By John Walsh

Titan Books, out now

A guide to the making of the classic 1960s Dr. Who movies, lavishly illustrated and packed with insights into these beloved films. 

I have a great affinity towards the Peter Cushing Dr Who movies, not least because this was my very first encounter with the character. Having watched Dr Who and the Daleks (1965) on TV while staying in hospital, and having a great time with it, one of the nurses helpfully suggested that I could watch further adventures every Saturday teatime. At that point, the die was cast.

Recently upgraded to beautiful 4K transfers, it’s now possible to enjoy the Cushing movies in their most colourful glory, so this is the perfect time to release a large format companion book. Author John Walsh had access to StudioCanal’s archive when researching this book, and it’s packed with a wealth of promotional images, including some beautifully colourised pictures by Clayton Hickman.

Printed in coffee-table-book-size on heavy duty paper, the photographs benefit from their large reproduction. This is where the book is at its strongest – a visual history of the movies, from sketches through to Sugar Puffs promotions home entertainment release posters. Some of the behind-the-scenes shots have never been published before, and they’re great.

The narrative around the pictures gives you just enough to piece it all together, but aside from short forewords by Roberta Tovey (Susan) and actor Jason Flemyng (son of director Jason), there’s no great new insight from the actors who are still with us.  Frustratingly, where creatives are quoted, there’s no annotated source cited in the text, leaving us to guess from the bibliography at the back exactly where the info came from.

Verdict: A handsome archive of materials from the Aaru Dalek movies. 7/10

Nick Joy

Click here to order from Amazon.co.uk