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Blue Box Boy
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterhouse
- Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins
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Blue Box Boy
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Summary
As a boy Matthew Waterhouse loved Doctor Who: he watched all the episodes and read all the novels and comic strips. What starts as a heart-warming story, of a boy growing up with Doctor Who as his trusted friend, engaging the listener with memories and nostalgia that will be familiar to any Doctor Who fan, takes a sudden twist when he is thrust into an alien and adult world - cast as Doctor Who's youngest ever travelling companion - for two of the series' most inventive seasons. Matthew's sense of wonder with his dream job and his love for the show are palpable; as is his shock at genuine hostilities between cast and crew members and considerable tensions on set, which are counterpointed with poignant reminders that he is just a boy, and still a fan, who finds himself in the absurd, comic world of minor celebrity. What follows is a story-by-story memoir of his time on the show, peppered with glimpses into Matthew's personal life, tales of conventions, DVD commentaries, and some revealing anecdotes about everyone from fellow actors to Doctor Who's more high-profile fans.
This memoir holds nothing back: written with honesty, warmth, a rapier wit and a good dose of self-depreciation, the book is essential listening for any "Doctor Who" fan. Finally, we get to hear Matthew's side of a story which has been told and embellished and imagined by fans and fellow actors for years. This affectionate and darkly humourous memoir is a record of what it was like to make Doctor Who, and to work for the BBC in early '80s, and is proof that you can take the actor out of Doctor Who, but you can never quite take Doctor Who out of the actor...
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What listeners say about Blue Box Boy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J D Collins
- 03-05-20
Funny and enjoyable
Not all books read by their authors are served well by it, but this was. Witty and engaging.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- solidair
- 20-12-18
Nice
Interesting way of telling his story in the third person , referring to himself as Matthew and would understand why some people found it jarring but found it quite interesting . Well done Waterhouse !
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Paul P
- 29-04-19
Boxing clever - who knew?
Some pretty unpleasant rumours surrounded the departure of Matthew Waterhouse from his short-lived role as boy-genius Adric in the original series of Doctor Who - unreliability, wooden performance, etc, and his self-penned (and read) memoir does little to scotch them. According to Waterhouse, his time on the series - except for the occasional run-ins with grumpy Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker - was "simply marvellous"; his fellow cast members were also "simply marvellous", even though many seem not to have noticed the precocious teenager or, at least, ignored him. It's tempting to think that much of Blue Box Boy has Waterhouse with tongue rammed firmly in cheek, a middle finger from the future if you will, but it comes across as sounding a bit desperate.
I liked Adric and there's a suspicion that Waterhouse would have grown into the role as he matured and even have gone on to greater things. But the truth is that, apart from personal appearances and voice-overs for Doctor Who clip shows, he rarely worked on screen again.
He recounts some wonderful anecdotes, such as getting drunk while filming an episode called Castrovalva and projectile-vomiting across his hotel room, and mischievously starting a rumour that Lawrence Olivier was taking over as The Doctor post-Tom Baker
There are a couple of real niggles regarding the original work: Waterhouse insists upon incorrectly referring to the titular character as "Doctor Who", instead of "The Doctor"; it's also pretty irksome that he refers to himself in the third person throughout.
Waterhouse is clearly a mega-fan of the series in both its iterations and seems to have practically chained himself to the TARDIS console until he landed the role. Blue Box Boy isn't a bad listen for fans of the original series but could have been so much better with some judicious editing of the original work.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- T. Drury
- 10-02-21
An interesting listen
A fascinating set of recollections by Matthew Waterhouse who played African, though oddly he misses an opportunity at the end.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- blueboxboy
- 02-09-20
Well worth a read
Hilarious and deeply moving at times, Matthews book is a must read for any fan of the show.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- J Whitfield
- 21-02-15
little snippets
Although brief, there was one or two little gems of behind the scenes. of the classic era.
Why does he refer to his self as Mathew, when it's an autobiography?
Would recommend to fellow whovians.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Tony Cherrington Rural Dorset UK
- 17-11-19
Not worth the money
What a complete waste of time. If you must read it then borrow, IF you get to the end you will never re-read. I am sorry to say that Mr Waterhouse has not improved over the years.
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