Neil loves Sue. He also loves Doctor Who. But can he bring two great loves together? And does he have the right? (from the book)
Rating:★★★★★
So this book was an unexpected gem, bought for me as one of several little-but-thoughtful birthday presents by my wonderful boyfriend. We ended up reading this book together, taking turns to read it to the other person. Whenever he buys me a book, I do typically read the first few pages aloud with him, so we both get a real feel for what he has actually bought. Somehow, for this book, we just kept going and it was actually really nice.
The book is based on a blog, also written by Perryman, which follows him and his wife Sue reviewing every episode of classic Doctor Who in chronological order. While this seems like a mad idea, that is sort of what my boyfriend is trying to do this year, and therefore I have been watching a lot of Doctor Who myself. It felt like the right book for us - it felt like it was written for us, really. We were both hoping for more of a focus on the reviews but that's what the actual blog was about. This book was a bit of a mash up of opinions on the episodes and Perryman's own obsession with Doctor Who, where it all started, how it continued, the love story between Perryman and his wife. It was a sweet, and very funny, book that my boyfriend and I enjoyed reading together.
It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there on the internet and occasionally criticise things people who are very obsessive love. For that, I applaud Sue and Neil for doing this, and while I don't always agree with some of their opinions, I enjoyed and respected them. They came from a place of love, and a place of understanding. Sue dubbed Peter Davison (the Fifth Doctor) as the fit one, so we could happily agree on that.
The only thing I had an issue with was realising the blogs could not be bought in a lovely printed collection, as it would have been lovely to have them accompany this book on the shelf. But I guess the kindle books will have to do.
Considering I have somehow allowed my spare bedroom to become a Doctor Who shrine, I can relate to both the fondness and exasperation they both displayed in this book. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone, as it was very funny and an insight into something I feel most people understand, but I've now seen every episode Patrick Troughton (the Second Doctor) ever made that still exists (whether in episode format or reconstructions) so I am no longer the best person to judge what a casual fan of Doctor Who knows anymore. Perhaps I should put my new-found knowledge of Doctor Who and channel it into a blog of my own...maybe.
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