TARDISbound: Navigating the Universes of Doctor Who

by Piers D. Britton

Doctor Who has always thrived on multiplicty, unpredictability and transformation, its worlds and characters kaleidoscopic and shifting - and its complexity has exponentially increased over the last twenty years. With its triumphant return to TV in 2005, Doctor Who existed in four different fictional forms, across three different media, with five actors simultaneously playing the eponymous hero. TARDISbound is the first book to deal both with the TV series and with the "audio adventures," original novels, and short story anthologies produced since the 1990s, engaging with the common elements of these different texts and with distinctive features of each.   TARDISbound places Doctor Who under a variety of lenses, from examining the leading characteristics of these Doctor Who texts, to issues of class, ethnicity and gender in relation to the Doctor(s), other TARDIS crew-members, and the non-human/inhuman beings they encounter. TARDISbound also addresses major questions about the aesthetics and ethical implications of Doctor Who.

Genres: Doctor Who, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2009

Reviews

[Kristina Coop-a-Loop · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a moderately enthusiastic fan of Doctor Who (new series but not the eighth season. Ugh) so why I decided to read TARDISbound: Navigating the Universes of Doctor Who by Piers D. Britton is a puzzle. I guess it looked interesting. Some of it is interesting, but it’s not light reading. TARDISbound is a scholarly analysis of DW in many of its forms (books, television and audio plays).

Britton’s critical analysis isn’t just reserved for the stories of DW, he also breaks down the different incarnations of the Doctor (starting with William Hartnell). He discusses how the current political and cultural climate in England affects the Doctor’s personality, how he speaks, and what clothes he wears. The chapters I found most interesting were the two that dealt with Doctor and his companions. “Who Da Man?” is a discussion of the Doctor’s masculinity (is he the typical macho hero of adventure stories?) and sexuality. Is he gay? Is he straight? Is he asexual? Does it even matter? “I’m Not His Assistant!” deals with the female companions that have accompanied the Doctor over the years and how their roles changed (or didn’t in some cases). Those two chapters were the most thought-provoking for me (the Doctor is a narcissist macho jerk? No way!).

There’s a lot of technical mumbo jumbo to wade through in this book. Words like “palimpsest” and “heteronormative” litter the pages of this book—and those are the easy ones. I enjoyed some of the discussions and they’ve made me see Doctor Who with a fresh perspective, but a lot of this was more information/detailed analysis than I needed. Britton dives into the books and the audio recordings a lot and having never dived into those genres (well, I read one book), I wasn’t as interested. However, if you are a fan of Doctor Who and can stomach lots of scholarly lingo, then give this book a go.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

More dissertation writing! Again, as with my last reviews of Doctor Who non-fiction texts, this isn't a general fan non-fiction book it is specifically written with media analysation in mind (or so I assume seeing as I read this under the context of a media degree), not that a non-academic use couldn't be enjoyed but it's fair enough warning that this isn't written for 'everyone'.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretentious garbage. I read about half of it and just had to put it down for several reasons. First, I am not sure who the intended audience is for this book. This approach to analyzing Doctor Who, combined with a heavily academic style of writing, I think only appeals to a narrow audience. That's not to say fans of the show or anyone else would not be interested in wanting to read a critique of the sociological and societal impacts and connections of the expanded Doctor Who universe. However, the author uses unnecessarily pretentious syntax (why use "texts" to refer to the multitude of stories found in Doctor Who, especially since primarily it is a TELEVISION show?). "Hyperdiegesis"? Why? Using such heavy language is a real turn off and gets in the way of the points that the author is trying to make.

The points, as well, are often nonsensical and reflects an attempt to find fault in the writing where none was truly intended. Doctor Who is a work of (science-)fiction and, while shouldn't be given total free reign when it comes to quality writing, social sensitivities, and contemporary mores, IT IS FICTION. GET OVER IT. (Yes, I get the irony of my writing in this manner, while criticizing Britton of doing the same.) For example, when he discussed Donna's tragic fate, he criticized the show/Doctor of being paternalistic towards Donna and ignoring her desires. The Doctor chose to save her life rather than allow her to keep her memories and Time Lord abilities (which were created by a freak of nature) and have her brain burn. Maybe she wouldn't have made that choice, but "paternalistic"? Come on.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ambitious, thoughtful, but ultimately frustrating analysis of Doctor Who. The biggest claims, in the last two chapters, really need a lot more space devoted to them to substantiate. In fact, in the last chapter, Britton doesn't even try to substantiate his claims about Doctor Who's ethical value. Nonetheless, I'd highly recommend the book, as Britton makes some really interesting points, advancing our understanding of Doctor Who (and upsetting a few of my own opinions along the way). The micro-readings alone are worth the cover price, and I was particularly impressed with the chapters on the class of the Doctor, and on the heteronormative structuring of the companions. I also appreciate Britton's post-canonical inclusiveness, and he does a good job of glossing books/audios that I haven't encountered. (See my Reading Progress notes for more comments.) I hope he writes more criticism.

[Alanoud (Anna) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this when I was checking out a book for one of my classes. It was like a sign and I LOVE Doctor Who so I had to check it out. I did enjoy the first chapter and then decided to skim it instead of reading the whole thing. I didn't think this was ruining my love for DW; I will always love it, but I enjoyed looking into it from a different yet more academic point of view. I love love love that there are people out there who are studying the narratives, the aesthetics and the whole idea of DW. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on the Doctor's companions. I may not agree with everything the author said but I respect him for taking on such a challenging task.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best modern academic texts I've read regarding "Doctor Who". I especially like the class analysis of the Doctor's character. It manages to have a very broad scope (TV episodes, novels, audio adventures), while maintaining and easy-to-read, intimate writing style.