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 | Reviews for Regeneration: |
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There are 2 reviews so far. To add a review of your own for this item, visit the voting page.
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| Beautiful Photos, Very Informative |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Friday 8 August 2008 |
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| Rating: |   9 |
Coauthored by Philip Segal (executive producer of the telefilm) and Gary Russell (all-around Who aficionado), Regeneration presents the whole story behind the 1996 Fox t.v. movie, "Doctor Who." In turns, Segal and Russell hand off back and forth to each other from time to time, and the typeface alternates between two styles to clearly indicate who is contribuiting what.
The book is beautifully designed, and is packed with exceptionally nice photos, from the telefilm as well as from other eras of Doctor Who. These include very detailed photos of the amazing TARDIS interior from this production, giving the reader a chance to really explore the vast control room, with its library area, as well as the music room, green room, and cloister room.
There is also lots of interesting information about the production, including details on the various stages it went through, from the earlier script (and its accompanying "bible") by John Leekley, which would have basically been a complete "reboot" of the series mythology, to the final form that used the script by Matthew Jacobs, with its greater continuity to the original series. Reading about the entire process makes it much easier to understand why it took so long to get new Doctor Who in the 90s, why this production didn't lead to a new series, and why certain oddities showed up in the script, such as the "half human" reference and the apparent necessity of featuring the Master. Since three production entities - Universal, the BBC, and Fox - all required creative control of some degree, there were frequent squabbles between the various production personnel, and just too many cooks.
And Regeneration is not only about the telefilm - it basically chronicles the entire period from the end of the original series in 1989, through the early 1990s, to a few years after the 1996 telefilm. In the course of this, it covers the attempts at bringing Doctor Who to the big screen, which began in the late 80s, and the 1993 production, The Dimensions of Time.
Published in 2000, Regeneration is now out of print. After becoming aware of this book last year, I decided I had to find myself a copy, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The only thing about it detracts from its quality is the surprisingly sloppy editing job - many typos and other minor errors made their way into the final publication. But that's a minor fault, and I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed or has an interest in the 1996 telefilm.
| By: | Eric Anderson, Chaska, United States |
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| Date: | Monday 12 March 2012 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
There is not much more I can add to what Doug stated in his review. To read about the long journey to the 1996 movie is an interesting read and make one happy that many of those plans failed (having read the script for the planned Doctor Who motion picture makes me even more happy). It's sad that McGann didn't have a chance to play the role beyond the TV movie. I would have liked to see what he would have done with the part.
