Book

Books, according to the Tenth Doctor, were the "best weapons in the world." (TV: Tooth and Claw ^[+]Loading...["Tooth and Claw (TV story)"]) As "books make people think", Caroline posited that many revolutions began with readers at the forefront. (AUDIO: The Flood ^[+]Loading...["The Flood (RTDC audio story)"]) Books could be handwritten or printed on sheets of paper made from wood (or a similar material) that were bound together. (TV: Human Nature ^[+]Loading...["Human Nature (TV story)"], Silence in the Library ^[+]Loading...["Silence in the Library (TV story)"] / Forest of the Dead ^[+]Loading...["Forest of the Dead (TV story)"])

Paul Magrs believed that books needed to be shared and pass through various people's hands. He believed that people needed to be with books and spend time with books, and that rummaging was "restorative and restful". To this end, he created the Levenshulme Little Free Library. (PROSE: Why We Started Our Little Free Library... ^[+]Loading...{"page":"4, 1, 3","1":"Why We Started Our Little Free Library... (short story)"})

Books had bleed margins, (PROSE: Untitled ^[+]Loading...["Untitled (The Panda Book of Horror short story)"]) and had pages. (PROSE: Iris Wildthyme and the Unholy Ghost ^[+]Loading...["Iris Wildthyme and the Unholy Ghost (short story)"])

Some books were in electronic devices, like The I-Spyder Book of Earth Creatures. (PROSE: The Last Dodo ^[+]Loading...["The Last Dodo (novel)"]) Thinking books were books that could be read by thought processes. (PROSE: Phoenix ^[+]Loading...["Phoenix (short story)"]) Some books from Gallifrey, including Encyclopedia Gallifreya, were in liquid form, and were kept in bottles. (TV: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS ^[+]Loading...["Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (TV story)"])

Books could cover any topic and be intended for entertainment, record keeping, teaching, or other purposes. The Doctor felt that books were always useful, even though one would not at first know how. (AUDIO: Pride of the Lampian ^[+]Loading...["Pride of the Lampian (audio story)"]) Diaries were also recorded in books, such as River Song's. (TV: Silence in the Library ^[+]Loading...["Silence in the Library (TV story)"]) Some books were arranged in chapters, which could have titles listed near the front of the book. Some books had afterwords, text written after the main story was concluded. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan ^[+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"]) Another common feature in books was date of publication information. Books could be reprinted, and editions of some books were printed as late as the year 5000000000. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp ^[+]Loading...["The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)"])

By the 51st century, books were somewhat replaced by holovids, direct-to-brain downloads, and fiction mist. According to the Tenth Doctor, however, people still longed for the smell of books. (TV: Silence in the Library ^[+]Loading...["Silence in the Library (TV story)"])

Indeed, even as technology progressed, paper books proved more affordable to produce and to distribute, and therefore more accessible. This format was also a better long-term archiving strategy than computer storage, standing the test of time. Into the Analog Wars, no other format truly replaced books. (AUDIO: The Black Hole ^[+]Loading...["The Black Hole (audio story)"])

Books were commonly, but not exclusively, stored in a library. (TV: Silence in the Library ^[+]Loading...["Silence in the Library (TV story)"]) The process of producing a book was called writing, and the person who produced the book could be called the author. (TV: The Unquiet Dead ^[+]Loading...["The Unquiet Dead (TV story)"], The Angels Take Manhattan ^[+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"])

When the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble arrived at the Library and were surprised to find that, despite no one being visible, 1,000,000,000,000 life forms were detected there, Donna suggested that the books might be alive. (TV: Silence in the Library ^[+]Loading...["Silence in the Library (TV story)"]) They weren't books, but in fact the Vashta Nerada, who were hatched in the Library's books, using them in place of a forest. (TV: Forest of the Dead ^[+]Loading...["Forest of the Dead (TV story)"])

There existed books about Rose Tyler's and the Ninth Doctor's travels to the 1920s, the Justicia Penal System, and the war against the Mantodeans. (PROSE: Meet Rose ^[+]Loading...["Meet Rose (short story)"])

According to the Curator, humans were the only species in the universe who thought that reading books via "one of those computer tablet things" was a good idea. (PROSE: The Day of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (novelisation)"])

The Nun disguised her TARDIS as a book. Though the Tenth Doctor praised the portability of this, the Nun noted it made entering and exiting the craft rather difficult. (AUDIO: The Wrong Woman ^[+]Loading...["The Wrong Woman (audio story)"])

In the 2010s, Daryl Christofi was working on a book about his experiences as a diver. (PROSE: Daryl Christofi ^[+]Loading...["Daryl Christofi (feature)"])

