the question of why this particular saga has amassed the fanatical, quasi-religious following that it has for so many adherents.
If this volume has a fault, it's an unavoidable one. Like any history, it can't hope to be as objective in its coverage of events nearing its own publication date, and so the chapter on Ncuti Gatwa and the Disney+ era feels somewhat incomplete. This book came out in April 2025 right as his second (and now apparently final) season was starting, and there's plenty of discourse about potential futures that the author unfortunately misses the mark on. Still, this is about as comprehensive and enjoyable of an overview as I could imagine on the subject.
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/lesserjoke
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
May 16, 2025
Listened to the audiobook of this sprightly yet richly detailed story on the life and many incarnations of Doctor Who.
The longest-running science fiction series on television and it has no creator. As John Higgs describes, the show was cobbled together over a series of memos at the BBC when they needed to fill an early evening time slot with something appealing to older children and their families.
The stroke of genius that ensures the longevity of Doctor Who is its continual self-renewal. It isn't tied to one location or period; even the entire cast, including the person playing the lead role, can be substituted, while the one fixed point, a 1960s police box, carries on spinning through the vortex with minimal disruption.
All of which is either fortuitous or the result of a gamble predicated on necessity. Doctor Who is a show that made up its rules as it went along and continues to do so.
The book documents the many hiccups along the path and the difficulties the eccentric, eclectic series of lead actors brought, as well as the behind-the-scenes conflicts experienced or provoked by the showrunners, producers and writers.
John Higgs is unsparing on the pile-up of disaster and rancor surrounding the Colin Baker era in the mid-1980s. Poor writing that reduced the female companion characters to mere ciphers was a perennial problem that reached its apotheosis with Nicola Bryant and her character, Peri, being subjected to the most appalling and sexist treatment on and off screen, at the hands of the brash, flashy showrunner John Nathan Turner.
Higgs prevaricates slightly with a 'who really knows what went on?' narrative when covering Christopher Eccleston's first and only series of the show's revival in 2005, when Eccleston quit during filming, alleging to have witnessed bullying conduct from senior production personnel.
He also soft-pedals on the contentious Chris Chibnall-run Jodie Whittaker era, characterising the criticisms as primarily stemming from "older fans" unable to accept a female Doctor, while portraying Whittaker's diehard online supporters as being positive and friendly. I had to laugh.
Even so, overall this was an absolute blast. And incredibly moreish, as in I wanted more - more on every Doctor, every era, everything. But he does a stellar job in encapsulating each strange step and surprising stage of the journey, reflecting the unpredictable voyages and bumpy landings of the Tardis. Vwoorp! Vworrp!
The longest-running science fiction series on television and it has no creator. As John Higgs describes, the show was cobbled together over a series of memos at the BBC when they needed to fill an early evening time slot with something appealing to older children and their families.
The stroke of genius that ensures the longevity of Doctor Who is its continual self-renewal. It isn't tied to one location or period; even the entire cast, including the person playing the lead role, can be substituted, while the one fixed point, a 1960s police box, carries on spinning through the vortex with minimal disruption.
All of which is either fortuitous or the result of a gamble predicated on necessity. Doctor Who is a show that made up its rules as it went along and continues to do so.
The book documents the many hiccups along the path and the difficulties the eccentric, eclectic series of lead actors brought, as well as the behind-the-scenes conflicts experienced or provoked by the showrunners, producers and writers.
John Higgs is unsparing on the pile-up of disaster and rancor surrounding the Colin Baker era in the mid-1980s. Poor writing that reduced the female companion characters to mere ciphers was a perennial problem that reached its apotheosis with Nicola Bryant and her character, Peri, being subjected to the most appalling and sexist treatment on and off screen, at the hands of the brash, flashy showrunner John Nathan Turner.
Higgs prevaricates slightly with a 'who really knows what went on?' narrative when covering Christopher Eccleston's first and only series of the show's revival in 2005, when Eccleston quit during filming, alleging to have witnessed bullying conduct from senior production personnel.
He also soft-pedals on the contentious Chris Chibnall-run Jodie Whittaker era, characterising the criticisms as primarily stemming from "older fans" unable to accept a female Doctor, while portraying Whittaker's diehard online supporters as being positive and friendly. I had to laugh.
