Table of Contents

Figures Tables Foreword by Paul Cornell Acknowledgements Notes on Titles Introduction: Going Forward in All Our Beliefs: Regenerating and Re-Valuing Doctor Who Fandom Chapter One: The Concept of Evaluation in Doctor Who Reception Case Study 1A: The Mightiest Values: Rankings of Doctor Who — Paul Booth Case Study 1B: Fan Reaction Videos: Responding to Doctor Who — Craig Owen Jones Dialogue 1C: Evolving Evaluation of Doctor Who — Paul Booth and Craig Owen Jones Chapter Two: Reception History and Fan Perceptions of Doctor Who Case Study 2A: Tegan: The Makers’ Vision — Craig Owen Jones Case Study 2B: Reception after the Fact: Companions in Big Finish — Paul Booth Dialogue 2C: The Ends of an Era – Paul Booth and Craig Owen Jones Chapter Three: The Error of Eras Case Study 3A: Nightmare of Eden and the Limitations of Genre — Paul Booth Case Study 3B: The Discovery of The Time Meddler — Craig Owen Jones Dialogue 3C: Series 24 — Craig Owen Jones and Paul Booth Chapter Four: Re-Evaluating Value in the Canon of Doctor Who Case Study 4A: Evaluative Changes in The Talons of Weng-Chiang — Craig Owen Jones Case Study 4B: The Caves of Dilemma: or, The Twin Androzani? Evaluating Value at the Poles — Paul Booth Dialogue 4C: Minisodes and Changing Appreciation – Craig Owen Jones and Paul Booth Conclusion: Go Forward in All of Your Beliefs, and Prove to Me that I Am Not Mistaken in Mine Endnotes Bibliography Index

Promotional Information

A compelling and richly-detailed study of Doctor Who fandom across the show's long history

About the Author

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.

Reviews

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.
*Robert Shearman, World Fantasy Award-winning author and screenwriter of Doctor Who*

Watching Doctor Who moves smartly across fan and academic debates surrounding the value of TV series more generally, and the valuation of Doctor Who stories in particular. For anyone who’s ever argued over their favourite episodes, Paul Booth and Craig Owen Jones offer a timely provocation, a brilliant new dialogue, and a valuable intervention in the many understandings and evaluations of the good Doctor’s epistopic interfaces.
*Matt Hills, Professor of Journalism and Media, University of Huddersfield, UK*

An incisive and thoroughly readable study of how Doctor Who fandom ascribes value – and values – to the series in all of its incarnations, and how those value(s) shifting over time are reflected in the larger study of fandom as a cultural experience.
*Lynne M. Thomas, eight time Hugo Award-winning editor of Chicks Dig Time Lords and Uncanny Magazine, and Verity! podcast contributor*

An entertaining and informative history and examination of Doctor Who fandom and criticism. I recommended it for anyone who ever debated their favourite Doctor … or companion … or monster – in other words, for all Doctor Who fans.
*Rachel Talalay, film and television (Doctor Who, ‘Heaven Sent’) director*