Doctor Who: The Early Years

By Jeremy Bentham

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0491036124
• ISBN13: 9780491036122
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Carol Pub Group
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 2.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Must reading for people interested in the history of science fiction on television or fans of "Docto

The British science fiction television series "Doctor Who" began in the early 1960's, long before the advent of modern video technologies. Therefore, the producers had to not only create futuristic ideas; they also had to put them into a believable form. The stories had to be original and the props and other background material had to give the illusion of a future and distant reality. This book is a description of many of the problems the producers of the show had to surmount. All good science fiction shows need strong, believable adversaries for the main character and Doctor Who is no exception. Creating the characters and developing a plausible explanation of their existence and why they are adversaries is a complex task and there is some discussion of how these stories were derived. There is also a listing of the shows, the storylines, some stills from the episodes and a list of credits. If you are interested in the history of science fiction on television or are a fan of the "Doctor Who" series, then this is a book of great interest to you.

The Hartnell Years.

The first chapter of this book is fascinating, and in keeping with the show itself, as the author time travels from the eighties back to the beginning of the show, in several year stages. Briefly Mentioning which Doctors era we're in and also describing the studio facilities, size of studio, what type of cameras used(colour or black and white), the changing studio policy of which scenes were shot in which order, etc. (That changed a lot in the early seventies) But what sells this book for me are the copious amounts of behind the scenes photos, and even better in my opinon, Raymond Cusick's (The Dalek Designer) design department blueprints. The disappointing original design of the Dalek city and the design eventually seen on TV are also shown. Shawcraft models who did all the modelwork for the show during the first several years of the programme, had made the city model exactly as Cusick's basic sketch. Without adding any further detail to it. As the recording date loomed ever closer Cusick went out to the shops and bought all kinds of interesting and unsual bottle shapes to provide extra detail for the seriously underdetailed city. ~~~~ Cusick wanted six casings made for the story but as usual the budget wouldn't strech that far, so four were made. The Dalek casings ended up costing £120 each and in 1963 when the average wage in the UK was £10 a week, that made them very expensive props indeed. The only criticism I would level at this book is, I would have liked a synopsis on more of the stories (Not all of the Hartnell stories are reviewed). As the level of detail is more informative then even "Doctor Who a Celebration". For anyone who is interested in the Hartnell years, then this is the book. My review, hardback version. Published 1986. Trivia:~ The original designer for the first Dalek story was going to be Ridley (Alien) Scott but because of other work commitments he wasn't free to do it

Superb and nostalgic

A fresh perspective on the early years of Doctor Who. Covers the origin of the TV show, the actors and creators involved. It takes us back to a time when science ficiton television held enough charm for children without worrying about the reactions of adult viewers who (at that time) only worried about how "scary" the show may be at time.Since Dr. Who has been an institution in England, we forget how much of a risk the show was back in the day it was first conceived and how no one knew what a phenomenon it would become. This book brings that feeling back.