Story: Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect are rescued from years of mind-numbing isolation on prehistoric Earth by a freak time warp and a hovering, but nonetheless elegant, sofa. They wind up on Earth, at Lord’s Cricket Ground, a mere two days before the planet will be annihilated by the Vogons, but here they witness an alien incursion of another kind: killer robots from Krikkit descend upon the field to retrieve one piece of a key that could unlock their ability to destroy the entire known universe. Slartibartfast appears in his own unlikely spacecraft, the Bistromath, to whisk Ford and Arthur away on a desperate mission to stop the Krikkit robots from wiping out everything. It is a mission in which they will utterly fail.

Review: For many years, I was convinced that – aside from “Mostly Harmless” – “Life, The Universe, And Everything “was my least favorite. I reread it recently during a bit of a Douglas Adams binge, and quickly discovered that – aside from “So Long And Thanks For All The Fish” – it’s actually my second favorite. (more…)

Story: Having escaped from the planet Magrathea by the skin of their teeth, Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Trillian – with paranoid android Marvin in tow – are once again in deep trouble, with the Vogons hot on the trail of the Heart of Gold. Normally, the ship’s extensive computer banks could come up with a tactical solution to all this, but unfortunately, they’re all occupied by a priority instruction: Arthur wants a cup of real tea, not synthesized tea. Zaphod has to rely on help from beyond the grave, which leads him on a terrifying adventure to Frogstar, the most evil planet in the galaxy. Surviving this encounter with nothing but his natural cool, Zaphod rejoins his comrades for a quick bite at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. And that’s where the trouble really begins.

Review: So there’s good news and bad news.

And then there’s trivia. “The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe”, based loosely on material from episodes five through twelve of Douglas Adams’ phenomenally successful BBC radio series, was the novel that put Adams on the U.S. bestseller lists (though, for some unknown reason, didn’t fare quite as well in Britain). However, I think I may know why the British audience didn’t embrace it quite so wholeheartedly. And I’ll get to that point in due course. (more…)

Story: A seemingly typical Thursday throws Englishman Arthur Dent for a loop as he witnesses the destruction, in rapid succession, of his house and then the entire world. That he witnesses the latter event instead of being caught up in it is solely thanks to the intervention of his quirky friend Ford Prefect, who turns out to be an alien in disguise, researching Earth for a publication known as the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. After escaping Earth’s demise, Ford and a dazed Arthur wind up aboard the stolen starship Heart Of Gold, whose captain, the two-headed Zaphod Beeblebrox, is out of both of his minds. Zaphod, traveling with Trillian (the only other surviving human), is on a quest to find the legendary planet of Magrathea, hoping to plunder its wealth. What he doesn’t anticipate, however, is that the Magratheans might not want their wealth plundered.

Review: I’ve held off on reviewing “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy” for far too long, mainly because it’s the incarnation of the story that most fans are the most familiar with. I’d rather educate them about the radio series (which inspired the books and every other version of the story that came later), or the computer game, or some other obscure versions of the story. But two things inspired me to go back, give the book a re-read, and report my findings: the fact that a big-budget, big-screen version of “Hitchhiker’s Guide” is on the way, and the recent appearance of a Cliff Notes-style study guide to this first novel in the series.

A study guide? To the “Hitchhiker’s Guide”? Almighty Zarquon, but I’m getting old. (more…)

Story: Author Peter Haining once again toils away in the Who mines, trying to provide a chronological history of the development, production, and critical and public reaction to the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who.

Review: The second of his sextet of Doctor Who books, “The Key To Time” is also probably Peter Haining’s second best, and it was downhill from there; later books like “The Doctor Who File” and “The Time Travellers’ Guide” were dismal recyclings of what appeared here and in “Doctor Who – A Celebration”. But the beginning of that decline can be seen in “The Key To Time” as well: the emphasis shifts from text to pictures here, and to avoid incurring a huge photo usage fee from the BBC and Equity (the British actors’ union), illustrations from fan artists were sought. (more…)

Story: This book takes a risk that it might be treading on well-traveled ground, but it succeeds in its unprecedented level of detail. The early 1980s era of Doctor Who has already been analyzed in much detail, though recent revelations – such as the claim that Tom Baker’s voluntary resignation was motivated by disagreements with new producer John Nathan-Turner – have made it possible to conduct newer studies of the show’s final decade as a continuing series.

