Doctor Who: The Dalek Handbook [Hardcover]

At a 160 pages, this crams a lot of facts, storylines, Dalekmania and much more.. all in one pocket size hardbook that is just sensational.

The authors of the 'Dalek Handbook' have done a great job in their research. Not only is every single TV Dalek story is compiled but a host of theatre productions, films, and books. All the Dalek paradigms are included from their first appearance from the 1960s.

The book is wonderfully layed out with colour/b & w photographs throughout, with rare photo shots as well as minor screen captures here and there. There's some terrific photos from 'Day of the Daleks' and 'Planet of the Daleks'.

I found the book really absorbing. For the average fan, they may know a lot of the stuff in this book, but the way the book is richly researched, it makes this book a must buy. Just look at the samples above in the picture pages on this Amazon website to see what I mean.

There have been similar Dalek books in the past like the wonderful 1979's Target book 'Terry Nation's Dalek Special' which actually gets featured in this 'Dalek Handbook'.

This book is not just for die hard fans of Dr Who, but anyone who likes the Daleks from Classic Dr Who to the 'New' series one.

The Dalek Handbook is a very comprehensive guide to everyone's favourite Skarosians. The Daleks have been ever-present during the near 50-year run of Doctor Who, firstly appearing in the Timelord's second adventure, The Daleks. Of course, the famous story (retold in this book) is that Doctor Who`s producers didn't want BEMs ("Bug Eyed Monsters") in the programme, but had to run with The Daleks as it was the only script ready for production, and thus the whole impetus of Doctor Who changed forever with their arrival.

Since the Daleks have been in the programme for 50 years, it can be quite difficult to present a coherent history for them. This is mostly due to the fact that the show's original producers didn't let continuity get in the way of a good story, and also because they had no idea that they had created such a long lasting institution. Steve Tribe and James Goss do a very good job of recounting this history, although I did take exception to their surmise that the race of Dals mentioned in the original story must have been usurped by the Kaleds (the race that created the Daleks in the later adventure Genesis of the Daleks), as I would have thought that this inconsistency could have been explained away by them just having two names, just as our enemies in the Second World War could either be called Nazis or Germans.

Steve Tribe and James Goss make it abundantly clear just how influenced Terry Nation was by Nazi Germany in his creation of the Daleks, as they were doing Nazi salutes with their plungers way back in their original adventure, long before Nyder sported an Iron Cross in Genesis of the Daleks (a medal which has Germanic, rather than Nazi origins, although overwhelmingly associated with the Nazis since Hitler reintroduced it as a decoration in the Second World War). Interestingly enough, the authors relate that Terry Nation's original script featured a third alien race which had assaulted both the Dals and the Thals... However, this is very much a factual book, so criticism is very much on the back burner. Thus the similarities between The Daleks and George Pal's 1960 adaptation of H. G. Wells' The Time Machine are not brought to light (e.g. the word `Morlock' is not a million miles away from `Dalek', and the stolen fluid link is a rather obvious replacement for the purloined time machine of the film).

There are several splendid anecdotes, such as the time when Doctor Who`s original producer, Verity Lambert, ran into the man who had the license to make Dalek merchandise, who was hence considerably far richer than her... There's also the revelation (to me anyway) that Terry Nation's plans for a US Dalek series were quite advanced, to the point that he'd written an actual script called The Destroyers (which was recently adapted into an audio adventure by Big Finish). It's also great to see the sketches created in the wake of the 1996 Paul McGann Doctor Who TV movie, which envisaged a redesign of the Daleks far more radical than that of the current production team with their `new Dalek paradigm' (one which I heartily criticise in Steven Moffat's Doctor Who 2010). In addition to this, it's very interesting to learn that Russell T Davies was planning to use the human spheres from The Sound of Drums (the Toclafane) instead of our favourite Skarosians in Robert Shearman's 2005 script in case permission to utilise the Daleks didn't come through in time for the revived series.

I found quite a few of the images of the classic series' adventures to be very grainy, letting down what is otherwise a very lavishly illustrated book. I guess the editors of the book were attempting to get away from the more polished (but overly-familiar) publicity photos from these adventures by adding in many actual screenshots, but these screenshots could have done with a great deal of enhancement in order not to detract from the quality of the book. Steve Tribe has a great track record as an author of factual Doctor Who books, and James Goss (editor of the BBC's Doctor Who website) similarly knows his stuff, but their prose is quite dry. Indeed, I feel that James Goss' prose really comes to life when he's writing fiction, especially his recent excellent Doctor Who novel, Dead of Winter. Yet you can't beat a lovely dose of nostalgia, which this book provides in ample amounts, even to the point of recounting the Daleks' many comic book adventures. Ah, for the days when Abslom Daak was wont to cut through the Daleks with a chainsaw!

This book is arguably one of the best Dr Who Books out there and there are a lot of them! If you are interested in Dr Who (if you aren't don't worry, there is help out there!, an interest in sc-fi/fantasy will do) then this book is essential for both the collector and/or casual reader.

The book as well as giving a very detailed account of the Daleks - Rank, Episode Guide, related stories - books and other media such as audio and computer games is a worthwhile read, the main problem is once you start, there may be a search party out for you as you will be completely drawn into the book.

As mentioned although the book is primarily a Dalek book, there is accounts of Davros, enemies, planets; notably Skaro their home land and a nostalgic look at comics and magazines from previous decades such as Dalek Specials and the Annuals.

The book is fairly recent, being published this year (2011) so is pretty up to date including the new daleks from the Matt Smith / Eleventh Doctor era.

At the end of the book is a chart showing all* the daleks from the 1960's to the present showing the evolution of the machines, and throughout the book is the development stage of certain types with proposed variations and designs - including the very first to the very last (so far)

* There is however no mention of the Red Dalek (Saucer Commander of the movie version) but that's the only fault, if you can call it that.

All in all a very informative and worthwhile book to get and as I said if you are a DR Who fan AND in particular the Daleks this is a No Questions Asked/No Brainer item for your collection