Doctor Who: 365 Days of Memorable Moments and Impossible Things by Justin Richards
| Doctor Who: 365 Days of Memorable Moments and Impossible Things by Justin Richards | |
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| Category: Entertainment | |
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Reviewer: John Lloyd
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| Summary: Quite a specialist book for fandom, but a very good one in any case. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 512 | Date: March 2016 |
| Publisher: BBC Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781785940262 | |
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Is it any wonder that The Doctor's use of a diary is mentioned merely as a joke? Let alone the fact it would come in whatever time unit (if any) Time Lords actually use, there's the problem of it not ever being chronological, and the fact he would never seem to have the time to fill it in. O tempora, o mores indeed. But if the human observer of Doctor Who would want a full year book, completely filled in and annotated with everything they would want to know about the Doctor in relation to the human calendar, then they have it at last with this lovely hardback. It's a brick of a book, of course, given the depth of the subject, but well worth the time taken to read it.
It's not perfect, but the biggest flaw may be the title. Yes, being published in a leap year – and providing the 366th ingredient as a result – means the name is a bit off. Beyond that it tries its damnedest to fulfil its own remit. For every day you get a one-page essay about whatever could be deemed most relevant, based on what happened on that date throughout the on- and off-screen history of the programme. It's notable that not a lot would have been celebrated on March 26th, had not a certain northern-sounding incarnation popped on our screens, launching a whole new industrial-sized franchise. Sometimes there is really nothing to look at, especially in fallow summer seasons, and so the essay is irrelevant to that specific date, but surprisingly often it matches up.
You also get a timeline at the side of the page, detailing everything that applies to that date in the year that the essay doesn't cover, although when this devolves to the minutiae of which episode was shown on a different day in Wales, for instance, or repeatedly and pointedly points out Eric Saward as story editor, it's for the anal fact collector only. Having said that, this can join with the whole of the book as being quite a remarkable collection of info, perfect for a quiz setter or fan. When were jelly babies not jelly babies? Which iteration of the Doctor had already killed another before he started in the role? Which Doctor and his companion both celebrated their birthday at the same time? And what is going on with the history here regarding An Unearthly Child, where recording starts before the rehearsals, and with the dropped pilot recording added to the muddle nobody can get the full picture.
The blunt stories given to each page barely pull back from plot-spoilers, even if a fair few do end in ellipses. So if you don't know who Missy was, you're certainly going to find out whether you like it or not. But this is certainly for the fan, as the dour-looking dark grey volume kind of implies. It's not the book that's bound for the casual young audience member, rather for the adult reference reader. You probably have to be at least several generations old to get your head round everything that's in it, such is the wealth of knowledge shown by the go-to guy for Who Books, Justin Richards, but the fan will lap this up, and certainly review some of the DVD archives as a result. Just don't try putting them in chronological order…
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
The younger enthusiast will much more appreciate Doctor Who: The Dangerous Book of Monsters by Justin Richards and Dan Green and Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion by Malcolm Hulke.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Doctor Who: 365 Days of Memorable Moments and Impossible Things by Justin Richards at Amazon.com.
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