Mad Norwegian press About Time Seasons 7-11

Authors	Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood
ISBN	0 97594 462 2
Publisher	Mad Norwegian Press
Published	2004

Summary: An in-depth look at the Pertwee era.

• A Review by John Seavey

A Review by John Seavey 26/1/05

Lawrence Miles: He's back, and it's About Time. Specifically, About Time: The Pertwee Years.

Seriously, has anyone other than me read this? I really loved it -- it has a certain snarky, affectionately mocking tone to it that reminds me of those VH1 specials they run that you want to turn off because they're so trashy, but can't because they're trashy and entertaining. It's a bit like a book for someone who wants to understand not just the series, but also all the jokes in The Completely Useless Encyclopedia to boot.

The side essays are always interesting, if not always conclusive -- but the book does open with an essay conclusively setting UNIT's stories in the early 70s and giving detailed reasons why anyone who thinks otherwise is looney, which I appreciate. :) There's also an excellent one that attempts to pin down the location of UNIT HQ, and a couple of good timelines (although Miles and Wood frequently tell readers to go read A History of the Universe to get a more detailed timeline. I'd call this shameless cross-promotion if I didn't agree with them. :) )

But mostly, you read it because it's nice to get an assessment of the series from an intelligent writer, and Miles doesn't disappoint. He shows where the series is coming from at this point, how it's evolving into the product we're going to see, and gives a (surprisingly) mostly favorable assessment of the era. At the end, I really wished I could just keep going and read the next volume.