The Doctors: Who's Who: The Story Behind Every Face of the Iconic Time Lord

by Craig Cabell

Detailed biographies of the 11 actors who have played the Time Lord, including the latest, Matt Smith Doctor Who is the world's longest-running science fiction television series, and the role of the Time Lord has been a career landmark for all 11 actors who have played him. Few roles in television history are as iconic, demanding, or as anticipated by its legion of fans as that of the famous time traveler with two hearts. This compendium of facts about the men behind the role reveals to fans who was a bouncer for the Rolling Stones before taking control of the Tardis, who was nearly blown up in World War II aboard HMS Hood , who had a fondness for wooly hats and a grandson who would become Harry Potter's nemesis, and who played a transvestite barmaid before becoming a Who heart-throb. All these bizarre facts are expained, and many more, as the lives and careers of each Doctor—including the youngest and most recent incarnation, Matt Smith—are put under the spotlight and given the credit they so richly deserve. Including interviews with many of the stars, this is a must-have for any fan.

Genres: Doctor Who, Nonfiction, Biography

254 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2010

Reviews

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it has some shortcomings -- typographical errors, as well as a few references that are quite wrong (like naming the Weeping Angels as the Blinking Angels every time they are referred to) -- Cabell's biography on each of the eleven-plus Time Lords captures the essence of all of the actors who have worn the mantle, scarf, coat, or fez of the Doctor. Not only does he include densely packed mini-bios on all of them from Hartnell to Smith, but also those who played the Doctor in another media -- like Peter Cushing in the cinematic re-imagings of the First Doctor, or those who played him in traveling shows produced by the BBC.

One of my favorite parts was not the chronological listings of all the performances of each of the eleven actors who have helmed the TARDIS, but Cabell's essay at the end listing his top favorite twenty-five episodes, followed by a detailed rationale of why each one is great to him. I couldn't help but think what my top twenty-five would be, and -- perhaps more interestingly -- why. That's serious thought worthy of Doctor Who Magazine, if you ask me. No faint praise there.)

[Erin Curran · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book does well in detailing the lives and careers of what many would consider the "popular" Doctors, but I feel the writer loses steam in between and gives the likes of Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann pitifully short entries. The author couldn't seem to decide whether they wanted to focus on the personal lives of the actors or just scoot through some of their work, and it is most evident when covering these Doctors in particular. When writing a book where you insist upon the importance of each actor then there needs to be consistency and the same level of attention provided to each actor, or else that statement and overall theme just doesn't work.

Whoever formatted this book needs the sack, possibly alongside the editor too. I'm not a stranger to typos, trust me, but when someone can't pick up that David Tennant's surname has been misspelled and that Georgia Moffat had been referred to as Georgina Moffat in a Doctor Who book, something has gone terribly amiss. And to give every actor a beginning and ending quote except for Paul McGann was rather jarring. While I'm also nowhere near an expert on Shakespeare, a lot of the quotes chosen felt out of place and I wasn't sure how they fit. Much seems to be a common theme when authors are trying to get a little pretentious with their quote selection. I much preferred the ones from actors or crew from the programme.

This author evidently had some passion for Doctor Who, but I don't think they had enough to know-how to write this book. Their extensive knowledge on the actor's work was impressive, but they weren't able to maintain the consistency and impartiality needed to tackle the question they themselves were posing.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This only goes up to 2010, so an updated version is required really. It's not a bad read, but (trying not to sound too nerdy here), if you're going to write about a popular TV show, it's always best to get the technicalities correct: 1. The show is called Doctor Who, the character is The Doctor 2. It's always written TARDIS not Tardis 3. It's The Weeping Angels (not The Blinking Angels) (this was particularly annoying).

[Iona Bryanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read for any Whovian. Interesting to find out the actors life before, during and after Who.

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected this to be sort of silly but fun, I didn't expect a collection of short biographies of these actors to be intellectually stimulating or emotionally moving but I did think it would be, you know, fun, and bring up warm childhood memories of Doctor Who. This book couldn't even achieve that modest goal, at least not with any consistency.

Another expectation I had was that the book would contain information that wouldn't otherwise be readily available on the Internet. It seems to me that Cabell wrote this whole thing in one spot, looking things up in books in his home or on fan-sites or whatever, and didn't do any original research. When he does add something, then it is his own opinion about a performance, a production or a story and I guess he and I disagree about more things than we agree on. For example, he wanted more appearances from Winston Churchill in the new series while I found the Winston Churchill episode offensive in the extremes of its patriotism, especially in a show that I knew as being anti-militaristic (UNIT as a bunch of bunglers, for example) ... another glaring example of Cabell's poor taste is when he admits hating "Withnail and I." Really?

I also want to whine about the publisher. A book like this, if done right, is like a reference book. Would it have broke the budget to put chapter titles in the running head, so that if you are flipping through it to find a particular reference you can quickly see what chapter you are in? Also: hire an indexer. An index would greatly raise the value of a work like this. It is aimed at what the author calls "anoraks." Know your audience, John Blake.

This book did point me towards some William Hartnell movies that I enjoyed watching, though, like "Brighton Rock," and it has a further reading list in the back that seems useful.

