This is something like the eleventh factual book to be authored or co-authored by Simon Guerrier, and as usual the depth of research is impressive. Simon really knows his Who and so at least we can be sure that the facts that are present are all correct.
But this is a strange beast ... it reminded me of the old Doctor Who Annuals where new stories and comics spinning off from the show sit side by side with articles on the Sun or Space Travel or Spaceships or whatever - material which actually has nothing to do with Doctor Who (aside from maybe some tangential references).
This is an Almanac, and as the introduction explains: it contains 'useful information and fun stuff to help enliven and illuminate your journey through 2025'. So we have the transmission dates of all the Doctor Who episodes to date (though a little frustratingly those with no episode number on screen have none here, so for most of the Hartnell stories, you need to know which episode title is which, for example, The Ark: 'The Steel Sky' or The Dalek Invasion of Earth: 'The Waking Ally'. It also includes the spin off series like Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood (and, pointing to the fact that the book is aimed at a young audience, there's a helpful note pointing out that 'Torchwood and Class are aimed at an adult audience and contain adult themes, violence and upsetting scenes' - just the same as Doctor Who does then ...)
There's birthdates of some of the cast noted, and also for some of the fictional characters (but the text doesn't distinguish between them) and also 'firsts' in Doctor Who, like the first appearance of the Daleks, of Vicki, of K9 and so on.
For the astronomy and science buffs, there's articles and entries for various real life meteor storms, comets and the like, phases of the moon, descriptions of the planets of the solar system and how and when to see them ... There's entries on decimalisation in the UK, on eclipses and equinoxes ... but there's also fiction from the worlds of Doctor Who, suggesting how the fire of London started, or when Auderly House was invaded by Daleks and Ogrons. All of these things sit side by side ... any child reading this to perhaps research for their history homework could come up with some very interesting elements in their essays.
I have to mention too, that the gravity/mavity joke is perpetuated, with it being called mavity throughout. Even when talking about how the moon affects the tides. Again, sitting somewhat uneasily with the 'real world' information that the book also contains.
There's some factual items in here as well, for example about some Doctor Who spin off records, or about the Guinness World Record for William Russell having the longest time between appearances as the same character in the same show (57 years and 120 days), but as with the material from the fictional side of the show, and indeed science fact, there seems to be no rhyme nor reason why some things are included and some are not. It seems a little scattergun.
However.
Given that it's clearly aimed at the young set (those who might be upset or offended by Torchwood or Class), then it is a fun and diverting book to flick through. Day by day you can see what was transmitted (and maybe crank up iPlayer to rewatch those episodes) and it may spark an interest in children to turn their gaze to the skies and watch some meteors pass by, or to try and spot Mars or Venus or Mercury in the sky (at one point the text even suggests downloading an App to help them!).
Probably an ideal Christmas gift for the burgeoning Who Fan!
No comments:
Post a Comment