By Jonathan Morris, Simon Guerrier and Una McCormack

BBC Books

The essential celebration of 60 years of Doctor Who, featuring familiar faces from across time and space.

In 60 years, a lot of guides have been written about Doctor Who, whether in-universe or focusing on the making of the show. This handsome hardback with full colour photographs on quality high stock paper takes the former approach and is a worthy addition to your straining book shelves, not least because it tries something a bit different.

I’m imagining an incident room where the three seasoned writers Jonathan Morris, Simon Guerrier and Una McCormack are stood in front of a wallchart, adding multiple sticky notes to a series of columns, dragging lengths of wool between the Post-Its to cross-reference secondary links. This almost certainly didn’t happen (allow me this conceit) but it highlights the sideways thinking that has gone into the structure of the book.

Entries are frequently written from the perspective of the Doctor, but there are also capsule biographies or memories written by the subject themself. The copy is supported by appropriate imagery, each chapter beginning with a glorious double-page spread by the Blu-ray collection’s art supremo Lee Binding.

Don’t expect any clues about where the show is going – Donna still is unaware of her adventures, Wilf is hoping to meet the Doctor again, and we only get a line each on the 14th and 15 regenerations. The focus here is clearly on the rich history of 60 years.

Verdict: Credit to all for coming up with a different slant on a well-trodden category of Doctor Who books. Whooray for that. 8/10

Nick Joy

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