Through Time

Through Time was a very niche read, but a niche I was excited to tuck into. Andrew Cartmel worked as script editor on Dr Who during the tenure of the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, a time when the show was striving to reintroduce a proper mystery and power back into the figure of the Doctor, who (in Cartmel's opinion) had suffered from becoming too much of an 'ordinary guy' in his fifth and sixth incarnations.

As a script writer and editor, Cartmel is most interested in the words, but he pays close attention to production details like design and music. He takes us on a selective tour of the Doctor's history, examining a handful of stories from each era to pick out what that made particular Doctor distinctive, the outside pressures and influences brought to bear at the time, and his personal judgement as to whether this was a Good or Bad Thing. 

He approves strongly of what he terms 'proper science fiction' stories (I'm not fussed, for my money the beauty of the Dr Who format is that it can accommodate purely historical adventures as well as weird fables, as long as it's a satisfying story I don't give a toss if it's 'science fiction' or not); and he has strong views about the character of the Doctor, who he feels shouldn't be either weighed down by too much backstory, or become too much of a conventional action hero -- ideally, he (or she, presumably) should be a solitary, strange and powerful figure who always saves the day but in an unpredictable way (I partially agree with this assessment, but again, I love the elasticity that the character can bring).

I wouldn't expect Through Time to appeal or even be of much interest to many people, but for a long time Doctor Who fan, it was a fascinating and intriguing read.