matthew waterhouse is an excellent memoirist - jeffrey easlick - 14/07/2010 05:20:16
matthew waterhouse is an excellent memoirist. i read this book in hours-and-hours-long sittings. i haven’t been so engrossed while reading in years!as the book’s subtitle, “a memoir of doctor who in four episodes,” suggests, this memoir is exclusively focused on matthew’s experience with the world of doctor who, much to the exclusion of his personal life (although personal stuff always sneaks in anyway -- even when we try to keep it out. the personal stuff that “sneaks in” is the best part of the whole book, for me, and after reading it, i do feel like i have learned something about matthew waterhouse as a person.i have two favorite sections in this book:the memoir’s first episode, an earthly child, reminisces about his early childhood, family life, and collecting ball-bearing daleks and sugar smacks cards, and reading doctor who. i was transported back to my own childhood, and i think everyone who reads it will be too. but my very favorite episode is the final one, “survival,” in which we get glimpses of what matthew’s life is like today. there are hints about romance here, a titillating story of an encounter with a hot mexican boy in manhattan with a very hot orange-striped haircut. there are behaviors that can only be compared to kerouac. i want to know more! also becomes a rather introspective section in which matthew writes about all of the [metaphorical] cliff edges he has come close to in his life, and that he has always h

enjoyable, informative and amusing - nick mellish - 25/07/2010 22:39:59
in a market already full to the brim, it takes a certain something to make a memoir stand out. this goes doubly for doctor who, where autobiographies and biographies annually come at you in packs, but thankfully we have here a winner.blue box boy tells the story of matthew waterhouses love of doctor who, his slight surprise and absolute delight to find himself immersed in making it on screen, and his reflection afterwards on the show and its ways. written from a third-person perspective, waterhouse manages to at once reveal a lot about the atmosphere throughout the making of the show and acting in general, and yet he keeps much of his emotional take on life close to his chest, and rightly so, too. the book declares itself to be a memoir through a doctor who prism, and waterhouse keeps to this by and large. where he does deviate, it provides interesting glimpses into a story untold, but waterhouse is a rather private man (or so the book seems to tell us) and so it is right that we go no further.as a document detailing the making of the show, it gives us a unique insight into the tensions and joys of filming it. arguments occur, laughter is had, pints are sunk with alarmingly regularity, and not everyone comes off glowing. however it is (as the saying goes) never cruel and never cowardly. perhaps part of this stems from the third-person narration; perhaps full of is, the book would feel ego-ridden or bitchy, whereas the detached feel to the na

Eighties Who: A Fresh Perspective - Will Hadcroft - 13/10/2010 22:22:48
I bought this book primarily for the cover art that jackets the hardback edition (not the cover design shown here). I was also intrigued by the idea of an autobiography from the early 1980’s period of Doctor Who. What I wasn’t so sure about was an autobiography written in the third person. I mean, wouldn’t that come across as a trifle pretentious?I need not have worried. The third person narrative works extremely well, enabling the reader to distance himself from the author and ‘see’ the memories the way one imagines characters when reading a novel. It is a refreshing approach.Not only is this the life story of an actor who starred in Doctor Who for two years of his life, but it’s the story of a Doctor Who fan.Matthew Waterhouse spills the beans on what it felt like to suddenly find himself working on his favourite boyhood show. His descriptions of various cast members and his thoughts on each of the stories he appeared in absorb the reader.But Waterhouse is balanced. He says Tom Baker’s moods dictated what kind of day his fellow actors would have, but he also shows the actor to be calmer and almost fatherly once he knows his time as the Doctor is coming to an end.The author’s views on fandom, on what became of Doctor Who towards the end of its original run, and the 21st century revival are riveting. In addition, Matthew sheds light on some of the rumours that have been told about him over the last twenty odd years.If you grew u

an informative memoir - mike cook - 15/07/2010 09:32:11
an interesting, engaging and often amusing memoir of an actor not often seen on the uk convention scene. gives great insight into the workings of the production of doctor who during the fourth and fifth doctor era. honest and open, with aspects of private life slotting into his life as a who boy. well worth the read.

rubbish - Gail Jensne - 27/06/2012 13:05:31
I would never read a book that relies on rubbishing another actor to get money. Who is the nasty one really.