When I picked up this book, I was hoping for a good source of general information source on the past and present of The Doctor. While there is certainly a past love for the character, the author clearly has an axe to grind.
The author so clearly has a chip on his shoulder about Matt Smith to the point of it being obnoxious. I really wanted to learn about Doctor Who, I’ve loved 9, 10, and 11, and I’m getting back into 4 and some of the others. Reading constantly how much the author is disgusted by Matt Smith doesn’t do me any good at all and makes me not want to read it. At all.
He assures us that neither bow ties nor fezzes are cool (something both subjective and untrue) and makes us feel like we’re idiots for enjoying Matt Smith.
Here’s a direct passage from the book:
Reclaiming the most grotesque personal flaws of the Sixth Doctor, while reiterating the visual missteps too (bow ties and fezzes are not cool, no matter how loudly he insists otherwise), the Eleventh Doctor dealt in riddles, not because they were necessary but because they sounded profound (or comical) the first time he used them.
As the Tenth Doctor, he coined the term “timey wimey” as a way out of having to explain a particular phenomenon to the slow-on-the-uptake Martha. As the Eleventh he adopted a virtual catchphrase, a way out of explaining anything to anyone, and while that might have been sufficient to satisfy the imbecilic curiosity of his then-current companions, the impossibly dull Amy and Rory, it also reduced his own believability, suggesting infallibilaty by redacting its actuality. Plus, didn’t comedian Russell Brand do the same thingy-wingy with his booky-wooky first?
Isn’t that so incredibly pedantic and insulting?
Here’s where I have a problem with this: This book isn’t billed as an editorial for the author. It’s billed as a FAQ. I wanted answers to my questions and to learn something, not be lectured about how stupid I am for liking one of the best Doctor’s we’ve ever had.
Did I learn some things? Sure. But really only when Mr. Thompson seemed to care about the character.
This book is billed as reference, but at times it reads more like a diatribe.
For my money, I’m waiting for Alan Kistler’s book instead. That guy knows Doctor Who and he’s a great writer.
If you insist on buying this book, you can get it on Amazon. I don’t recommend it, though. At all. Unless you like getting lectured. Or called an idiot.