[Natira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich mag die TV-Serie, die mich als Fan mit Christopher Ecclestone gewonnen hat. Seitdem sind ein paar Jahre vergangen und ich habe von den Classicfolgen ebenfalls einige, aber bei weitem nicht alle, gesehen. Aber ich kenne Folgen aller den Doctor in der Serie verkörpernder Schauspieler und den Film mit Paul McGann. Dieses Buch sollte mir etwas mehr über die Schauspieler vermitteln. Das Buch liefert einen Einblick in die Biographien und Karrieren von William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant und Matt Smith. Peter Capaldi ist noch nicht enthalten, dafür findet sich ein Kapitel über Peter Cushing sowie "Kurzzeitdoktoren" im Theater und auch Richard Hurndall (in "The five Doctors") wird erwähnt.
So weit, so gut. Nur sind mir da zwei Punkte aufgefallen: Zum einen gibt es keine "Blinking Angels" - und der Fehler wird konsequent bei jeder Erwähnung wiederholt -, zum anderen war es nicht Ecclestons Doctor, der in der TV-Serie Königin Victoria begegnete und von ihr als gefählich eingestuft wurde, sondern Tennants (in "Tooth and Claws"). Ist es ein Autorenfehler, wurde es falsches während des Lektorats hineinkorrigiert? Ich habe keine Ahnung. Die "Weeping Angels" sind seit "Blink" jedenfalls solch erinnerungswürdige Charaktere im Universum von Doctor Who, dass der Bezeichnungsfehler schwer nachzuvollziehen ist . Beide Punkte sind natürlich problemlos im Rahmen einer Recherche zu verifizieren. Leider ist das Ergebnis, dass ich die übrigen zusammengetragenen Fakten im Buch jetzt auch mit ein wenig Restzweifeln betrachte.

[Taksya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tre quarti del libro sono una carrellata di informazioni biografiche riguardanti gli undici attori canonici della serie e i vari interpreti collaterali, partendo da Peter Cushing (interprete dei due film usciti negli anni 60), passando per Richard Hurndall (interprete del Primo Dottore nello speciale dei primi vent'anni della serie) fino ad arrrivare a quelli che hanno portato il Dottore sul palcoscenico.
Le notizie non sono originali, molti fatti si trovano nelle varie biografie ufficiali o nelle varie edizioni speciali sulla serie pubblicate dalla BBC. Ma, per chi non è un collezionatore compulsivo o è interessato alla serie, ma non in maniera maniacale, è più che sufficente.
Interessante l'elenco delle varie apparizini dei vari attori, prima e dopo essere stati il Dottore, sia sul grande che sul piccolo schermo.
La parte finale, con un piccolo saggio sugli episodi preferiti dall'autore e sul perché li preferisce, è interessante e può offrire buoni punti di discussione tra appassionati.
Però, alla fine di tutto, resta un dubbio... puoi essere un vero appassionato della serie e non sapere che gli Angeli sono Weeping e non Blinking?

[Britts Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an aspiring actress and wanna-be companion, I really enjoyed reading about the acting lives of each of the men who have played the Doctor. Much fangirling went on! However, it annoyed me no end the the Author continually called him 'Doctor Who'. His name is not 'Doctor Who', it's 'the Doctor'. Also, he called the Weeping Angels the Blinking Angels, which is possibly the most annoying thing ever. If you're going to write a book about Doctor Who, please get the names of the aliens right. :?
Other than that, I did really enjoy it, but it's not the best 'Who' book I've ever read.

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a lifelong fan of Dr Who who has seen every incarnation of the good Doctor, this was a must read.
Forget the odd typo, on the whole a good addition to the Who legend.
I certainly enjoyed reading about the actors who played Who.
What happened to them after, how did they get the part etc.
There is a rich history for each actor and some little known facts yet somehow they almost all interlinked
With each other before and after the Doctor.
Worth a read to a die hard fan of the wandering Timelord.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is about the twelve plus actors who played the Doctor, what parts they had before taking on The Doctor and what roles they played after taking their turn at the TARDIS. For instance: both Tom Baker #4 and Christopher Eccleston #9 had worked in construction between acting jobs, but Tom Baker went from the construction site directly to BBC offices to be offered The Doctor.

The copy I read called the big baddy Weeping Angels, but called the Doctor's vehicle a Tardis, instead of TARDIS.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book. The author explains what it takes to be The Doctor. Tells about each one of the actors time as the Doctor,what the did before that.The villains and companions much more. A must for anyone who is a Who fan or someone just wondering about "who" is this Doctor. Takes you from: November 1963 ep.'An Unearthly Child', William Hartnell as The Doctor. To today : July 2015, with Peter Capaldi as The Doctor.

[Stephen Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this was better than Craig Cabell's book on Mr Pratchett. Just about. Mainly because this covers 12 Doctors (plus a couple of others) and so you don't expect it to go into great depth. But it's really just a list of previous acting jobs and comments on their work after these actors have played the Doctor.
It was ok, with a bit of Doctor Who background, but nothing special.

[Alex Decker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good place to start if you are wanting to learn about the history of "Doctor Who." The author basically puts into sentences what can be found on imdb.com. It's not the best written book, nor is it the worst. But, you can tell his genuine enjoyment of the Doctor so it makes for an enjoyable read.

[Rax · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really interesting to read a comparison of all the different ways the Doctor been played and the careers.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well researched and written. I don't normally read biographys but found I couldn't put this one down.

[Maureen Penn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the updated version on Freading that included the new doctor, Peter Capaldi. Very informative book.

[Jasmiina F · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing wasn't that good, but I enjoyed the essay at the end of the book. And it was fun to learn more about the actors that have played the Doctor.

[Jocelynne Broderick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.