[singlepic id=437 w=350 h=354 float=left]”In January 2011, Neil Perryman set out on an insane quest to make his wife Sue watch every episode of the classic series of Doctor Who from the very beginning. This book is the story of that adventure – and of life as a Doctor Who fan. Funny, honest, and surprisingly moving, it captures perfectly the joys – and fears – of sharing the thing you love with the people you love.”
I have to admire Neil Perryman. Having found the love of a good woman he then suggested to her that they sit down and watch 26 years worth of classic Doctor Who together as “an experiment”.
That’s the kind of bravery one seldom sees during peace-time.
Somehow Neil succeeded in convincing Sue to go along with his idea – instead of filing for divorce – and thus the Adventures with the Wife in Space was born.
For anyone who doesn’t know the premise of the Adventures with the Wife in Space it’s that Neil, a self-confessed fan-boy, would sit down each evening with Sue, his not-we wife, and watch an episode of classic Doctor Who with her and then blog about it. The results were often hilarious with Sue slaughtering some of Doctor Who’s most sacred cows and pulling supposed classics to pieces with directness and honesty that some fans of the blog found refreshing and amusing – and others found downright infuriating. Of course the premise of what Neil refers to as “the project” implied that of the pair Sue is “the normal one” whereas it soon became obvious that neither of them are – and thank goodness for that or the blog and this book could have been a very dull read.
Now onto the book.
Sue: Haven’t you got a DVD we could watch instead? This is terrible.
Me: We could watch Doctor Who.
Sue: We’ve seen them all, haven’t we?
Me: Not the new series. I mean old Doctor Who, the stuff I like.
Sue: Why would I want to do that?
The first thing to say is that the book is very funny. Neil isn’t afraid to poke fun at himself and his life-long obsession with Doctor Who, or even at the show itself with it’s occasionally less-than-impressive production values, and it’s this humour that makes what could have been a very niche book accessible to anyone.
But as witty and likeable as Neil is the real star of this show is Sue, who like millions of other viewers enjoys the new series of Doctor Who, but has never really seen or shown much interest in the show’s classic series. When she does start watching it she doesn’t hold back – christening the First Doctor a “Miserable Git” and awarding the first episode, widely considered by fans to be an all-time classic, a less-than-enthusiastic 3/10!
Eventually Neil and Sue do make it all the way through the classic series with not only their marriage and their sanity intact but amazingly their relationship strengthened by the whole experience. In the end Neil is just relieved that it’s all over and while Sue admits she doesn’t miss classic Doctor Who much she does miss spending more time with Neil so they’ve decided to make their next project together seventies cult classic Blake’s 7.
Would I recommend this book? Definitely. It’s not just a book about what it’s like to be a Doctor Who fan or what’s it like to be married to one; it’s a well written, at times moving story, about two people who are as different as chalk and cheese, who find each other and build a life together while watching (and occasionally slagging off) classic Doctor Who.
So if you’re looking for something to help pass the empty hours until the 50th anniversary special hits our screens, or for a Christmas stocking-filler, I can highly recommend this book.
“All Doctor Who fans and their spouses should buy this book. It will save them years of expensive therapy” – Matthew Sweet.
Adventures with the Wife in Space is out November 7th.
BUY ADVENTURES WITH THE WIFE IN SPACE HERE
Written by Mike Nuttall