In fact, it had a most inauspicious beginning. Due to the extensive television coverage devoted to the assassination of President John Kennedy the day before, the first episode of Doctor Who went out later than scheduled. Viewing figures were disappointing, but a decision was taken to give the programme a second showing the following week. The response was tremendous and after a shaky start the series was all set to run and run and run...Peter Haining has compiled a fitting tribute to the success of this remarkable programme, to mark its twentieth anniversary. His book reflects the rich diversity of talent and ideas that have invested Doctor Who with its unique appeal to viewers of all ages and made it the vital and popular series it remains to this day- a popularity reinforced by W.H. Allen/Target's novelisations of the stories.In addition to articles on key landmarks in the Doctor Who universe, this celebratory volume contains contributions from Verity Lambert, the first producer of the programme; Barry Letts, one-time director, producer, and executive producer; Terrrance Dicks, ex-script editor, script writer, and author of many of the Doctor Who novelisations; John Nathan-Turner, the current producer; and all five actors who have played the part of the Doctor give their views on this epic phenomenon.For those who first saw the programme in 1963 to those who regularly watch it today, this W.H. Allen special will be a constant source of pleasure and a unique volume to treasure.

    Marek Kukula show how Doctor Who uses science to inform its unique style of storytelling—and just how close it has often come to predicting future scientific discoveries.This book is your chance to be the Doctor's companion and explore what's out there. It will make you laugh, and think, and see the world around you differently.

    An enormously popular series among genre fans in North America, Doctor Who encompasses horror, science fiction, comedy, action, and historical adventure and is loved for its uniquely British wit and clever scripting. It's no wonder the series' hero, monsters, and even its theme song are pop culture icons. In Who Is The Doctor, experts Graeme Burk and Robert Smith? bring insights into all facets of Doctor Who's triumphant return to television from the history of Daleks, Cybermen, and the eight classic series Doctors, to a guide to every episode of the new series. Covering the six seasons of the new series, this is the essential companion for the most avid fan as well as the more casual viewer. Allons-y!

    Myles bring together a host of award-winning female writers, media professionals and scientists to examine each season of new and classicDoctor Who from their unique perspectives.Diana Gabaldon discusses how Jamie McCrimmon inspired her best-selling Outlander series, and Barbara Hambly (Benjamin January Mysteries) examines the delicate balance of rebooting a TV show. Seanan McGuire (Toby Daye series) reveals the power and pain of waiting in Series 5, and Una McCormack (The King's Dragon) argues that Sylvester McCoy's final year of Doctor Who is the show's best season ever.Other contributors include Juliet E. McKenna (Einarrin series), Tansy Rayner Roberts (Power and Majesty), Sarah Lotz (The Mall), Martha Wells (The Cloud Roads), Joan Frances Turner (Dust), Rachel Swirsky ("Fields of Gold") and Aliette de Bodard (Obsidian and Blood series).

    Steve Berry decided to undertake this project in memory of his mother Janet, who suffered from Alzheimer's in her final years and passed away in 2009. The book has taken more than four years to put together and its publication has been "crowd-funded" by the pre-orders of an enthusiastic Whovian community. 100% of the book royalties, proceeds and net profit will be donated to Alzheimer's Research UK. Contributors include comedians Al Murray, Stephen Merchant, and Bill Oddie; actors Lynda Bellingham, Nicholas Parsons, and Rhys Thomas; writers Neil Gaiman, Jenny Colgan, Jonathan Ross and Charlie Brooker and politicians Louise Mensch and Tom Harris. In addition, there is input from a number of the writers, actors and production staff who were involved in creating Doctor Who stories new and old. "I always had a sneaking suspicion that everyone in the world loves Doctor Who. Now I have proof! If I could get all the famous names who contributed to this book into one room, it would be the maddest Doctor Who party ever. Until then, their favourite memories of the programme are preserved for all to see. Plus, everyone who buys a copy will be helping to give hope to the 820,000 people in the UK living with dementia today," says author Steve Berry. The book has been beautifully illustrated by popular Doctor Who Magazine artist Ben Morris and is a must-have for Whovians worldwide.

    Kennedy and more. Taking you from ancient Alexandria to nameless planets in the far future, these tales are at turns funny, frightening, moving and thought-provoking - short stories that are bigger on the inside. Time Trips includes: The Anti-Hero (featuring the Second Doctor) by Stella Duffy Salt of the Earth (featuring the Third Doctor) by Trudi Canavan The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Time Traveller (featuring the Third Doctor) by Joanne Harris The Death Pit (featuring the Fourth Doctor) by A.L. Kennedy A Handful of Stardust (featuring the Sixth Doctor) by Jake Arnott The Bog Warrior (featuring the Tenth Doctor) by Cecelia Ahern Keeping Up with the Joneses (featuring the Tenth Doctor) by Nick Harkaway Into the Nowhere (featuring the Eleventh Doctor) by Jenny T. Colgan.

    But the TARDIS has other plans, landing them instead in a village on the south coast of England; a picture-postcard sort of place where nothing much happens. Until now... An archaeological dig has turned up a Roman mosaic, circa AD 70, depicting mythical scenes, grapes and a Dalek. A few days later a young woman, rushing for work, is knocked over and killed by a bus, then comes back to life. It's not long before all hell breaks loose, and the Doctor and Rose must use all their courage and cunning against an alien enemy and a not-quite-alien accomplice who are intent on destroying humanity. Featuring the Doctor and Rose as played by David Tennant and Billie Piper in the hit Doctor Who series from BBC Television.

