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Picking up where Back
to the Vortex left off, Second Flight
continues the story of the development of Doctor Who
as David Tennant takes over the TARDIS from Christopher Eccleston
and embarks on a 2005 Christmas special (The Christmas
Invasion) as well as a second series of adventures in time
and space. Second Flight reveals the background to
the series, from the announcements, to the press releases,
casting calls, the highs and lows, and the return of the dreaded
Cybermen. The book also features detailed analysis of the
new adventures, facts and figures, and exclusive review commentary
from an international panel of writers and critics...
The
first thing that surprised me about this follow-up to 2005's
Back To The Vortex, is the sheer mighty size of it.
Yes, it's excellent predecessor was certainly a hefty tome
itself, but then it had the entire rebirth of Doctor Who
to deal with before it could even begin to concentrate on
the actual episodes of Series One. I was expecting
this sequel to be a slimmer volume, as Second Flight
picks up the slightly lighter baton, and cracks on with chronicling
the incredible voyage of the second series. I was to be proved
wrong. Telos have produced another shelf-creakingly stunning
book, positively crammed with passion, rich detail and intelligent
critical opinion.
There
is perhaps nobody on the planet better equipped to take us
on this journey than J Shaun Lyon, founder and editor of Outpost
Gallifrey - the biggest dedicated Doctor Who community
and news resource on the Internet. This background comes in
particularly useful in the first section of the book which
guides us through the development of Series Two from
a unique fan perspective - the rumours, the speculation, the
media coverage and the eventual transmission of the episodes.
Lyons captures perfectly the frenzied anticipation, the controversies,
and the sheer unapologetic fun of Doctor Who fandom
as we waited in the wings for the arrival of the tenth Doctor.
It's a mesmerising read.
The
second, and chunkiest section of the book is a complete guide
to the episodes themselves, including fun facts and figures,
a wealth of behind the scenes information that was completely
new to me, and a full critical analysis from a remarkable
panel of writers. These reviews form the main core of the
book, and it's refreshing to see such a wide range of well-informed
and often wildly differing opinions from the cream of fandom.
If there's any fault at all here, it's that there's probably
just a little bit too much of it. In particular, I wouldn't
have minded if novelist Kate Orman's unorthodox essays had
been trimmed completely, as many of them bordered on the massively
irrelevant, and seem largely out of place in a book devoted
to a fun television show.
There
is, however, brilliantly entertaining and insightful critique
from the likes of veteran Who luminary Keith Topping,
and also the late Craig Hinton - a creative and often underrated
novelist who sadly passed away shortly after publication,
and who will be a much-missed voice in fandom. Another major
highlight here is an outsider's perspective of the episodes,
supplied by none other than legendary novelist, critic and
broadcaster Kim Newman. Perhaps it's a little misleading of
me to class Newman as a genuine 'outsider' as he does seem
to have a pretty robust working knowledge of the show and
has written Who fiction himself, but he clearly doesn't
fall into the same bracket as his accompanying team of devoted
expert writers. Newman has always been dismissive of large
chunks of Doctor Who's history, and indeed his initial
opinions here on the opening episodes of Series Two
are largely negative. It's a real pleasure though to see him
gradually warm to both the new series and, with still a couple
of reservations, the new Doctor.
The
final section of the book is a series of Appendices, and even
here there are golden nuggets tucked away between the endless
cast and crew lists. Lyons provides a fascinating overview
and analysis of the Series Two ratings battle; there's
welcome additional coverage of BBC3's sister documentary series
Doctor Who Confidential, and CBBC's (frankly awful)
children's magazine show Totally Doctor Who; and finally,
a complete and exhaustive guide to the ninth and tenth Doctor's
other adventures in original novels, annuals, comic strips,
chocolate bar wrappers etc.
Overall,
Second Flight is bursting at the seams with everything
you needed to know (and probably at least 50 pages of stuff
that you really didn't need to know) about the 2006 season
of Doctor Who, and all told from such a refreshing
and warm perspective. The book is available in a very nice
paperback edition for the sensible buyer or, if you're feeling
a bit flash, a really beautiful deluxe hardback edition. Either
one of these is an essential and rewarding purchase for any
fan of the new series.
Surprisingly,
an exhausted Lyons rounds off the book by calling it quits,
and announcing that he will not be writing a third volume
for the upcoming 2007 series. I'm not sure I believe him,
though. He recently called time on Outpost Gallifrey
but was wooed back to relaunch the site by overwhelming support
and encouragement. Maybe we just need to overwhelm him a bit
more to get that third book on the shelves.
Daniel
Lee Salter
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Paperback
£8.57 (Amazon.co.uk) |
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Deluxe
Hardback
£19.80 (Amazon.co.uk) |
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Paperback
£22.95 (Waterstones.com) |
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Deluxe
Hardback
£30.00 (Waterstones.com) |
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Paperback
£12.99 (WHSmith.co.uk) |
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Deluxe
Hardback
£30.00 (WHSmith.co.uk) |
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Paperback
£12.99 (Countrybookshop.co.uk) |
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Deluxe
Hardback
£12.99 (Countrybookshop.co.uk) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
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