Margins
Blue Box Boy book cover
Blue Box Boy
2010
First Published
3.98
Average Rating
400
Number of Pages

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 reader 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 self-depreciation, the book is essential reading 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...

Avg Rating
3.98
Number of Ratings
121
5 STARS
31%
4 STARS
43%
3 STARS
21%
2 STARS
4%
1 STARS
1%
goodreads

Author

Matthew Waterhouse
Matthew Waterhouse
Author · 4 books

Matthew Waterhouse played companion Adric, a companion of Tom Baker and Peter Davison's Doctors from 1980 to 1982, in Doctor Who from Full Circle to Earthshock, with cameo appearances in Time-Flight and The Caves of Androzani. After leaving the series, he began a stage career. Waterhouse began his career as a clerk in the BBC news department before securing a role in the television drama To Serve Them All My Days in 1980. Shortly afterward he auditioned for and won the role of Adric. He was a confirmed Doctor Who fan and had had at least one letter printed in Doctor Who Weekly before he took up the role. Between 1998 and 2016 Waterhouse lived in Connecticut in the United States, though he regularly visited the UK. He has since returned to live full-time in the UK alongside his American husband, Tim. In 2010, Waterhouse joined a growing number of Doctor Who actors in publishing an autobiography. In his book, Blue Box Boy, he writes candidly about his experiences making Doctor Who. Waterhouse also appeared in the 2019 documentary A Weekend with Waterhouse that appeared on the Doctor Who: Season 18 Blu-Ray release. Since 2014, Waterhouse has been reprising his role as Adric in Doctor Who audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions. He has also written two novels for the company's range of Audio Novels based on the series, the most recent being Prisoners of London, released in July 2023.

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