Doctor Who: The Whoniverse: The Untold History of Space and Time – An Illustrated Treasury of Humanity, Alien Lifeforms, and Galactic Civilizations

by Justin Richards, George Mann

Complete with full-color illustrations, maps, charts, and artifacts, the definitive, essential companion to the Doctor’s world—and many more.

Doctor The Whoniverse is a never-before-seen history of the Human Race—from the formation of the Earth around the Racnoss eggs, and the creation of life by the destruction of the last Jagaroth spaceship, through to the eventual expansion of the sun and end of the world and beyond to the New Earth, and Utopia.

Along the way, the book explores the untold histories of other planets and other lifeforms as they have interacted with humanity. We examine the Daleks and Cybermen, the Time Lords and the Sontarans, the Ice Warriors, Silurians, Weeping Angels, and many, many more. Additionally, we visit Gallifrey and Skaro, Mondas and Telos, Mars and Sontar.

Filled with full-color illustrations, maps, charts, and artifacts throughout, Doctor The Whoniverse is a treasury of accumulated knowledge, scholarly erudition and accumulated folk wisdom from the worlds of Doctor Who.

Doctor The Whoniverse

Early History—From 10,000 BC and the discovery of the secret of fire, through the Roman Empire;Gallifrey—The rise of the Time Lords;The UNIT Era—Earth under attack from alien invasions;The Cyberwars—The Wheel in Space and Revenge of the Cybermen;Earth’s Galactic Empire—Starting in present day through the rise of Earth’s Empire as seen in Frontier in Space;And much more!

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Reference, Science Fiction Fantasy

316 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 25, 2016

About the author

Justin Richards was a British writer of science fiction, fantasy, and adventure fiction. He wrote science fiction and fantasy novels, including series set in Victorian and early 20th-century London, as well as contemporary adventure stories. He was best known for writing numerous spin-off novels, reference books, and audio plays based on the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. Richards served as Creative Consultant for the BBC Books range of Doctor Who novels until 2017.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book for the Whovian in your life. The artwork is stunning and it ties the whole Whoniverse together wonderfully. A coffee table book for geeks.

[ArwendeLuhtiene · Rating 5 out of 5]

+1 Engaging, enjoyable read, spanning most of Who history from Classic!Who to series 9 of New!Who.
+1 The format and illustrations make this a really beautiful book, although a bit too heavy when it comes to reading at night xD

-1 The illustrations are male-dominated, with very few female depictions - some 5-6 in the whole book.
-1 Most female depictions tend to be more sexualized than the (more abundant) male ones (ex. The Racnoss, the Vampire Women from Venice or River Song in the cover of the Melody Malone book)

[María · Rating 5 out of 5]

Para mi es muy difícil ser objetiva cuando se trata de Doctor Who. Este es otro de mis vicios y disfruto muchisimo todo lo relacionado con esta serie. El libro, como no podía ser de otra forma, me ha encantado. Además de ser muy entretenido esta lleno de ilustraciones impresionantes.

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Appealing only to fans of course (among whom I count myself). Ambitious in its attempt to organize and summarize all of the Doctor Who episodes into some sort of coherent over-arching history of the universe, and with plenty of pretty sci-fi artwork. Without mentioning any of those episodes by name, it became a bit of game for me to recognize the references. Following the example set by the Marvel Universe, the author attempts to create consistent explanations after the fact where (unlike in, say, Harry Potter World) none were ever planned. I do not agree that is a worthy goal and detracts from the amazing creativity and diversity of the Doctor's adventures, but I suppose there is a subset of the Whovian fandom that would appeal to. Ultimately I was disappointed.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 3 out of 5]

