Focusing on the TV show from inception to the beginning of the 15th Doctor, the first part of this book is an overview of history of the show, including info on the Doctors, major companions and foes (both alien and the Master), show writers, and other things that make Doctor Who the show it is, sprinkled in with some of the author's observations and opinions. Reading this book as someone who has watched some of the classic series and all of the modern seasons but who doesn't consider myself a hard core fan, I feel like this book tries to find a middle ground for its audience. Hardcore fans will find the information in here basic. Newbies will likely be overwhelmed with the information and the complexity of some of the content (it is a long running show with lots of internal reference and complex overarching plots), but for them it can serve as a resource to help them understand some of the in-show history and references. The final part of the book looks at cultural impact, so relevant to anyone interested in the show. This includes a look at gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, spin off series, and the impact on other media and the culture at large. The essays on gender, race, and ethnicity are heavily laden with the author's personal opinions. This book would serve as a decent companion to the show, but not an academic treatment of the topic.

Thanks to NetGalley and Rowman & Littlefield Publishers for the ARC of this title.

I read the entry in this series on [book:Mystery Science Theater 3000: A Cultural History|203873574] last year and ADORED it - it managed to split the difference between the show's contributions to culture while also explaining the television landscape it both emerged out of and altered. We're not here to talk about that, though, so let's talk about this volume

I was hopeful this would do the same thing on a larger scale - Doctor Who's been around for 60 years and counting, and the many producers and head writers over the years, not to mention changing focuses at the BBC, have had an effect on the show, similar to different eras of MST3k. That feels like a fascinating topic, and it's not something that's really covered across various other books about Doctor Who I've read.

I was hopeful this would add something to the conversation, but I think it gets off the rails in trying to hit the broadest possible audience. A good chunk of the book is basically explaining the elements of the show and trying to sketch out its overall premise and characters - who is The Doctor? What are Time Lords? What's the TARDIS? Who have the companions been?, etc. This is handy if you're coming into this blind, but for a fan audience, this is largely stuff that's already known and while the personal touch from the author in explaining it is nice, a lot of this exists elsewhere. This could have been a lot more high-level/appendix-y in service of digging into the actual history of the show.

The actual cultural history stuff I was looking for - how did the show happen? how did different producers and head writers steer the ship different directions? When did the show reflect the culture of its time, and when did it influence the culture of its time? - gets short shrift. There's some fantastic material on the origin of the show, and a little behind-the-scenes scuttlebutt around John Nathan-Turner's influence on the classic series mid-Tom Baker's run, plus a little dive into the various producers of the most recent series, but that's it! There's a lot of TV history behind Who, and more info there would have been nice.

For all that I found lacking above, I did find the section on the show's cultural impact more robust. Because the show has existed for 60 years, it's had a chance to really speak to the society in which it existed, and the author does a good job calling out the ways it's positively handled issues of gender and sexuality.

Basically, there's not enough of the stuff I didn't know, and too much of the stuff I did.

This is a wonderful book for any Doctor Who fan! It is full of rich descriptions and detailed history. If you love Doctor Who, pick up this book!

Highly detailed and rich with history, character rundowns, the evolution of the show, and the author’s own opinions, this has got to be one of the most comprehensive books on Doctor Who.

An absolute must-have addition for the bookshelf of any Doctor Who fan!



Thank you to Rowman & Littlefield Publishers and NetGalley for the DRC

Back in 1963, the BBC launched a new TV series about a mysterious old man who could travel through space and time in a vessel disguised as a police telephone box (apparently a common enough sight in Britain at the time). Viewers liked the fact the machine was somehow magically much larger on the inside and loved the character's enemies, the Daleks. The show became a hit. Cleverly, it was decided that the Doctor who was an alien could 'regenerate' into a new actor whenever the show's star tired of the role, as usually happened after three or four years. By the late Seventies, the show was on its Fourth Doctor and at the peak of its popularity.. A decade later, however, the show was flagging. It was never officially cancelled, it just stopped. In 1989, after seven Doctors and 26 years, Doctor Who came to an end.
Happily, after 16 years, the show triumphantly returned. Having been previously treated with scorn by the Beeb, Doctor Who now became a flagship show. Between 2005 and 2010, the series was bigger than ever. Since then, it's popularity has diminished although it retains a strong following. If it continues beyond 2031, it will have outlasted the original version.
This volume from Graham Gibson fills in all the blanks about the history of the show itself and all the mysteries of the Whoniverse. Which planet do the Daleks come from? Who was K9? Who were the chief villains in Blink? What did the Fifth Doctor dress like? What was Class? Find all your answers here!

An excellent comprehensive book for Dr Who fans, detailing its history, evolution coupled with the author’s own thoughts on the show.
The presentation and format could have been more engaging, and the facts slightly more incorporated into a flowing narrative.
This is one of the most detailed books on Dr Who I have ever read.

This book was far more text dense than I would have initially expected. It gives a rather in depth history of Doctor Who, including main characters, villains, plot lines, critical reception, and much more. There were a few portions that felt like they were opinion pieces and that took me out a bit. As a Doctor Who fan, this hit a lot of necessary points and would be great for Doctor Who lovers who maybe need background on the early years of the series.

Thanks to Rowman and Littlefield and NetGalley for an eARC of this book for an honest review.

Such a great guide for fans of the beloved Dr Who series. I love learning about the history and behind the scenes of different pop culture phenomenons and really enjoyed this one!