By Cavan Scott, George Mann, Justin Richards,
BBC Books, out now
A weighty volume about Doctor Who’s most prolific villains features a combination of both in-universe and behind-the-scenes content, chronicling the history of the hate-filled meanies from their genesis (ho ho) to the Time War and beyond.
Once a year, BBC Books produce a heavyweight (in this case, actually heavy) book to satisfy the Doctor Who fans who want a prestige book for their shelves. This is that book, co-written by George Mann, Cavan Scott and Justin Richards, with contributions from other writers. Finished in shiny silver with nine black, sensor globes on the cover, the 320 pages feature original illustrations by Alex Fort.
If you already have a collection of Dalek books (Terry Nation’s 1979 Dalek Special, John Peel’s 1988 The Official Doctor Who and the Daleks Book, Nick Briggs’ 2002 The Dalek SurvivAl Guide, Steve Tribe and James Goss’ 2011 The Dalek Handbook) you might wonder what’s left to be written about Terry Nation’s greatest creation. Luckily, this isn’t a rehash of the previous Dalek book, being neither an episode guide nor a chronological summary of the shows as they appeared, Doctor by Doctor. In fact, there’s very few photos of the Daleks from the TV episodes, with a reliance on Fort’s illustrations to tell the story. The paintings are generally very good, though the odd one or two suffer from the ‘Rollykins/Louis Marx Effect’ with elongated domes and neck sections or sensor globes that are little small.
The book is split into: The Creation of the Daleks, Skaro, Daleks in History, Daleks in the Modern World, Building an Empire, Dalek Wars, The Great Time War and The Final End. Interspersed among the intergalactic tales, Celestial Toymaster David J Howe intercepts and translates the Dalek invasion of toyshops merchandise, Nicholas Briggs tells us about the voice of the Daleks and Terrance Dicks writes a short Davros Genesis. George Mann explains how the Daleks were created for tv, and I really appreciated the the sections about Daleks in movies and stage shows, a list of audio plays and exhibitions, and how they invaded pop culture.
With short comic strip spreads and cutaways, and even a rationalisation of how Yarvelling fits into the creation myths, this is a book on a mission to be the last word on the subject. And if you do get stranded on Skaro, there’s a handy map of Kalaann and surrounding environs The Sea of Acid and The Serpent Sea.
Verdict: Inevitably, when you’re chronicling an ongoing series it’s hard to write the definitive history, but as a summary of the Dalek history at this fixed point in time, this hefty tome will be nirvana for Dalekphiles. 9/10
Nick Joy