The latest instalment in Obverse Books’ The Black Archive, a series of monographs about Doctor Who stories, is out now and tackles the Twelfth Doctor serial, Under the Lake/ Before the Flood.

I adore this two-parter — it’s very probably my favourite Twelfth Doctor story — so I’m sure this book will be fascinating.

Here’s the blurb:

‘You can’t cheat time. I just tried. You can’t just go back and cut off tragedy at the root. Because you find yourself talking to someone you just saw dead on a slab. Because then you really do see ghosts.’

A base under siege, a time travel paradox, and ghosts! With these elements in place, Toby Whitehouse’s Under the Lake and Before the Flood (2015) tread familiar ground for fans of Doctor Who while also moving in bold new directions, both in terms of story-telling and character representation.

This two-part story sees Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor break the fourth wall, speaking directly to the audience. His lecture on “the bootstrap paradox” serves to set up the central puzzle of these episodes while insisting that it remain unsolved. Meanwhile, actress Sophie Stone’s portrayal of Cass challenges traditional representational tropes surrounding disabled people. Simultaneously, this character asks us to think further about how we understand disability in, and through, science fiction.

It’s written by Kevin S. Decker, a Professor of Philosophy at Eastern Washington University, and Ryan C. Parrey, a Senior Lecturer in Disability Studies and director of the Disability Studies program at Eastern Washington University near Spokane, Washington, USA.

The Black Archive: Under the Lake/ Before the Flood is available now, directly from Obverse Books and from selected online retailers.