
Books of the month: What to read this April from a surprisingly candid Doctor Who biography to five-star fiction
Two other 'meaty' social history studies out this month have interesting things to say about race and class. They are Lanre Bakare's We Were There: How Black Culture, Resistance and Community Shaped Modern Britain (Bodley Head) and Joel Budd's Underdogs: The Truth About Britain's White Working Class (Picador). Both books are packed with revealing content.
Finally, an ardent recommendation for Alice Vincent's Hark: How Women Listen (Canongate). Hark offers a heartfelt, powerful exploration of the importance of sound and how it lands for women. The book takes the reader on a moving journey through Vincent's testing times as a young mother and the role music and sensory experiences play in helping forge an identity. It is a book whose themes will surely echo with many readers.
My picks for fiction, non-fiction and memoir of the month are reviewed in full below.
★★★★★
As a child in the 1970s, I regularly watched Doctor Who, a character who has been on our screens since November 1963. I enjoyed the Tom Baker years, although I was never an ardent fan, and I think that makes it easier to read Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who. John Higgs's dispassionate, candid book is described by his publishers as 'the first biography of the infamous Time Lord'.
A memo from 1963 described the character of the Doctor as 'bewildered… garbled… somewhat pathetic', which could stand as an unwelcome epitaph for William Hartnell, the first man to play the Doctor. Hartnell was a bad-tempered, homophobic, heavy-drinking bigot. Going by the book, he seems the perfect symbol for the snobby BBC of that era, an organisation that tolerated racist and predatory behaviour. Doctor Who was rife with sexism from the start. The founding producer was Verity Lambert. 'Verity had enormous boobs and once, by mistake, I called her 'Very-titty' to her face,' admitted the programme's director Richard Martin.
Higgs does a good job dissecting the 14 main Time Lords since 1963 – from Hartnell to Ncuti Gatwa – and there are entertaining stories about the actors involved, especially the volatile Baker, sex addict Patrick Troughton, the wild Sylvester McCoy and the principled Christopher Eccleston.
John Pertwee, who played the Doctor in the early 1970s and who was known for his velvet smoking jackets and frilly shirts, once slapped his onscreen assistant Sarah Jane Smith across the face when she dared to mock his propensity for telling 'tall tales' about his work in naval intelligence. Other young female assistants faced similar appalling misogyny. They were usually just known as 'the girl'. Barry Letts, a producer, admitted that cynically (and creepily), these young girls were just there as 'something for the dads'. 'It was not unusual for entire seasons of Doctor Who to be made by an entirely male team of writers, producers and directors,' Higgs writes.
The book is crammed with fascinating nuggets about fictional Doctor Who villains, too – the Daleks were intended to be seen as 'space Nazis' – although some of the most monstrous behaviour came from the show's fevered, factional fans. The diehard enthusiasts were disliked by most of the production staff, who called them 'barkers' or 'the ming-mongs'. Colin Baker, hated for his multicoloured coat, came in for particularly cruel treatment from some hardcore fans. A magazine produced by the Merseyside sect of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society went so far as to mock the death of Baker's baby son Jack from sudden infant death syndrome.
Higgs takes us all the way through to the 21st-century Doctor Whos, in an era helmed by Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, among others. Jodie Whittaker broke ground as the first female Doctor. Blackface and yellowface actors are gone. The current Doctor, Gatwa, was born in Rwanda during its civil war of the 1990s. The new progressive Doctor Who has antagonised Nigel Farage, who tellingly described it as a programme 'I used to love, but they've completely ruined'.
Exterminate/Regenerate is a cracking read about a character Higgs calls 'the British folk hero of the television age'. Doctor Who may be a hero to fans, but non-obsessives will find little comfort in this sharp-eyed account of an iconic British show forged in a toxic and abusive workplace.
'Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who' by John Higgs is published by W&N on 10 April, £25
★★★★★
Around 55 per cent of humans now live in urban environments. This figure is expected to rise to more than 66 per cent by 2050. In Wild Cities: Discovering New Ways of Living in the Modern Urban Jungle, Chris Fitch looks at what pioneering cities around the world are doing to fight a seemingly losing battle against vanishing nature.
The book covers 12 cities – Tokyo, Medellín, Singapore, Tallinn, Wellington, Nairobi, Sydney, Munich, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Flagstaff and Paris – and uses surveys, data analysis, interviews, anecdotes, urban planning studies and personal observation to build an utterly compelling account of people working to protect a connection to the natural world for urban residents.
Fitch does not sugarcoat the problems. He writes at length about local insect populations in Europe declining by more than three-quarters in the past 30 years – something he calls 'an invertebrate annihilation' – and the ways in which humans are wrecking the marine ecosystem. Whalers and fishermen are doing more damage than climate change. He looks at the issues facing urban dwellers, including physical inactivity, light pollution, heat retention in cities and the unsustainable and destructive habit of car commuting.