A história do universo, revista pelo mythos whoviano. Essencialmente um arranjo cronológico de sinopses dos episódios da série, alinhados como uma história grandiosa. Intrigante pela capacidade enciclopédica dos autores, mas pouco mais que isso. Não deixa de ser bom rever cybermen e daleks, bem como as tropelias das várias encarnações do Doctor ao longo dos espaços e tempos. Profusamente ilustrado com concept art saída da BBC.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book to hold. Its artwork looks like it comes from the storyboards of the series itself. It also draws upon races and encounters that appeared earlier in the series but have yet to make an appearance in the 21st century revival. However, there are great big gaps in the storyline. Rather than being an encyclopaedic guide to everything Doctor, much of the defeats of the Doctor’s antagonists are simply described as a mystery rather than any relation to the Doctor’s activities, and some encounters are omitted altogether. There’s also little mention of facts and figures and a big lack of companion activity. It’s hard to keep up with who went back in time to change what, and some of the illustrations are too repetitive. It’s as if you’re flicking through just to look at the pictures. One thing’s for sure though, there’s no spoilers of things to come in here.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely love the artwork in this book. It made me see the "Whoniverse" from a new angle, and it's the reason I have the book in the first place.

Unfortunately, it's the text that lets the book down somewhat. It attempts to chronicle almost every doctor who story into some sort of structure. In some parts it works, but in others it becomes a chore to read, as at times it feels more like reading a list of story synopses.

Still, I have to applaud the attempt. If the text had more structure to it, it would have been an easy four stars. Still, I recommend any Who fan to pick it up purely for the artwork.

[Melyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being honest here, I've been trying to write a review for the last hour (I'm at work, and got busy). Not that I was trying to write this really awesome review that would inspire others to read this, but it was a nice thought for a second there. The truth, I was surprised that I actually liked this book. I love the show, but was never really interested in reading anything about it. It gives a solid but short background of the different races and time zones, and the Doctor isn't the topic of discussion. Not saying he isn't cool.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting book written in the form of a fictional history book of the universe and how it has been impacted by the Time Lords especially the Doctor and the Master as well as the other the races of the Doctor Who universe such as the Daleks and the Cybermen. It recalls all the stories of each incarnation of the doctor but weaves through the different time lines mixing the 1st Doctor with the 8th doctor and everything in between. This book was really supplemented by the incredible and beautiful artwork contained within this book.

[Timothy Pitkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tries to do the impossible and that is to try to take all of the events of Doctor Who both old seasons plus the new version and tie them all into a time line. And it is does a pretty good job as it could not have been easy for a show like Doctor Who as it includes a lot of wibbely wobbly timey wimey stuff. The art is great and it is a great book for all fans of Doctor Who.

[John Parungao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting reading, the various adventures featuring The Doctor have been placed in semi-chronological order with commentary about the historical context of each adventure either as part of the history of the planet Earth, or as part of the overall history and development of life throughout the universe.

[Arwen~Undomiel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. I liked that there was original Doctor Who beasts and timelines, but other than that, not much new information. Did not finish because I have other books to read, and I was basically just re-reading everything that I have watched on the television show already.

[Dennis Lynch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting a documentary history of the TV production, and was unaware of the true nature of the book. Fans may enjoy this history of the universe as told exclusively in terms of the Doctors’ adventures. Some nice artwork, that looks like production design work for the series.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A sound premise of building all the Doctor's episode into a single, consistent chronology. The writing is poor and some sections of text are just copy/pasted around. However, the book is lifted by the quality of the artwork.

[Bearded metalhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it, the illustrations throughout were so so good!!

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, and amazing art work!

[Jennifer Baratta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whovians should read this book.

[Chloe Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular art and nice lore

[Blair West · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe was expecting more

A nice plot continuity for the series, but less encyclopedic than I hoped. A good outline for the true fan, with a few nice graphics, but was underwhelmed by the whole package.

[Jefferson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nicely designed book with some great artwork, but the writing is really uneven - it feels rushed and unambitious.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an attempt to chronicle the timeline of the Doctor Who universe, but it'll be outdated within a year or two, given how the chronology if the show works. Gorgeous artwork!