Even so, overall this was an absolute blast. And incredibly moreish, as in I wanted more - more on every Doctor, every era, everything. But he does a stellar job in encapsulating each strange step and surprising stage of the journey, reflecting the unpredictable voyages and bumpy landings of the Tardis. Vwoorp! Vworrp!
August 24, 2025
There’s no danger here of removing James Chapman’s Inside The Tardis as the best general history of Doctor Who, but Higgs does a pretty good job of trying to distill sixty wayward years into 400 pages. It’s got a fair few errors in it, mostly from clearly misunderstanding stories, but these are minor quibbles. The problem really kicks in during the coverage of the revival. After a chapter on Eccleston that seems to focus on the fact that the new series struggles with open coverage of the making of the show and instead increasingly holds a sort of party line, he then manages to unquestioningly talk about concerns about the Chibbers and RTD2 era as if naysayers are just unhappy online whingers. Obviously there’s a lot of that in the reaction to those seasons, but it’s also a show that starts worrying too much about the show’s past and the book has very clearly gone to great pains to show how much that left the JNT era struggling for relevance. It possibly doesn’t help that he starts the chapter on the RTD2 era with a quote from Davies that describes the show as “a divine right”. This is clearly RTD trying to be provocative but it also very much highlights a lot of problems in the current era of laziness, over reliance on the show’s history and more hand waving bad endings than ever. There’s a good reason why Higgs tries to be neutral in tone about controversial eras of the show, but at some point you have to pick a bloody side you know?
June 21, 2025
A very, very readable history of Doctor Who that takes each era, gives a biography of the encumbent Doctor and some other key figures, relates (and sometimes fact checks) tales of behind the scenes shenanigans, and examines how the myth of the Doctor evolves over time. Some of the mytholigising reaches a bit, some of the anecdotes are familiar, but the whole work is compelling, comprehensive and a convincing argument for loving the show.
August 12, 2025
Except book around the background of Dr Who and why it appeals
April 18, 2025
An enjoyable read, but as a very (very, very) casual Doctor Who fan, it didn’t quite hit the notes I was hoping for.
When it touched on fandom and the extended universe that kept the spirit of the character/show going, I could’ve read far more of that rather than mini-biographies of the actors.
When it touched on fandom and the extended universe that kept the spirit of the character/show going, I could’ve read far more of that rather than mini-biographies of the actors.
May 3, 2025
Time Lord Testament: Cultural Odyssey Through British Hearts
John Higgs' Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who accomplishes the seemingly impossible—it captures the mercurial essence of a shape-shifting cultural phenomenon while simultaneously placing it within a rich historical context that illuminates both the program and the society that produced it. This is not merely television criticism but cultural archaeology of the highest order, excavating the ways in which a seemingly modest children's program evolved into a living myth that has reflected, challenged, and occasionally predicted British social evolution across six decades.
Higgs approaches his subject with scholarly rigor that never descends into academic dryness, maintaining a voice that blends analytical insight with genuine affection. "Doctor Who," he writes in the opening chapter, "has survived not merely by adapting to cultural shifts but by embodying contradiction itself—simultaneously rationalist and magical, nostalgic and progressive, profoundly British yet increasingly universal." This paradoxical nature becomes Higgs' throughline as he traces the program's journey from educational children's television to global phenomenon.
What elevates this book above standard television history is Higgs' masterful contextualization. The original series' emergence during the Cold War, its reflection of Britain's post-imperial identity crisis, and its later revival amid early 21st-century technological anxiety all receive thoughtful examination. When Higgs writes, "As the British Empire contracted, Doctor Who offered an alternative model of exploration—one where curiosity replaced conquest and difference was met with wonder rather than dominance," he transforms what might have been mere entertainment history into cultural analysis of genuine depth.
The book's structure follows the program's own regenerative cycles, organizing itself around distinct eras while showing how each period responded to both internal creative pressures and external social forces. Particularly illuminating is Higgs' examination of the "wilderness years" between the original series' cancellation in 1989 and its revival in 2005. "What Doctor Who developed during its exile from television," he observes, "was an immune system against institutional death—dispersing itself across novels, audio plays, and fan productions, becoming less a program than a collective creative endeavor sustained by those who understood its significance."
