The Handbook, the Second Doctor

The second Doctor handbook is invaluable to Dr. Who fans. It continues with the way the other volumes in the Dr. Who handbooks have always been. But this one is ever more so different than the others. It's production details of how the second Doctor was concieved is very interesting, because such a thing had never been done before on changing the lead actor in a TV series with a completely different actor, but yet as the same character (with a new persona than the previous Doctor), was completely unheard of. A huge risk at the time for the BBC, unsure if the regular viewers of the show would accept this change. Reading about this is very unique to know. The usual handbook format is here, and this book's story production focus is on the sixth season story "The Mind Robber" (1968). The one aspect that is very much priceless is the episode story summaries. These are very good, as I could almost imagine that they were on TV again. Also, the fact that almost all of the Patrick Troughton era of Dr. Who episodes was virtually wiped out from the BBC archives, makes these story summaries ever more so good to read about. Another great book in the Dr. Who handbook series. The author trio of David J. Howe, Mark Stammers, and Stephen James Walker continue with their reputation as the definitive research team on Doctor Who's history. This was the sixth volume in the series, published in 1997.

These authors are well-established as the premier non-fiction authors of "Doctor Who". Here, we are presented with another familiar book in a familiar format, which works without being outstanding.

The pentultimate volume in the Doctor Who Handbook series contains exhaustive detail about all of the adventures of the Doctor as portrayed by Patrick Troughton. Since so many of this era's episodes are lost, the detailed summaries are invaluable to modern day lovers of sixties' Doctor Who. As with previous Handbooks behind the scenes and production information is presented along with the often diverse opinions of the three authors on each of the stories as televised.