lokster71's review against another edition
4.0
Ah, another month. Another Black Archive. Although I should have read this in October.
I enjoyed Dewi Small's slim book on Listen. I'm not sure I've read a proper attempt to analyse a Doctor Who episode using Freud before and I'm not sure how useful such an approach is. However, it made for interesting reading. The book isn't all Freud but the first section is. Even if one thinks an author in The Black Archives is reaching a little - and Small isn't the only one I've felt this with - they always provide food for thought.
The rest of the book talks about Clara and the role of the Companion in creating 'The Doctor'. There were some issues at the time with a section of fandom about Clara becoming the focus of the show and that her role in the Doctor's history was somehow corrupting the strength of the Doctor and her role in this story in feeding in lines that we think of as 'The Doctor's' to a young Doctor was clearly part of that issue. Small tackles that view head-on and - quite rightly - points out that The Doctor has always been influenced by his companions, referring to the fact that the First Doctor in 'An Unearthly Child' isn't really the Doctor until after the events of 'The Edge of Destruction'. That the Doctor's personality is - essentially - performative*. He needs an audience to keep him from diverting to another personality.
I found it an interesting read, as with all the Black Archive series that I have read so far. I like the fact that whatever the editorial policy is of the Black Archive is it doesn't force the authors to stick to a set format. They can attack a story from whatever angle they wish. I can't recommend these highly enough to Doctor Who fans that want a bit of interesting reading material on the stories they love.
*Small does use that word, but I think it fits.
I enjoyed Dewi Small's slim book on Listen. I'm not sure I've read a proper attempt to analyse a Doctor Who episode using Freud before and I'm not sure how useful such an approach is. However, it made for interesting reading. The book isn't all Freud but the first section is. Even if one thinks an author in The Black Archives is reaching a little - and Small isn't the only one I've felt this with - they always provide food for thought.
The rest of the book talks about Clara and the role of the Companion in creating 'The Doctor'. There were some issues at the time with a section of fandom about Clara becoming the focus of the show and that her role in the Doctor's history was somehow corrupting the strength of the Doctor and her role in this story in feeding in lines that we think of as 'The Doctor's' to a young Doctor was clearly part of that issue. Small tackles that view head-on and - quite rightly - points out that The Doctor has always been influenced by his companions, referring to the fact that the First Doctor in 'An Unearthly Child' isn't really the Doctor until after the events of 'The Edge of Destruction'. That the Doctor's personality is - essentially - performative*. He needs an audience to keep him from diverting to another personality.
I found it an interesting read, as with all the Black Archive series that I have read so far. I like the fact that whatever the editorial policy is of the Black Archive is it doesn't force the authors to stick to a set format. They can attack a story from whatever angle they wish. I can't recommend these highly enough to Doctor Who fans that want a bit of interesting reading material on the stories they love.
*Small does use that word, but I think it fits.
theatricallum's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating read- check out Chapter 6 to understand the times we are literally living through right now.
lokster71's review
4.0
Ah, another month. Another Black Archive. Although I should have read this in October.
I enjoyed Dewi Small's slim book on Listen. I'm not sure I've read a proper attempt to analyse a Doctor Who episode using Freud before and I'm not sure how useful such an approach is. However, it made for interesting reading. The book isn't all Freud but the first section is. Even if one thinks an author in The Black Archives is reaching a little - and Small isn't the only one I've felt this with - they always provide food for thought.
The rest of the book talks about Clara and the role of the Companion in creating 'The Doctor'. There were some issues at the time with a section of fandom about Clara becoming the focus of the show and that her role in the Doctor's history was somehow corrupting the strength of the Doctor and her role in this story in feeding in lines that we think of as 'The Doctor's' to a young Doctor was clearly part of that issue. Small tackles that view head-on and - quite rightly - points out that The Doctor has always been influenced by his companions, referring to the fact that the First Doctor in 'An Unearthly Child' isn't really the Doctor until after the events of 'The Edge of Destruction'. That the Doctor's personality is - essentially - performative*. He needs an audience to keep him from diverting to another personality.
I found it an interesting read, as with all the Black Archive series that I have read so far. I like the fact that whatever the editorial policy is of the Black Archive is it doesn't force the authors to stick to a set format. They can attack a story from whatever angle they wish. I can't recommend these highly enough to Doctor Who fans that want a bit of interesting reading material on the stories they love.
*Small does use that word, but I think it fits.
I enjoyed Dewi Small's slim book on Listen. I'm not sure I've read a proper attempt to analyse a Doctor Who episode using Freud before and I'm not sure how useful such an approach is. However, it made for interesting reading. The book isn't all Freud but the first section is. Even if one thinks an author in The Black Archives is reaching a little - and Small isn't the only one I've felt this with - they always provide food for thought.
The rest of the book talks about Clara and the role of the Companion in creating 'The Doctor'. There were some issues at the time with a section of fandom about Clara becoming the focus of the show and that her role in the Doctor's history was somehow corrupting the strength of the Doctor and her role in this story in feeding in lines that we think of as 'The Doctor's' to a young Doctor was clearly part of that issue. Small tackles that view head-on and - quite rightly - points out that The Doctor has always been influenced by his companions, referring to the fact that the First Doctor in 'An Unearthly Child' isn't really the Doctor until after the events of 'The Edge of Destruction'. That the Doctor's personality is - essentially - performative*. He needs an audience to keep him from diverting to another personality.
I found it an interesting read, as with all the Black Archive series that I have read so far. I like the fact that whatever the editorial policy is of the Black Archive is it doesn't force the authors to stick to a set format. They can attack a story from whatever angle they wish. I can't recommend these highly enough to Doctor Who fans that want a bit of interesting reading material on the stories they love.
*Small does use that word, but I think it fits.
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