What happens to all of the people that interact with the Doctor after he leaves. This book from Altrix Books attempts to tell those stories. The charity book was published in aid of Shelter.
In the distant future a group of researchers are looking for evidence of the Doctor and are gathering accounts of people whose lives have intersected with his/hers. As with any anthology like this with a voluminous amount of stories by many different authors the quality can vary. I will say there are many more good stories than bad. I appreciate the concept of the book and have often wondered what happens to the people and places after the Doctor departs. The stories are arranged chronologically in time from prehistory to the far far future. All incarnations of the Doctor are represented from the First Doctor all the way to the Thirteenth. A solid 8 out of 10 with a great concept and enough good stories to make it well worth your while.
Let me put this out front; this is not the classic comic strip from Doctor Who Weekly by Pat Mills and John Wagner but a non-authorized novelization of the story by an unknown author. If you routinely search Lulu Publishing you can often find these unauthorized works which are being self-published. It is questionable whether these are ethical to purchase since they definitely infringe on the original author’s copyright.
The novelization follows the story in the Target manner with a simple prose style and straightforward re-telling of the original narrative. The comic story this was based on is a deserved classic and the novelization brings back those memories. 7 out of 10.
Doctor Who The Complete History was a series of hardback volumes which came out every two weeks and covered 3-4 stories each. These were in-depth volumes covering the production of each episode from the first in 1963 to the end of the Peter Capaldi era of the show. In addition to the extensive production notes there were also merchandise and publicity updates and actor profiles. The quality of each volume was exceptional overseen by several different editors. The volumes were only available in the UK and Ireland so were difficult to obtain in other locations. I am more of a Watsonian fan but if you are a Doyalist you will greatly appreciate these books. Even so I give the entire series a solid 8 out of 10. I will rate each episode covered below.
“A Town Called Mercy” written by Toby Whithouse is a nice pastiche of the western genre. I especially liked the characterization of the Doctor and always like when his mean streak comes out. 7 out of 10.
“The Power of Three” is also written by Chris Chibnall and introduces the character of Kate Stewart. I like legacy characters and Kate is a good continuation of the Lethbridge-Stewart lineage. Brian Williams also makes a welcome return. I also like stories that take place over an extended period of time and this story plays out over many months. Another solid outing for Chibnall 8 out of 10.
