25 Glorious Years

Publisher's summary
This is the official Doctor Who 25th anniversary book, marking 25 years of BBC television's longest running and most successful science fiction series. From its very early beginnings as a 25-minute black-and-white Saturday evening television series for children, Doctor Who has become a national institution and an international success story. With over 110 million viewers in 60 countries, the programme's popularity is almost unparalleled in the history of entertainment.

When viewed against the background of competing shows on British TV during the past 25 years - particularly the various American series which have been screened - Doctor Who stands out as a trail-blazer of astonishing originality. Its strength has been its flexibility, for it is not only the Doctor who has changed over the years, but also his companions, the producers and the scriptwriters who have put together what has become a very complex and highly technical series.

In this book Peter Haining draws together and analyses all the elements which have helped retain the vitality and spark of the series over a quarter of a century. John Nathan-Turner, the show's Producer for the last nine years, and Sylvester McCoy, the seventh and most recent regeneration of the Doctor, discuss their views on this remarkable phenomenon and the author reviews the actors and actresses who have portrayed the Doctor Who characters in television, film and stage productions, and the ways in which they have contributed to the development of the various roles.

In its early days, the show was a pioneer in the field of TV character merchandising whose subsequent development is unmatched in media history. Much of the souvenir memorabilia, from Dalek and Cybermen figures to TARDIS money-boxes and T-shirts, is now considered valuable by collectors. Doctor Who has also been featured in various comics over the years, and this anniversary book chronicles both the multi-million pound merchandising operation and the portrayal of the comic-strip Doctor in print.

Probably the biggest disappointment for Doctor Who fans throughout the world is that the BBC's collection of programmes is incomplete. As a result of a policy adopted by the BBC in the early seventies, a considerable number of the Doctor's early adventures were destroyed. Some of these "missing" episodes have amazingly since come to light from various sources, and Peter Haining records the loss and subsequent recovery of certain of these early episodes.

Doctor Who - 25 Glorious Years celebrates the success of a programme around which a mythology of remarkable complexity has developed. The Who phenomenon is truly timeless. With a new generation of viewers meeting the Time Lord for the first time, the show could continue for many years to come.

Subject matter
An analysis of the Doctor Who phenomenon, marking the 25th anniversary of the series on television.

Notable features

 * Subchapters on most of the Doctor's companions and their actors.
 * Colour gallery of "favourite female companions"
 * Chapters on each of the seven Doctors, as well as an examination of non-TV Doctors.
 * Examination of the Doctor in print, particularly comic strips.