Higgs demonstrates remarkable balance in addressing both the program's triumphs and its failures. He doesn't shy away from critiquing problematic representations, production compromises, or creative missteps, yet maintains throughout a generosity of spirit that recognizes how limitations often reflected broader societal blind spots. His analysis of how early colonial attitudes gradually yielded to more nuanced cultural awareness provides a microcosm of British social evolution: "The program's treatment of otherness evolved as Britain itself struggled to redefine its relationship with former colonies—sometimes reproducing imperial assumptions, sometimes subtly subverting them, but always in dialogue with the nation's changing self-conception."
The prose throughout achieves that rare combination of accessibility and intellectual heft. When Higgs describes how the Third Doctor's exile on Earth mirrored Britain's diminished global status—"a formerly cosmic wanderer confined to a single planet, forced to recognize both the limitations and the value of the local"—he transforms production necessity into metaphorical resonance without overreaching. Similarly, his examination of how the program's visuals evolved from theatrical minimalism to cinematic ambition tracks broader shifts in visual literacy: "The cardboard sets that fans once defended as 'theatrical convention' became increasingly untenable as viewers developed more sophisticated visual expectations—a shift the revived series addressed not by abandoning the program's aesthetic but by reimagining it."
Particularly compelling is Higgs' analysis of how Doctor Who's relationship with its audience evolved from the paternalistic educational model of the 1960s to the collaborative interpretive community of the present day. "Few cultural texts," he writes, "have so thoroughly documented the shifting relationship between creators and consumers, with Doctor Who serving as a barometer for how stories are collectively owned in the modern era." This observation gestures toward the program's significance beyond entertainment—as a case study in evolving media ecology.
The book's examination of Doctor Who's most iconic elements—the TARDIS, regeneration, the Daleks—goes beyond surface appreciation to explore their deeper cultural resonance. The TARDIS becomes not merely a clever plot device but "an architectural metaphor for British identity—modest exterior concealing unexpected depth, technological advancement disguised as historical artifact." Similarly, regeneration is analyzed as both narrative necessity and philosophical stance: "The program's willingness to reimagine its protagonist reflects a fundamentally progressive worldview—the belief that change, however painful, contains the possibility of renewal."
If there's a criticism to be made, it's that Higgs occasionally succumbs to overstatement when arguing for the program's cultural significance. Not every aspect of Doctor Who carries profound metaphorical weight, and acknowledgment of its more disposable elements would strengthen rather than undermine his case for its importance. Similarly, certain eras receive more nuanced treatment than others, with the Tom Baker years particularly well-examined while the Colin Baker period feels somewhat hastily addressed.
These minor quibbles aside, Exterminate/Regenerate stands as the definitive cultural history of a program that has woven itself into Britain's creative DNA. Higgs' final chapters, examining how the modern series has addressed issues of gender, representation, and format expectations, provide valuable perspective on ongoing debates while suggesting the program's continuing capacity for meaningful evolution. "Doctor Who endures," he concludes, "not because it has remained unchanging but because it has made adaptation its core principle—a narrative engine fueled by the very contradictions that would destroy less flexible institutions."
For anyone interested in how television shapes and reflects cultural values across time, this book proves as regenerative as its subject—breathing new life into our understanding of a uniquely enduring modern myth. Higgs has crafted not merely a history of a television program but a map of British cultural evolution through the unlikely lens of a time-traveling alien who, like the nation that created him, has constantly reimagined himself while maintaining a distinctive cultural identity. In doing so, he has produced that rarest of cultural histories—one that illuminates both its subject and the society that continues to find itself reflected in an eccentric alien's adventures through time and space.
John Higgs' Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who accomplishes the seemingly impossible—it captures the mercurial essence of a shape-shifting cultural phenomenon while simultaneously placing it within a rich historical context that illuminates both the program and the society that produced it. This is not merely television criticism but cultural archaeology of the highest order, excavating the ways in which a seemingly modest children's program evolved into a living myth that has reflected, challenged, and occasionally predicted British social evolution across six decades.
Higgs approaches his subject with scholarly rigor that never descends into academic dryness, maintaining a voice that blends analytical insight with genuine affection. "Doctor Who," he writes in the opening chapter, "has survived not merely by adapting to cultural shifts but by embodying contradiction itself—simultaneously rationalist and magical, nostalgic and progressive, profoundly British yet increasingly universal." This paradoxical nature becomes Higgs' throughline as he traces the program's journey from educational children's television to global phenomenon.
