THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

In this bit, I'll feature stuff on my (very long and impossible-to-get-through) reading list. 

For any serious fan of a particular TV show, finding a comprehensive guidebook can be a difficult task. Doctor Who has generated quite a lot of these over the years. And that's not counting the incalculable number of websites devoted to cataloging anything Who related. Yet, who has time to read all of those?

Thankfully, two very respected authors within the Doctor Who community, Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood have put their heads together and produced About Time, perhaps the final word on Doctor Who guidebooks. It's certainly the final word for me, since I don't expect somebody else putting out another with that level of quality.

About Time is published by Mad Norwegian Press in several separate volumes each concerning itself with a particular era of the program. Vol. 1 is about the Hartnell years (1963-1966), Vol. 2 covers the Troughton era (1966-1969), Vol. 3 is about the Pertwee yeas (1970-1974) while Vol. 4 deals with Tom Baker's first six season (1974-1980), Vol. 5 discusses Baker's last season and the Davison years (1980-1984), Vol. VI encompasses both the Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy eras (1985-1989) + the 1996 TV Movie. Recently, a further seventh volume was published covering the first two series of the revived program.

How good is it? Well, not only do you get detailed analysis of every DW story betwen 1963 to 2006, listing how the Doctor and his companion behaves compared to past and future stories, as well as detailed description of any alien species and planets encountered by the Doctor and friends, you also get the always entertaining Things That Don't Make Sense a veritable list of "what went wrong" with a particular story. What's more, Miles & Wood also takes pain to put Doctor Who within the context of British society/cultural medias comparing it with what else was on telly at the time, not only that but you also get precise analyses of a particular story's foundation in the greater cultural scheme of the UK in the sixties, seventies, eighties and so on. The Lore section is a virtual "making of" segment where each story's origins and anecdotes are discussed. Of course, no such guide would be complete with a critique of that story. And even that goes beyond saying "it's fantastic" or "it's rubbish" as the authors attempt to provide a balanced view. Finally, each volumes are accompanied by stand-alone essays examining real-world or doctor who-world issues (such as the dating of the UNIT stories, the extremely complicated Dalek timeline, or defense and prosecution arguments of the John Nathan-Turner years).

Essential reading.

Just so we're clear, I am not a fan of Oliver Stone's work. I find most of his films over-hyped, overrated liberal claptrap of the worst kind based mostly on cinematic gimmicks at the detriment of story and characters. Frankly, his paranoid worldview conflicts directly with my paranoid worldview. I stopped watching after Nixon.

Given that, I found his miniseries The Untold History of the United States gripping, informative and often time depressing. Stone has presented us with an unvarnished vision of the Cold War, where, in his opinion, the Americans were mostly responsible for keeping that war going. The the US lists of crimes against other nations (not to mention against its own citizens) are indeed staggering, and a matter of public record.

This is the companion volume to the miniseries, expanding on what's show on the screen.

This is not, far and wide, the first and certainly not the last book on the subject. Books criticizing US involvement in world affairs are almost an industry by themselves. In the introduction Stone and Kuznick are insistent that it focuses on what the US has done wrong, as opposed to what they've done right, so the bias is said honestly right there and then. The book and the min-series certainly shows us the dark side of the 20th century (a century already filled to the brim with Dark Sides, and wait'll until they get a load of the 21st...no one will be spared...NO ONE!!!)

While most the arguments are convincing, and relies on official documentation, most of the arguments presented therein should be seen with healthy skepticism, just as books praising the US to no end should also be seen in a critical eye. To be honest, I mostly agree with what's being written here (except, perhaps when we get to the JFK assassination, yes Oliver, yes I know what you believe about that particular issue, everyone does, but do not get me started on the Kennedy assassination. If you want to know more, check Vincent Bugliosi's book about it).

No, I'm not going anti-american here. The US has indeed done great things, but, for the last seventy years or so, we have seen a succession of presidential administrations getting in bed with the worst sort of friends possible, at the detriment of truly progressive policies that would have made the US truly the great superpower it desperately wants to be. So, for me, the US is a case of "close but no cookie".