Doctor Who: Regeneration - Hardcover

Segal, Philip

4.13

52 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007105916 ISBN 13: 9780007105915

Publisher: HarperCollins Entertainment, 2000

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The first full behind-the-scenes investigation of the BBC’s attempts to resurrect their most enduring drama series in the 1990s.

Doctor Who was voted in 1998 as the most popular drama series ever produced by the BBC, a result which shocked its critics and embarrassed the corporation which had cancelled the 35-year-old series nearly ten years before. In its time it enjoyed enormous popularity and was sold to 87 different countries. Today it retains a hugely loyal cult following, even amongst children who are too young to remember Saturday teatimes before the age of the home video.

But in the wilderness years of the 1990s, there had been one glimmer of hope – the TV movie starring Paul McGann as the eighth Doctor which it had been hoped would spawn a new era for the programme.

Doctor Who: Regeneration chronicles the BBC’s seven-year struggle since cancelling the series in 1989 to develop it as a US co-production. It offers a fascinating glimpse in microcosm of the politics of television and the BBC in the 1990s, as well as the creative development hell of making what turned out to be only a one-off TV movie with Fox in the States. Most of the issues remain pertinent to the debate which rages both within broadcasting and the hugely loyal fan-following around the world – how can a programme like Doctor Who be made in today’s commercial television market?

The book includes a wealth of pictures, including sketches, storyboards and screen-tests none of which have ever been seen. It examines a number of aborted story treatments and scripts which have also never been published. For the Doctor Who fan, most of this material will be completely new, and it is linked by a narrative which pulls very few punches on the subjects of the mistakes which were made all the way down the line.

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Review:

‘The best non-fiction Doctor Who book for years. Beautifully designed, full of rare photographs, sumptuous design sketches and concept art... a fabulous look at a turbulent time in the history of a classic television show. * * * * * ’ SFX

‘Every so often a book comes along which almost defies expectations. Doctor Who: Regeneration is such a book. Fascinating and enthralling, for anyone interested in television history, this is a landmark book. 10/10’ Starburst

From the Back Cover:

'Doctor Who' was a British television institution. It ran on the BBC every year from 1963 until, one day in 1989, it stopped. It's loyal viewers were perplexed. Why had this happened? Were the ratings too low? Was the series too expensive? Or did it have something to do with a telephone call the BBC had received from an American television producer who said he was keen to remake the show in Hollywood?

'Doctor Who: Regeneration' takes an in-depth look at the seven-year struggle cancelling the series to develop it as a US co-production. It offers a fascinating glimpse of the politics of television in the 1990s and blows the lid off discussions with the BBC, with Universal and with Fox, along the way introducing players in this game as varies as Steven Spielberg, Leonard Nimoy, Verity Lambert and David Hasselhoff.

Throughout this dramatic saga, on man's name was inextricably linked with this attempted rebirth: 'Philip Segal'. This book is his story of the ups and downs, the highs and lows, and the various attempts made to involve different directors, writers, TV net-works, studios and film stars. And just how did Liverpudlian actor Paul McGann end up being the eighth and, to date, final Doctor?

In collaboration with 'Doctor Who' journalist Gary Russell, Philip pulls all the threads together to weave a fascinating tale of behind-the-scenes trauma. Lavishly illustrated with rare photographs, design drawings and production paintings, and including aborted story treatments which didn't quite make it, this is perhaps the most detailed diary of a television production ever assembled.

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