    For fans, this book is a unique insight into an area of the show's history that has previously been shrouded in mystery. For those with a wider interest in the creative processes of television drama, it is a fascinating account of the individual's creative vision at odds with the machinery of broadcasting. It features a foreword by the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy.

    It is a familiar and much-loved British institution that after more than twenty years continues to enjoy enormous success both at home and abroad.The Key to Time marks the programme's coming of age — twenty-one years old on 23 November 1984. Peter Haining has adopted the novel technique of exploring the history of the series through key dates in its many life-cycles. He demonstrates — with extensive reference to files kept in the Doctor Who Production Office — how much a part of British life the programme has become, and how the impact of this extraordinary phenomenon has travelled further afield. He traces the many changes the series has undergone since the first episode was broadcast in November 1963 — not only in terms of regenerated Doctors but also new methods of programme-making. The beginning of the Jon Pertwee era coincided with the switchover from black-and-white to colour, but Peter Haining also gives details of how many of the special effects were achieved, and how this initially modest television series pioneered techniques used in the multi-million-dollar Star Wars.The enthusiastic support of viewers all over the world has contributed to Doctor Who's long and happy life, and The Key to Time includes tributes from fans in Britain, Australia, Canada and the United States, in the form of drawings and sketches inspired by the series.This extensively illustrated special publication, with twenty-four pages of colour photographs, is a superb follow-up to the runaway success of W.H. Allen's Doctor Who: A Celebration.

    David Tennant's foreword caps this warm, witty memoir — a fitting tribute to a woman who will be sadly missed by legions of fans. When Elisabeth Sladen first appeared as plucky journalist Sarah Jane Smith in 1973 Doctor Who story "The Time Warrior," little did she know the character would become one of the most enduring and fondly remembered in the series' history. Here she shares the story of her years as Sarah Jane—traversing time and space alongside classic Doctors Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, while a generation of children were terrified but transfixed as their heroine found herself menaced by Daleks, dinosaurs, Cybermen, man-eating alien flora, Egyptian mummies, extras in Bubble Wrap, and even the Loch Ness Monster. By the time she quit the TARDIS in 1976, making front page news, Elisabeth had become one of the most familiar faces of a TV golden age. But that wasn't the end of Sarah Jane. Elisabeth discusses the many times she has reprised her role—anniversary specials, a 1981 spin-off pilot with robotic sidekick K-9, and radio plays. She discusses touring the weird, wide, and wonderful world of Doctor Who fandom. And lastly, she shares details of Sarah Jane's most recent incarnation—when TV wunderkind Russell T. Davies approached her to come back again, this time to a Doctor Who backed by lavish budgets and garlanded with critical plaudits, how could she possibly say no? Funny, ridiculous, insightful, and entertaining, hers is the story of another girl, another planet, completed just months before she died.

    The truth of these tales was lost millennia ago, but the myths and legends themselves are timeless.These are the most enduring of those tales. From the princess Manussa and her giant snake Mara, to the Vardon Horse of Xeriphin, these stories shed light on the universe around us and the beings from other worlds that we meet. Myths hold up a mirror to our past, present and future, explaining our culture, our history, our hopes and fears.A collection of epic adventures from the Time Lords’ mist-covered past, Myths and Legends is an unforgettable gallery of heroes and villains, gods and monsters.

    Have you ever wondered how Daleks climb stairs? How Cybermen make little Cybermen? Or where the Tardis' toilets are? With style and exuberance, 'The Science Of Doctor Who' brings the very latest thinking down to Earth.

    TARDIS Eruditorum tells the ongoing story of Doctor Who from its beginnings in the 1960s to the present day, pushing beyond received wisdom and fan dogma to understand that story not just as the story of a geeky sci-fi show but as the story of an entire line of mystical, avant-garde, and radical British culture. It treats Doctor Who as a show that really is about everything that has ever happened, and everything that ever will. This volume focuses on the earliest years of the program, looking at how it emerged from the existing traditions of science fiction in the UK and how it quickly found its kinship with the emerging counterculture of the 1960s. Every essay from the Hartnell era has been revised and expanded from its original form, and the eight new essays exclusive to the collected edition have been augmented by a further eleven, providing nineteen book-exclusive essays on topics like what happened before An Unearthly Child, whether the lead character's name is really Doctor Who, and how David Whitaker created the idea of a Doctor Who novel. Plus, you'll learn: How acid-fueled occultism influenced the creation of the Cybermen. Why The Celestial Toymaker is irredeemably racist. The Problem of Susan Foreman

    Written by Lawrence Miles (Faction Paradox) and long-time sci-fi commentator Tat Wood, About Time focuses on the continuity of Doctor Who (its characters, alien races and the like), but also examines the show as a work of social commentary. In particular, Miles and Wood dissect the politics and social issues that shaped the show during its unprecedented 26-year run (from 1963 to 1989), detailing how the issues of the day influenced this series. As part of this grand opus, About Time 1 examines Doctor Who Seasons 1 to 3 (1963 to 1966) -- the show's every beginnings, with William Hartnell in the lead role. Among other things, About Time 1 answers such vitally important Who questions as Where (and When) is Gallifrey? and Why Couldn't the BBC Just Have Spent More Money?

    Packed full of hints and tips on topics such as introducing the Doctor to your family, packing for life on the TARDIS and practising alien first aid, this guide will fully prepare you for life as a companion!