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A review by nwhyte
Outside In: 160 new perspectives on 160 classic Doctor Who stories by 160 writers by Thomas Marshall, Graham Howard, Sarah Baum, Paul Simpson, Jez Strickley, Barnaby Edwards, Graeme Burk, Jonathan Blum, Stuart Milne, Finn Clark, Greg McElhatton, Si Hunt, Stuart Douglas, Piers Beckley, Paul Castle, Ari Lipsey, John Keegan, Nick Mellish, Steven Warren Hill, Jon Arnold, Cameron Dixon, Neil Clarke, Kim Newman, Robert Smith?, A.D. Morrison, Andrew Cartmel, Matt Turner, Elizabeth Sandifer, Tammy Garrison, Jennifer Adams Kelley, Matthew Kresal, David J. Howe, Simon Kinnear, Quiana Howard, L.M. Myles, Dave Rolinson, Trey Korte, Kathryn Sullivan, George Ivanoff, Deborah Stanish, Kate Orman, Dewi Evans, Shaun Lyon, Daniel Kukwa, Alan Stevens, Teresa Jusino, Scott Clarke, Hannah J. Rothman
5.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3129345.html
According to the subtitle, this is a collection of "160 New Perspectives on 160 classic Doctor Who stories by 160 writers". I must say it's a very refreshingly different take compared to other guides I have read to Old Who; the variety of voices makes for a very entertaining read. There are some interesting defences of stories which are generally held in low esteem. Steven Warren Hill looks at the Silurians in the context of the Northern Ireland conflict; Matthew Kilburn looks at The Invasion of Time in terms of the British class system; there are lots of entertaining insights, and very few that miss the mark (fewer than one gets in the many books about Old Who where the same author or authors write about each story).
Not every essay is actually about the show as broadcast. There's a review of the first BBC video release of one story, of the novelisation of another. The shortest piece of the lot is by my own brother, who writes up "The Daemons in the style of new Doctor Who" thus:
[start]
JO: Don't kill the Doctor, he's fantastic! Kill me instead!
AZAL: Good point. I was just realizing how stupid it would be to kill the Doctor. (KILLS JO).
DOCTOR: Tut tut.
AZAL: I'm the last of my kind, you know.
DOCTOR: Really?
[end]
It's very refreshing.
According to the subtitle, this is a collection of "160 New Perspectives on 160 classic Doctor Who stories by 160 writers". I must say it's a very refreshingly different take compared to other guides I have read to Old Who; the variety of voices makes for a very entertaining read. There are some interesting defences of stories which are generally held in low esteem. Steven Warren Hill looks at the Silurians in the context of the Northern Ireland conflict; Matthew Kilburn looks at The Invasion of Time in terms of the British class system; there are lots of entertaining insights, and very few that miss the mark (fewer than one gets in the many books about Old Who where the same author or authors write about each story).
Not every essay is actually about the show as broadcast. There's a review of the first BBC video release of one story, of the novelisation of another. The shortest piece of the lot is by my own brother, who writes up "The Daemons in the style of new Doctor Who" thus:
[start]
JO: Don't kill the Doctor, he's fantastic! Kill me instead!
AZAL: Good point. I was just realizing how stupid it would be to kill the Doctor. (KILLS JO).
DOCTOR: Tut tut.
AZAL: I'm the last of my kind, you know.
DOCTOR: Really?
[end]
It's very refreshing.