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andrew_j_r's review against another edition
4.0
Wise men make proverbs, but fools repeat them - Samuel Palmer (1805-1880)
Blue Box Boy is the tale of the actor Matthew Waterhouse, the eighteen year old who was cast in 1980 to play a Doctor Who companion (Adric). It is an autobiography, but very selective in its’ material. It tells the story (in great, one might argue unnecessary) detail of his obsession with Doctor Who as a child,then later his direct involvement on the show, and some moments of his life after he left.
So, as a Doctor Who fan, this told me the stuff that I was really interested in. However the lack of external context serves to make the main character seem one dimensional. And whilst some may criticise the book for this, I think it actually may have been the point.
Although Matthew writes the story, it is told in the first person. Whilst jarring for the first few pages, you quickly get used to this. The lack of background of the character (as he surely must be seen due to the choice of writing style) means that you never really understand the relationship between Matthew the young actor on Doctor Who and Matthew the human being. It is almost as though the book is being deliberately written in the style of a Terrence Dicks Doctor Who novel, it gives you a description of the action, and the dialogue, but doesn’t tell you much about the inner workings of Matthews mind. I am sure this is deliberate, his note at the front of the book (“The Changing Titles of Doctor Who”) is a deliberate pastiche of the note that appeared at the front of the Target Books, often written by Terrence Dicks, telling the new reader about “The Changing Face of Doctor Who”.
So does it work? Well, annoyingly, yes it does. If I had read the paragraph above before I read the book I think it might have put me off. But let’s be honest, as fans (and it really is only fans who are going to want to read this book) we want to know the nitty gritty about the production. It’s wonderful to know what a cantankerous sod Tom Baker was to work with – we have been told this in the past as fact but never given many details. But the style does mean that the book cannot have any casual readers, because they would frankly be bored.
There was a side of me that wanted to know more about Matthew the person. He has been a bit of an enigma in fan circles, possibly because the level of criticism that is levelled against him has made him all but disassociate himself with the show. Certainly now when you watch the DVD’s of his episodes there is the odd dud line, but few more than many of the other actors on the show. As a kid when I watched this I adored the whole Tardis crew, including Adric, and I was utterly devastated when he was killed off. In fact I couldn’t quite believe it, and was sure they would find a way to save him in the following story (the Radio Times listed him in the next story, so I must have been right. Mustn’t I?!)
So I wanted to know how he felt after his first day when Tom Baker blanked him, or told him to piss off. But that is the kind of information you almost never get. The exception was when he first reads the script for his final episode and discovers that Adric gives his own life to try and save others, which brings back some uncomfortable memories for Matthew about his brother’s suicide. But that is the only moment that hints at emotional depth, and to be honest I wanted more. I wanted to be able to empathise with him, and sadly I could not.
But as a hardcore Who fan, it is a really enjoyable read, and if you love the show then this is a very honest account of Matthew’s time on it.
Blue Box Boy is the tale of the actor Matthew Waterhouse, the eighteen year old who was cast in 1980 to play a Doctor Who companion (Adric). It is an autobiography, but very selective in its’ material. It tells the story (in great, one might argue unnecessary) detail of his obsession with Doctor Who as a child,then later his direct involvement on the show, and some moments of his life after he left.
So, as a Doctor Who fan, this told me the stuff that I was really interested in. However the lack of external context serves to make the main character seem one dimensional. And whilst some may criticise the book for this, I think it actually may have been the point.
Although Matthew writes the story, it is told in the first person. Whilst jarring for the first few pages, you quickly get used to this. The lack of background of the character (as he surely must be seen due to the choice of writing style) means that you never really understand the relationship between Matthew the young actor on Doctor Who and Matthew the human being. It is almost as though the book is being deliberately written in the style of a Terrence Dicks Doctor Who novel, it gives you a description of the action, and the dialogue, but doesn’t tell you much about the inner workings of Matthews mind. I am sure this is deliberate, his note at the front of the book (“The Changing Titles of Doctor Who”) is a deliberate pastiche of the note that appeared at the front of the Target Books, often written by Terrence Dicks, telling the new reader about “The Changing Face of Doctor Who”.
