Once Upon a Time Lord: The Myths and Stories of Doctor Who (Who Watching)

"'Every story ever told really happened...' (The Doctor, 'Hell Bent', 2015) Stories are, fundamentally what Doctor Who is all about. In Once Upon a Time Lord, Ivan Phillips explores a wide range of perspectives on these stories and presents a lively and richly-varied analysis of the accumulated tales that constitute this popular modern mythology. Concerned equally with 'classic' and 'new' Who , Phillips looks at how aspects of the Time Lord's story have been developed on television and beyond, tracing lines of connection and divergence across various media. He discusses Doctor Who as a mythology that has drawn on its own past in often complex ways, at the same time reworking elements from many other sources, whether literary, cinematic, televisual or historical. Once Upon A Time Lord offers an original take on this singular hero's journey, reading the unsettled enigma of the Doctor in relation to the characters, narratives and locations that he has encountered across more than half a century."-- Provided by publisher Cover Half Title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Figures Acknowledgements Introduction: ‘Quite a great spirit of adventure’ Defining terms: Myths, stories, Doctor Who Questions of canon: Keeping track (or trying to) Fear of getting it wrong: The Skinner–Hadoke paradigm Chapter 1 Critics, fans and mythologies of discourse Writing about Doctor Who: Difficult conversations and critical projects Fandom as a character: ‘Most likely to fight back’ Fandom as critique: Cultures and contributions Chapter 2 Doctor Who as mythology On mythic identities: Flying carpets and silly robots Remaking the monsters: Nostalgia and novelty Transmedia traditions: Of fishmen, fanfic and sweet cigarettes Chapter 3 Doctor Who and mythology Representing history: ‘In an area of human thought’ Themes of haunting: Ghosts in the time machine Vampires, werewolves and other universal monsters Chapter 4 The hero and his worlds World-building and the TARDIS: ‘Home, the long way round’ The Doctor as hero: A good man, an idiot, the destroyer of worlds Myths of representation / representations of myth Chapter 5 Conclusion: ‘The universe will surprise you’ Notes Bibliography Index "We're all stories in the end," said the Doctor in 'The Big Bang". Stories are fundamentally what Doctor Who is all about. Ivan Phillips presents a lively and richly varied analysis of the accumulated and interwoven, sometimes contradictory, body of tales that constitute this eccentric masterpiece of modern mythology. Concerned equally with "classic" and "New Who", Phillips traces the expansion of the Time Lord's story from the television into ever more intricate patterns of transmedia production. Doctor Who is considered as a mythology that has drawn on its own past in complex and at times divisive ways, at the same time reworking elements from many other sources, whether literary, cinematic, televisual or historical. The book also offers a distinctive take on the popular hero's journey, reading the unsettled enigma of the Doctor in relation to the characters, narratives and locations that he has inhabited across more than half a century. "Stories are, fundamentally, what Doctor Who is all about. Once Upon a Time Lord provides a rich and detailed exploration of the stories that constitute this popular modern mythology. Concerned with both 'classic' and 'new' Who, Phillips considers how aspects of the Time Lord's story have been developed on television and beyond, tracing lines of connection and divergence across various media, and treating Doctor Who as a mythology that has drawn on its own past in often complex ways, at the same time reworking elements from many other sources, whether literary, cinematic, televisual or historical. Phillips offers an original take on this singular hero's journey, reading the unsettled enigma of the Doctor in relation to the characters, narratives and locations that they have encountered across more than half a century." -- From publisher