Everything you never realised you needed to know about the earliest days of Doctor Who… with quite a few extras…

You can see why the Vworp Vworp team were hoping to get this edition out for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary on November 23, 2023 – particularly given the, er, problems inherent with any official broadcast of the very first story. From the impassioned plea to reassess the whole of that first serial, to some tantalising insights into the re-novelisation, the release of which we still are waiting for, via assessments of every aspect of the show’s creation, all presented with Vworp Vworp’s customary flair and style… this really is an essential purchase for anyone interested, not simply in the early days of Doctor Who, but in the nature of television production. As ever, there’s plenty here that even the most well-read of Doctor Who fans will find new, insights that will make you think again… and hours of reading even for the speediest consumer.

As diversions from the factual material, there’s also new comic strips that cover the entire range of the series – from a pre-Unearthly Child First Doctor and Susan to an unleashed Fifteenth Doctor that fits perfectly with the almost-swashbuckling character we encountered on Christmas Day – as well as a bonus DVD. Three different animations feature on this: the disc kicks off with Mel Meanley’s version of the first chapter of Doctor Who and the Daleks, whose deliberate pace builds its atmosphere carefully before the arrival of Stephen Noonan’s Doctor, followed by a short “telesnap” recreation Interlude on Totter’s Lane and Graham Kibble-White’s Hanna-Barbera-esque We Flame to Please, both of which feature Siobhan Gallichan’s take on the Time Lord. The highlight for most, I suspect, will be the interview with Waris Hussein.

Verdict: Start this new year with one of the best Doctor Who products of 2023. 10/10

Paul Simpson

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