So does it work? Well, annoyingly, yes it does. If I had read the paragraph above before I read the book I think it might have put me off. But let’s be honest, as fans (and it really is only fans who are going to want to read this book) we want to know the nitty gritty about the production. It’s wonderful to know what a cantankerous sod Tom Baker was to work with – we have been told this in the past as fact but never given many details. But the style does mean that the book cannot have any casual readers, because they would frankly be bored.
There was a side of me that wanted to know more about Matthew the person. He has been a bit of an enigma in fan circles, possibly because the level of criticism that is levelled against him has made him all but disassociate himself with the show. Certainly now when you watch the DVD’s of his episodes there is the odd dud line, but few more than many of the other actors on the show. As a kid when I watched this I adored the whole Tardis crew, including Adric, and I was utterly devastated when he was killed off. In fact I couldn’t quite believe it, and was sure they would find a way to save him in the following story (the Radio Times listed him in the next story, so I must have been right. Mustn’t I?!)
So I wanted to know how he felt after his first day when Tom Baker blanked him, or told him to piss off. But that is the kind of information you almost never get. The exception was when he first reads the script for his final episode and discovers that Adric gives his own life to try and save others, which brings back some uncomfortable memories for Matthew about his brother’s suicide. But that is the only moment that hints at emotional depth, and to be honest I wanted more. I wanted to be able to empathise with him, and sadly I could not.
But as a hardcore Who fan, it is a really enjoyable read, and if you love the show then this is a very honest account of Matthew’s time on it.
saroz162's review against another edition
1.0
It's one thing to read the memoir of someone who was in a television show like Doctor Who. Now that I'm no longer a teenager, my interest in that kind of thing has distinctly lessened, but it can be interesting to find out more about a person beyond what you saw on television, to get some insight to the times they lived in or how they found their artistry. That's the appeal, for instance, of Anneke Wills' two memoirs, which only very sparingly relate to Doctor Who even though it's clearly most if not all of the reason she has readers. She has had a fascinating life, and it's thrilling to realize someone you barely had a glimmer of before has actually done...well...so much else.
The inverse happens with Blue Box Boy. I have little doubt Matthew Waterhouse has also lived through many interesting things and has an interesting perspective on his times. The problem is how little that is represented here. Taking this book at its face value, playing Adric for two years is the central defining event in Waterhouse's life, and it changed him - not necessarily for the better. What really comes through in Boy is a portrait of an insecure young man who absolutely adored a television show, and that same show chewed him up and spit him out. His comments on many of his co-stars aren't snipey and mean, as I was really expecting, but much more hurt, wounded, and disappointed. Waterhouse experienced a very rude awakening during his time on Doctor Who.
The book already feels odd and distant - a bit like a therapeutic exercise more than a narrative - because Waterhouse has made the choice to write it in third person. What really makes it uncomfortable, though, is the structure. After more than 75 pages of almost obsessively listing and describing the different artifacts and merchandise of Doctor Who the young Matthew adored, almost another 200 cover his hiring and the creation of season eighteen, fraught with egos, tension, and more than an unhealthy amount of Tom Baker. After that, the new regime with Peter Davison seems almost like a walk in the park, and Matthew bounces through it, stopping primarily to tell us about things that made him feel unhappy, sad, awkward, or anxious. Even the death of Adric and Waterhouse leaving the program are glossed over fairly quickly. There's an odd quality to it all, as if Waterhouse is so wrapped up in self-pity he can't make himself reflect on the nice times (although he does - very occasionally). It's uncomfortable - deeply uncomfortable - to read, and because it isn't really balanced by much of Matthew's post-Doctor Who life or career, it's all a bit relentless. "I've told you my sad story," Matthew - at least, the book's Matthew - seems to say at the end. "Aren't you sad, too, now?"
All of that would even be okay if I felt like the book achieved some catharsis. Perhaps for its author it did. For this reader, though, it just seemed like exposure to someone's deep-held resentment. It left me feeling voyeuristic more than anything else.
