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Companions
Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants: An Unofficial Guide.
Think you know Doctor Who? Think again.
Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants is an in-depth account of each Doctor Who companion. This book examines each assistant’s significance in the TV series as well as other Doctor Who media.
Written by a true fan, Andy Frankham-Allen, the book also features a foreword by Gary Russell and afterword by David J Howe.
It will appeal to fans of ‘Doctor Whology’, ‘A An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe’ and ‘The Discontinuity Guide’.
REVIEWS
" Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants seeks to pull together everything that's been revealed about every single companion in their on-screen adventures, through their actions, interactions and dialogue... It's clearly been more than just sitting in front of episodes of Doctor Who with a notebook and pen; he expands and extrapolates beyond a say-what-you-see approach." (Doctor Who Magazine)
"...A brilliant book, beautifully produced and printed, and a most welcome addition to the vast library of Doctor Who literature. First class." (Books Monthly)
"Companions is a very thorough volume... We found it fascinating to see all the touches that have been added to our favourite characters over the years and it really motivates us to catch up on some of the non-television adventures we have missed!" (Cult Box)
"There have been books about companions before – but few of them go into this amount of detail, display this amount of in-depth knowledge and above all, this amount of love. As a celebration of everything that makes the Doctor’s (and therefore our) best friends unique and special, this book is essential." (Gary Russell, Doctor Who magazine, Big Finish Productions & Doctor Who)
Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants is an in-depth account of each Doctor Who companion. This book examines each assistant’s significance in the TV series as well as other Doctor Who media.
Written by a true fan, Andy Frankham-Allen, the book also features a foreword by Gary Russell and afterword by David J Howe.
It will appeal to fans of ‘Doctor Whology’, ‘A An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe’ and ‘The Discontinuity Guide’.
REVIEWS
" Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants seeks to pull together everything that's been revealed about every single companion in their on-screen adventures, through their actions, interactions and dialogue... It's clearly been more than just sitting in front of episodes of Doctor Who with a notebook and pen; he expands and extrapolates beyond a say-what-you-see approach." (Doctor Who Magazine)
"...A brilliant book, beautifully produced and printed, and a most welcome addition to the vast library of Doctor Who literature. First class." (Books Monthly)
"Companions is a very thorough volume... We found it fascinating to see all the touches that have been added to our favourite characters over the years and it really motivates us to catch up on some of the non-television adventures we have missed!" (Cult Box)
"There have been books about companions before – but few of them go into this amount of detail, display this amount of in-depth knowledge and above all, this amount of love. As a celebration of everything that makes the Doctor’s (and therefore our) best friends unique and special, this book is essential." (Gary Russell, Doctor Who magazine, Big Finish Productions & Doctor Who)
379 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 23, 2013
8 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Andy Frankham-Allen
65 books46 followersWelsh-born Andy Frankham-Allen's passion for writing began with a love of Doctor Who. He's been writing since as far back as he can remember, and, although unsuccessful, he wrote a Doctor Who novel for BBC Books in 1996 after an accident caused him to be out of work for four months. Following that writing fell back into a hobby until 2001 when he began an ongoing fan-fiction series called Doctor Who: The Legacy, which carried on until 2006.
He has been writing professionally since 2004, through several official Doctor Who short stories, and since 2010 with horror shorts of Untreed Reads Publishing. March 2011 saw the release of his novel, 'Seeker', the first book in The Garden Saga, published in print by Hirst Publishing and in all digital formats by Untreed Reads.
He has been writing professionally since 2004, through several official Doctor Who short stories, and since 2010 with horror shorts of Untreed Reads Publishing. March 2011 saw the release of his novel, 'Seeker', the first book in The Garden Saga, published in print by Hirst Publishing and in all digital formats by Untreed Reads.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 23, 2018
They're not sidekicks! They're not assistants! They're not partners! They're not associates!...
THEY ARE COMPANIONS!!!
After fifty years of Doctor Who presenting stories in all kind of formats: TV, Novels, Comics, Audio Dramas, etc... while the term hardly has been used on screen (or any other media) and it's more of something managed by the production team, promo material and news. It's common knowledge by fans of the franchise that any person who travels in the TARDIS along with the Doctor helping him is designated with the proper term of...
...Companion.
The Doctor is the main character of the series but it doesn't mean that the companions are relegated to an unimportant level.
Several companions are as popular as any regeneration of the Doctor.
And each story is written choosing carefully not only which Doctor is the most appropiate but also which companion(s) fit better too.
This is a very remarkable reference book since the author not only cover the companions shown on TV but also on other media, primarily novels and audio dramas but also comic books and even short stories on the official Doctor Who magazine. Since 1963 with "An Unearthly Child" to 2013 with "The Name of the Doctor".
The relevance of the companions in Doctor Who has been even greater than the Doctors in the sense that you know that "The Doctor" is the "main hero", so he can't die (and even if so, he will regenerate (that cheating chap!)), he will do the right thing, etc... However, the flexibility of the companions is that some of them can die in shocking ways, some of them will leave, sometimes they will return, sometimes they won't, some of them can make huge mistakes, some of them will do what that even The Doctor doesn't dare to do, some of them can be from the past, some of them can be from the future, some of them are humans, some of them are aliens (including Time Lords), some of them are robots, even someone can become a sentient TARDIS!!!
The companions became so popular that even some of them got their own series on TV and/or prose novels.
I think that each Doctor Who fan has their own "favorite combination" of doctor and companion(s). In my personal case, it's the Fourth Doctor with Romana II and K9.
However, I like all the wide legacy of 50 years of the franchise, so in the same way that I like each doctor and their particular uniqueness, I like many, MANY companions too.
