Lance Parkin and Lars Pearson

Mad Norwegian Press, out now – ebook only

The Doctor Who stories that are too out there even for Ahistory…

As I have commented on a number of other occasions, there are some people for whom a labour of love is almost an obsession, and Lance Parkin’s chronicling of the Doctor Who universe, and the hoops through which he he has jumped over the years in order to make it all fit into one consistent whole, demonstrates precisely that. But there are limits even for him, and in this new ebook-only addition to the Ahistory series, he and Lars Pearson deal with those stories that just can’t fit, no matter how sideways you take a look at them.

Here’s where you find the pre-Marvel comics – the story of John and Gillian; the Doctor’s “Cottage Years” – and the Cushing Doctor; the tales from the annuals (Doctor Who and Dalek); the Shalka Doctor; the adverts; the… well, you name it – if it’s not part of mainstream continuity, then it’ll get a mention here. It’s all taken (moderately) seriously with references to where things deviate notably from the main line (e.g. a reference to the 5th Doctor annual story about Camelot references Battlefield… your views on which should be canonical may vary!).

There are, as ever, some larger footnotes which are referred to as sidebars; these deal with weighty matters such as the Daleks’ static electricity phase, or the aforementioned Cottage Years. While there may be some who’d rather that the time spent was devoted to bringing Ahistory up to date (the most recent update doesn’t reach the Capaldi years), this is, as ever, a diverting and in many ways utterly daft contribution to Doctor Who history – and I, for one, am delighted that Parkin and Pearson find the time for such lunacy.

Verdict: Mad but fun. 8/10

Paul Simpson