The inverse happens with Blue Box Boy. I have little doubt Matthew Waterhouse has also lived through many interesting things and has an interesting perspective on his times. The problem is how little that is represented here. Taking this book at its face value, playing Adric for two years is the central defining event in Waterhouse's life, and it changed him - not necessarily for the better. What really comes through in Boy is a portrait of an insecure young man who absolutely adored a television show, and that same show chewed him up and spit him out. His comments on many of his co-stars aren't snipey and mean, as I was really expecting, but much more hurt, wounded, and disappointed. Waterhouse experienced a very rude awakening during his time on Doctor Who.
The book already feels odd and distant - a bit like a therapeutic exercise more than a narrative - because Waterhouse has made the choice to write it in third person. What really makes it uncomfortable, though, is the structure. After more than 75 pages of almost obsessively listing and describing the different artifacts and merchandise of Doctor Who the young Matthew adored, almost another 200 cover his hiring and the creation of season eighteen, fraught with egos, tension, and more than an unhealthy amount of Tom Baker. After that, the new regime with Peter Davison seems almost like a walk in the park, and Matthew bounces through it, stopping primarily to tell us about things that made him feel unhappy, sad, awkward, or anxious. Even the death of Adric and Waterhouse leaving the program are glossed over fairly quickly. There's an odd quality to it all, as if Waterhouse is so wrapped up in self-pity he can't make himself reflect on the nice times (although he does - very occasionally). It's uncomfortable - deeply uncomfortable - to read, and because it isn't really balanced by much of Matthew's post-Doctor Who life or career, it's all a bit relentless. "I've told you my sad story," Matthew - at least, the book's Matthew - seems to say at the end. "Aren't you sad, too, now?"
All of that would even be okay if I felt like the book achieved some catharsis. Perhaps for its author it did. For this reader, though, it just seemed like exposure to someone's deep-held resentment. It left me feeling voyeuristic more than anything else.
jonwesleyhuff's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really entertaining read. I'm one of those (rather small, it seems) group of Who fans who liked Adric. Sure, he could be irritating as a character, but I thought he supposed to be a bit irritating and was an interesting foil for the others. There has been a lot said about Matthew Waterhouse over the years by various cast members, and it was clear he was not always the most well-regarded actor, to put it nicely. So hearing his side of the story was intriguing.
The first part of the book basically recounts his experience with Doctor Who before he joined the show, and his recounting of its history goes on for perhaps a bit too long but it provides a good context for his mindset as a fan joining the show he loved. Perhaps the nicest part of the book is that although his experience on the show was not always perfect, there seems to be a distinct lack of bitterness in the book. In fact, he is pleasingly self-deprecating for much of the book. If I had one complaint, it's that I wish we'd gotten a bit more stories from his time shooting Doctor Who. As it is, it feels like we zip through his time on the show fairly quickly.
Of course, there are times when he does feel the need to tell his side of some of his more infamous moments, and one does have to wonder if the truth probably lies somewhere in-between the various accounts. But it makes the retelling of these stories no less interesting. One thing he demonstrates is a real love for the program, one which he still seems to find joy in even if most Doctor Who fans seem to write him off.
The first part of the book basically recounts his experience with Doctor Who before he joined the show, and his recounting of its history goes on for perhaps a bit too long but it provides a good context for his mindset as a fan joining the show he loved. Perhaps the nicest part of the book is that although his experience on the show was not always perfect, there seems to be a distinct lack of bitterness in the book. In fact, he is pleasingly self-deprecating for much of the book. If I had one complaint, it's that I wish we'd gotten a bit more stories from his time shooting Doctor Who. As it is, it feels like we zip through his time on the show fairly quickly.