The benefits of nature are clear – time among trees boosts immune systems, scenic views aid medical recoveries, etcetera, etcetera – and Fitch uses 12 global cities (and London in the epilogue) to highlight remarkable achievements by progressive, determined people. We can all take heart from urban foragers, from the brains behind the biodiverse forests of Tokyo, from the way that vertical greening is helping in Singapore, and from the fact that Wellington's bird sanctuaries are reviving once-doomed birds in New Zealand. Perhaps the most heartening chapter is on the Colombian city Medellín: a place once despoiled by the lawless and murderous activities of Pablo Escobar has been reclaimed and made green.
Fitch explains how the problems of urban expansion continue even after death. Paris, with limited burial plots, has seen a steep rise in 'tree burials'. Alternatively, if you are cremated, you can now even have your remains turned into a vinyl record.
An engaging tone enlivens a book packed with surprising information, including about the rise of fatal urban bear attacks in Japan. Wild Cities is a splendid, uplifting book that is as entertaining as it is enlightening.
'Wild Cities: Discovering New Ways of Living in the Modern Urban Jungle' by Chris Fitch is published by William Collins on 10 April, £22
Novel of the Month: Audition by Katie Kitamura
★★★★★
Katie Kitamura's novel Intimacies was longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 2021, and four years later, I expect there will be similar plaudits for Audition.
The idea for her latest novel was sparked around eight years ago when she read a headline that said: 'A stranger told me he was my son.' Audition 's unnamed protagonist is a successful New York actress thrown into turmoil by this 'Are you my mother?' moment with a young man called Xavier. The first set piece of the novel is when the pair meet for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant.
In the fictional play she is starring in, the main character undergoes a character transformation – described as 'the hinge' – and this 'hinge' is echoed in the novel. In Part One, we are shown one path for the actor and her husband, Tomas. Part Two offers a very different life arc for her, a competing narrative that is deeply unsettling for the reader. We are all caught in a game of performance and role-playing, Kitamura seems to suggest, as she skilfully pulls apart her character's sense of an authentic self. As her own reality becomes completely unstable, her protagonist is the embodiment of the unreliable narrator.
Kitamura can be witty (as in the remark that 'Xavier gave good son' or in the reflection that middle age is just 'a time of attrition'), and she is in masterful control of tense and hostile confrontational scenes. The battles between the narrator and Xavier's sly young girlfriend, a woman with a 'strange feather touch', are taut and nadgery.
Although the story is subtle and reflective, Audition has powerful things to say about our present destabilised society. It offers a bleak view of a performative age, one in which we must be hyper attuned, sharpening our instincts to survive a world full of manipulators and skittish people. This superb, thoughtful novel resonated long after finishing.
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The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
The Guide #201: our readers' 21st-century pantheon: the culture you loved (that we missed)
Last week's newsletter was a bumper edition, running through the culture that defined the century so far. It covered a wide swathe, from single-take experimental Russian cinema to Top Gun: Maverick, or immersive genre-melding theatre to the dopamine hit of Pokémon Go. But of course, it didn't cover everything. Far from it. So this week we're turning things over to Guide readers, who have shared their own favourite culture of the past 25 years. It includes some big hitters absent from our list (how did we miss Doctor Who and Shane Meadows?!) as well as some choices that are completely unfamiliar – including a Czech gonzo documentary film that I really need to check out. Here are your picks for the 21st-century pantheon. 'A contender has to be Twin Peaks series three, episode eight - Gotta Light? An hour of auteurism like no other. I'd expect to be watching it in my local independent cinema, along with a few other weirdos. But no, it was on TV!' – David McCutcheon 'As a devotee of the horror genre, 2002 saw the end of the wilderness years and the second coming of the undead. As someone who has worshipped all her life at the altar of the late, great George Romero, technically speaking, Danny Boyle's brilliant 28 Days Later wasn't a zombie film, but it re-energised interest in a sub-genre that was considered dead and buried, and introduced the world to the idea of the fast-running infected. Hot on the rotting heels of that, the apocalyptic Walking Dead comics of Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard gave birth to the TV series that ran for 11 biting seasons and set the creative juices flowing for a variety of decomposing epics and new classics, such as 2016's fast-paced Train Busan. Should there ever be a real zombie apocalypse, everyone on the planet must know by now how to dispatch one! This century has seen zombies rise again, and whether shambling or sprinting, long may they continue to growl and bite.' – Susie Pearce 'My pick for album of the century so far, and definitely one of the most underrated, would be Neon Golden by German band The Notwist. It was one of the first indietronica albums in the 2000s, followed later by the