Watching Doctor Who

Paul Booth is Professor of Media and Cinema Studies in the College of Communication at DePaul University, USA. He has published or edited more than ten books, including the Wiley Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies (2018); Crossing Fandoms: SuperWhoLock and the Contemporary Fan Audience (2016); Seeing Fans: Representations of Fandom in Media and Popular Culture (Bloomsbury, 2016) and Board Games as Media (Bloomsbury, 2021).Craig Owen Jones is a lecturer at San Jose State University, USA, and an Honorary Research Associate at the School of Music and Media, Bangor University, Wales. He has written four books and over 30 articles on TV and film studies, music, history, and literary criticism.

• FiguresTablesForeword by Paul CornellAcknowledgements Notes on TitlesIntroduction: Going Forward in All Our Beliefs: Regenerating and Re-Valuing Doctor Who FandomChapter One: The Concept of Evaluation in Doctor Who ReceptionCase Study 1A: The Mightiest Values: Rankings of Doctor Who — Paul BoothCase Study 1B: Fan Reaction Videos: Responding to Doctor Who — Craig Owen JonesDialogue 1C: Evolving Evaluation of Doctor Who — Paul Booth and Craig Owen JonesChapter Two: Reception History and Fan Perceptions of Doctor WhoCase Study 2A: Tegan: The Makers’ Vision — Craig Owen JonesCase Study 2B: Reception after the Fact: Companions in Big Finish — Paul BoothDialogue 2C: The Ends of an Era – Paul Booth and Craig Owen JonesChapter Three: The Error of ErasCase Study 3A: Nightmare of Eden and the Limitations of Genre — Paul BoothCase Study 3B: The Discovery of The Time Meddler — Craig Owen JonesDialogue 3C: Series 24 — Craig Owen Jones and Paul BoothChapter Four: Re-Evaluating Value in the Canon of Doctor WhoCase Study 4A: Evaluative Changes in The Talons of Weng-Chiang — Craig Owen JonesCase Study 4B: The Caves of Dilemma: or, The Twin Androzani? Evaluating Value at the Poles — Paul BoothDialogue 4C: Minisodes and Changing Appreciation – Craig Owen Jones and Paul BoothConclusion: Go Forward in All of Your Beliefs, and Prove to Me that I Am Not Mistaken in MineEndnotesBibliographyIndex

This book proves that some of the most fascinating adventures of Doctor Who didn’t take place on screen, but within the constant flux of critical perception and reassessment. This is an extraordinary and celebratory look at the evolution of a television series that can still inspire and baffle well into its sixth decade.