Triumph of a Time Lord explores the challenges faced by Russell T. Davies when reinventing Doctor Who
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Triumph of a Time Lord: Regenerating Doctor Who in the Twenty-first Century written by Dr Matt Hills
Triumph of a Time Lord: Regenerating Doctor Who in the Twenty-first Century, explores what happened when self-professed fans took over the franchise of Dr Who.
Written by Dr Matt Hills, the book was awarded 4 out of 5 stars when reviewed by SFX magazine, who noted that it was “wonderful to see a book working so hard to get fandom and academia acquainted.”
In analysing “the Russell T. Davies era” of the popular TV programme, Triumph of a Time Lord considers questions of authorship, as well as clashes between producers and fandom.
“It’s important not to assume that because the executive producer [Russell T. Davies] is a high-profile fan of the very programme he’s making, that relations between fans and producers would magically become harmonious,” said Dr. Hills.
“In fact, Davies and others working on the show were required to follow a series of production discourses, including marketing and publicity, which depended on controlling the flow of information.
“By contrast, many in the fan culture wanted ‘spoilers’ as soon as possible. Producers and fans may both love Doctor Who, but they had markedly different priorities and attitudes to information. This frequently brought them into conflict, long before an episode had aired.”
Triumph of a Time Lord includes a chapter on Murray Gold’s music, and its role in the show’s post-2005 success, as well as an analysis of images of monstrosity, and an examination of the multi-generic formatting which has underpinned Doctor Who’s triumphant reinvention.
Covering debates surrounding cult/mainstream and quality/popular television, the book will be of interest to TV Studies’ academics as well as Doctor Who’s many fans.
Triumph of a Time Lord: Regenerating Doctor Who in the Twenty-first Century is written by Dr Matt Hills, a Reader in Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. Published by IB Tauris, Triumph of a Time Lord is the first book-length, academic study of BBC Wales’ Doctor Who.