The Time-Travellers' Guide
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The Time-Travellers' Guide was a Doctor Who reference book published by W. H. Allen in September 1987 and Virgin Publishing in April 1989 and August 1995.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
(this synopsis is taken from the 1987 edition)
In three decades of travelling through space and time, the remarkable TARDIS has taken the Doctor and his companions to some of the strangest places in the galaxy and introduced them to creatures out of their wildest nightmares.
Now, in this indispensable handbook, bestselling author Peter Haining examines the wonder of Time Travel as seen through the eyes of all the Doctors. He traces the origins of the hugely successful television programme from the literature of Time Travel in general and H.G. Wells’ classic novel, The Time Machine, in particular.
He also studies the Doctor’s regenerations as well as looking in detail at the Time Lord society on Gallifrey from which he comes. There is an inventory of the weird and dangerous planets the Doctor has visited, the space craft he has seen, and a comprehensive listing of the villains, monsters and robots that have crossed his path.
Peter Haining’s book offers a unique insight into the dramatic events which nearly ended the programme after twenty-three years, plus details of the new seventh Doctor. Finally, it contains an update on all the adventures which have been broadcast since the author’s earlier enormously successful book, Doctor Who: A Celebration.
(this synopsis is taken from the 1989 edition)
In more than twenty-five years of travelling through space and time the TARDIS has taken the Doctor and his companions to some of the Universe’s strangest places and introduced them to creatures out of their wildest nightmares.
Now in this indispensible handbook, Peter Haining examines all the monsters, robots and villains to have threatened the many lives of the intrepid Time Lord. Also included is a guide to all the weird and dangerous worlds the TARDIS has ever visited, plus an inventory of all the spacecraft seen on the television programme.
Peter Haining also examines in depth the Doctor’s regenerations, as well as looking into the reasons which forced the Doctor to leave his home planet Gallifrey in the first place.
Finally, Peter Haining has updated the information on the Doctor’s companions and adventures from his earlier book, Doctor Who: A Celebration
(this synopsis is taken from the 1995 edition)
First published in 1987, THE TIME-TRAVELLERS’ GUIDE has long been out of print and has become a collector’s item.
By 1987 Doctor Who was approaching its quarter-century as a mainstay of British television, and had just taken America by storm.
This was the third of Peter Haining’s illustrated books about Doctor Who, and as well as updating the series’ history it considers Doctor Who from several unusual angles: the historical background of time travel fiction, the Doctor’s planet and people, and the enemies, worlds and space craft that the Doctor has encountered in his long career.
This book, published again in its original, unchanged form, is a piece of Doctor Who history, available to a new generation of Doctor Who fans.
Peter Haining is the author of many books about the past and television. Two of his previous books about Doctor Who, A Celebration and The Key to Time, are being reprinted. He is also the author of the Doctor Who quarter-century book 25 Glorious Years, and The Television Sherlock Holmes.
Subject matter[[edit] | [edit source]]
A full analysis of Doctor Who, technology, roots and origins.
Notable features[[edit] | [edit source]]
Specific chapters dealing with:
- The Science that inspired Doctor Who.
- Time and the Lords of Gallifrey.
- A "Who's Who" of enemies.
- A tourist's guide to alien worlds.
- Spacecraft checklist.
In the second and third editions there was included a "Time Travel Update" dealing with stories and developments since the previous edition. In the 1989 paperback edition the topics covered were:
- Doctor Who's 1985 cancellation.
- Information on stories produced in the intervening time since the previous edition (19831986).
- The audio story Slipback was included.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The reprint of The Key to Time mentioned on the back cover of the 1995 edition never happened — although A Celebration had indeed been reprinted the previous month.