I love the reading experience of the book, I rated it with 4 stars (and not a full 5) due two reasons:
1.While the "classic era" of the franchise was done focusing quite well to the really key moments of the companions, I felt that the "new era" could use some editing to shorten it and reflecting a balanced/similar lenght of those chapters compared with the "classic" ones, sure on the "new series" you get to know a lot more of the personal life of the companions, but still I think that some editing can be achievable to avoid overwhelming the reader.
2.An omission of a companion... I wouldn't mind if some companion from other media than TV, such as comic books or audio dramas may be not mentioned here, but the book didn't cover "Astrid Peth" (Kylie Minogue) that appears in a TV Special and both "Wikipedia" and "TARDIS Wikia" defined her with a status of "companion" of the Tenth Doctor, so I think that a couple of lines, at least mention her, it couldn't hurt anybody.
However, don't get mistaken, this book is by far, the best option in the market for a reference book specialized on the companions in Doctor Who's franchise.
An extraordinary book indeed!
THEY ARE COMPANIONS!!!
After fifty years of Doctor Who presenting stories in all kind of formats: TV, Novels, Comics, Audio Dramas, etc... while the term hardly has been used on screen (or any other media) and it's more of something managed by the production team, promo material and news. It's common knowledge by fans of the franchise that any person who travels in the TARDIS along with the Doctor helping him is designated with the proper term of...
...Companion.
The Doctor is the main character of the series but it doesn't mean that the companions are relegated to an unimportant level.
Several companions are as popular as any regeneration of the Doctor.
And each story is written choosing carefully not only which Doctor is the most appropiate but also which companion(s) fit better too.
This is a very remarkable reference book since the author not only cover the companions shown on TV but also on other media, primarily novels and audio dramas but also comic books and even short stories on the official Doctor Who magazine. Since 1963 with "An Unearthly Child" to 2013 with "The Name of the Doctor".
The relevance of the companions in Doctor Who has been even greater than the Doctors in the sense that you know that "The Doctor" is the "main hero", so he can't die (and even if so, he will regenerate (that cheating chap!)), he will do the right thing, etc... However, the flexibility of the companions is that some of them can die in shocking ways, some of them will leave, sometimes they will return, sometimes they won't, some of them can make huge mistakes, some of them will do what that even The Doctor doesn't dare to do, some of them can be from the past, some of them can be from the future, some of them are humans, some of them are aliens (including Time Lords), some of them are robots, even someone can become a sentient TARDIS!!!
The companions became so popular that even some of them got their own series on TV and/or prose novels.
I think that each Doctor Who fan has their own "favorite combination" of doctor and companion(s). In my personal case, it's the Fourth Doctor with Romana II and K9.
However, I like all the wide legacy of 50 years of the franchise, so in the same way that I like each doctor and their particular uniqueness, I like many, MANY companions too.
I love the reading experience of the book, I rated it with 4 stars (and not a full 5) due two reasons:
1.While the "classic era" of the franchise was done focusing quite well to the really key moments of the companions, I felt that the "new era" could use some editing to shorten it and reflecting a balanced/similar lenght of those chapters compared with the "classic" ones, sure on the "new series" you get to know a lot more of the personal life of the companions, but still I think that some editing can be achievable to avoid overwhelming the reader.
2.An omission of a companion... I wouldn't mind if some companion from other media than TV, such as comic books or audio dramas may be not mentioned here, but the book didn't cover "Astrid Peth" (Kylie Minogue) that appears in a TV Special and both "Wikipedia" and "TARDIS Wikia" defined her with a status of "companion" of the Tenth Doctor, so I think that a couple of lines, at least mention her, it couldn't hurt anybody.
However, don't get mistaken, this book is by far, the best option in the market for a reference book specialized on the companions in Doctor Who's franchise.
An extraordinary book indeed!
March 22, 2014
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2270358.html[return][return]A fannish guide to all the Who companions from Susan to Clara, up to the middle of 2013. Not really very deep, and the author has some very weird ideas about Rose Tyler. Benton and Yates, and later Chris and Roz, are simply omitted. Also, although the "Extended Universe" (a term I've never previously seen applied to Who) is covered in some depth, publication details for the short stories are usually omitted and there is no bibliography.
November 23, 2016
I loved this book. The information it gives on the older companions as well as the newer ones. I wish that they had gone further in time and shown more of the expanded universe but at the same time I am glad that they did not as some times they where a bit to much.
Read
March 31, 2020Reads mostly like a wikipedia article, dumping the intimidating canon on us, when a focus on personality, analysis, critical reception and even his own opinions would be more interesting - a good example comes from his passionate critique of Rose, which is a lot of fun.
It's pretty pedantic for him not to include Grace. If this book was a bit more personal, it would be interesting to see what he makes of the new additions to the TARDIS.
It's pretty pedantic for him not to include Grace. If this book was a bit more personal, it would be interesting to see what he makes of the new additions to the TARDIS.
April 5, 2020
There's not really much to say about this, since it's pretty much just a summary of what happens to each companion during the course of the show and extended universe. You've gotta respect his dedication to finding in-universe justifications for some of the contradictions, though.
August 1, 2019
在我的印象之中，这本书基本上就是把DW给概括了一遍。
February 8, 2021
Great book
Considering that I have watched every available episode of Doctor Who, I enjoyed reading this book as it reminded me of all the companions through the 11th Doctor. The authors description of the companions was great. I highly recommend this book.
Considering that I have watched every available episode of Doctor Who, I enjoyed reading this book as it reminded me of all the companions through the 11th Doctor. The authors description of the companions was great. I highly recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews