Books: Doctor Who: a Celebration (Two Decades Through Time and Space) by Peter Haining.
I wish Peter Haining would stop writing books about all the stuff I like. I've got Phantom of the Opera and Sherlock Holmes stuff by him, and then there's this. He always sounds like he's fawning. Over everyone. Granted, this book is clearly "official" in nature, so he's not going to start complaining about anyone, but apart from having a nice list of Companions (up to Turlough, anyway) he never says anything. At all. It's a "nice" retrospective of the Doctor after 20 years, so it's not only rigidly uncritical but out of date. Male companions are referred to as "redoubtable" or (in Turlough's case) "unpredictable" while captions under female companions' photos use words like "delightful," "elfin-featured," and "delectable but scatterbrained"; though Sarah Jane gets to be "resourceful."
Honestly, Haining sounds like he wants to do every single one.
But here's my favorite bit, a quote from Anneke Wills (POlly) which is the stupidist thing I've ever heard about women in the media: "I wanted to play her like myself... scatter-brained, or 'kooky' as the newspaper persisted in calling me. I thought it would be a very good idea to play a total coward. Television was full of brave ladies in those days. I wanted to be a sort of feminine anti-hero, a weedy, frightened lady who screamed and kicked and shouted 'Doctor!' at the least sign of danger." Wow, Wills. You sure pushed the envelope there!
Anyone interested has probably picked this up already. But if you haven't done expect any commentary or even a decent amount of color photos; it's a "celebration" in the cheapest sense of the word.
Honestly, Haining sounds like he wants to do every single one.
But here's my favorite bit, a quote from Anneke Wills (POlly) which is the stupidist thing I've ever heard about women in the media: "I wanted to play her like myself... scatter-brained, or 'kooky' as the newspaper persisted in calling me. I thought it would be a very good idea to play a total coward. Television was full of brave ladies in those days. I wanted to be a sort of feminine anti-hero, a weedy, frightened lady who screamed and kicked and shouted 'Doctor!' at the least sign of danger." Wow, Wills. You sure pushed the envelope there!
Anyone interested has probably picked this up already. But if you haven't done expect any commentary or even a decent amount of color photos; it's a "celebration" in the cheapest sense of the word.