A quick plug for a fellow reviewer and writer, Joanne Black. We share the same publisher and it gives me great pleasure to tell you about her own book on a favourite series of mine, Being Human.

While we eagerly await the third series of this cult supernatural drama starring Russell Tovey, Aidan Turner and Lenora Crichlow, this new book examines all the characters, episodes and plots from the first two series. The mythology behind the series is also explored as are the locations and the birth of the show back in 2008. The book is illustrated throughout by Chris Wreford.

Being Human, created for BBC Three by Toby Whithouse, puts the supernatural firmly into the everyday world.

That cute, geeky hospital porter? A werewolf.
A flash of a sunny smile and some grey leggings? A ghost.
The dark-eyed Irish guy at the bar? A vampire.

George (Russell Tovey), Annie (Lenora Crichlow) and Mitchell (Aidan Turner) live in a pink house in Bristol and all they want is to be normal, to fit in - to be human.


After a successful pilot in 2008, a full series of Being Human was commissioned and shown in 2009, with a second series following in 2010. The pilot gained an enthusiastic and vocal online fanbase - a community that grew and grew throughout the series, helping to give BBC Three one of its most successful programmes.

As well as reviewing each episode from the first two series in detail, Joanne Black's book looks at the birth of the show and profiles the characters and the mythology behind them. Not forgetting - of course - the plots, the themes, the darkness and the humour, in fact just about everything that being human really means.

An affectionate, humorous, and occasionally slightly sarcastic, exploration of the world of Being Human. A must for all fans of the series.

The book is published 6th December 2010 and the full press release is now available here. Please feel free to download and promote the book via your websites and blogs. 


You can order direct from the publishers Classic TV Press at the discounted price of £12.49 and get that delivered straight to your door cheaper and faster. It is also available via Amazon.

Enjoy!

IT'S HERE!

Finally, my patient readers, I can reveal what I've been up to over the last five months and why I've not been posting and reviewing as regularly on CRT. My book, Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens - Exploring the Worlds of the Eleventh Doctor is published by Classic TV Press in time for Christmas on 6th December. If you've been following me on Twitter then you'll know the full saga behind the writing of this book.

Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens - Exploring the Worlds of the Eleventh Doctor takes the original reviews written here about Series 5 and vastly expands them into lengthy analyses.

Here's the just issued press release from Classic TV Press:


Please feel free to download that if you wish to promote the book via your blogs and websites. 

I hasten to add this is not an episode guide. You won't find a minutiae of detail about the production of the series, nor will you find exhaustive cast and crew lists. It's not a 'making of', it's more of a 'what does that episode really mean' book and those of you who have followed the reviews of the series here and on Behind The Sofa will have a good idea of what to expect. It's also supplemented with some wonderful photographs, including a section of full colour plates, taken by fans who regularly visit filming in and around Cardiff.

Photo© Scott Frankton

If you're interested in the cultural, sociological and political significance and meaning of the episodes then this is for you. Each chapter places the episodes and Doctor Who within a whole spectrum of readings and seeks to contextualise character, genre, design, music, visual symbolism, history, nostalgia, gender, psychology and theology.

How much do fairy tales impact on the meaning of the episodes? Why does Amy behave the way she does? How realistically does the series depict Churchill and Vincent van Gogh? These and many more questions are discussed and debated.

You can order direct from the publishers Classic TV Press at the discounted price of £12.49 and get that delivered straight to your door cheaper and faster. It is also available via Amazon.

I hope you all enjoy your purchase and very much appreciate your patience during the last five months while this was written and your continued support over the last three years for Cathode Ray Tube.

Geronimo!