James Goss and Steve Tribe, authors of last year’s A History of the Universe in 100 Objects have fashioned a tale of the programme’s production using the voices of the participants, both cast and crew. Structured in a similar vein to DWM’s excellent ‘In Their Own Words’ specials, ‘The Story of Doctor Who’ is followed from conception through to the making of the 50th special in bite sized chunks, with occasional editorial notes to move the timeline on.
The tale is also studded with little gems, frequently endorsements of particular stories from cast and crew of other eras. One that caught our eye was from Hartnell script editor Donald Tosh who drew parallels between the aliens from ‘The End of the World’ and the space parliament of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’. Another notable entry comes from World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee on the subject of ‘The War Machines’ and its AI computer Wotan.
One fascinating contribution is the script for the fake ending of ‘The Parting of the Ways’, sans regeneration. Director Joe Aherne goes on to talk about the notion of maintaining Eccleston’s departure as a surprise.
In order to spice up the tale, each era of the programme comes prefaced with a colourful, in-universe scrapbook style chapter. Such a format was used to good effect in The Brilliant Book of Doctor Who as well as for Sherlock: The Casebook, and provides some visual diversity as well as the chance for the authors to have a bit of fun. Through them, we are treated to diary entries by Susan, memoirs of the Brigadier and Tegan being interviewed by one Dr Song, the latter of which contains the Aussie companion’s priceless description of Return of the Jedi.
The Fourth Doctor’s tenure is covered by the transcript of Sarah Jane discussing her adventures with K-9 and then finding out what happened to him next and a particular favourite of is the entry by the Valeyard, which lays out his plans for the Doctor’s Trial and speculates some much needed back story for that season.
Each of the scrapbook sections is littered with references to television adventures, and the authors have drawn on various contributors such as Andrew Smith, who presents excerpts from the Starliner Log from ‘Full Circle’, and Neil Gamian, who has provided a lost introductory sequence from ‘Nightmare in Silver’.
All in all, the book boasts contributions from four Doctors, as well as a host of companions and writers including Rob Shearman, Terrance Dicks, RTD and Steven Moffat.
This is an ideal Christmas present, if you can wait that long. If not, it’s a great primer for the 50th anniversary in November.
Published on Thursday 26 September 2013 by BBC Books.
> Order the 50th anniversary special on DVD on Amazon.
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