What elevates this book above standard television history is Higgs' masterful contextualization. The original series' emergence during the Cold War, its reflection of Britain's post-imperial identity crisis, and its later revival amid early 21st-century technological anxiety all receive thoughtful examination. When Higgs writes, "As the British Empire contracted, Doctor Who offered an alternative model of exploration—one where curiosity replaced conquest and difference was met with wonder rather than dominance," he transforms what might have been mere entertainment history into cultural analysis of genuine depth.
The book's structure follows the program's own regenerative cycles, organizing itself around distinct eras while showing how each period responded to both internal creative pressures and external social forces. Particularly illuminating is Higgs' examination of the "wilderness years" between the original series' cancellation in 1989 and its revival in 2005. "What Doctor Who developed during its exile from television," he observes, "was an immune system against institutional death—dispersing itself across novels, audio plays, and fan productions, becoming less a program than a collective creative endeavor sustained by those who understood its significance."
Higgs demonstrates remarkable balance in addressing both the program's triumphs and its failures. He doesn't shy away from critiquing problematic representations, production compromises, or creative missteps, yet maintains throughout a generosity of spirit that recognizes how limitations often reflected broader societal blind spots. His analysis of how early colonial attitudes gradually yielded to more nuanced cultural awareness provides a microcosm of British social evolution: "The program's treatment of otherness evolved as Britain itself struggled to redefine its relationship with former colonies—sometimes reproducing imperial assumptions, sometimes subtly subverting them, but always in dialogue with the nation's changing self-conception."
The prose throughout achieves that rare combination of accessibility and intellectual heft. When Higgs describes how the Third Doctor's exile on Earth mirrored Britain's diminished global status—"a formerly cosmic wanderer confined to a single planet, forced to recognize both the limitations and the value of the local"—he transforms production necessity into metaphorical resonance without overreaching. Similarly, his examination of how the program's visuals evolved from theatrical minimalism to cinematic ambition tracks broader shifts in visual literacy: "The cardboard sets that fans once defended as 'theatrical convention' became increasingly untenable as viewers developed more sophisticated visual expectations—a shift the revived series addressed not by abandoning the program's aesthetic but by reimagining it."
Particularly compelling is Higgs' analysis of how Doctor Who's relationship with its audience evolved from the paternalistic educational model of the 1960s to the collaborative interpretive community of the present day. "Few cultural texts," he writes, "have so thoroughly documented the shifting relationship between creators and consumers, with Doctor Who serving as a barometer for how stories are collectively owned in the modern era." This observation gestures toward the program's significance beyond entertainment—as a case study in evolving media ecology.
The book's examination of Doctor Who's most iconic elements—the TARDIS, regeneration, the Daleks—goes beyond surface appreciation to explore their deeper cultural resonance. The TARDIS becomes not merely a clever plot device but "an architectural metaphor for British identity—modest exterior concealing unexpected depth, technological advancement disguised as historical artifact." Similarly, regeneration is analyzed as both narrative necessity and philosophical stance: "The program's willingness to reimagine its protagonist reflects a fundamentally progressive worldview—the belief that change, however painful, contains the possibility of renewal."
If there's a criticism to be made, it's that Higgs occasionally succumbs to overstatement when arguing for the program's cultural significance. Not every aspect of Doctor Who carries profound metaphorical weight, and acknowledgment of its more disposable elements would strengthen rather than undermine his case for its importance. Similarly, certain eras receive more nuanced treatment than others, with the Tom Baker years particularly well-examined while the Colin Baker period feels somewhat hastily addressed.
These minor quibbles aside, Exterminate/Regenerate stands as the definitive cultural history of a program that has woven itself into Britain's creative DNA. Higgs' final chapters, examining how the modern series has addressed issues of gender, representation, and format expectations, provide valuable perspective on ongoing debates while suggesting the program's continuing capacity for meaningful evolution. "Doctor Who endures," he concludes, "not because it has remained unchanging but because it has made adaptation its core principle—a narrative engine fueled by the very contradictions that would destroy less flexible institutions."
