I was unreasonably grumpy about having to order this book physically from a real bookshop last year. It was well worth going to some extra trouble to get hold of it. It’s a lovely collection of 27 essays by fans of Doctor Who, ranging from the gleeful to the mildly profound (as far as one can be in less than ten pages), ranging over various aspects of the fannish experience – watching the show, watching the show with your family (including one on what it feel like if your brother grows up to be Captain Jack Harkness, and two which caught at my heartstrings in which Who fans find themselves parenting children with special needs), conventions, fanzines, costuming, fan fiction, feminism, race, and lots and lots of references to Livejournal. Several of the contributors discuss how it was that New Who was more attractive to female fans than the ghosts of Old Who pre-2005, and I found it interesting at the time (and interesting again to review) how New Who’s success led to a revival of interest in Old Who and to it being appreciated and dissected in new ways.

I think I’ve only met one of the contributors – Kathryn Sullivan, who I was on a panel with at the 2005 Worldcon, and who writes here about fanzines – but I finished the book feeling tremendously warmed by a strong sense of community with the authors, and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Who of any period.