The Television Companion

The Television Companion

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{{Infobox Reference Book |book name=The Television Companion |image=The_Television_Companion_1sted.jpg|200px]]
First Edition BBC Books Cover
[[File:The_Television_Companion_2nded.jpg Cover |writer= David J. Howe
Stephen James Walker |publisher= BBC Books (First Edition)
Telos Publishing (Second Edition) |release date= October 1998 (First Edition)
October 2003 (Second Edition) |format= Paperback book (both editions) |isbn=ISBN 0-563-40588-0 (First Edition)
ISBN 1-903889-51-0 (Second Edition) |previous release= |next release= }}

Publisher's summary

First Edition

The complete guide to every Doctor Who story ever screened — in one bumper volume!

For the first time, here at your fingertips is everything you ever wanted to know about the Doctor's exploits on television, from the very first programme transmitted in 1963 through to the TV movie of 1996.

Every story is covered in depth in all aspects of production, including plot details, cast lists, episode endings, transmission dates, memorable quotes and popular myths. In addition, there is an analysis of each story, looking at the highs and lows of every adventure, utilising reviews both contemporary and retrospective from a variety of sources.

This book is the essential companion for every trip you will ever take into the TV universe of Doctor Who.

Second Edition

The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who

Everything you ever wanted to know about the cult BBC Television series Doctor Who which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2003.

On its first publication, The Television Companion was hailed as possibly the best guide ever to the BBC's cult science fiction show Doctor Who. Now re-issued in a revised and updated edition, the book remains the definitive guide to the television worlds and adventures of the Doctor and his companions.

Every story is covered in depth in all aspects of production, including plot details, cast and crew lists, episode endings, transmission dates, memorable quotes and popular myths. In addition there is a comprehensive analysis of every adventure, utilising reviews both contemporary and retrospective from a wide variety of sources.

This book is the essential companion for every trip you will ever take into the TV universe of Doctor Who.

Subject matter

A detailed information for every story through the original run of 1963 to 1989 including the 1996 TV movie.

Notable features

First Edition

• Some of the stories listed use alternate or (disputed story titles), An Unearthly Child is listed as 100,000 BC and The Daleks is listed as The Mutants.

• The Pilot Episode is given a separate listing to 100,000 BC (An Unearthly Child).
• Sections of each story are divided into; a list of crew, a list of the story titles/episodes, the Plot of the story, brief episode endings, additional credited cast list, Popular Myths concerning the story in question, Things to watch out for (interesting things through the story), Things you probably never knew about the story, 'Quote, unquote' (interesting quotes from the story), each entry ends with an analysis of the story with quotes and excerpts from several Fanzines.

Notes

• David J. Howe details how the First edition of the book came about at Howe's Who: The Television Companion.