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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Who indeed?, 14 Jan 2004
Who actually commissioned this book? I'm unsure wether it was written by fans for fans, or by fans for maximum profit. November 2003 was the 40th anniversary of 'Dr Who' - so virtually anything official with the words "40th anniversary" on it was going to sell like hotcakes anyway.On the whole, the BBB's attitude to 'Dr Who' has improved of late - the work on the recent dvds has been breathtaking, and whoever came up with the idea of releasing mp3 discs of stories that only exist as audio was a genius. So it was with enthusiasm that I welcomed this latest hefty tome about the good doctor's adventures through time and space. To be fair, it does have some very good features that make it worth a look - the text is fairly lighthearted yet informative, describing the places and people on the Doctor's travels in great detail, and there's a wealth of archive photographs, some of which have never before seen the light of published day. On the down side, this is little more than a trumped up episode guide, albeit one which fails to actually describe the plot of each story. Unless you've already seen a story, you're unlikely to be able to draw anything from the descriptions of its locations and characters if you don't know what happens in it. Also, there is precious little behind the scenes information - something which I expected to be a major part of this book. What is there is glossed over, without any concern for details - and most of the actors who played the companions and villains we associate with the series are never mentioned by name, let alone given a brief C.V. or biography. Despite these disappointments, I'm sure the book will come in use as the dvds are still released and I want to know more about each story in turn. If you don't expect too much from this release, it might just surprise you.
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