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Back To The Vortex: The Unofficial And Unauthorised Guide To Doctor Who 2005 by J. Shaun Lyon
28/11/2005 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: Telos. 423 page enlarged illustrated paperback. Price: £12.99 (UK), $22.95 (US), $29.95 (CAN). ISBN: 1-903889-78-2. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.telos.co.uk and www.gallifreyone.com
Earlier in the year, I reviewed David Howe's 'The Handbook: The Unofficial And Unauthorised Guide To The Production Of Doctor Who' which covered all things Who to the mid-90s. In many respects, 'Back To The Vortex' is a companion piece to this book. Those of you too young to have even been a sparkle in your parents' eyes in 1963, assuming even if they were alive back then, should now at least experience the effect I had from the first book, namely where was I when all this was happening. This book is essentially a snapshot of events leading up to the production and filming of the ninth Doctor as played by Christopher Eccleston in 2005.
In the manner of the previous book, a lot of background and media attention - also showing where they got their information wrong - is covered as well as a lot of detail about each of the episodes. Writer Shaun Lyon actually got around giving too much away about the conclusions of each episode rather well. The information is actually there but you'd have to dig it out rather more than directly dig into it. Saying that, I doubt if you'd be buying this book if you weren't into 'Doctor Who'.
There is also a warts and all reaction from selected fans about what they felt after each episode and its merits. No doubt there was a page restriction over what was felt overall about the entire series which is a shame really as it might balance out the reaction felt en masse. As I took that route myself on the website, I do find it interesting that these people also came up with similar conclusions to myself on a lot of the aspects. One thing that was very obvious from their writing was that although producer Russell T. Davies is a very good character writer, there is a need for someone to look over his shoulder in terms of bringing up the plot values. This is always a problem in any form of scriptwriting and no doubt Davies himself will be treating what he did in this season as a steep learning curve as to what he needs to do in the coming 2006 season.
This really is a rather good albeit long read that really needs to be paced a little to absorb all the information given. If I had to choose any weaknesses in the book, then it is more to do with Lyon's open questions on things that didn't quite make sense to him. It might have made more sense had he attempted to address the answers as well. Some of them are rather obvious and some I could well turn into articles myself in the near future. As to continuity mistakes, well no doubt Davies is either not too worried by them or is going to need a team following him around the sets making sure such details are sorted out in future. A lot of them, you'd have to seriously freeze-frame in slow mode to look at rather look at the story as a whole.
If you're a Doctor Who fan, then this should be included as part of your collection because it is a useful reference to the latest regeneration.
GF Willmetts
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