An annual was a type of book. (PROSE: A Letter from the Doctor ^[+]Loading...{"page":"6","1":"A Letter from the Doctor (DWAN 2024 short story)"})

Books as commodity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Books, and often the information within them, could be valuable. First-edition copies, in particular, were worth a great amount, (AUDIO: The Crooked Man ^[+]Loading...["The Crooked Man (audio story)"]) and some books were sought after for their historical or religious significance, and indeed their rarity. (AUDIO: The Book of Kells ^[+]Loading...["The Book of Kells (audio story)"])

For this reason, it was not uncommon to have valuable books stolen, (AUDIO: The Book of Kells ^[+]Loading...["The Book of Kells (audio story)"], The Crooked Man ^[+]Loading...["The Crooked Man (audio story)"], COMIC: Voyager ^[+]Loading...["Voyager (comic story)"]) and even second-hand bookshops were equipped to keep such volumes under lock and key. (AUDIO: The Crooked Man ^[+]Loading...["The Crooked Man (audio story)"])

Cultural relics[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Book of Lies was a rumoured book that detailed the teachings of the Faction Paradox. (PROSE: Unnatural History ^[+]Loading...["Unnatural History (novel)"])

Some books are not just for reading[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Book of the Still was a book used as a rescue device for stranded time-travellers. When the Unnoticed discovered that their existence and location were recorded in this book, they were willing to commit murder to find it. (PROSE: The Book of the Still ^[+]Loading...["The Book of the Still (novel)"])

The Crooked Man, from the Land of Fiction, killed Celia Turner by breaking the spine of the book she came from, Hearts and Minds 2: Turner's Revenge. (AUDIO: The Crooked Man ^[+]Loading...["The Crooked Man (audio story)"])

Books from Gallifrey and Earth[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor and books[[edit] | [edit source]]

See also: TARDIS library

The Doctor appeared to be fond of books. They were also a fan of certain Earth authors in several incarnations. (TV: Doctor Who ^[+]Loading...["Doctor Who (TV story)"], The Unquiet Dead ^[+]Loading...["The Unquiet Dead (TV story)"], Tooth and Claw ^[+]Loading...["Tooth and Claw (TV story)"], AUDIO: The Eternal Battle ^[+]Loading...["The Eternal Battle (audio story)"], The Time of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["The Time of the Daleks (audio story)"], et al.) The Time Lord was capable of reading a book in seconds, simply by flipping through its pages. (TV: City of Death ^[+]Loading...["City of Death (TV story)"], The Time of Angels ^[+]Loading...["The Time of Angels (TV story)"], Rose ^[+]Loading...["Rose (TV story)"], AUDIO: Invaders from Mars ^[+]Loading...["Invaders from Mars (audio story)"])

The War Doctor listed books among the things he wanted to teach his companion Cinder about. (PROSE: Engines of War ^[+]Loading...["Engines of War (novel)"]) The Tenth Doctor, while hiding in a library from a lupine wavelength haemovariform, called books the "best weapons in the world." (TV: Tooth and Claw ^[+]Loading...["Tooth and Claw (TV story)"]) The Eleventh Doctor read the book Melody Malone: Private Detective in Old New York Town aloud to Amy Pond in Central Park. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan ^[+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"])

Even though he seemed to enjoy reading, the Eleventh Doctor told Amy that he always tore out the last page, so the story didn't have to end. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan ^[+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"]) Unlike his successor, however, the Tenth Doctor loved a book with a death at the end, particularly biographies. (TV: Silence in the Library ^[+]Loading...["Silence in the Library (TV story)"]) The Tenth Doctor in fact specifically protested about his copy of Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd missing the last page. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp ^[+]Loading...["The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)"])

There was a library in the Doctor's TARDIS. (PROSE: War of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["War of the Daleks (novel)"], All-Consuming Fire ^[+]Loading...["All-Consuming Fire (novel)"], The Dimension Riders ^[+]Loading...["The Dimension Riders (novel)"], Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS ^[+]Loading...["Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (TV story)"]) Its books included Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Jane's Spaceships, Every Gallifreyan Child's Pop-Up Book of Nasty Creatures From Other Dimensions, The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, Robinson Crusoe, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (signed first printing, with last page missing), War and Peace, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The I-Spy Book of British Birds. (PROSE: The Wheel of Ice ^[+]Loading...["The Wheel of Ice (novel)"], War of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["War of the Daleks (novel)"], All-Consuming Fire ^[+]Loading...["All-Consuming Fire (novel)"], Heart of TARDIS ^[+]Loading...["Heart of TARDIS (novel)"], The Last Dodo ^[+]Loading...["The Last Dodo (novel)"], TV: Doctor Who ^[+]Loading...["Doctor Who (TV story)"], AUDIO: Storm Warning ^[+]Loading...["Storm Warning (audio story)"])

