REVIEW: DOCTOR WHO - THE COMPLETE GUIDE

 

 Cover Art and Design: Joe Roberts

DOCTOR WHO - THE COMPLETE GUIDE

BY

MARK CAMPBELL

ISBN: 978-1-84901-587-5

  Pages: 252

Publisher: Robinson

Publishing Date: 24 March 2011

On the cover:

From humble beginnings in November 1963, Doctor Who has become a quintessential element of British popular culture. Exploring the adventures of all eleven Doctors; their faithful companions, both living and robotic; a universe of monsters and villains from Helen A to Prisoner Zero, including Daleks and Weeping Angels. With a comprehensive guide to every episode, Mark Campbell puts the show under the microscope with facts, figures and opinions that will entertain long term fans as well as Time Lord fanatics.

   This is a brilliant little guide to Doctor Who. I say little, but it does cover every television appearance up to the end of season five. And it also has a list of every CD and book appearance up to 2009. Add to that the list of missing episodes and a reference list that includes both books and the Internet, and you get a pretty comprehensive guide to most things about Doctor Who.

   For every TV episode Campbell gives a list of the cast and crew, a(very) brief description of the episode, some observations and finally his own verdict on the episode in question.

   I found this to be a great format for this kind of guide. Although every episode gets only a brief mention, it is more than enough for quick reference. And the observations are almost always fascinating, and includes such information as where it was filmed and often information on cut scenes etc.

   Campbell includes his own verdict on each of the episodes and adds a score of 1-10. This part is not really necessary, but it works well. But I must say I did not always agree with Campbell, but that is to be expected -it is after all his personal opinion.

   As a quick reference guide this works wonderfully. I had already checked out several episodes I saw mentioned when I started reading the whole thing for this review. There is lots of information here, and I'm sure almost anyone will learn something new by reading it. 

   I also found that if you want a quick overview of what an episode is about this book beats the Internet for speed. -Yes, I tried it.

   The lack of any pictures may be a turn off for some, but I don't think it should be. The small format (B-format paperback) makes it very handy to have near by, and the information is excellent.

   This book should be present in every Doctor Who fan's library. Whether you have come to the series after the turn of the millennium or you have followed it since the beginning.

NOTE: A copy of this book was supplied to me by the publisher.

Links: Constable & Robinson