For anyone interested in how television shapes and reflects cultural values across time, this book proves as regenerative as its subject—breathing new life into our understanding of a uniquely enduring modern myth. Higgs has crafted not merely a history of a television program but a map of British cultural evolution through the unlikely lens of a time-traveling alien who, like the nation that created him, has constantly reimagined himself while maintaining a distinctive cultural identity. In doing so, he has produced that rarest of cultural histories—one that illuminates both its subject and the society that continues to find itself reflected in an eccentric alien's adventures through time and space.
August 17, 2025
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/exterminate-regenerate-the-story-of-doctor-who-by-john-higgs/
This is a nice chunky book about the history of Doctor Who, from 1963 to 2024, by the author of the book about Watling Street which I enjoyed a few years ago. It takes an interesting approach: a chapter per Doctor (two for the First and Fourth Doctors), looking very much at the story behind the scenes, why particular decisions were made, why particular people were hired and fired, and treating the sixty years of the show as a whole, single phenomenon to be explained as a whole.
A lot of the material was familiar (indeed the Second Doctor chapter seemed very familiar to me, though others seemed more original). I wished also that a bit more space had been given to the spinoff series (sadly neither The Curse of Fatal Death nor The Scream of the Shalka is mentioned), and to the comics, books and audios (and indeed games); although the TV series is by definition the core, there’s a lot more Whoniverse out there.
(Also, it is not entirely Higgs’ fault, but I cannot completely forgive him for inspiring me to seek out Jon Pertwee’s two scenes in the 1977 sex comedy Adventures of a Private Eye. I urge you not to look for them. Some things are better left in well-deserved obscurity.)
However, Higgs brings a lot of good stuff here. His analysis of how the show got created in the first place in 1962-63 is one of the best of the many that I have read, bringing in some new facts and circumstantial material. I think he is also right to split the First and Fourth Doctor eras; the case for treating Four/Hinchcliffe distinctly from Four/Williams+JNT is fairy obvious, but I have long felt that there’s a similar case for One/Lambert and One/Wiles+Lloyd, and Higgs just does it effortlessly.
It also feels to me like it’s fairly rare to take the holistic approach and treat Old Who just the same as New Who (and the Movie). Even within Old Who, we tend to treat the so-called black-and-white era separately from the color era. But in principle, there’s no reason not to apply the same analytical approach to all of it, and Higgs demonstrates that such an approach can be successful.
A particular sub theme that I will have to think about is Higgs’ insistence that some key stories should be seen as direct reflections of what was happening in the production history of the show at the time. So, the two trials of the Doctor in The War Games and in Season 23 reflect the pressures of potential cancellation of the entire show (as does The Greatest Show in the Galaxy). This only gets you so far, but it does get you a certain distance.
In the end, Higgs is entitled to write the book he wanted to write, which is not completely the book I wanted to read, but is certainly close enough to it to make this very worthwhile. It’s only just out, folks, so you may not have seen much hype around it – well worth getting, and I will nominate it for the BSFA Non-Fiction award next year.
This is a nice chunky book about the history of Doctor Who, from 1963 to 2024, by the author of the book about Watling Street which I enjoyed a few years ago. It takes an interesting approach: a chapter per Doctor (two for the First and Fourth Doctors), looking very much at the story behind the scenes, why particular decisions were made, why particular people were hired and fired, and treating the sixty years of the show as a whole, single phenomenon to be explained as a whole.
A lot of the material was familiar (indeed the Second Doctor chapter seemed very familiar to me, though others seemed more original). I wished also that a bit more space had been given to the spinoff series (sadly neither The Curse of Fatal Death nor The Scream of the Shalka is mentioned), and to the comics, books and audios (and indeed games); although the TV series is by definition the core, there’s a lot more Whoniverse out there.
(Also, it is not entirely Higgs’ fault, but I cannot completely forgive him for inspiring me to seek out Jon Pertwee’s two scenes in the 1977 sex comedy Adventures of a Private Eye. I urge you not to look for them. Some things are better left in well-deserved obscurity.)
However, Higgs brings a lot of good stuff here. His analysis of how the show got created in the first place in 1962-63 is one of the best of the many that I have read, bringing in some new facts and circumstantial material. I think he is also right to split the First and Fourth Doctor eras; the case for treating Four/Hinchcliffe distinctly from Four/Williams+JNT is fairy obvious, but I have long felt that there’s a similar case for One/Lambert and One/Wiles+Lloyd, and Higgs just does it effortlessly.
