Doctor Who The Handbook: The Second Doctor

, often referred to as simply The Second Doctor Handbook, is the sixth in the Handbook series by David J Howe, Mark Stammers 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 Second 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.

"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

Notable features
This volume includes a particularly detailed examination of the making of The Mind Robber.