There have been a number of terrific Doctor Who companion books released over the past year in honor of the Time Lord's fiftieth anniversary on television as the longest running continuing sci-fi series ever. Older than Star Trek, Doctor Who ran continuously on the BBC from 1963 to 1989 and then returned briefly in 1996 for a British and American TV movie that was intended to be a possible back door pilot for more episodes. Depending on how much one enjoyed that film, it was either fortunately or unfortunately not the case and Doctor Who remained dormant for nearly another decade until acclaimed Writer and Producer Russell T. Davies successfully regenerated a new Doctor Who series in 2005 and the series has been continuing since. Davies is a huge fan of Doctor Who and I think during his tenure with the series he expanded the universe while showing great respect for the show's classic years by bringing back characters and in some cases even the original actor who played the character into the new series.
As a result an entire industry of Doctor Who tie-in merchandise has flourished on both sides of the Atlantic and thus a need for various books for novices and super fans alike to keep track of everything has become almost compulsory rather than a luxury just as it has been with Star Trek.
Written by Cameron K. McEwan, who is the creator of Blogtor Who, the most popular Doctor Who blog site online and a contributor to Den Of Geek, Cult Box and The Huffington Post, with illustrations by Andrew Skilleter, whose work been used across various media including the covers of magazines, DVDs, calendars and books, including his own Backlight: Doctor Who: The Art Of Andrew Skilleter, The Who's Who Of Doctor Who: A Whovian Guide To Friends, Foes, Villains, Monsters, and Companions To The Good Doctor is a worthy guide published by Race Point Publishing.
While not exactly an encyclopedia, the book is an excellent reference resource to the details behind the initiate relationships between the various characters as well as a hard copy of their known back stories and where applicable interconnectivity within the Doctor Who Universe beginning with The First Doctor William Hartnell and just touching upon the new Doctor, who at the time of this writing, the episodes featuring Peter Capaldi as The Doctor have not yet aired in the U.S.
The book breaks down the details into various entries based on character association to include distinctions between the companions, friends and allies, Time Lords and Ladies, villains, robots, aliens and monsters as well as The Doctors themselves of course. The entries are accompanied by a mixture of color and black and white photos as well as color and full page illustrations.
The book is softcover, but is bound with a durable semigloss cardboard that appears to be multilayered and the binding appears to be strong with a rounded look one might find in a hardcover book and is approximately 240 pages.
An excellent resource for old and new fans alike, The Who's Who Of Doctor Who: A Whovian Guide To Friends, Foes, Villans, Monsters, and Companions To The Good Doctor is available now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Race Point Publishing.
(C) Copyright 2014 By Mark Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
