Doctor Who: The Handbook - The Second Doctor

Doctor Who: The Handbook #2

by David J. Howe, Mark Stammers, Stephen James Walker

Doctor Who is the world's longest running science fiction television series. Each handbook provides both a broad overview and a detailed analysis of one phase of the programme's history.

With the ground-breaking changeover from William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton, Doctor Who demonstrated that it could survive even the departure of the leading actor. Troughton's introduction energised the show, giving it a new lease of life. The writers also introduced or developed some of the show's most enduring characters: the resourceful Jamie McCrimmon and the orphaned Victoria Waterfield, companions who shared our screens with the Doctor's greatest enemies — the emotionless Cybermen, the militaristic Ice Warriors, the robotic Yeti and, of course, the Daleks.

This book is an in in-depth study of Patrick Troughton's tenure as the Doctor, including a profile of the actor, a critical summary of each story in which he starred, an extensive feature on the making of The Mind Robber — a classic adventure set in the deadly Land of Fiction — and much more. The authors have established their reputation with best-selling books such as The Sixties and The Seventies, and their acclaimed work on other books in the Handbook range." -- From the back cover of the first edition

Genres: Doctor Who, Nonfiction, Reference

307 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 1997

Reviews

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit disappointed in this volume. There is much here that I like (such as an attempt to have less-than-dogmatic-at-the-time opinions on Troughton stories), but where it falls flat is in the use of the primary source material. The 1st Doctor/Hartnell volume presented it as a fantastic chronological oral history of the show at the time...and I would have loved a continuation of that into the 2nd Doctor/Troughton era. However, in this volume it is more concerned with budgetary and special effects matters...and the narrow focus simply isn't as successful. A missed opportunity at the continuation of a triumphant oral history/diary.

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book isn't quite as comprehensive as the first book in the series (it lacks the exhaustive day-by-day production notes that makes the book on the Hartnell years an essential reading even in this everything-is-on-the-internet days), it's still an interesting reading for anyone interested in Doctor Who history, during a critical and pivotal time in the history on the now world-wide known TV show. As in the previous installment in the series, the book consists of a series of interviews with cast and production staff, followed by a detailed breakdown of airing dates and a summary for each episode starred by Patrick Throughton, and a extremely detailed account of one episode (The Mind Robber), and an essay of the state of VFX at the time. Curiously, perhaps the most interesting part of the book is the appendix devoted to the fate of the series in Australia and New Zealand, particulary as it concerns the intervention of the censorship authorities in both countries. A very specialized, but nonetheless enjoyable reading.

[Dmk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is like Second Doctor' era... it's very enjoyable to read but it's repetitive and you feel like there are no fresh ideas and stories are really long...
Stories
I never quite understood why "stories" section is in Doctor Who handbooks but I was able to stand them... but in this case about one half of book is mostly made by longish descriptions of stories (I see no reason of reading them and what more, they're on both tardis.wikia and normal wiki) accompanied by some randomly lookin reviews and pretty uninteresting "whofax".
Interviews
So I learned that Pat Throughton was not keen on giving interviews... so this part of book was quite short
Production
This was pretty shallow. Yes it was interesting but I just felt, that some topics should be dealt in greater depth with.

[Paul Doody · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Howe and Co tell the inside story of how Doctor Who was made during the turbulent years of the late sixties. Richly detailed and well-written.