Review: Now We Are Six Hundred

Doctor Who sometimes throws up the most unlikely of books, and as the show is so popular, so some things end up getting published that just make you scratch your head!

Among them is a book of Doctor Who poetry by James Goss. Unfortunately I am not the worlds most poetic person, and while I love my Doctor Who merchandise, I'm probably not qualified to pontificate on the prose.

It's called Now We Are Six Hundred and I suppose if you're going to be inspired, it might as well be by one of the most famous poetry books: Now We Are Six, written by Winnie the Pooh creator A A Milne. Indeed, many of the poems in the Doctor Who book are 'after' ones from the Milne book, by which it means that they follow the same rhythm and ideas, but with Doctor Who references included. There are some apparently original verses too - I say apparently, but on some, I'm vaguely aware of there being older verses which follow the same patterns. So 'The Galactic Council' takes as its inspiration the old folk song: 'One Man Went to Mow' ... and 'Yeti Song' is inspired by 'Sing Ho for the Life of a Bear' by Carly Simon from Piglet's Big Movie!

The book is immaculately presented. The little illustrations by Russell T Davies (yes, the same guy who Exec Produced Doctor Who) are amusing and well done and add immensely to the tome's charm. I also like how the cover is printed as though the book is very old, and the whole thing has a great sense of fun about it.

The poems cover all areas of Doctor Who and take in Doctors and Companions and Monsters galore ... there's probably something in here for everyone! And for £9.99 for the hardback, it's not that expensive either.