Adventures With the Wife in Space: Living with Doctor Who
by Neil Perryman
with constant interruptions from Sue Perryman
from an idea that seemed like a good one at the time by Neil Perryman
My wife and I were big fans of the blog Adventures with the Wife in Space, where Doctor Who fan Neil Perryman got his "not-we" wife Sue to watch every episode of classic Doctor Who, from 1963 to 1989. Sue wasn't a fan, but she does teach television production, so she can appreciate it and comment on it interestingly... plus she's quite funny. A book of the blog came out for Doctor Who's fiftieth anniversary, which my wife got me for Christmas that year. In classic Steve Mollmann fashion, I finally got around to reading it just after the sixtieth anniversary (though thankfully before the new edition of the book came out).
Published: 2013 Acquired: December 2013 Read: December 2023 |
The whole thing is quite funny, of course, but also somewhat moving. The back cover spells out the book's premise somewhat flippantly: "Neil loves Sue. He also loves Doctor Who. But can he bring his two great loves together?" It's a part of the fan experience that will resonate with any fan, I suspect. One way a fan shows their love is by sharing something they love. But of course other people don't always love what their loved ones love. Longtime readers of my blog know that I introduced my older son to Oz, one of my childhood loves, and over two years later, we're still reading them together. Sometimes it works, and it's magical. But as I write this, I've been thinking about introducing him to Doctor Who... but will he love it? I am honestly a little trepidatious! Neil captures this quite well. He and Sue were married for years before he dared to share what he loved with her... but for them it paid off, and as he tells it, even made their relationship stronger!
Highly recommended if you're a certain type of Doctor Who fan, or even if you just know one. Though you may benefit from reading the blog first. As for me, I'm using the book as a launching-off point for a reread of the blog, in the form of the ebook collections of it I've bought over the years but have never gotten around to reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment