ECW Press recently released a book titled Who’s 50: The 50 Doctor Who Stories to Watch Before You Die — An Unofficial Companion, just in time for the show’s 50th anniversary next month. The book is written by authors Graeme Burk and Robert Smith?, whose tome on the new Doctor Who series, Who Is The Doctor, was well reviewed here at KSiteTV last year.
As the title implies, the book encourages viewers to check out episodes from the show’s 50-year history, available on DVD and Netflix in many cases. There are some choices that wouldn’t necessarily imply the “best,” which is something they lay out early on, and it would explain how stories like “The Happiness Patrol” and “Love and Monsters” may make their ways in. Everything about the episodes, including the time period in which they were made and details about their respective Doctors and companions, is laid out within. There’s trivia, background information, analysis… really anything and everything you’d want to know about these 50 episodes.
And, hey, I can’t complain too much about the “Love and Monsters” inclusion as I totally would have included “The Gunfighters,” too.
By having two writers on a book like this, it means there are two opinions, and as such, the reader is not talked down to in any way if they happen to disagree with the choices. What Graeme likes isn’t necessarily what Robert likes. Not that one should be surprised, but it’s obvious that Graeme and Robert both have a large amount of affection for Doctor Who, which makes the book a great product.
The graphic design of the book is fantastic. I love the character silhouettes; they make you know what you’re reading about while at the same time not violating any BBC copyright. Classy AND clever.
It might be hard to manage to finish 50 Doctor Who stories between now and November 23rd, but if you’re curious about the original series, especially, this book is perfect for letting you know what to watch. These authors had already proven themselves with their previous book; this is on the same quality level, and is highly recommended. I admit the way I judge a book is whether or not I would frequently return to re-read it; this is one of those books that I would certainly revisit.
