April 1st, 2016 3 comments

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The Black Archive 1 Rose

Available to order in the UK from www.amazon.co.uk

Available to order in the USA from www.amazon.com #ad

Also available to order direct from www.obversebooks.co.uk

‘Nice to meet you, Rose – Run for your life!’

Rose (2005), the first episode of 21st-century Doctor Who, reimagined the show for a new generation.

Scriptwriter and showrunner Russell T Davies introduced his version of the Doctor through the eyes of Rose Tyler, a shop assistant unfulfilled in both her job and relationship.

In under 45 minutes he fundamentally reinvented the roles of both Doctor and companion for modern television, putting the show back at the heart of the Saturday night TV schedule and grounding it in a world of council estates, celebrity gossip and soap operas; and sketched the beginnings of a fresh, exciting backstory for the series.

Rose was not only a new vision for Doctor Who but pioneered a revival for the Saturday night adventure series.

Launched in March 2016 from Obverse Books, The Black Archive is a series of book-length looks at single Doctor Who stories from 1963 to the present day.

The Archive will publish six titles each year, in simultaneous digital and print editions. Each title is a twenty to forty thousand word study of a single televised Doctor Who story, drawing on all eras of the series’ history.

Series editor Philip Purser-Hallard explains the premise of the series as follows:

‘Doctor Who is endlessly fascinating, a powerful storytelling engine about which many millions of words have been written over the years. There are certain stories, though, from all eras of the programme’s history, which are exceptionally deep and rewarding – whether because of their unusually powerful writing, rich symbolism or complex themes. Stories like The Massacre, Kinda, Ghost Light, Midnight or Vincent and the Doctor demand to be explored at greater length and in more depth than a website review or entry in an episode guide.

‘With this series of critical monographs, these Doctor Who stories can receive the detailed treatment that they so eminently deserve. Our primary emphasis is on the stories as stories, rather than the behind-the-scenes history which has been covered in admirable depth elsewhere. While we aim to make an authoritative and significant contribution to the overall critical conversation about Doctor Who, we intend each of these books to be entertaining as well as of academic interest.’

The Black Archive launched with four titles in March 2016, covering Doctor Who stories from William Hartnell’s tenure as the Doctor to that of current incumbent Peter Capaldi. Four further titles will follow in 2016, then six annually from 2017.

Categorised under: Books, Reference books