Doctor Who (Pocket Essentials) (Hardcover)

This is a slim volume (less than 100 pages) and is thankfully correspondingly cheap, but it does mean it doesn't cover everything. The films, recent TV parodies, stage shows, and radio series get a review, the Big Finish stories get a mention, and, er, that's about it. Oh, and a few books and websites get plugged.

So why even bother buying it? Well, Campbell's is a new voice and he's not afraid to be controversial or blunt. No sacred cow is safe, and he even goes so far as to suggest that the show is dead and gone forever. Many of his opinions come straight out of left field, and they'll provoke infuriation and sighs of 'Thank God I'm not the only one who thinks that!' in equal measure. Just a handful of his observations:

"Destiny of the Daleks" is better than "Genesis of the Daleks

"Pyramids of Mars" is 'grossly overrated', and in parts 'rubbish' and 'nonsensical'.

"Paradise Towers" is 'wonderful' and by far the best story of its season.

"Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150AD" is much, much better than the TV version.

The best story of Troughton's first year is "The Macra Terror".

And so on, and so on, and so on - though Campbell agrees with fan orthodoxy a lot of the time too. (I personally agree with at least one of the above opinions, by the way, and think at least one other is utter nonsense - but naturally I'm not saying which is which.)

I get the impression this book wasn't edited terribly rigorously. There's the obligatory 'spot-the-source-material' slot for each story, and things get especially weird here - we learn that 'The Great Escape' influenced "Planet of the Daleks", 'The Wicker Man' inspired "The Stones of Blood", and that apparently the key influence on "Four to Doomsday" was bearded Aussie vet-botherer Rolf Harris. You also have to question his ability to review things like "Curse of the Daleks" with such authority given that he can only have read the script.

So is it worth buying? Well, maybe. If you use the Guide you must have an interest in hearing other people's opinions of "Doctor Who", and that's basically all this is. At the very least it'll make you think, if only for the length of time it takes you to retrieve it after you hurl it away in outraged fury. And you will.

By my reckoning you were 6 when you saw your first episode, of a programme which was made for and watched by children. I doubt your comments reflect the programmes as you first saw them, but rather as you saw them 20 or more years later - as an adult. Would a child have seen "The Face of Evil" as 'A predictable story boringly told'? or "The Creature from the Pit" as 'naff'? or "Time-Flight" as 'utter garbage'? - without watching them I cannot venture an opinion. The book is obviously aimed at adult fans or devotees and perhaps the introduction should have made that clear, though I believe that assumption would be made by anyone buying it...

The only inaccuracy which is apparent to me is in Story 95 under cast, where you show Mandrel (William Simons) and Veet (Adrienne Burgess) - the only occasions where you put the character before the actor's name.

To conclude - I did not find the book hard to read though any catalogue usually palls eventually. On this occasion that was prevented by the observations and verdicts which were very interesting, but perhaps a bit hard on individuals.