By Ryan Bradley

Obverse Books

Obverse Books’ ongoing series of monographs focusing on a Doctor Who serial or story hits 2020’s Series 12 two-parter Ascension of the Cybermen/ The Timeless Children.  

Ryan Bradley tackles Chris Chibnall’s ‘time to rip up the rule book’ two-parter that for many people represents the either greatest innovation or upset of the showrunner’s tenure. However you fall, there’s no denying that there’s some big ideas at play, and Bradley takes the opportunity to dive in.

From an examination of the ‘ego-death’ – the vanquishing of the single self – to the use of Gallifrey-in-Ireland for the setting of the Division’s cover story, and deeper readings of the characters of Ashad and Brendan, the writer has done his homework and presents detailed analysis. Indeed, the section on Ashad’s hypocritical aestheticism and adoption of Psilocybermen goes a good deeper than many Black Archive studies. At nearly 200 pages it’s also longer than most.

Verdict: There’s a lot of ideas in this Black Archive that’s at the more academic end of the range, and if you’re up to the challenge, it’s worth a read. 8/10

Nick Joy