It also feels to me like it’s fairly rare to take the holistic approach and treat Old Who just the same as New Who (and the Movie). Even within Old Who, we tend to treat the so-called black-and-white era separately from the color era. But in principle, there’s no reason not to apply the same analytical approach to all of it, and Higgs demonstrates that such an approach can be successful.
A particular sub theme that I will have to think about is Higgs’ insistence that some key stories should be seen as direct reflections of what was happening in the production history of the show at the time. So, the two trials of the Doctor in The War Games and in Season 23 reflect the pressures of potential cancellation of the entire show (as does The Greatest Show in the Galaxy). This only gets you so far, but it does get you a certain distance.
In the end, Higgs is entitled to write the book he wanted to write, which is not completely the book I wanted to read, but is certainly close enough to it to make this very worthwhile. It’s only just out, folks, so you may not have seen much hype around it – well worth getting, and I will nominate it for the BSFA Non-Fiction award next year.
July 2, 2025
This was kind of the perfect book on Doctor Who for me (by the same guy who wrote a book on the KLF, duh)—and also, this was the hardcover edition, which apparently is not on here? :( I would say I am a Doctor Who fan, more than an armchair enthusiast but less than a superfan? I say this because maybe superfans already know a lot of the info here, I don't know? I certainly didn't know much of what was covered, although I'm familiar with most of the people involved. I have watched all of New Doctor Who and quite a lot of old Doctor Who, which I originally grew up with, starting with Peter Davison.
There is a great cultural aspect to this study of Doctor Who through the ages. It's got some nice tidbits of information but is more a general survey that zooms in on things to give an interesting perspective at times. Higgs has a great way of contextualizing, and he thankfully is less interested in judging the quality of the program. He has empathy and compassion for the people involved, even for some of the more polarizing ones. As someone who has never been interested in ranking and complaining about the show (although I have my favorites) this was really welcome.
There is also a lot about fandom in this book, which seems inseparable from the show at this point. This can be a little depressing at times, but I understand its inclusion. Why depressing? Because of the aforementioned "ranking and complaining", which tends to be a turn off to me, although I do value constructive criticism.
All in all, I think this is a great book if you are interested in Doctor Who, don't already know a lot about it, and have an open mind.
There is a great cultural aspect to this study of Doctor Who through the ages. It's got some nice tidbits of information but is more a general survey that zooms in on things to give an interesting perspective at times. Higgs has a great way of contextualizing, and he thankfully is less interested in judging the quality of the program. He has empathy and compassion for the people involved, even for some of the more polarizing ones. As someone who has never been interested in ranking and complaining about the show (although I have my favorites) this was really welcome.
There is also a lot about fandom in this book, which seems inseparable from the show at this point. This can be a little depressing at times, but I understand its inclusion. Why depressing? Because of the aforementioned "ranking and complaining", which tends to be a turn off to me, although I do value constructive criticism.
All in all, I think this is a great book if you are interested in Doctor Who, don't already know a lot about it, and have an open mind.
August 10, 2025
I've been an out and proud Who nerd for most of my life. Well, apart from that mid to late teenage period where you're desperate to leave childish things behind, just before you reach adulthood and realise that childish things are quite cool. I've read untold books about the making of the show, episode guides and behind the scenes tidbits, alongside the endless documentaries which litter the remarkable DVD and blu-ray releases we've been treated to over the years. So I wasn't sure what else this book would have to tell me.
In truth...probably not *that* much. But there were snippets here and there which were new to me. The book's strength is in how well it's been compiled and researched, and the engaging way it tells the story of this show's sixty odd years. Higgs doesn't shy away from the darker side...Hartnell's predujices, Troughton's infidelity, Tom Baker's bullying and mental health, the mess that was the mid eighties, JNT's dubious sexual exploits, the somewhat mysterious fall outs during Eccleston's era and the cancellations of Barrowman and Clarke for suspect shenanigans. It's all laid bare, amongst the great charms of the show, its success and failures, the fandom which has grown up around it and what drives a minority of that to act so negatively. For someone such as myself, for whom the show has been a constant, even whilst it was off air for the best part of 16 years, it was like a nostalgic trip through my own life. It's almost certainly the best book on this daft old show that I've ever read and I'd recommend it not only to other fans, but also anyone with a passing interest in the history of television.
