This ensures that you don't miss any of the goodies within, while providing almost as chaotic a tour of the worlds of Doctor Who as one might get in the TARDIS itself. I suppose one could use Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia to actually look things up, but really, I think it's more fun to start with the letter A and peruse its entries in order.

Try to get someone to buy it for you as a gift.(Please note that Doctor Who Encyclopedia (New Edition) has now replaced the edition I originally reviewed. The wealth of photos makes this a pretty good value, but overall this encyclopedia just seems a bit lightweight and has a lot of questionable entries. I mean-sometimes it seems that every third or fourth entry pertains to one of these. Where do you draw the line? Why not comment on the brand of spark plugs used by a taxi the Doctor rode in?Īnother minor annoyance is that the author seems to pay overwhelming attention to two animated episodes ('Attack of the Graske' and 'The Infinite Quest') that are probably not canonical and that are not very likely to be known to American viewers. That's.just a little oddly obsessive to me. So, we get to read a bit about Jeff Lynne-because he wrote an ELO song that was featured in one episode.

For instance, every song that was ever heard for more than three pico-seconds in any episode is included here-along with separate entries for the band or singer. There's a lot of material here, but a surprising amount of it smacks of filler. It is NOT an episode guide, so be certain you know that you're getting a quick reference manual and not detailed synopses and reviews. It's very handsomely illustrated with numerous color photos and packed with short and pithy entries and character biographies. As another reviewer has noted, this encyclopedia focuses virtually exclusively on the adventures of the 'new' Doctors from the series reboot, covering Eccleston's single season and Tennant's first two.

Doctor Who Encyclopedia by Gary Russell