By Paul Driscoll

Obverse Books, out now

Obverse Books focuses the Eye of Harmony on the 1996 Paul McGann TV movie and finds plenty of new things to say about the final new televised Doctor Who adventure of the 20th Century.

There’s a lovely moment in Matthew Jacobs’ (screenwriter for this story) foreword to Paul Driscoll’s informative tome where he repeats the Doctor’s observation of humans – ‘They always see patterns in things that aren’t there.’ And that, in a nutshell, is an encapsulation of fandom, where enthusiasts discover or create theories that prove or disprove their beliefs. And the author does a great job here of surfacing the already popular theories as well as uncovering his own.

Jacobs himself goes so far as to describe this volume as the book to end all books on the TV movie (and who are we to argue?) even in a crowded marketplace that already includes dedicated volumes of The Complete History and Doctor Who: Regeneration. There’s also the transcript of a detailed Skype interview with Jacobs which dives deep into the story’s themes and intent.

Moving away from the physical production details, we instead get to ponder how British Doctor Who should be, just how camp Eric Roberts wanted his Master to be and how well did the movie succeed in shifting the belief that the show had become tired, cheap and no longer relevant.

We’re asked to consider whether McCoy’s appearance was prudent or just fan service, and how much focus was really needed on the Doctor discovering his new identity. At one point the Doctor was not only to be identified as half-human (put those pitchforks down!) but having a mother of Edwardian extraction. And just how responsible was Steven Moffat’s The Curse of Fatal Death in normalising a parodic Master? It’s all great food for though, presented to us by Driscoll through the lens of a landscape of Cool Britannia and a desire to find the next Babylon 5 or X-Files.

Verdict: You might think you have the full measure of the TV Movie, but once you’ve considered Paul Driscoll’s allusions to Frankenstein, Christ, Turandot and Millennium bugs, you might give it a little more credit. Or not… just don’t think about the kiss, the hybrid or the helium Daleks. 8/10

Nick Joy