In truth...probably not *that* much. But there were snippets here and there which were new to me. The book's strength is in how well it's been compiled and researched, and the engaging way it tells the story of this show's sixty odd years. Higgs doesn't shy away from the darker side...Hartnell's predujices, Troughton's infidelity, Tom Baker's bullying and mental health, the mess that was the mid eighties, JNT's dubious sexual exploits, the somewhat mysterious fall outs during Eccleston's era and the cancellations of Barrowman and Clarke for suspect shenanigans. It's all laid bare, amongst the great charms of the show, its success and failures, the fandom which has grown up around it and what drives a minority of that to act so negatively. For someone such as myself, for whom the show has been a constant, even whilst it was off air for the best part of 16 years, it was like a nostalgic trip through my own life. It's almost certainly the best book on this daft old show that I've ever read and I'd recommend it not only to other fans, but also anyone with a passing interest in the history of television.
August 2, 2025
I’m a longtime fan of Doctor Who and, like most longtime fans have consumed facts, trivia, and behind the scenes stories for decades. When I bought this my wife sighed, surely there’s nothing you don’t already know?
Well this was a lot. This book charts the change and evolution of the show itself, its challenges, the behind the scenes politics, the evolution of viewership and more. It was a fascinating read, and I whizzed through it at breakneck speed, rather like the thrill of the show itself.
If you’re a fan of the show, it’s an essential read.
If you’re interested in the evolution of a 60 year old series, it’s an essential read.
If you’re interested in the cultural impact and evolution of a British cultural institution, it’s an essential read.
As you can tell, I rather enjoyed this. It brought back many fond memories, it made me reevaluate the history of a show I love and the creative process and people that have been part of its journey.
Well this was a lot. This book charts the change and evolution of the show itself, its challenges, the behind the scenes politics, the evolution of viewership and more. It was a fascinating read, and I whizzed through it at breakneck speed, rather like the thrill of the show itself.
If you’re a fan of the show, it’s an essential read.
If you’re interested in the evolution of a 60 year old series, it’s an essential read.
If you’re interested in the cultural impact and evolution of a British cultural institution, it’s an essential read.
As you can tell, I rather enjoyed this. It brought back many fond memories, it made me reevaluate the history of a show I love and the creative process and people that have been part of its journey.
November 9, 2025
This is a bit of a funny one in all honesty. This isn't a complete history of Doctor Who, nor does it look at the show through a certain lens. Essentially this is a tomb of mini-essays, sorted by era of the show, looking at all number of different aspects. Unfortunately, my main issue comes from the fact that this sometimes has too great a focus on the wrong things, or more the wrong people. So many of the Who greats such as Christopher Barry, Dudley Simpson, Christopher H. Bidmead, Mervyn Pinfield aren't mentioned at all, yet Higgs brings up Gary Downie several times, choosing to focus on the allegations and his general behaviour instead of celebrating the show. Even fan and ex-DWM Time Team member Claudia Boleyn is brought up and written about in rather an unpleasant manner. On the other hand, there is some quite good stuff and Higgs is clearly a well-researched author and very interested in the subject.
April 28, 2025
The first half of the book about Classic Doctor Who was fascinating. I've read so many other books about that era but this one still had a few bits of information that I didn't know. There's certainly some bits of dirt in there especially surrounding the years JNT was in charge and the chaos behind the scenes when the BBC was trying to axe the show. Unfortunately when we get to 2005 onwards there's not much to learn. Obviously the show was a huge success but over time it's popularity and ratings have dropped but the book doesn't really cover that the way it does for the classic era instead there's quite a few pages going on about toxic fans on social media and YouTube. We really learn nothing new although there's some interesting stuff about Moffat not being able to quit the show when he first wanted to. Still worth a read especially for the classic Who stuff.
June 2, 2025
Hugely entertaining and informative look at the TV show and cultural phenomenon that is Doctor Who.
I admit I'm more of a casual than committed fan - I suspect the Eccleston series is the only one I've watched all the way through and all the Gatwa episodes are still sitting on my planner - so how much of this would be new to die hard fans I can't speak to, but I really enjoyed it.
