Description

‘Captures much of the warmth, wit and worthiness of this thoroughly British institution’ THE TIMES

‘Crammed with fascinating nuggets’ INDEPENDENT, Biography of the Month

‘Absolutely wonderful. The book I’ve been waiting to read since I was ten years old’ JEREMY DYSON

With its unique ability to evolve and adapt more radically than any other fiction, Doctor Who has acted as a mirror to more than six decades of social, technological and cultural change. In the first biography of this central fixture of the British imagination, John Higgs invites us into the Doctor’s TARDIS on a journey to discover how ideas emerge and survive despite the odds, how failed monks and war heroes created one of the most successful TV shows in history and why this wonderful wandering time traveller means so much to so many.

‘A TARDIS of a book . . . the whole space-time continuum is inside’ FRANK COTTRELL BOYCE

‘Wonderful! You don’t need to be a Whovian to delight at John Higgs’s journey through Doctor Who, but you may well be one by the end of the book’ ROBIN INCE

Publisher Review

Rich with trivia . . . Higgs is an engaging, entertaining guide. Exterminate/Regenerate captures much of the warmth, wit and worthiness of this thoroughly British institution * THE TIMES * Crammed with fascinating nuggets . . . Surprisingly candid . . . Exterminate/Regenerate is a cracking read * INDEPENDENT, Biography of the Month * Engrossing . . . anyone interested in television or cultural history will find it fascinating — Neil Armstrong * MAIL ON SUNDAY * Higgs does a meticulous job . . . The sort of capsule study that uses this genuinely odd and enduring show as a means to probe the travails of TV land and British society itself over the past 60 years — Travis Elborough * SPECTATOR * A cultural history of one of the most enduring creations of the 1960s . . . Unmissable * THE HERALD * A TARDIS of a book. On the outside it’s about a TV show, but open it up and you’re plunged into the space-time continuum. John Higgs is your man for seeing eternity in a grain of sand — FRANK COTTRELL-BOYCE Absolutely wonderful. The book I’ve been waiting to read since I was ten years old. Full of surprising and piercing insights, and fascinating meditations on the nature of mystery. The first thing I’ve come across that absolutely nails the extraordinary nature of the cultural phenomenon that is Doctor Who. Like its subject, it’s about so much more than it appears to be — JEREMY DYSON With his usual mix of cultural savvy and sharp philosophical insight, John Higgs frees Doctor Who from the rubber tendrils of fandom to reveal an unkillable British myth which millions of us helped create together — JOEL MORRIS Full of interesting tidbits and perfect for the Doctor Who fan in your life — JENNY COLGAN Epic, pacey and blisteringly insightful. Higgs is a masterful guide to one of the weirdest elements in British pop culture. This is an adventure in time and space which manages to be thrilling, laugh-out-loud funny and oddly melancholic, often on a single page. He gives us the full authoritative story of Doctor Who. And along the way, we learn a great deal about modern Britain, our weird relationship with change, and the haunted corridors of our own childhood — IAN DUNT Wonderful! You do not need to be a Whovian to delight at John Higgs’s journey through Doctor Who, but you may well be one by the end of the book — ROBIN INCE One of the greatest books on a cultural phenomenon ever written . . . I found myself giggling and chortling throughout, heard myself make little gasps of recognition and at certain points, there were even tears. It is brilliantly insightful [and] absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in pop culture and modern storytelling. Read this book — NICK ABADZIS Astute . . . there are engaging new theories to share and fascinating connections to trace. A fitting biography * SFX magazine * Though chronological, the book takes a suitably ‘timey-wimey’ approach, with frequent diversions into the lives of its stars, writers and producers, its narrative parallels with English and Norse folklore, Dickens, Tolkien and Buddhism, and the political and cultural forces that have guided its evolution . . . Illuminating * RADIO TIMES * I was very taken with Higgs’s “biography of the infamous Time Lord”. As well as being a study of the famous science fiction character, [Higgs] offers telling insights into British society and the failings of the BBC. There are shocking accounts of bad-tempered, homophobic, heavy-drinking, sexist actors and corporate bigwigs in the mix of a book that is also crammed with fascinating nuggets about the Doctor Who villains * INDEPENDENT, Books of the Year * An absorbing, engaging and gossipy history of Doctor Who, full of new insight and detail – both comprehensive and breezy, and so bigger on the inside. A joyous celebration of a British institution — SIMON GUERRIER, author of DAVID WHITAKER IN AN EXCITING ADVENTURE WITH TELEVISION