Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor

, often referred to as simply The Third Doctor Handbook, is the fifth in the Handbook series by David J Howe and Stephen James Walker — the major contribution by Doctor Who Books to the world of professionally published Doctor Who reference works.

The book is highly regarded as a significant work of Doctor Who scholarship and is used as one of the main reference works for several later reference projects, perhaps most ubiquitously Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of (Time) Travel website and several issues of Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition, which in turn are two of the major resources used by this wiki.

Subject matter
Like all in the Handbook series, it is divided into three major sections. The first presents a series of snippets from interviews with principles involved in the creation of the persona of the Third Doctor; the second gives detailed notes about every televised adventure of this Doctor; and the last concerns itself with behind-the-scenes developments during this Doctor's era.

Publisher's summary
"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.

"Jon Pertwee burst on the scene as the new man-of-action Doctor in January 1970. Immediately, the series, now in full colour, took a whole new direction. The Earth-bound Time Lord, backed by the hugely popular UNIT team, soon became a household favourite as the show's traditional strengths were blended with elements of James Bond and the star's own dynamism and charisma.

"This book is an in in-depth study of Jon Pertwee'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 Day of the Daleks which saw the return of the Daleks to the series after almost five years away, 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 the four previous books in the handbook range."

-- From the back cover

Notable features
This volume includes a particularly detailed examination of the making of Day of the Daleks, and a one-page introduction by Jon Pertwee.