Not a Foucauldian Reading of Doctor Who (A Conversation with Paul Booth)

We met academic Doctor Who writer Paul Booth at Chicago TARDIS 2014, and against his better judgement he agreed to sit down with us for an hour or so for a conversation about the intersection between Doctor Who fandom and the show's production team. What are some of the defining characteristics of Doctor Who fandom? What is (and should be) the relationship between the show and its fans? How can we reconcile liking something that we find problematic in many ways? All this and Paul gives us a somewhat controversial choice for his personal favorite Doctor Who episode. (Hint: It's a Pertwee.)   Main Topic: Paul Booth interview. What episode number is this? Introducing Paul at Chicago TARDIS. History begins. No spoilers for Greatest Show in the Galaxy. You can swear on this podcast. Fandom as an entity in Doctor Who. A history of science fiction fandom. Quotidian. Stereotypes of fandom. Billie Piper calls David Tennant for help in understanding science fiction. Has Doctor Who done something new to shake the "geek" crowd? "No consequences." The middle space between fanon and canon. Series 6B. "The Doctor Who Mafia." Sexist/Racist Moffat? Clara in Series 8: a feminist portrayal? Taking off the academic hat. "If I like it it's good writing." The ultimate empty threat. The popularity of 70s Who. The popularity of Who varies inversely with the level of challenge it presents. The avant-garde 60s Who credit sequence. "Doctor OHO." Red Herrings in Who. Precision in the definite article. Pansexual vs. Polyamorous. Quotidian TV. Paul doesn't have a Doctor. Misconceptions of Hartnell. Paul's Favorite Episode: "Day of the Doctor." One day we'll do a Weeping Angels Special. Shipping Wendy/Frazer in real life. Nyssa in Big Finish vs. on TV. Paul: Important that Night of the Doctor wasn't on TV. Wrapping up.    The Likely Lads mention Doctor Who in 1964.   You can find Paul's twitter here. And his book: Fan Phenomena: Doctor Who (Intellect Press) is here. Find us on iTunes! Or Facebook! We love email ([email protected])! And all our episodes are on oispaceman.libsyn.com. Daniel's Tumblr Twitter Shana's Tumblr Twitter