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Doctor Who: The Handbook #2
Doctor Who: The Handbook - The Second Doctor
Doctor Who is the world's longest running science fiction television series. Each handbook provides both a broad overview and a detailed analysis of one phase of the programme's history.
With the ground-breaking changeover from William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton, Doctor Who demonstrated that it could survive even the departure of the leading actor. Troughton's introduction energised the show, giving it a new lease of life. The writers also introduced or developed some of the show's most enduring characters: the resourceful Jamie McCrimmon and the orphaned Victoria Waterfield, companions who shared our screens with the Doctor's greatest enemies — the emotionless Cybermen, the militaristic Ice Warriors, the robotic Yeti and, of course, the Daleks.
This book is an in in-depth study of Patrick Troughton's tenure as the Doctor, including a profile of the actor, a critical summary of each story in which he starred, an extensive feature on the making of The Mind Robber — a classic adventure set in the deadly Land of Fiction — and much more. The authors have established their reputation with best-selling books such as The Sixties and The Seventies, and their acclaimed work on other books in the Handbook range." -- From the back cover of the first edition
With the ground-breaking changeover from William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton, Doctor Who demonstrated that it could survive even the departure of the leading actor. Troughton's introduction energised the show, giving it a new lease of life. The writers also introduced or developed some of the show's most enduring characters: the resourceful Jamie McCrimmon and the orphaned Victoria Waterfield, companions who shared our screens with the Doctor's greatest enemies — the emotionless Cybermen, the militaristic Ice Warriors, the robotic Yeti and, of course, the Daleks.
This book is an in in-depth study of Patrick Troughton's tenure as the Doctor, including a profile of the actor, a critical summary of each story in which he starred, an extensive feature on the making of The Mind Robber — a classic adventure set in the deadly Land of Fiction — and much more. The authors have established their reputation with best-selling books such as The Sixties and The Seventies, and their acclaimed work on other books in the Handbook range." -- From the back cover of the first edition
307 pages, Paperback
First published November 6, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 10, 2026
This is a fun little gem. The best era of Doctor Who, The uncontested best Doctor, and undoubtedly his best companions are covered here, mostly on the technical side of things with interesting production details and stats regarding the original broadcasts.
I had the most fun reading the quotes from Troughton himself, and every time Frazer Hines's name was said (oh how I love that man). It was also fun to read the summaries of every episode (some much more detailed than others!) having watched some in full, and only experienced surviving audios and telesnaps of others (and of course having read some novelisations here and there).
A nice homage to Troughton at the start the book mainly focuses on behind the scenes production, less on the actors. Only reception of the time is covered and not quite legacies.
Basically I wanted this book to be longer.
But hey, Emmerdale gets a mention!
Reading The War Games segment reminded me that Jamie and Zoe did retain memories of their first adventure with The Doctor, when the more heartbreaking consensus among fans is that they don't remember a thing. In context it probably confuses them and they think it's a dream anyway. And The Doctor even says to them when they appear in The Five Doctors that they shouldn't know who he is. Far be it from Doctor Who to change things retroactively! And we have Season 6B so SHUT UP.
It was funny seeing the writers of this book slander The Space Pirates and The Krotons, and quite a shock to see how lukewarm or even hostile many were towards the changing of Doctor Who at this time. Just look at it all now!
One I'll be returning to for sure.
(I read this entire thing in one go, and the whole time, Bowling For Soup's Punk Rock 101 was stuck in my head. That has absolutely nothing to do with this book but I want it on record.)
I had the most fun reading the quotes from Troughton himself, and every time Frazer Hines's name was said (oh how I love that man). It was also fun to read the summaries of every episode (some much more detailed than others!) having watched some in full, and only experienced surviving audios and telesnaps of others (and of course having read some novelisations here and there).
A nice homage to Troughton at the start the book mainly focuses on behind the scenes production, less on the actors. Only reception of the time is covered and not quite legacies.
Basically I wanted this book to be longer.
But hey, Emmerdale gets a mention!
Reading The War Games segment reminded me that Jamie and Zoe did retain memories of their first adventure with The Doctor, when the more heartbreaking consensus among fans is that they don't remember a thing. In context it probably confuses them and they think it's a dream anyway. And The Doctor even says to them when they appear in The Five Doctors that they shouldn't know who he is. Far be it from Doctor Who to change things retroactively! And we have Season 6B so SHUT UP.
It was funny seeing the writers of this book slander The Space Pirates and The Krotons, and quite a shock to see how lukewarm or even hostile many were towards the changing of Doctor Who at this time. Just look at it all now!
One I'll be returning to for sure.
(I read this entire thing in one go, and the whole time, Bowling For Soup's Punk Rock 101 was stuck in my head. That has absolutely nothing to do with this book but I want it on record.)
June 21, 2022
I'm a bit disappointed in this volume. There is much here that I like (such as an attempt to have less-than-dogmatic-at-the-time opinions on Troughton stories), but where it falls flat is in the use of the primary source material. The 1st Doctor/Hartnell volume presented it as a fantastic chronological oral history of the show at the time...and I would have loved a continuation of that into the 2nd Doctor/Troughton era. However, in this volume it is more concerned with budgetary and special effects matters...and the narrow focus simply isn't as successful. A missed opportunity at the continuation of a triumphant oral history/diary.
January 5, 2026
Reasonably authoritative guide to the era - even compares well to the much more verbose About Time volume covering the same period. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...
March 16, 2015
Although this book isn't quite as comprehensive as the first book in the series (it lacks the exhaustive day-by-day production notes that makes the book on the Hartnell years an essential reading even in this everything-is-on-the-internet days), it's still an interesting reading for anyone interested in Doctor Who history, during a critical and pivotal time in the history on the now world-wide known TV show. As in the previous installment in the series, the book consists of a series of interviews with cast and production staff, followed by a detailed breakdown of airing dates and a summary for each episode starred by Patrick Throughton, and a extremely detailed account of one episode (The Mind Robber), and an essay of the state of VFX at the time. Curiously, perhaps the most interesting part of the book is the appendix devoted to the fate of the series in Australia and New Zealand, particulary as it concerns the intervention of the censorship authorities in both countries. A very specialized, but nonetheless enjoyable reading.
April 1, 2017
This book is like Second Doctor' era... it's very enjoyable to read but it's repetitive and you feel like there are no fresh ideas and stories are really long...
Stories
I never quite understood why "stories" section is in Doctor Who handbooks but I was able to stand them... but in this case about one half of book is mostly made by longish descriptions of stories (I see no reason of reading them and what more, they're on both tardis.wikia and normal wiki) accompanied by some randomly lookin reviews and pretty uninteresting "whofax".
Interviews
So I learned that Pat Throughton was not keen on giving interviews... so this part of book was quite short
Production
This was pretty shallow. Yes it was interesting but I just felt, that some topics should be dealt in greater depth with.
Stories
I never quite understood why "stories" section is in Doctor Who handbooks but I was able to stand them... but in this case about one half of book is mostly made by longish descriptions of stories (I see no reason of reading them and what more, they're on both tardis.wikia and normal wiki) accompanied by some randomly lookin reviews and pretty uninteresting "whofax".
Interviews
So I learned that Pat Throughton was not keen on giving interviews... so this part of book was quite short
Production
This was pretty shallow. Yes it was interesting but I just felt, that some topics should be dealt in greater depth with.
June 17, 2010
David Howe and Co tell the inside story of how Doctor Who was made during the turbulent years of the late sixties. Richly detailed and well-written.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews