It’s slightly unnerving to watch a show which so closely corresponds to your own personal experiences. I’m a similar age to Toby, we had similar childhoods, similar formative girlfriend encounters and we certainly watched a great many of the same television programmes during the 1970’s. It could’ve been me up there but I wouldn’t have been anywhere nearly as entertaining.
As an example; at one point in the show Toby launches into the familiar fan rant that the character’s name is the Doctor, and not Doctor Who. To Doctor Who fans, calling the character Doctor Who is like going up to a Star Trek fan and saying that your favourite character is Doctor Spock. It's that wrong. And yet, as Toby delivered this rant, I couldn’t help thinking, ‘ah, but in episode two of The War Machines several characters refer to the Doctor as Doctor Who...’
My mental pedantry was interrupted as Toby said, ‘Except in episode two of The War Machines where several characters refer to the Doctor as Doctor Who...’
That’s how exactly the show mirrored my own thought processes.
It was brilliantly funny, and when I wasn’t laughing I was grinning, until the end when Toby’s story became unexpectedly moving. I didn’t cry, just as I didn’t cry at the end of School Reunion either, oh no.
My only criticism is that the show wasn’t long enough. I want to hear more stories. I want more background detail. I think there might be a book in it.