Of course, there are times when he does feel the need to tell his side of some of his more infamous moments, and one does have to wonder if the truth probably lies somewhere in-between the various accounts. But it makes the retelling of these stories no less interesting. One thing he demonstrates is a real love for the program, one which he still seems to find joy in even if most Doctor Who fans seem to write him off.
nwhyte's review against another edition
4.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3156012.html
Adric is not at the top of many people's list of favourite companions, but I must say this memoir is a very sympathetic account from Matthew Waterhouse, who played him. It's particularly interesting because Waterhouse was a huge fan of the programme before he joined the cast, and also because he did almost no other screen acting; for a lot of the Old Who actors, it was one more job, often quite a short one, in a career which had other heights which they wish were remembered better, but for Waterhouse it was an intense experience, which he knew was important at the time and whose memories haven't been faded out by later work.
Waterhouse has chosen to tell the story in the third person, which seemed really pretentious when I first heard about the book (cf Julius Caesar), but actually it works really well - it allows him to establish some distance from his not always terribly happy childhood, and from the intense experience of working with the very temperamental Tom Baker on his last few stories. Once Davison arrived and the regular team settled down (though of course Waterhouse was the first to be written out) it seems to have been more fun, though he still took it pretty seriously. I deeply sympathise with his approach, as reported in an exchange with Janet Fielding who played Tegan:
'“The trouble with you, Matthew,” she said more than once, “is that when it comes to Doctor Who you suspend your critical judgement.” This was a well-made point, but then she had no emotional involvement with it and Matthew did. He was intelligent enough to know that if too critical an approach was taken to Doctor Who, every last moment of it would collapse to dust.'
Anyway, it's a good book that made me feel interested in and sympathetic to the author, and gave me insights into Doctor Who that I had not thought of before.
Adric is not at the top of many people's list of favourite companions, but I must say this memoir is a very sympathetic account from Matthew Waterhouse, who played him. It's particularly interesting because Waterhouse was a huge fan of the programme before he joined the cast, and also because he did almost no other screen acting; for a lot of the Old Who actors, it was one more job, often quite a short one, in a career which had other heights which they wish were remembered better, but for Waterhouse it was an intense experience, which he knew was important at the time and whose memories haven't been faded out by later work.
Waterhouse has chosen to tell the story in the third person, which seemed really pretentious when I first heard about the book (cf Julius Caesar), but actually it works really well - it allows him to establish some distance from his not always terribly happy childhood, and from the intense experience of working with the very temperamental Tom Baker on his last few stories. Once Davison arrived and the regular team settled down (though of course Waterhouse was the first to be written out) it seems to have been more fun, though he still took it pretty seriously. I deeply sympathise with his approach, as reported in an exchange with Janet Fielding who played Tegan:
'“The trouble with you, Matthew,” she said more than once, “is that when it comes to Doctor Who you suspend your critical judgement.” This was a well-made point, but then she had no emotional involvement with it and Matthew did. He was intelligent enough to know that if too critical an approach was taken to Doctor Who, every last moment of it would collapse to dust.'
Anyway, it's a good book that made me feel interested in and sympathetic to the author, and gave me insights into Doctor Who that I had not thought of before.
roba's review against another edition
4.0
This is a lovely, lovely book. I never knew Waterhouse was a huge fan of Who, and his account of his childhood love of the show is very evocative in all its Weetabix-burying detail.
And it makes you really feel for him when it comes to him getting the job of Adric - 18, only his second ever acting job, on his favourite TV show, among his heroes in what must have seemed like a hallucination induced by sniffing the inside of a Denys Fisher toy Tardis ... and he has to deal with the weird, poisonous atmosphere between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward.
Waterhouse was in Who at just the time I had my most intense, ah, relationship with the show, so this book was huge fun for me. If you don't know who Varsh is, though, probably don't bother.
And it makes you really feel for him when it comes to him getting the job of Adric - 18, only his second ever acting job, on his favourite TV show, among his heroes in what must have seemed like a hallucination induced by sniffing the inside of a Denys Fisher toy Tardis ... and he has to deal with the weird, poisonous atmosphere between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward.
Waterhouse was in Who at just the time I had my most intense, ah, relationship with the show, so this book was huge fun for me. If you don't know who Varsh is, though, probably don't bother.
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