Postal Service, the xx and so on – though no one seems to talk about it in the same way as those bands. But I'd put the mournful, though uptempo songs here up against the best of any of those. It still sounds so crisp and so beautiful all these years later.' – Graham, Swanage 'Yes, it diminished by returns violently with that second offering, but the first season of True Detective was something quite amazing. I still remember huge discussions each week on Twitter, when that place was still quite fun. Incredible story telling across multiple timelines and points of view.' – Jamie Gambell 'The work that stands out to me as being a revolutionary piece of art/entertainment/self-examination - God knows what - is Nina Conti's webseries In Therapy. It presents a person who, over time, has become consumed with her alter ego, Monkey. To me, there is no 'act' anymore. What we see is Conti's constructed reality. Bo Burnham may have changed comedy with his lockdown special. That was nothing compared to what Conti has moved on to. I am now looking forward to seeing the movie she has made with the master of the mockumentary, Christopher Guest. I am assuming that he got involved with Conti because he sees the genius inherent in her work - together with the precipice she is dancing on.' – Chris Gilbey 'Shane Meadows' body of work is stunning, especially This Is England and the TV sequels, and The Virtues. The calibre of actors (Paddy Considine, Vicky McClure, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley) and writers (Jack Thorne) he has helped to develop testify to his brilliance. A creator of real, sometimes brutal stories, authentically told.' – Richard Hamilton 'Who doesn't love Sabrina Carpenter? She looks a million dollars and has the voice of an angel. For me she sure beats paying the GDP of a small country to watch the Gallagher Brothers. But each to their own I guess.' – Maggie Chute 'Doctor Who in the 21st century: - Biggest thing on British TV for at least five straight years - Reinvented Saturday night television - Captivated a generation of children nationwide - Made Russell T Davies, David Tennant, Billie Piper, Matt Smith et al household names - Merchandise everywhere - All the awards - Four spin-offs - Three documentary companion shows - Animated specials - Christmas Day staple - A lasting British cultural icon still going 20 years later Also: - Not a single mention on the Guide's 'century in pop culture so far'. For shame!' – Nicky Rowe Sign up to The Guide Get our weekly pop culture email, free in your inbox every Friday after newsletter promotion 'I would give my vote to the 2004 film Czech Dream by Vit Klusak and Filip Remunda. A documentary about a wicked prank, the film follows the build up to opening of a new hypermarket on the outskirts of Prague. We witness the genesis and execution of the ad campaign and other preparatory measures. On the big day, eager-to-shop Praguers make the pilgrimage to the site, only to find nothing but a large vinyl banner with the hypermarket logo ...' – Natalie Gravenor 'My favourite piece of culture from the last 25 years has to be Avengers: Endgame. Forgetting the snobbery around superhero films and their more recent missteps, Marvel did something truly incredible with cinema that has never been done before or since. Twenty-two films over 11 years that each felt unique and distinct, but also part of a coherent whole, with only one or two duds along the way ... and then they stuck the landing. See the audience reaction videos from opening night if you're not convinced.' – Chris Carter 'I have to offer up the opening ceremony to the Olympics in London. Beijing 2008 was the most spectacular, balls to the wall, choreographed to a millimetre of its life opening ceremony ever. It was even cooler than an astronaut landing in LA or an archer (sort of) lighting the cauldron in Barcelona. Jesus, what on earth would London do? Don't embarrass us too much, people were thinking. I was. How wrong could we be? Danny Boyle did some great films (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, I even enjoyed The Beach) but nothing comes close to his opening ceremony. It could have become very little Englander but instead was educational, suspenseful, chock-full of fun and ultimately very British. The music was incredible, the mix of classical and modern, I bought it the hour it was released. The modern history of Britain through dance, art, music, acting, comedy (well done Her Madge and well done Rowan Atkinson) made me feel very proud of my so called septic isle. It didn't have to be perfect, there are some glitches, you can see that, but it was a celebration like no other. Halcyon days.' – Antony Train If you want to read the complete version of this newsletter please subscribe to receive The Guide in your inbox every Friday


Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Unlikely star could be next Doctor Who as fans call on producers to give BAFTA winner role
