Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who 2011: The Critical Fan’s Guide to Matt Smith’s Second Series (unauthorized) by Steven Cooper & Kevin Mahoney
At over 90,000 words, this is the most comprehensive guide yet published to the 2011 season of Doctor Who. This series of Doctor Who had the greatest ambition yet, as Steven Moffat created the most complex Doctor Who story arc ever. The apparent death of the Doctor in the very first episode set the groundwork for a series full of other shocks and revelations (such as River Song’s identity), which ended with a return to the essential mystery that has always underlined the programme.
The format of this book is the same as the one that we laid out in our previous guide to Matt Smith’s first series as the Doctor. Steven Cooper has written excellent detailed analyses of each episode, which he published online soon after each episode was broadcast, thus providing an invaluable record of how a long-standing fan reacted to each twist of the plot as it occurred. Kevin Mahoney follows Steven’s analyses with his reviews, which he wrote from the perspective of having watched the entire series. This enabled Kevin to gauge exactly how Steven Moffat had put this season together, and to assess the success of his various hoodwinks and sleights of hand.
There have been various controversies this series, such as Moffat’s novel move to split the series in half. Then there were murmurings of discontent within fandom when the news that there might be fewer than 14 episodes in 2012 leaked out, along with the perennial erroneous tales from the newspapers about the loss of viewing figures. The cancellation of Doctor Who Confidential left some fans fearing for the future of such an expensive show in austere times. Others have gone further than this, to suggest that Doctor Who itself needs a break. However, despite some minor blips in the storytelling department in 2011, this book argues that there is still a great deal to be positive about in Doctor Who. While we haven’t quite yet reached another golden age for the programme, the authors of this book believe that the potential is still very much there to achieve this.
Steven Cooper and Kevin Mahoney are also the authors of Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who 2010: The Critical Fan’s Guide to Matt Smith’s First Series (Unauthorized) (ISBN 9780953317295).
Steven Cooper is a software developer and long-time Doctor Who fan, living in Melbourne, Australia.
Kevin Mahoney is the founder and editor of the literary website Authortrek.com. For three years, he served as the Web Content Editor of the Society of Young Publishers. He has previously worked for the UK publishers Random House. Kevin is also the author of the novel A Fame of Two Halves.
Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who 2011: The Critical Fan’s Guide to Matt Smith’s Second Series (unauthorized) will be published as a paperback during the Summer of 2012. It’s currently available on the Kindle:
Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who 2010: The Critical Fan’s Guide to Matt Smith’s First Series (Unauthorized) by Steven Cooper & Kevin Mahoney
At over 75,000 words, this is the most comprehensive analysis of Doctor Who series 5 produced so far. Steven Moffat’s first series as showrunner for Doctor Who deserves such a thorough examination, as it is arguably the most intricate ever produced. Indeed, there were many innovations in 2010, with the successful introduction of the youngest Doctor ever (Matt Smith), and the contentious redesign of both the Daleks and the TARDIS. Steven Cooper and Kevin Mahoney discuss both these developments and the complex plotting in depth, drawing on their many years of Doctor Who knowledge. Their aim has been to provide constructive criticism of the 2010 series, giving praise where it is due while also pointing out the less successful aspects of the production. In addition to this, they examine the controversies surrounding the series, such as the complaints about the ‘sexiness’ of the Doctor’s new companion, Amy Pond, in the British media. They also critique A Christmas Carol, and Russell T Davies’ take on the Eleventh Doctor in The Sarah Jane Adventures. So much happened during series 5, with the overall threat posed by the cracks in the universe, that you really do need this indispensable guide to fully grasp the implications of all the events, and to discover the many obscure details that the authors bring to light.
Available to order from all good bookstores in paperback at £7.99 (ISBN 9780953317295) and as an ebook for £2.99 from the Amazon Kindle store, the iPad iBookstore, and Barnes & Noble etc.
