Once Upon a Time Lord The Myths and Stories of Doctor Who 1st edition by Ivan Phillips ISBN 1788316460 9781788316460

Chapter 1: Critics, Fans, and Mythologies of Discourse

• Writing about Doctor Who: Difficult Conversations and Critical Projects: This section likely delves into the academic and critical discourse around Doctor Who, discussing how scholars and fans approach and analyze the show.
• Fandom as a Character: ‘Most Likely to Fight Back’: Examines how Doctor Who fandom itself can be seen as an entity that shapes the series’ identity, often challenging mainstream interpretations and creating its own narrative.
• Fandom as Critique: Cultures and Contributions: Focuses on how fans contribute to the Doctor Who mythology and critique the series, possibly through fan fiction, fan theories, or public engagement with the show’s evolution.

Chapter 2: Doctor Who as Mythology

• On Mythic Identities: Flying Carpets and Silly Robots: Looks at how Doctor Who incorporates or subverts traditional mythological motifs, such as flying carpets or robots, and explores the tension between the fantastical and the absurd.
• Remaking the Monsters: Nostalgia and Novelty: Discusses how Doctor Who reinvents or reinterprets classic monster tropes, balancing nostalgia for past creatures with the introduction of new ones.
• Transmedia Traditions: Of Fishmen, Fanfic, and Sweet Cigarettes: Explores the cross-media nature of Doctor Who and its cultural influence, likely discussing the impact of spinoffs, fan fiction, and merchandise in creating a broader mythology.

Chapter 3: Doctor Who and Mythology

• Representing History: ‘In an Area of Human Thought’: Examines how Doctor Who tackles historical events and figures, possibly looking at how the show represents and reinterprets history through its time travel narrative.
• Themes of Haunting: Ghosts in the Time Machine: Focuses on the recurring themes of ghosts, hauntings, and the supernatural in the series, and how they intersect with time travel and the concept of memory.
• Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Universal Monsters: This section likely analyzes how Doctor Who engages with traditional monster myths, particularly vampires and werewolves, and adapts them to its unique narrative structure.

Chapter 4: The Hero and His Worlds

• World-building and the TARDIS: ‘Home, the Long Way Round’: Explores the Doctor’s home, the TARDIS, as a space for both adventure and refuge, examining how it functions as a symbol of the Doctor’s identity and relationship to time and space.
• The Doctor as Hero: A Good Man, an Idiot, the Destroyer of Worlds: A critical examination of the Doctor’s complex characterization across the series, focusing on his morality, flaws, and the mythic qualities that make him a hero (and sometimes an antihero).
• Myths of Representation / Representations of Myth: This section likely explores how the show itself plays with myth-making through its narrative structure, character arcs, and the symbolic roles that characters like the Doctor fulfill.

Chapter 5: Conclusion: ‘The Universe Will Surprise You’

• This final chapter seems to reflect on the overall themes discussed throughout the book, potentially considering the lasting impact of Doctor Who as a cultural and mythological phenomenon and how it continues to surprise and evolve in the collective imagination of its fans and creators.