Time, Unincorporated 1: The Doctor Who Fanzine Archives: (Vol. 1: Lance Parkin) [Paperback]

As a relative newcomer to the world of Doctor Who (having only come into the series in January 2007) I'm always interested not only in the shows past but in the past of the fandom that has grown up around the series as well. Having just read Licence Denied, Virgin Books collection of fanzine articles published about twelve years ago now, recently I was rather intrigued to discover that there was to be a series of follow-up books at last in the form of Mad Norwegian Press's Time Unincorporated series. The first volume, containing articles written over the years by respected Who novelist Lance Parkin, proves to be a fantastic start for the series.

The book starts off, following an introduction by Parkin, with a study of the series done for Enlightenment, the long running magazine of the Doctor Who Information Network, back in 2003. The study looks year by year at the original series plus its evolution, rise and fall. The study also looks at the fandom that grew up around the show, how fandom became a double-edged sword in the 1980's and how fans (including those who came to write for the novel lines based on the series such as Parkin) helped keep the show alive. The original study ended just as the BBC announced that the new series was to be made and the version of the study in this book has a new section added to it entitled Five Years On. This section looks at the successful return of Doctor Who to TV screens in 2005 and looks at how the ongoing series has gone so far and the reactions of both fans and the general public to it. The study itself, wheatear one can agree with all of Parkin's observations, makes for a fascinating study of the series and its history.

The book continues with the series of articles Parkin wrote for the fanzine The Matrix between 1994 and 1997. The articles cover everything from the influences of other British science fiction series such as Quatermass,, a rather humorous take on formulaic nature of Terry Nation's Dalek stories, the question of just how many lives the Doctor has had (which appeared in Licence Denied), looks at the criticisms of some eras of the series and a review of Jean-Marc Lofficier's book The Nth Doctor. The only articles missing are the earliest versions of Parkin's chronologies of various elements of the Doctor Who universe which seems a shame considering that those were the beginnings of what is today the book Ahistory. Even with those omissions these articles make for both interesting reading and a look at the earliest writings of Parkin related to Doctor Who.

Following on from the Matrix articles are Parkin's Enlightenment columns running from 2001 all the way to the beginning of 2009. The columns, like the Matrix articles, cover a lot of ground from a look at the much-criticized character of Adric, the various attempts at re-starting the series (such as the Big Finish audio Storm Warning and the webcast of Death Comes To Time), the ups and downs of Doctor Who fandom both past and present, reactions to the various rumors that popped up before the new series began airing, Parkin's reactions to the new series, a second look at the influence of Quatermass and even a look ahead at the yet to be aired era of the eleventh Doctor Matt Smith. Once again, while you might not agree with everything Parkin has to say, there's no arguing that there's plenty to read and like here.

The book also presents a tidied up and easier to read version of the blog Parkin kept while writing the recent tenth Doctor novel The Eyeless. This version, which benefits from following some months after the novel's publication, is a fascinating case study of how the continuing adventures of the Doctor in print are continuing today. Parkin covers how the new books differ from the book ranges of the past, the evolution of a story from outline to novel and how the input and how the thoughts of others effect both the work of a writer and the story itself amongst other topics. This section of the book should be of interest to any budding fiction writers out there (myself included) for it also contains a wealth of practical advice on fiction writing in general and how to avoid the pitfalls of novel writing. While you might be able to still read the original blog online still, this version of it is defiantly worth your time.

The book finishes with two sections for those who have followed Parkin's novels over the years. The first is "Unmade Stories" which beautifully illustrates how much a story can change from outline to full length novel with the original outlines of the 1998 novel The Infinity Doctor and the Eighth Doctor version of the Faction Paradox novel Warlords Of Utopia. Also included for the first time is an outline for a never written Eighth Doctor Adventure which fits between Escape Velocity and Earthworld and would have seen the return of a familiar villain. The second inclusion is the original version of Fitz's Poem from the final Eighth Doctor Adventure The Gallifrey Chronicles entitled "Contains Spoilers" which makes for a nice little read in its own right. For those who have enjoyed Parkin's novels over the years here's a chance to see where some of those stories got their starts from.

For fans of the series, this book should be a delight. In 268 pages the book covers a wide range of subjects crossing the entire forty-five year plus history of the series. It also gives fans a look at the thoughts and works of one of the most respected novelists to work on the series. This book is said to be a volume one and, considering the quality of this book, I eagerly await the second volume of articles as well.

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