Doctor Who: Reference Book Wars pt 2

[SiHart]

Jean Marc L'officier! The very name conjours up lists and inaccurate synopsis details, a-z and all that stuff we fans love.

Back in the 80s and the 90s his work was the bible of the Doctor Who office but how well do they stand up today? Which of his many books was your favourite?

Vote now!











Si xx

[Dirk Gently]

Easy, The Universal Databank by a mile. My copy is throughly used & often bookmarked.

[SiHart]

Definitely the Programme Guide from 1989 for me. A great cover, a well read book and a bit of a classic. The info was simple and clear and not full of mistakes this time round. Well loved!

Si xx

[Antony Cox]

Same for me, as it's the only one I've got!

[Pip Madeley]

I'm with Hawny Hawtin on this one...

[Andrew Curnow]

The Nth Doctor is a fascinating read, although it's pretty frightening to see how far removed from what I would think of as Doctor Who some of the suggestions are for reviving the show. I think with the 96 TVM and the 2005 revival we've been v-e-r-y lucky indeed.

However, my vote's going to the 1981 Programme Guide (the original, you might say). Other than listing The Aztecs at six episodes, I'm not aware of too many errors in it; but even if there are, I can vividly remember picking it up in WHSmiths back in 1981 (I got The Green Death the same day) and just lapping it up. Other than the brief synopses (up to The Hand of Fear only) in The Making of Doctor Who, and whatever stories DWW/DWM had archived, I knew very little about old Who, and this book was a real thrill. It's upstairs on my shelf now and is probably the most tattered of all my books simply because it's been used and read and consulted so many, many times over the years. I loved it then, and can't but love it still.

BTW, years later it occured to me that the original painting was probably just Docs 1-4, and that Davison was added at the last minute as a bit of an afterthought. Or is that just me?

[Wayne]

The Programme Guide (1989)
Because it's only one i've got!

My copy is throughly used & often bookmarked.

[Jonno]

I've gone for the original volumes of the Programme Guide, although I didn't get them new at the time but bought them second-hand off a friend of mine a couple of years later. They were a good enough reference guide at a time when we had very little of that ilk. I did buy all the others as they came out, and by 1989 I'm sure I referred to that version more often than the 1981 ones.

I remember Gary Russell tearing into one of them in DWM - it may have been the Databank which was full of errors apparently and often used information from the Target books and not from on-screen. So beware Tim!

[Stuart Wallis]

Both editions of the Programme Guide were well-loved, though the first one was ther one referred to most often in the days before I knew the plots backwards. It was a thing of joy. Then it dropped off, and I had to go back to The Progeamme Guide again.

[Phillip Culley]

Got to abstain here - I've never read any of them, although I think I flicked through the 1989 Programme Guide when we were deciding what to watch Chez Hart once

[SiHart]

I remember Gary Russell tearing into one of them in DWM - it may have been the Databank which was full of errors apparently and often used information from the Target books and not from on-screen. So beware Tim!

It was always fun when Gary Russell did that. I remember one review of the Universal Databank which wondered how L'officier had managed to define concepts as huge as evil in such a banal way (ie listing some evil things in Doctor Who). It seems wrong somehow!

Si xx

[Antony Cox]

It was a thing of joy. Then it dropped off

[Si Hunt]

The Programme Guide (1989) for me - I still use it today when I forget which order the DVD's need to be in. That said, there is a very useful section in "The Terrestrial Index" which served as the IMDB of its day - an alphabetical list of actors with the Doctor Who stories they appeared in. For years this was my bible when I spotted a familiar face on TV and couldn't quite place the Who story I had seen them in. It was invaluable, and it's a resource I've never seen anywhere else in print, which is quite a feat when you consider how many Doctor Who reference books there are.

Si.

[Jon Masters]

there is a very useful section in "The Terrestrial Index" which served as the IMDB of its day - an alphabetical list of actors with the Doctor Who stories they appeared in. For years this was my bible when I spotted a familiar face on TV and couldn't quite place the Who story I had seen them in. It was invaluable, and it's a resource I've never seen anywhere else in print, which is quite a feat when you consider how many Doctor Who reference books there are.

Si.

Exactly what I was going to say, that's why I voted for Terrestial - its also got all the production team stuff in it as well.

[Si Hunt]

The Comics section is also useful for pinching story titles in moments of low inspiration - hence the "Keepsake" audio title.

See, even when we steal Big Finish copy us.

Si.

[SiHart]

Keepsake was a rubbish comic strip, but the name was well worth pinching! I used to like the Comic Strip list in there better than just about everything else!

Si xx

[Dave Tudor]

I would have voted for the 1989 Programme Guide - my copy has practically been thumbed to death!