TARDIS Eruditorum Volume 2Bookmark and Share

Saturday, 29 September 2012 - Reported by John Bowman
A second volume of the TARDIS Eruditorum blog by Philip Sandifer has been published, taking a critical look at the Patrick Troughton era of Doctor Who story by story.

Sandifer, who holds a PhD in English focusing on film and media studies, says the blog's aim is to provide a comprehensive critical overview of Doctor Who that moves beyond received fan wisdom to tell the evolving story of one of the most important and remarkable pieces of popular culture ever created.

TARDIS Eruditorum has been hailed as "absolutely fascinating and hugely persuasive" by Robert Shearman.

Sandifer uses the blog to provide a complete reconceptualisation of Doctor Who that acknowledges and takes seriously strands of thought and themes that have been marginalised by the fan orthodoxy represented in existing publications, revealing a show with startling and intriguing implications. Under his critical knife, Doctor Who becomes more than just a classic sci-fi show but a show that tells the story of an entire strain of mystical, avant-garde, and radical culture in Great Britain - a show that is quite literally about all of time and space, everything that ever happened, and everything that ever will.

This volume focuses on Doctor Who's intersection with psychedelic Britain and with the radical leftist counterculture of the late-1960s, exploring its connections with James Bond, social realism, dropping acid, and overthrowing the government - along, of course, with scads of monsters, the introduction of UNIT, and the Land of Fiction itself.

Every essay on the Troughton era has been revised and expanded, along with eight new essays written exclusively for this collected edition, including a thorough look at UNIT dating, an exploration of just what was lost in the wiping of the missing episodes, and a look at Stephen Baxter's The Wheel of Ice.

On top of that, you'll discover:
  • Whether The Mind Robber implies an alternative origin for the Doctor in which he is not a Time Lord but a lord of something else entirely
  • How The Evil of the Daleks reveals the secrets of alchemy
  • What can be seen on a walking tour of London's alien invasions

It is available to buy through Amazon.

Volume one, which centres on the William Hartnell years, was published last November.




FILTER: - Merchandise - Books - Patrick Troughton