Doctor Who - The Inside Story: The Official Guide to Series 1 and 2 - Gary Russell

...the BBC phenomenon that is Doctor Who. The sci-fi family show may have been on our screens on and off since 1963, but it only came into my life back in 2005 with the new series. Straight away I fell for the glorious Time Lord that is the Doctor (in the form of David Tennant), and longed to be companion Rose (played by the lovely Billie Piper). In my quest to try and involve myself with the show as much as possible, I went on a hunt for merchandise.
...eyes to the world of Doctor Who in a completely different light. One of these is 'The Inside Story'. Published in October 2006, it is one of the first fact books from the new series, and I feel this does make it that little bit more exciting. The hardback book can be recognised by its very attractive cover. It has a sleeve on the top, with the same design on the hardback underneath. It has a main colour of orange, to match the Doctor Who logo which ... more

For nearly four years I have been in love with the BBC phenomenon that is Doctor Who. The sci-fi family show may have been on our screens on and off since 1963, but it only came into my life back in 2005 with the new series. Straight away I fell for the glorious Time Lord that is the Doctor (in the form of David Tennant), and longed to be companion Rose (played by the lovely Billie Piper). In my quest to try and involve myself with the show as much as possible, I went on a hunt for merchandise.

Tracking down merchandise was not a hard job at all. The new series was a such a huge success that a wide range of buyables were released to cater for fans young and old. I began my collection with figures and sticker books, purchasing my way through all the DVDs too. I did consider buying the storybooks but changed my mind at the last minute. Instead, what I did buy was so much more special.

There are several 'fact' books, which open our eyes to the world of Doctor Who in a completely different light. One of these is 'The Inside Story'. Published in October 2006, it is one of the first fact books from the new series, and I feel this does make it that little bit more exciting. The hardback book can be recognised by its very attractive cover. It has a sleeve on the top, with the same design on the hardback underneath. It has a main colour of orange, to match the Doctor Who logo which can be seen stretched across the front. Underneath the logo there are several screenshots from episodes as well as a picture of a member of the crew hard at work with a dalek. Above this is the most wonderful image of Piper and Tennant side by side. It's one of my favourite images of the two, and that alone attracts me to the book!

With the delightful cover out of my mind, I can focus completely on the insides! After you pass a picture of the Tardis you come to a full size image of The Doctor, The Doctor and Rose. Its the most unusual picture I have ever seen of the two Doctors (Chris Eccleston and Tennant) together – in fact, its the only picture of them together I have seen! I have my hopes that there will be some sort of hologram of the two together in Tennant's final episode, but other than that, I will make do and love this picture forever! Only a few pages into the book and aleady I'm bordering on ecstatic.

Faced with the contents page, you will see that the 256 pages of the book are split into sections: Foreword, 'An Adventure in Time and Space', 'Bringing Back The Series', 'Casting', 'Behind the Scenes', 'Episode Guide', 'Christmas 2006 and beyond', 'Afterword', and 'Index'. When I first saw this, I just knew I was going to be in for an interesting and informative read.

The foreword itself is incredibly interesting. Written by David Tennant, it is a delight to read as he shares both information and passion about the show. 'An Adventure in Time and Space' follows this – three pages about the show, a bit about its past and an explanation about what you will find inside the book. Basically, it is the contents page expanded. Then we come to Bringing Back the Series. This is twenty seven pages about the planning of the return of the show, Russel T. Davies' hopes for the new series, and the selection process for choosing the team.

Following on from this, we come to 'Casting'. I feel Doctor Who has had some of the most wonderful actors over the past few years, and this fifteen page section talks about choosing the Doctors, Piper, Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), John Barrowman (Captain Jack) and the rest. I adore the cast, and reading this section was especially entertaining – in particular the parts about Billie.

The next section is the longest, with eighty pages. This takes us behind the scenes of the show, the pages filled with descriptions about costumes and monsters, locations and designing. With my life revolving around the media, this is very interesting to me, and opened my eyes further to the world of work within television. It may be quite long and take a while to read through, but each and every word is worth absorbing.

Another of my favourite sections we come to next. It takes us through all thirteen episodes of Series One, and then all thirteen of Series Two, from 'Rose' to 'Doomsday'. Each episode has a double page or so, with a plot description, screen shots from the episode, information about the writer and how many viewers tuned is, as well as a full cast list. This is a delight to read too, and gives you a greater insight into the show. Though I always try to read Doomsday as quick as possible – there isnt enough tissues in the world to get me through that episode.

'Christmas 2006...and Beyond' is quite a short section, which basically highlights the Christmas episode 'The Runaway Bride', as well as the plans for Series Three. Of course with that series years old now, it is interesting to see just how things turned out compared to what was written in the book. The afterword by Russell T. Davies sums up a lot of what was said in the book, minimised down to just two pages. And last but not least, we have the Index page. Although I don't tend to use these, it is quite good to have if you are looking for a particular fact. I like to read the bits about Billie and Rose a lot, so this guides me to the right areas in the book

The book itself is written by Gary Russell, and he has certainly got an interesting style of writing that shares the facts with us in an interesting way. Though I do feel that even if the book was written in code, I'd still love it! On each page there are images and sketches, pictures from the show. They're all so wonderful and make the book more exciting to look at.

This book is filled with so much information, it is a definite must have if you are a fan of the show. Though with an RRP of £14.99, it is not one you can spend your spare change on! It is widely available in book stores such as WHSmith and Waterstones, but I bought my copy online. You can purchase it from Amazon.co.uk for £10, which is quite reasonable considering the level of information you are getting all from one place.

This is a superb book which covers all areas of the show from Series One and Two, with a bit of information about the older series'. It is definitely worth buying, along with all the other Doctor Who fact books! There have been many fact books released since, but they focus on the show as a whole. With my idolization for Piper though, and my love for the first two series being greater than the other two, this is definitely the one I prefer. If you are a fan of the show, then I strongly encourage you to buy this. You won't regret it – I promise!

Amy 2009 

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