by Dale Smith

Obverse Books, out 7 August

Obverse Books’ ongoing series of monographs focusing on a Doctor Who serial or story hits 1988/9’s Season 25 four-parter The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.

The Black Archive series has, over its 65+ volumes, given authors the ability to express some extreme theories, and while the reader might not always subscribe to what’s being posited, the ideas are typically backed up with multiple credible and respected sources. It’s just unfortunate that this book begins with its weakest part.

Unfortunately, Dale Smith’s look at The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (in the opening chapter at least) relies too heavily on references to Richard Marson’s John Nathan-Turner biography, Totally Tasteless, an account of the producer’s life and times, with details of his sex-life and allegations of predatory behaviour. If you don’t doubt that book’s veracity, maybe you’ll be on board with its frequent use. Another opinion is that it’s unbalanced and never resists an opportunity to share in salacious gossip, knowing that the deceased subject cannot defend himself.

Smith explores the suggestion that the character of Whizzkid reflects JN-T’s disdain of the Doctor Who obsessive – the ‘barker’.  He reveals the suggestion that allegedly circulated in fan circles that the geeky Whizzkid character in the story was specifically based on Chris Chibnall, but this is quashed by Smith’s own interview with original writer Stephen Wyatt. Great, that’s put to bed – confirmation from the horse’s mouth. And yet later, when Wyatt does not agree with Smith’s thesis that ‘the Psychic Circus was any sort of analogy for their behaviour’, he dismisses that opinion by saying ‘…authorial intent isn’t the only meaning that a story has.’ You can’t have it both ways – is Wyatt a credible source or not?

Later, after pages that reference some of the most salacious comments from Marson’s book (six on one page alone, and many not directly supporting the argument he’s making), Smith concludes of JN-T that ‘he was a powerful man who abused his power in ways that would have seen him pulled into #MeToo and Operation Yewtree if he hadn’t died when he did.’ How so? He may indeed have been on the authorities’ radar, or maybe not. This cannot be presented as fact – it’s speculation. I also think that describing Ian Levine as JN-T’s ‘catspaw’ is disingenuous and as ‘bitchy’ behaviour as he attributes to the producer.

Later chapters about the use of clowns (particularly spooky ones) in popular culture and influences from Alan Moore are balanced, interesting discussions. The chapter that uses the ringmaster’s use of rap a way to dive into the authors interest in hip-hop is certainly self-indulgent, but again it’s well-written and likely to expand your knowledge on the subject.

Verdict: Too much initial JN-T mud-slinging sours an otherwise varied collection of ideas. 5/10

Nick Joy

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