The Unfolding Text
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The Unfolding Text was a Doctor Who reference book published in December 1983 by Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and St. Martin's Press at the same time as well as in April and July 1984 in the United States.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
(this synopsis was given in the 1983 and July 1984 editions)
On Saturday, 23 November 1963 at 5.25 p.m. the Doctor Who theme music was heard on BBC television for the first time, and just under twelve minutes later William Hartnell appeared through the London fog as the first Doctor. It was the birth of an institution. ‘Doctor Who’: The Unfolding Text is the first serious analysis of the BBC’s longest-running fictional programme. Based on interviews with artists and production staff involved with the programme since 1963, it investigates how industrial, institutional, narrative, professional and other forces originally existing outside Doctor Who have operated to shape the series. It examines the programme’s origins in the BBC’s attempt to compete with commercial television, and its ability to draw on a variety of codes of performance as well as a range of genres. The reason for Doctor Who’s continuing popularity and success, argue the authors, is its flexible structure — time can range over millions of years, the Doctor’s companions can be replaced and even the Doctor himself can change form.
‘Doctor Who’: The Unfolding Text elucidates through practical demonstration analytical approaches for the student and teacher of media studies, offers valuable information for the fan, and provides intriguing insight for the general reader into the adventures of television’s most famous time-lord.
John Tulloch is Associate Professor of Mass Communications, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. His publications include Conflict and Control in the Cinema (editor, 1977) and Australian Cinema: Industry, Narrative and Meaning (1982). He is Editor of the Australian Journal of Screen Theory.
Manuel Alvarado is Lecturer in Television and Film, University of London Institute of Education. His publications include Hazell: The Making of a TV Series (with Edward Buscombe, 1978)
(this synopsis was taken from the April 1984 edition)
“Since the broadcast of his first BBC television episode on November 23, 1963, the Doctor has become the hero of the world’s oldest continuing science-fiction series... The show has developed a cult following on the order of ‘Star Trek.’’’” — Time
His normal body temperature is 60°F. Each of his two hearts is over 750 years old. He travels through space and time in the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space machine), which is contained inside a British police call box. Here is the first detailed account of the creation of the BBC’s amazing Doctor Who science fiction series, which now claims over 100 million viewers in 54 countries. Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text is the book for the hardcore Doctor Who fan.
JOHN TULLOCH is associate professor of mass communications at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. MANUEL ALVARADO is a lecturer in television and film at the University of London’s Institute of Education.
"...a unique and memorable publication of which every Doctor Who fan should have a copy.” — Doctor Who Monthly
Subject matter[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Analysis of Doctor Who within a TV landscape.
- Analysis and discussion of the narrative structure of Doctor Who.
Content[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The book is illustrated with detailed interviews and behind the scenes information.
- The Chapters are divided as: Mystery: Television Discourse and Institution, Regeneration: Narrative Similarity and Difference, Establishment: Science Fiction and Fantasy, Send-up: Authorship and Organisation, "Kinda": Conditions of Production and Performance, Appendix I The People who made "Doctor Who", Appendix II Further Reading on "Doctor Who".
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The final chapter is a extensive discussion of Kinda.
- According to the acknowledgements the following people contributed via intrviews or behind the scenes information: John Nathan-Turner, Verity Lambert, Barry Letts, Philip Hinchcliffe, Graham Williams, Terrance Dicks, Douglas Adams, Eric Saward, Peter Grimwade, Christopher Bailey, Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, Richard Todd, Nerys Hughes, Simon Rouse, Adrian Mills, Lee Cornes, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse, Peter Logan, Peter Howell, Dick Mills, Malcolm Thornton, Jeremy Bentham, Ian Levine, David Saunders, Gary Russell and Deanne Holding.
- After being encouraged to read it by script editor Andrew Cartmel, writer Ian Briggs quoted from the book itself in Dragonfire.
- The July 1984 US paperback contained the same synopsis as the 1983 UK editions, but using American spelling.
