Travel Without the TARDIS
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Travel Without the TARDIS was a non-fiction book by Jean Airey and Laurie Haldeman and published by Target Books in July 1986. The book indexes the many shooting locations for the series up to the mid-1980s.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Do you know where the fourth Doctor was tied to a post waiting for the Kraal’s bomb to explode in The Android Invasion? Or where the BBC went to film the Zygons’ spacecraft rise from the waters of Loch Ness? Or where the village of Devil's End from The Daemons can be found?
Jean Airey and Laurie Haldeman have scoured the length and breadth of Great Britain in search of the film locations of many of the Doctor’s extraordinary adventures through space and time. In doing so they have unearthed a wealth of fascinating information about the filming of the world’s longest-running science fiction TV show.
So if you’ve ever wondered where the planet Telos really is, or what race of aliens lived in the caves at Wookey Hole, then Travel Without the TARDIS will prove to be an indispensable guidebook.
Subject matter[[edit] | [edit source]]
A visitors guide to Doctor Who filming locations in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), written from an American point of view.
Notable features[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Written at the time that Britain was being introduced to the new £1 coin, this book is as as much about visiting foreign shores (both authors were American) as it is about locations used in filming. Doctor Who was not known for its extensive location filming, so much of the book is filled with "distractions": unspecific locations and tips on language and how best to behave (e.g. "Remember the British don't like to listen to other peoples' conversations").
- Some overseas location filming details are included at the end of the book.
- Contains some rather eccentric advice on how to reach certain locations: for example, they advise going to Leeds Castle, location of The Androids of Tara (which is in Kent) by taxi from the railway station of the city of Leeds (which is hundreds of miles away in Yorkshire).
- The cover photo features Jon Pertwee and Bessie.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This book was written by two American Doctor Who fans. Both had done extensive travelling to Britain as well as other countries. A special two week trip was undertaken to visit many of the sites discussed in the book.
- Jean Airey and Laurie Haldeman are the only Americans to have written a Doctor Who-related book published under the Target banner.
- Airey had written the novella The Doctor and the Enterprise, an unauthorised crossover between Doctor Who and Star Trek, as well as other DW fanfic stories.
- Haldeman had been active in writing fan fiction for many years.
- Airey and Haldeman were regular contributors for several years to Starlog magazine, for which they interviewed many of the Doctor Who actors.
- According to the reference work Howe's Transcendental Toybox, the book contains a number of errors, though they aren't itemised.