It also included books from the Doctor's home world, specifically The History of the Time War and the Encyclopedia Gallifreya. (TV: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS ^[+]Loading...["Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (TV story)"]) The Encyclopaedia Gallifreya was sentient, and observed the Doctor throughout their travels, longing to be consulted. (PROSE: Citation Needed ^[+]Loading...["Citation Needed (short story)"]) The Doctor also possessed a printed edition of Agatha Christie's Death in the Clouds published in the aforementioned year 5000000000. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp ^[+]Loading...["The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)"]) The Fourth Doctor kept books in his pockets, including Origins of the Universe by Oolon Colluphid. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)"])

The Doctor also occasionally sought out or was given books as part of their adventures, including Black Orchid by George Cranleigh (TV: Black Orchid ^[+]Loading...["Black Orchid (TV story)"]) and A Journal of Impossible Things by Verity Newman. (TV: The End of Time ^[+]Loading...["The End of Time (TV story)"])

The Ninth Doctor appeared in a book of photographs of Victoria, which WillH noted that there weren't many people in the 19th century who wore leather jackets. (PROSE: Have You Seen This Man? ^[+]Loading...["Have You Seen This Man? (short story)"])

The Master and books[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Master's TARDIS had a well-stocked library. The Master's interests, however, tended toward the evil and arcane. Among the more diabolical works he owned were the Necronomicon, shelved between the Liber Inducens in Evangelium Aeternum and The Black Scrolls of Rassilon. It also included the Book of Vile and its Black Appendix, The Ambuehl Lores and the Insidium of Astrolabus. (PROSE: The Quantum Archangel ^[+]Loading...["The Quantum Archangel (novel)"])

The Master read The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells during the Dalek plot Operation Divide and Conquer in the 26th century. (TV: Frontier in Space)

Doctor John Smith, a human persona of the Master, enjoyed books. He owned some including The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Divided Self by Julia Steer, and Man, Two Hearts in One Mind by Professor Bernice Summerfield. (AUDIO: Master ^[+]Loading...["Master (audio story)"])

Books to teach other subjects[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Fourth Doctor learned Tibetan from Teach Yourself Tibetan, a book he read on Chloris to better understand Everest in Easy Stages, which was written in that language. (TV: The Creature from the Pit ^[+]Loading...["The Creature from the Pit (TV story)"])

Books authored by friends of the Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

While still travelling with the Fourth Doctor, a few months at 107 Baker Street, Sarah Jane Smith wrote the Orion Hood novels about the Doctor's detective adventures under the pseudonym Sarah Joan Watson. These included The Murder of Lord Actra and Death on the Caledonian Express, and were published at the turn of the 20th century. Tegan Jovanka later picked up on the series, publishing in the 1960s, under the name Janet Govanka. (AUDIO: The Merfolk Murders ^[+]Loading...["The Merfolk Murders (audio story)"])

Between 1994 and 2006, during her life on Earth, S. J. Smith also wrote many novels and short stories in the Doctor, based on more adventures they'd shared. (PROSE: Moving On ^[+]Loading...["Moving On (short story)"]) She also wrote non-fiction, such as UNIT Fighting for Humankind. (TV: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? ^[+]Loading...["Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? (TV story)"])

Bernice Summerfield was the author of Down Among the Dead Men (PROSE: Oh No It Isn't! ^[+]Loading...["Oh No It Isn't! (novel)"], Dry Pilgrimage ^[+]Loading...["Dry Pilgrimage (novel)"], Walking to Babylon ^[+]Loading...["Walking to Babylon (novel)"]) and Down Among the Dead Men Again, (PROSE: Seeing I ^[+]Loading...["Seeing I (novel)"], AUDIO: Buried Treasures^[which?]) while her husband wrote pieces of xenopornography such as Nights of the Perfumed Tentacle. (PROSE: Beige Planet Mars ^[+]Loading...["Beige Planet Mars (novel)"], Sex Secrets of the Robot Replicants ^[+]Loading...["Sex Secrets of the Robot Replicants (short story)"])

Summer Falls was a book written by Amelia Williams, former companion of the Eleventh Doctor. Both Artie Maitland and Clara Oswald read it, Clara claiming that Chapter 11 was the best. (TV: The Bells of Saint John ^[+]Loading...["The Bells of Saint John (TV story)"]) Night Thief of Ill-Harbour was another famous book written by Amelia Williams. (PROSE: The Girl Who Never Grew Up ^[+]Loading...["The Girl Who Never Grew Up (short story)"])

Amelia's daughter, Melody Malone, wrote Melody Malone: Private Detective in Old New York Town. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan ^[+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"])