About Time 3 is the third volume in the About Time series of Doctor Who reference books. It covers seasons 7 through 11 of the televised series, from Spearhead from Space to Planet of the Spiders.
Publisher's summary
In About Time, the whole of classic Doctor Who is examined through the lens of the real-world social and political changes — as well as ongoing developments in television production — that influenced the series in ways big and small over the course of a generation. Armed with these guidebooks, readers will be able to cast their minds back to 1975, 1982 and other years to best appreciate the series’ content and character.
In the About Time 3 Second Edition, Tat Wood vastly expands upon the discussion of the Jon Pertwee era of “Doctor Who,” bringing this installment of the About Time series up to the size and elaborate depth of its fellows. All told, this Second Edition has nearly three times the material of its predecessor.
Many existing essays and entries have been greatly retooled, and evidence from the new “Doctor Who” series (unbroadcast when this book was first published) has been taken into account. New essays in this edition include “The Daemons: What the Hell Are They Doing?”, “Where Were Torchwood When All This Was Happening?” and “Is This Any Way to Run a Galactic Empire?”.
(At present, Mad Norwegian has no plans to do second editions of the other “About Time” volumes.)
Subject matter
A critical and cultural analysis of every televised Doctor Who story from season 7 to season 11. Areas of examination include production notes; logical flaws in the story; detailed catalogues of facts; and an attempt to examine where each story came from, and why each was made in the contemporary cultural climate of Great Britain and Earth.
Contents
Each story is broken down into many segments, including: Which One Is This? (very brief introduction, as the writers eschewed dense plot summaries), Firsts and Lasts, The Doctor, The TARDIS, The Time Lords, The Supporting Cast, The Supporting Cast (Evil), Planet Notes, Other Races, Timeline, Where Did This Come From?, Things That Don't Make Sense, Critique (often divided into Prosection and Defence), Facts (writer, director, ratings, guest cast and list of cliffhangers) and The Lore (behind-the-scenes notes).
Most serials are accompanied by an essay, and the essays cover a very broad range of topics.
The essays in this volume are:
- When are the UNIT stories set?
- When did the Doctor get his driving licence?
- What’s the origin of the Silurians?
- How believable is the British space program?
- Why did the “Sting” matter
- What’s wrong with the centre of the Earth?
- How does hypnosis work?
- How does “evil” work?
- Where’s UNIT HQ?
- Why did we Countdown to TV Action?
- What’s the timeline of the Earth Empire?
- The Daemons – what the Hell are they doing?
- What’s the UNIT timeline?
- How does time work?
- Aren’t alien names inevitably a bit silly?
- All right, then… where were Torchwood?
- What’s going on with this music?
- How chauvinistic was the Pertwee era?
- How and why is the Doctor exiled to Earth?
- Why all these black holes?
- Was 1973 the Annus Mirabilis?
- Is this any way to run a Galactic Empire?
- What are the silliest examples of science in Doctor Who?
- Why didn’t Plaid Cymru lynch Barry Letts?
- Who’s running the country?
- What caused the Sontaran-Rutan war?
- How good do the special effects have to be?
- Who died and made you Dalek Supreme?
- Why was there so much merchandising?
- When was regeneration invented?
- What actually happens in a regeneration?
Notes
- This was the first About Time book published, as the authors felt that it was an era well-remembered by the general public. Subsequent volumes were significantly larger and more in-depth so, after the rest of the series had been written, Tat Wood authored a significantly expanded 2nd edition, which was released in 2009. (By this point, Lawrence Miles had left the series, however much of his material remains in the 2nd edition.
- The cover of this volume is an artist's rendering of Planet of the Spiders.)