andydavidsmith76's review
4.0
Nearly five years after the release of the first installment of Running Through Corridors, Vol. 2 "The 70's" finally comes out. The basic concept remains the same as the first book. Rob Sherman and Toby Hadoke spent 2009 on a viewing marathon of Doctor Who, starting at An Unearthly Child and (presumably) finishing up with The End of Time Part 2. The book is essentially a viewing diary edited into the form of an extended email conversation, and the two authors give themselves the important task of finding something positive to say about every episode, however small a detail they might have to search for in order to accomplish that!
I'll say here that Vol. 1 (The 60's) was a hugely influential book on me and inspired me to do my own viewing marathon during the 50th anniversary year in 2013, following the same pattern Sherman and Hadoke follow here. Two episodes per day of the Classic Series, eventually moving to one per day when the episodes move to a 45 minute format in the New Series. I (like many others) was really looking forward to Vol. 2 coming out and was mildly upset that it took so long, though I understand that both authors went through difficult periods in their personal lives that delayed it being edited.
I think Vol. 2 is still a very fun read, though not quite as brilliant a the first book. First, we're just on more familiar territory with the Pertwee and Tom Baker eras. Part of the joy of the first book was seeing the authors (re)discover the material from the 1960's and reevaluate the Received Fan Wisdom about those stories. Indeed, there were a couple of stories that both authors were only viewing for the first time. Not so here. Viewing stories that both have seen multiple times, the authors seem to have a harder time seeing them in a new light. Thus old fan prejudices are more on display. The Mutants is a crap tale. Liz Sladen instantly becomes The Best Companion Ever. The Hinchcliffe/Holmes can do no wrong, Etc, etc. Nothing bad, but fewer fresh takes makes for a less engaging read.
Secondly, about halfway through the book the authors discover the same thing I discovered: it's impossible to sit down and watch Doctor Who this way in one year. As in it just wont fit into one calendar year; there's too much of it. It took me closer to 16 months to do my viewing marathon, and I skipped most of the Missing Episodes from Hartnell/Troughton periods. The authors take an alternative method, and just start to crunch more episodes into a day. Hence a single day may contain three and sometimes four episodes instead of two. It's a minor little thing, but somehow made the book less enjoyable for me.
I stress that these are minor niggles. It's still a fun and enjoyable read, and recommend to any Doctor Who fan. I look forward to Vol. 3, and hope the waiting period for it won't be as long this time.
I'll say here that Vol. 1 (The 60's) was a hugely influential book on me and inspired me to do my own viewing marathon during the 50th anniversary year in 2013, following the same pattern Sherman and Hadoke follow here. Two episodes per day of the Classic Series, eventually moving to one per day when the episodes move to a 45 minute format in the New Series. I (like many others) was really looking forward to Vol. 2 coming out and was mildly upset that it took so long, though I understand that both authors went through difficult periods in their personal lives that delayed it being edited.
I think Vol. 2 is still a very fun read, though not quite as brilliant a the first book. First, we're just on more familiar territory with the Pertwee and Tom Baker eras. Part of the joy of the first book was seeing the authors (re)discover the material from the 1960's and reevaluate the Received Fan Wisdom about those stories. Indeed, there were a couple of stories that both authors were only viewing for the first time. Not so here. Viewing stories that both have seen multiple times, the authors seem to have a harder time seeing them in a new light. Thus old fan prejudices are more on display. The Mutants is a crap tale. Liz Sladen instantly becomes The Best Companion Ever. The Hinchcliffe/Holmes can do no wrong, Etc, etc. Nothing bad, but fewer fresh takes makes for a less engaging read.
Secondly, about halfway through the book the authors discover the same thing I discovered: it's impossible to sit down and watch Doctor Who this way in one year. As in it just wont fit into one calendar year; there's too much of it. It took me closer to 16 months to do my viewing marathon, and I skipped most of the Missing Episodes from Hartnell/Troughton periods. The authors take an alternative method, and just start to crunch more episodes into a day. Hence a single day may contain three and sometimes four episodes instead of two. It's a minor little thing, but somehow made the book less enjoyable for me.
I stress that these are minor niggles. It's still a fun and enjoyable read, and recommend to any Doctor Who fan. I look forward to Vol. 3, and hope the waiting period for it won't be as long this time.
nwhyte's review
4.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2910769.html
This is the much-delayed second volume of commentary between Shearman and Hadoke; I read and enjoyed the first back in 2011, and look forward now to the third when it comes out. It's now several years since I completed my own rewatch of Old Who, so this was a nice return to that exercise for me, especially since (like the authors) this is the period of the show that I remember most vividly from my own childhood. And there was one surprise - I had forgotten Tom Baker's appearance in character on Animal Magic, which I think I must have missed when it was shown in 1979.
The two don't deviate much from the received wisdom (or my own views) of the high and low points of the show - in particular, the later parts of both Season Nine and Season Fifteen, where they struggle in their mission to say only nice things about each episode. In fact, they are much harsher on The Claws of Axos than I would be. But it's interesting to consider that one of my recurrent complaints about New Who - that the punch of the season finale has often been pulled - was often just as true of Old Who during the Pertwee and Baker years.
The write-ups of each episode, presented as correspondence between Rob Shearman and Toby Hadoke, are very specifically tied to May-August 2009, a period when both writers went on various travels and Hadoke embarked on what turned out to be a short-lived marriage; but the seven-year gap has meant some occasionally poignant endnotes noting the subsequent passing of key figures in the making of the programme (notably Barry Letts).
This is the much-delayed second volume of commentary between Shearman and Hadoke; I read and enjoyed the first back in 2011, and look forward now to the third when it comes out. It's now several years since I completed my own rewatch of Old Who, so this was a nice return to that exercise for me, especially since (like the authors) this is the period of the show that I remember most vividly from my own childhood. And there was one surprise - I had forgotten Tom Baker's appearance in character on Animal Magic, which I think I must have missed when it was shown in 1979.
The two don't deviate much from the received wisdom (or my own views) of the high and low points of the show - in particular, the later parts of both Season Nine and Season Fifteen, where they struggle in their mission to say only nice things about each episode. In fact, they are much harsher on The Claws of Axos than I would be. But it's interesting to consider that one of my recurrent complaints about New Who - that the punch of the season finale has often been pulled - was often just as true of Old Who during the Pertwee and Baker years.
The write-ups of each episode, presented as correspondence between Rob Shearman and Toby Hadoke, are very specifically tied to May-August 2009, a period when both writers went on various travels and Hadoke embarked on what turned out to be a short-lived marriage; but the seven-year gap has meant some occasionally poignant endnotes noting the subsequent passing of key figures in the making of the programme (notably Barry Letts).
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