It doesn't do everything perfectly - Higgs seems to fall over his own feet a bit when tackling allegations of sexual misconduct that arose in the era of classic Who and of the toxic workplace that Eccleston complained of - but it's not afraid to be a bit philosophical and to look at the show in context.
I admit I'm more of a casual than committed fan - I suspect the Eccleston series is the only one I've watched all the way through and all the Gatwa episodes are still sitting on my planner - so how much of this would be new to die hard fans I can't speak to, but I really enjoyed it.
It doesn't do everything perfectly - Higgs seems to fall over his own feet a bit when tackling allegations of sexual misconduct that arose in the era of classic Who and of the toxic workplace that Eccleston complained of - but it's not afraid to be a bit philosophical and to look at the show in context.
April 16, 2025
I really love this book, an absolute delight. It’s not as in depth as David Brunt’s Production Diaries but it’s written in such a way that it’s a joy to read. The history of Doctor Who is the history of TV in many ways.
John Higgs covers all the salient points throughout the history of Doctor Who and he does it with really readable text all the while commenting on the evolution of the character of the Doctor. He gives his perspective as the history unfolds and I think most fans would agree with Higgs.
I think it’s probably the most enjoyable book I’ve read about Doctor Who.
John Higgs covers all the salient points throughout the history of Doctor Who and he does it with really readable text all the while commenting on the evolution of the character of the Doctor. He gives his perspective as the history unfolds and I think most fans would agree with Higgs.
I think it’s probably the most enjoyable book I’ve read about Doctor Who.
May 12, 2025
A brilliantly plotted and meticulous account of Who's cultural context and how it's been shaped and pummeled into existence. Even if the author stretches the metaphors at times (sometimes Time Lords are just Time Lords, not the BBC), the end result is still a fascinating and insightful appreciation of all things Doctor. Made me realise that there really is no **ideal** versions of the show, just different iterations and interpretations of the format. Great stuff, highly recommended to anyone with even a passing interest in British telly.
June 11, 2025
An insightful and entertaining commentary on the history of one of the greatest and most important tv shows ever made.
Starting with Hartnell and taking us all the way to Gatwa, John Higgs gives us an easily digestible and witty analysis of the production of the show through its highs and lows detailing the shows immense importance to the BBC and wider British culture.
A must read for any true Who fan.
Starting with Hartnell and taking us all the way to Gatwa, John Higgs gives us an easily digestible and witty analysis of the production of the show through its highs and lows detailing the shows immense importance to the BBC and wider British culture.
A must read for any true Who fan.
July 13, 2025
My daughter loves a backstory so we’ve been watching old Dr Who and she got this for her birthday. I like Higgs’ as a cultural critic but this attempts too much: 60 years of cultural history, the making a TV show and the show’s (insane) mythology can’t all be adequately covered in 400 pages. There’s some interesting stuff though, particularly on how the show continually adapts to changing media consumption.
July 8, 2025
I'll read anything John Higgs releases. I enjoyed the history of Dr Who and how it evolved with changing culture and the tastes of BBC executives, and how it launched the careers of a number of directors and producers. Ultimately, I think I needed to have a greater interest in the show to derive more enjoyment from it.
April 17, 2025
An excellent overview of 'Doctor Who' from its inception right through to the present day. Plenty of new material to sink your teeth into and unafraid to examine the controversial parts of 'Doctor Who's past.
November 8, 2025
3.75 - A little slow to start but enjoyed it overall. Felt like quite a few people were glossed over in the modern who section, particularly the companions who felt like they got more written about them in the classic who section.
December 2, 2025
This was too short but tbf there is no conceivable page count where I wouldn’t think that
The guy also seems to think Doctor Who is the literal greatest thing humans ever made but luckily he’s right otherwise it would sound hyperbolic
The guy also seems to think Doctor Who is the literal greatest thing humans ever made but luckily he’s right otherwise it would sound hyperbolic
April 17, 2025
I love John Higgs, and this is great. But like Dr Who in reality I lost a bit of interest once we got to the 2000s. 😁
May 19, 2025
Histórias contínuas possuem o privilégio de serem vivas.
June 15, 2025
For fans
July 1, 2025
I now review the books I read exclusively on Instagram, because Goodreads is awful. Click here to read my review.
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