Review: One thing this book covered which I had not previously read much about was the period from Colin Baker’s exodus through Sylvester McCoy’s era and the end of the BBC’s production of the show. Many of the details of this winding-down portion of Doctor Who’s history are vague, though this book helped to set the record straight, including the very, very intriguing pre-production information for the next season or two which would have carried Doctor Who into the 1990s and toward 30 continuous years on the air. (more…)

Story: British pop culture journalist Peter Haining – he who has managed to wrangle the compilation of other people’s writings into a career, if not necessarily an art form – interviews the star and producer of Doctor Who during its 1988 silver anniversary year. Profiles of other actors who have played the Doctor (and his companions) are included, as well as brief bios of actors who have played the Doctor in other venues. Haining also glances over the history of science fiction on British television and assesses the Time Lord’s place in the pantheon of SF literary heroes.

Review: After the death of controversial Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner, I reacquainted myself with this book since I recalled it had one of the better interviews with him. And 25 Glorious Years is an interesting volume in other ways as well. (more…)

Story: Shortly before the end of Doctor Who on BBC-TV in 1989, an up-and-coming Columbia Pictures TV producer named Philip Segal contacted the BBC about obtaining the rights to create an American version of the popular show. As fate would have it, Segal became the BBC’s choice to bring the Doctor’s adventures to the U.S. – but the road between winning that approval and finally getting a singular show on the air (the 1996 movie aired on Fox) would prove to be longer and more convoluted than any adventure ever endured by the Time Lord.

Review: In the fine tradition of the Howe-Stammers-Walker reference works, repsected Doctor Who novelist and journalist Gary Russell teamed up with Doctor Who movie producer Philip Segal, the man who would have liked to revive the series proper in America and did manage to bring the eighth Doctor to the world. The story of the many twists and turns Segal undertook in the process of getting Doctor Who back on the air, even if only for two hours, is almost beyond comprehension when one tries to fathom the sheer bureaucracy involved in a U.S.-British co-production. (more…)

Story: In 1999, after over two years of petitioning the BBC for the rights, Jason Haigh-Ellery and his cohorts at the largely fan-run audio production outfit Big Finish Productions launched a new series of official and original Doctor Who audio plays. The author chronicles the making of the first fifty Doctor Who audio stories, plus several spinoff releases such as the Dalek Empire and Sarah Jane Smith series, going behind the scenes of the writing process, production, post-production and even fan reaction to individual titles.

Review: It almost seems anticlimactic to think about it now that Doctor Who has made an impressive return to the top of the British television ratings, but a mere six years ago, Big Finish’s Doctor Who audio productions were almost more than the fans ever could have hoped for. And with the recent broadcast of some of the eighth Doctor audio plays starring Paul McGann on BBC Radio 7, things appear to have come full circle: the BBC has more or less branded these plays-on-CD as bona fide Who. (more…)

Story: In what appears to be the final entry in the excellent Handbook series of Doctor Who non-fiction books, the all-too-brief era of Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor Who is covered in great detail.

Review: I’ve always been a fan of the Handbooks, but I eagerly awaited this particular volume since – as opposed to the earlier years of the show, which have been covered extensively – I have found information on the McCoy era very hard to come by. “Doctor Who: The Eighties”, by the same authors, was an excellent book in that department, as is this one. However, I would’ve liked more information on the planned 27th season of Doctor Who, some of which was covered in “The Eighties”. (more…)

Story: In only the second volume of the outstanding series of non-fiction Doctor Who Handbooks, the troubled reign of Colin Baker, the sixth actor to play the role of the Doctor, is covered. From the inception of this new take on the character, to the cancellation that aborted an entire season about to enter production (and forced the show’s makers to hastily concoct a new series of stories in its stead), to the untimely termination of Baker’s contract, the tumultuous three-year period is examined, even including a glimpse at some of the plans that were in place had he continued in the role.

Review: Perhaps the single most fascinating volume in the Handbook series, the Sixth Doctor Handbook finally dishes up some long-overdue behind-the-scenes dirt on the most troubled phase of the show’s history. (more…)