Doctor Who fans have suggested an unlikely face could be the right fit for the future of the show, with the BAFTA winner seemingly interested in taking on the role An unlikely TV veteran could be the next Doctor Who should producers listen to fan requests. The BAFTA winner has since confirmed he would be interested in the role, and would want to bring a "working class" background to the long-running television character. Fans were delighted when familiar face Billie Piper appeared as the next iteration of the Time Lord. Her casting as the titular Doctor follows on from Ncuti Gatwa's departure from the series. But a new star for the role could come from a BAFTA winner whose work on EastEnders, as well as films like The Football Factory and Run For Your Wife. Whether Danny Dyer 's wish of portraying the Doctor is granted is yet to be seen, but fans are hopeful the star will be given the chance. Dyer said: "It's such an iconic thing to do. It's almost – not on the same level – like James Bond. It gives you an opportunity with Doctor Who, because of the nature of the work, to bring something left-field, something a bit mental, a bit stylised, which I love. I love the idea of it." Fans seem to be on board for the "incredibly working-class Doctor Who" Dyer would bring to the screen. A post to the r/DoctorWhoNews Reddit page saw fans discuss the possibilities for the actor. One fan wrote: "Honestly, I dig it. It could never happen as the BBC and Bad Wolf need to save face but I'd love a series of Comic Relief /Children in Need sketches where they put a variety of ill-judged castings in the role and they all smash it. "You could make a solid comedy about the weird choices and misjudgements of the last few years of the show." Another user suggested people forget Dyer is a credible actor, and that his CV of roles fits the bill for what producers may want from a future Doctor Who star. They wrote: "People have forgotten he's actually a bl**dy great actor, really watchable. Let's not forget one of the most celebrated British playwrights, Harold Pinter, thought Dyer was so unbelievably talented he continuously cast him in all his productions. That's a glowing seal of approval. "Now's he's just won a BAFTA for Bigstuff (a part written for him by Luke Rattigan from series 4). He's absolutely sensational in Rivals with David Tennant. I honestly can't see why he wouldn't be a brilliant fresh bit of casting. "Any other actor with cult hits and accolades like that we'd be clawing for." Not everyone was convinced by Dyer in the lead role, with a few detractors sharing their kneejerk reaction was a "no" to the suggestion. But even they have warmed to the idea of Doctor Dyer. One fan wrote: "He's not the best actor, but Doctor Who isn't Shakespeare. Maybe this wouldn't actually be that bad." Another viewer added: "F**k it, why not?"


Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Netflix fans 'can't think straight' after binge-watching 'incredible' drama
The series dropped on Netflix yesterday, and fans have been staying up until the early hours to finish it, with some admitting they 'cried a lot'. Netflix enthusiasts have been burning the midnight oil to binge-watch the second part of The Sandman season 2, which made its debut on the streaming service just yesterday. The concluding volume of the show's latest season has left viewers "in tears", with some fans confessing they "won't be able to think straight for a long time". Adapted from Neil Gaiman's acclaimed comic book series, The Sandman chronicles the journey of Morpheus, the Master of Dreams, as he endeavours to reclaim his kingdom's former splendour. The Netflix series' blurb states: "When the Sandman, aka Dream, the cosmic being who controls all dreams, is captured and held prisoner for more than a century, he must journey across different worlds and timelines to fix the chaos his absence has caused." Tom Sturridge's portrayal of the eponymous character has garnered applause, and the series boasts a glittering cast including Game of Thrones alumni Gwendoline Christie and Charles Dance, alongside Doctor Who alumna Jenna Coleman. Fans took to X, the platform previously known as Twitter, to express their feelings about the latest instalment of The Sandman season 2. One fan exclaimed: "Whoa! Whoa! #TheSandmanSeason2 was incredible, and I am so excited for the bonus episode coming out July 31." Another viewer posted: "So I finished watching season 2. It was a long journey that I will never forget. It's an amazing show, and amazing people working on it. I will never be the same after this, and I cried a lot of tears. I don't think I will be able to think straight for a long time." Another fan gushed: "Finished all V2 episodes in one sitting... It's almost 7am. It was so good. Tom Sturridge did an amazing job as Dream. The entire cast and team are REALLY some of the best, I cannot remember the last time a show left such an impact on me." An emotional viewer shared: "The last few episodes of Sandman were incredibly emotional. Even though I knew how the story would end, I still couldn't hold back my tears. A huge thank you to Tom Sturridge for being the best Morpheus imaginable." Get Netflix free with Sky This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more from £15 Sky Get the deal here Product Description Despite receiving critical acclaim upon its debut on Netflix in 2022, The Sandman has been embroiled in controversy following allegations of sexual misconduct against creator Gaiman by several women, which he has denied. Rumours swirled that Netflix cancelled The Sandman after two seasons due to the scandal, but showrunner Allan Heinberg has clarified that the decision for a two-season arc was made prior to filming the second series, reports the Express. "The Sandman series has always been focused exclusively on Dream's story, and back in 2022, when we looked at the remaining Dream material from the comics, we knew we only had enough story for one more season," he explained on X. Heinberg expressed gratitude towards Netflix for reuniting the team and providing the necessary support to create a faithful adaptation that aims to both surprise and satisfy the comic's dedicated fans and new viewers alike. The Sandman is now exclusively available for streaming on Netflix.