Doctor Who: The Legend (Doctor Who (BBC Hardcover)) [Hardcover]

Justin Richards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 24, 2003 | Series: Doctor Who (BBC Hardcover)

Doctor Who: The Legend is a large format, lavishly illustrated book, published to celebrate forty years of the UK's most popular science-fiction series. This epic publication takes the reader on a journey through four decades of TV history, covering every one of the TV stories. Each entry includes a summary of events, new facts about the characters and fascinating behind-the-scenes information. Stunningly illustrated with a vast collection of photographs, including previously unseen pictures from archives and private collections, the book is a must-have - not only for Doctor Who fans, but also for anyone who has a fondness for the show. As well as providing a unique overview of the series, it includes features on the make-up, special effects and merchandise that have all contributed to the Doctor Who legend. From our first glimpse of the TARDIS in a junkyard on a cold November evening in 1963 to Paul McGann's portrayal of the Eighth Doctor, Doctor Who: The Legend is a comprehensive, stylish and evocative guide to forty years of tea-time travel. 500 full-color and black & white photos.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Random House UK (November 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0563486023
• ISBN-13: 978-0563486022
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 10.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,443,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Justin Richards has written dozens of novels as well as non-fiction books. He has also written audio scripts, a television and stage play, edited anthologies of short stories, been a technical writer, and founded and edited a media journal.

Justin is the author of The Death Collector, The Chaos Code, The Parliament of Blood and The Invisible Detective series. He is also Creative Consultant to the BBC's best-selling range of Doctor Who books.

His novel 'The Skeleton Clock' is available as a Kindle eBook.

He lives in Warwick with his wife and two children, and a lovely view of the castle.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Just ok, January 23, 2004

By 

Christopher J. Brimelow (Sunnyvale, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Doctor Who: The Legend (Doctor Who (BBC Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

This book has received a lot of flack since its release. People complain that it's just a "rehash" of information we already have and doesn't offer much else. The whole purpose for this book was to be a CELEBRATION of Dr Who's 40th anniversary, nothing more!

I had heard about the extensive amount of photos (many never before seen) in the book, which is the only reason why I wanted it. None of my local bookstores had the book in stock for me to preview so I decided to risk it and order it.

I was very disappointed for these reasons:

-As a photo album, it was just ok. There were a few photos that I hadn't seen before, but many of them were either too small, or made into a faded background behind the text!

-The information was unorganized. The stories didn't even have a description, just some random things like the occupations of some of the characters, or how the sonic screwdriver was used in the story!?

-Randomly thrown throughout the book were articles about things like special effects, music, etc.

-The design of the book was amateurish. ie: Each page had about eight different fonts on it!

Overall, they tried to squeeze FAR TOO MUCH into this book. The result was that every aspect of the book was lacking. The "60's," "70's," and "80's" books are much better. Why couldn't they have just made this a huge photo book entitled "Dr Who - A Pictoral Celebration?"

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for Doctor Who fans, December 16, 2003

By 

Sean Brady (Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Doctor Who: The Legend (Doctor Who (BBC Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

This book was produced by BBC Books to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Doctor Who. It's not as detailed as some other books about the show, but it makes up for it by featuring many photographs illustrating the shows history as well as being extremely well designed. This is the sort of book that is an essential purchase for more recent converts to the series who may have missed out on now out-of-print non-fiction hardcover volumes written by authors like Peter Haining, David J Howe and Stephen James Walker, etc over the last few decades. And unlike those books, this book is right up to date, featuring coverage of the 2003 webcast story starring Richard E.Grant called 'The Scream Of The Shalka' and mentioning the upcoming new television series.

If you already have a multitude of books about the series filling up your bookcase, then you could probably give this book a miss as it doesn't offer up any new information...but if you are a casual fan or someone who's new to Doctor Who fandom then you'll love this book. Even if you are a longtime fan, you may still appreciate this lavishly illustrated and handsome volume.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book!, December 9, 2003

By 

Gwyn Jeffers "Dr Who Fan" (Elkton MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Doctor Who: The Legend (Doctor Who (BBC Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

Fully detailed with text and photos, some that haven't been seen before, this book is a definite must have for Doctor Who fans. From the days of William Hartnell, to the very recent news of Doctor Who's return to television in 2005, this book has everything you want to know about every episode. Plus for those that were not around during Hartnell and PARTICULARLY Troughton's era, younger fans can read about episodes of these two Doctors (First and Second) which no longer exist in full format, or not at all, due to being erased by the BBC. A wonderful book!